Thursday, October 16, 2014

1/4 to five

It's a 1/4 to five
I am ready for a dive
into coffee, soda or both
missing my betrothed

it's a 1/4 to five
it's time for a drive
into a rare mood
wantin' to be nude

it's a 1/4 to five
I'm feeling alive
as I sip the joe
I'm ready to blow

January 20, 2010
Carolyn Hunter

Monday, June 30, 2014

death cry

Death Cry
by Carolyn Hunter

That first Cry. That first, soaring sound.
Raw. Piercing. Honest. True.
No bars, no weight, no heaviness
Free. Generous. Guttural. Gutsy.

Yet, not one minute out of the womb 
The Cry takes on It’s own doom.
The mother takes the babe to say, “Shh.”
Kindly, yes; we hope - but there is no guarantee

As It grows, It submits. Decreasing.
Caressed by silent sightless sound barriers
or melanged by noisy, sharp barkings;
The Cry of the soul, begins to cease 

Taking on others’ weight. Another’s rules. 
The Cry, our voice, becomes mute;
Colored with someone else’s crayons.
Life breaking our sound to the ground.

At the moment we made that first Cry

Our voice? Sadly, It began to die.

"Stray or Bum"

“Stray or Bum”
 by Carolyn Hunter

How long can they talk about cats?
Their posts on Facebook of their cats?
It's been an hour now.
One of them shaved their cat like a poodle.
Wealth dripping from their clothing.
And they spend an hour talking about cats.

The light reflects off the wall
The bum sits outside in the cold

They are cozy.
The women go to the ladies room
The bum pisses in the street just outside
the hotel that keeps them:
protected
inside
Protected from the weather. Protected from poverty.
Protected from the ravenous hunger
The bum must have in the pit of his stomach.

If they took in a stray cat, tangled and torn; bum of the cat tribe.
Why do they not take in the bum; bum of the human tribe.

I would take in the stray cat.
Yet, I wouldn't take in the stray bum.
I am no different than the ones 
who spent an hour talking about their cats.
I don' like that. 

I would take in the cat and not the man; Stray and not Bum.
What would you do?
One and not the other?
both?
Or maybe:
none.
The stray and not the bum.
The stray and not the bum.
The cat
and not
the man
A cat and not a person
We would rather care for
Not the 'who' but the 'what'

Now it's quiet
they've gone to their rooms
As I will to mine
After the last sip of wine.
The bum
Still we do nothing.
None of us.
We
Do
Nothing
I.  Do. Nothing.
And the bum? Nestles into his worn coat waiting.
Waiting.

For something.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

I will wait



I will wait
till 
you and me
are 
free to be
us

when us
happens:
delight
strength
kindness
silliness
happen

by Carolyn Hunter

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Will you Be with me?


i am quite angry that no one is here
to see my pain as I see it.
Where are the mourners to sacrifice the cry
or the down trodden to alleviate my pain.

I am not above or below you in this pain
We are together.  Not apart.
We are together. Not apart.
Do you here me? can you hear me
in the midst of your pain?

If only we could meet in some sphere
where two could meet without judgement
would you look at me with the eerie eyes I am afraid of
or would you look at me with the accepting eyes I need

It’s up to you. 
Eerie or accepting
It’s your choice how you respond.
Because I am who I am.

Will you be with me?

by Carolyn Hunter

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

the stray

the stray
by Carolyn Hunter

I saw a stray dog today.
Walked shyly up to me.
coat mangled
body skinny as a seed

Of course, I took him in
Gave him a bath
he stretched his paws on top of the shelf
Skinny wet dog smell

Something about a stray makes me yearn
to love more
makes me want to learn
why he's shivering at my door

There are doors all around 
for him to tread over 
this shaky ground
isn't so good for rover

And his eyes are leaky
and his back is hunched
and he coughs b/c the rope
was tied too tightly to his neck

My eyes are often leaky
as I hunch my back like Fetus
the invisible rope that others don't see
ties my neck to misery

So maybe it's I who am the stray
And this chum is a gift
allowing me another day 
soothing this unending rift