I carved initials into the soft birch trunk
with the dulling blade of a swiss army knife
hoping that it didn’t hurt too much as I

carefully peeled back the top layers
to expose a soft spring kissed pigment
from beneath her exterior coat of armor

posing as an adolescent surgeon while an
unsteady hand crafted each intricate letter
into permanent reminders of our youthful love

oblivious as the scraps fell to my feet
like drops of blood disappearing into her
earthen bed of forest weeds and moss

much like the midst of that summer love
whose fragments remain lost within the
depths of our own tangled roots of youth

If I have a daughter
her name will be Melody
a tangible song to cradle and
harmonize with lullabies
of my devoted sway

She drew little hearts
upon her glass reflection
smiling through each
carefully traced line
only to watch them
gently fade into the
coolness of the night
as she imagined each
shape beating back to
life beneath the warm
caress of another
lonely breath

Ahh, I had so much fun with the Nonsensical Poetry Contest! Thanks to everyone involved in making the contest a success and for all those who liked and reblogged my ridiculous nonsense =) Looking forward to sipping some gin tea out of my new mug ;)
-chanelle

She hummed
her lyrics because
she’s too shy to sing them
creating songs in her head when
she’s simply too modest to share them
mumbling her feelings for fear of being seen
and I often say “she” when I’m too shy to say me

I’ve heard I shouldn’t
drink the milk
I guess the hormones
might make me sick
and someone told me
not to buy the market beef
but to especially avoid
the drive thru “meat”
they also told me
veggies have pesticides
but growing my own would
require a green thumb
(that I don’t have)
I hear I should
only buy organic
but it ends up costing me
three times as much
they said maybe I
should just be vegetarian
well I tried that once,
but it didn’t work out
the television is filled
with food documentaries
claiming to know
what’s good and bad
what’s right and wrong
but it’s all so
condescending
so I guess I just
shouldn’t eat at all…

certain acquaintances
have ventured to the assumption
that I’m secretly reading their actions
judging their facial expressions
and that somehow a simple conversation
should prompt some sort of
medication recommendation
well, despite what you’ve heard
a Psychology degree does not
deem me any magical powers
there’s no fine print granting mind reads
or permission to a gypsy disguise
no, I’m not pondering motives based
on the wandering of your eyes
and I haven’t the energy to analyze
every mannerism that seems a bit “off”
so I guess my only qualms with this is
whether or not to deny these theories
or just play along

we used to flatten pennies
along the midwest railroad
pressing our cents onto
the vibrating metal tracks
hoping that perhaps our
wishes would squeeze
out of their copper finish
and into our youthful
hands of imagination
daydreaming about
hitching a ride upon
each passing boxcar
with a vacant door
but now, I think maybe
the escape was the
actual wish and the
pennies were just
for show

Silence
fills my lungs with such unease
my mind writes vibrant poetry
upon the blackboard lining
of my anxiety ridden head

calming restlessness with
overlapping scribbles and
partial stanzas during inter-
missions of conversations
and uncomfortable stares

only to be quickly replaced
by the sound of sharp nails
once the chalk has dwindled
down to its final stroke of
deterrent