pluribus unum
we are a nation fractured,
a chorus of discordant voices,
each note a discordant shriek
echoing through the pages
of our shared history.
the work,
it will always be ahead of us,
but we can choose to approach it
with... – by Joe Strickland | 19 Views added 15 days ago
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we're all like penny stocks.
the smell of rotting fruit lingers,
a metaphor for our lives,
slowly decaying,
consumed by apathy.
the plague of complacency spreads,
a silent epidemic of indifference.
we're all victims,
caught in the... – by Joe Strickland | 5 Views added 15 days ago
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weight of others' sorrows,
a cloak she wears, a burden she shoulders.
not with a grimace, but a quiet fortitude.
her eyes, a lake of empathy,
reflecting the pain she takes in,
transforms,
and somehow, carries.
a strength i desire,
a... – by Joe Strickland | 12 Views added 22 days ago
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cars,
a ribbon of chrome and glass,
snaking through the sun-drenched landscape.
the third car, ours,
humming with the radio's rhythm,
a wrap of shared space,
a bubble of laughter and dust,
the world outside a blur
of passing green.
... – by Joe Strickland | 18 Views added 25 days ago
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"i don't get it,"
a confession,
a veiled admission
of their own limitations.
a desperate attempt
to invalidate the joy felt by others,
a pathetic attempt
to pull down the sun
to their own level.
they cling to the darkness,
afraid of... – by Joe Strickland | 6 Views added 27 days ago
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bleeds orange
across a cracked horizon,
same scene,
different eyes.
one sees barren wasteland,
the other,
a canvas for bloom.
the world,
a mirror,
not a master.
the world isn't as it is,
it is as you are.
"well, that's... – by Joe Strickland | 41 Views added 28 days ago
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bleeds orange
across a cracked horizon,
same scene,
different eyes.
one sees barren wasteland,
the other,
a canvas for bloom.
the world,
a mirror,
not a master.
the world isn't as it is,
it is as you are.
"well, that's... – by Joe Strickland | 18 Views added 28 days ago
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truth stands bare
in a room full of whispers,
each eye a question mark,
each laugh an echo of doubt,
and yet,
it sips its coffee,
stares down the barrel of disbelief,
not wavering,
not bending,
like an old dog with scars
who’s seen the... – by Joe Strickland | 7 Views added 28 days ago
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sky bleeds crimson,
a dying sun's last breath,
and i feel a pang of something,
something akin to longing.
for what? i don't know.
perhaps for a time
when the world wasn't so bleak,
when the sun didn't set
on my hopes.
... – by Joe Strickland | 13 Views added 29 days ago
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doctor said my liver
was swollen.
i told him the truth,
80 to 100 beers a week.
he nearly choked
on his tongue,
couldn't believe i walked,
talked, thought.
he said 14 beers a week,
that's it.
14.
like some goddamn accountant,
... – by Joe Strickland | 18 Views added 1 month ago
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silence hums,
not the quiet of solitude,
a welcome retreat,
but the hollow echo
of a door slammed shut.
a space carved by rejection,
an unwelcome guest
in the landscape
of self.
the loneliness isn't
in the miles traveled,
... – by Joe Strickland | 11 Views added 1 month ago
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weight of the world,
a sack of potatoes
in the shape of a cross
on my back.
every shoulder pat,
every "you got this,"
feels like a kick in the balls.
i'm tired of the hollow regurgitation
of encouragement,
the empty promises
of a... – by Joe Strickland | 11 Views added 1 month ago
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4 AM.
the city coughed,
a greasy haze hanging low.
streetlights bled
onto the asphalt,
like wounds refusing
to heal.
i didn't know where i was,
only that my pulse throbbed
in my ears.
a desperate beat,
a frantic drum.
your name,... – by Joe Strickland | 218 Views added 1 month ago
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words hung there,
a rotten fruit in the air,
the smell of decay
clinging to them.
"if nothing warrants nothing..."
it was a twisted logic,
a drunkard's justification
for tearing down everything,
for throwing it all away.
... – by Joe Strickland | 7 Views added 2 months ago
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falls,
a symphony of whispers
against the pavement.
this moment,
a fleeting song,
a melody etched
in time,
never to be played again.
and yet,
a strange peace settles,
a quiet understanding
that this is how it is,
how it... – by Joe Strickland | 5 Views added 2 months ago
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big, beautiful,
expressive brown eyes
a universe folding into itself,
time slowing, slipping through
the cracks of morning light.
your wild, wayward hair
frames the moment,
a halo of chaos and beauty,
an invitation to drift deeper... – by Joe Strickland | 11 Views added 2 months ago
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cereal box,
a faded picture
of a smiling cartoon bear,
sits on the counter.
a reminder of the days
i spent chasing
after a bowl of sugary flakes.
i'm too old for this,
too tired to give a damn.
but the damn box top
stares... – by Joe Strickland | 9 Views added 2 months ago
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masses consume
copium
in their digital
feed,
their curated
lives,
constructed
by hand,
a lie
they hold
as truth. ... – by Joe Strickland | 5 Views added 2 months ago
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he's a pain in the ass.
a goddamn, walking,
talking mess.
if you can stomach his guts,
his broken dreams and cheap whiskey,
then maybe you actually give a damn.
maybe you're not just waiting for the moment
to walk away and say,
"thank god... – by Joe Strickland | 6 Views added 2 months ago
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air thickens in his lungs.
a slow, quiet understanding seeps in.
death is coming.
not as a stranger, but a familiar, unwelcome friend.
he lies in her arms, a final embrace.
his mind flickers back.
cigarette smoke, a haze of regret,
a slow... – by Joe Strickland | 4 Views added 2 months ago
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kindness,
a silent prayer,
whispered in deeds,
not words.
no holy book required,
just the warmth
of a gentle hand,
a heart open to... – by Joe Strickland | 8 Views added 2 months ago
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put on the earth,
they whisper,
everything is going to fall.
my hands clenched,
nails digging into the worn
leather of the pew.
this place,
a testament to guilt
and fear,
a gilded cage
for the desperate.
i never particularly
... – by Joe Strickland | 8 Views added 2 months ago
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all poetry written
stretch like rubber bands,
taut in the hands of the desperate,
screaming for attention,
like a child in a crowded room,
look at me, i’m special,
i can't help but think of stone,
the weight and solidity of... – by Joe Strickland | 6 Views added 2 months ago
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was a whisper
on the wind,
a fleeting memory
of a life lived loud and free.
now, the ocean claims him,
a final embrace
in the cold embrace of the deep.
his legacy remains,
a ripple in the tide of music
that won't fade.
his name, a... – by Joe Strickland | 12 Views added 3 months ago
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the fool,
clumsy in his footsteps,
at least he knows his path,
a straight line drawn
across the cracked pavement,
no pretense,
no... – by Joe Strickland | 3 Views added 3 months ago
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good man’s gaze,
heavy with intention,
stirs something deep,
a pulse beneath the skin,
thick shadows of desire,
fractal memories painted
in violent hues,
where love becomes
a weapon,
splintering hearts
into shrapnel of unbearable
... – by Joe Strickland | 9 Views added 3 months ago
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say you want me,
but your hands are always
busy with the phone,
tapping away at empty words,
while i sit here,
a kettle boiling,
waiting for the steam,
the burn,
the heat that never comes.
when you lean in,
it’s your problems i... – by Joe Strickland | 114 Views added 3 months ago
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world had already
begun
to turn away
from me.
i was a stranger
in my own skin,
a memory
in my own life.
i was a whisper
in the wind,
a shadow
in the night.
and i was just beginning
to understand
the weight of the world
on... – by Joe Strickland | 8 Views added 3 months ago
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time,
a relentless tide,
crashing against shores
of doubt,
it stands, unyielding.
brazen, bold,
a fierce current,
sweeping all before you.
it's brash like fire,
flames dancing
in the twilight,
unpredictable,
casting shadows
on... – by Joe Strickland | 8 Views added 3 months ago
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stumbling,
he tries flight,
but his weak legs
can't hold him.
he crashes to earth,
a fragile bird
with broken wings,
dreams of soaring
shattered.
he tried to run
when he couldn't even walk.
but goddamn,
i respect... – by Joe Strickland | 5 Views added 3 months ago
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