Poetry Collection
A collection of some of my favorite poems from throughout the years.
Art of Living
The young businessman floats home,
coming of age in his briefcase.
His smooth hand brushes the doorknob.
Sleep clouds his head.
A coat climbed a ladder that day,
then sipped a cup of sinister.
The businessman was stationary, parched,
strewn carelessly on the kitchen chair.
Heavy clouds hung above.
Coats on a coat rack,
bodies filling cubicles.
Far from dignified and approaching delirious.
Wrinkles arrive without warning,
and youth is tucked away.
Alarms sound at the sight of morning dew
while birds force out a tune.
Some dress shoes march out the threshold
and into burning flames.
Threads of hair disintegrate,
leaving patches behind.
Seats crack from repeated weight,
working for countless hours.
Few eyes are allowed to close
to rest a useless body.
Once Mine
Saying goodbye to those years of mine,
to unspoken words and fears, all mine.
Watching them burn, the old songs I’d shout.
They’d float with the wind near tears of mine.
Trying to conjure new, fancy thoughts,
thoughts that are coherent, clear, just mine.
Waiting to fill my exhausted heart;
sentiments once so sincere, not mine.
Mourning the loss of a smaller self.
Its limp figure disappears, once mine.
The Perfect Woman
I can smile oh so sweetly
and will my waist away
I can fix my hair how you like it
and prepare you a nice filet
I can sit in the parlor looking dainty
and read words on a page
I can withhold from voicing any thoughts that arise
and delay the symptoms of old age
I can laugh at all your jokes
and engage in your empty conversation
I can let you play God as you please
and fake interest in your indignation
I can keep my ankles crossed
and ensure my legs are void of hair
I can tousle your locks while batting my eyes
and guarantee my complexion remains fair
I can sway my hips following goodbyes
and clean up after your mess
I can walk in heels throughout the day
and wear a skin tight dress
I can paint my cheeks a whimsy pink
and make my mouth a vibrant red
I can dress in tempting attire
and welcome you to my bed
What’s mine is yours, my dear,
I await your wishes
I’ll just be in the kitchen, now,
Finishing up your dishes!
Contemporary Ghazal
Curtains open, lights switch on, and another calendar box is marked off with red.
The modern day moves quickly.
A well-dressed business man descends his grand staircase as his first step towards the office.
He clutches the keys to his Tesla, hoping his wife has yet to see the scratch on its right corner.
The young grocery store manager rubs the remaining sleep from her eyes as she unlocks sliding doors.
She pulls her hair up, remembering her mother always said her face looked more appealing that way.
An old man lies curled up by a lamp post with his canine companion.
He dreams of clean sheets and the privilege of privacy.
A pink, sparkly alarm sounds in a pink, sparkly room.
A sleeping child conjures sweet thoughts of candy for breakfast.
A college student finally shuts the top to their computer.
Even with their eyes closed they see set theories and probability statistics.
Sneakers thump on urban concrete,
motivated by a fitness video gone viral.
In a haze of moments yet to come,
the modern day moves quickly.
Haiku
Promises are the sweetest kind of lie
Like cracks in stained glass
or a dying butterfly.
Persian Carpet
A patterned Persian carpet on a copper-colored floor.
A dusty detailed carpet resting right beside our door.
When foreign footsteps enter it’s what they’re sure to find:
our pretty Persian carpet that can captivate the mind.
A dusty detailed carpet resting right beside our door.
Carefully crafted in the East with details to explore
Our pretty Persian carpet, that can captivate the mind,
has a hypnotizing history and delicate design.
Crafted in the East with details to explore,
it’s collected countless stories since arriving on our shore.
With a hypnotizing history and delicate design,
our perfect Persian carpet has secrets in its lines.
Collecting countless stories once arrived on our shore,
remnants of songs still ring from its core.
Our perfect Persian carpet with secrets in its lines
shares family tales in its symbols and its signs.
Remnants of songs still ring from its core.
Foreign footsteps delight when they see it past our door.
Sharing family tales in its symbols and its signs:
our patterned Persian carpet on a copper-colored floor.