April 2020 PAD Chapbook Challenge Countdown Catch-Up: Time

Image by FelixMittermeier from Pixabay

you can't

stop the passage

of time flowing away

rushing into the distant past

heartbreaking memories leak from my eyes

when thoughts of pain become too much

tears form a misty veil

heart of glass breaks

last time

~cie~

NaPoWriMo 2020 Preview Poem: American Breakdown

Image by moonzigg from Pixabay

America, America, alas

the cracks in your facade are on display

how many dead when all has come to pass

how many dead because of the delay

addressing a disease that came to stay

you told us it would all be over soon

deluded jackass braying at the moon

~Sly~

Image copyright juliahenze @123rf.com

Sly and Snarky

notes

This Rhyme Royale was penned by my snarky political alter-ego Sly Fawkes with love to the village idiot currently occupying the White House--as much love as he deserves, anyway.

The prompt was to write a poem about my favorite birds. The bald eagle is one of my favorite birds. This one looks angry.

Come As You Are Party: Hiding in Plain Sight

Image by annca from Pixabay

I go through stretches of time where I tend to be very open about myself because I want to educate people about what it's like to live as someone who is seen as a pariah. By teaching people through my lived experience, I hope to open minds and hearts so that perhaps others won't have to be as lonely, ostracized, broken and broke as I've been.

I don't think it's worked very well. 

Sometimes I say "fuck it" and do it anyway, because maybe my words are what someone else needs to hear.

Sometimes I withdraw.

At this point, I'm withdrawing and restructuring.

I've decided that the Horror Harridans blog is, overall, a really stupid place to share my poetry. I've started publishing my poetry and sometimes submitting it to other places for potential publication. It's possible that readers think my poetry is pretty damn horrible, in which case it belongs on a blog called Horror Harridans. Like Trent Lane, I've been thinking about changing the name of the blog, but I'm not sure what I'd change it to just yet. Maybe just Team Netherworld Creations.

In any case, if you still have a burning desire to read my poetry, it can be found at--get ready for it--my poetry blog, which is currently called Dark Hearts Love Too.

If you appreciate reading the mental health stuff, it can be found at the Crazy Creatives Cheerleading Camp.

If you want to find out what's going on at the Grover Hotel, including cooking tips and products I'm selling and/or recommend, Good Stuff from Grover is where you want to be.

I'm still going to cross-post snippets on the Horror Harridans blog, but if the snippets are all you want, you'll probably prefer the official Naughty Netherworld Press blog.

If book reviews are your thing, head for The Ornery Book Emporium.

For product reviews, affiliate marketing, and things of that nature, head up to Aunt Cie's Attic.

If you want to read about philosophy and such, try One Love.

Maybe you just want animal posts. In that case, you can follow along at either Animal Anarchy or Aww the Animals.

Maybe you just want pleasant pictures with no bitching. In that case, you are looking for Cie's Wonderful World.

Want nothing but shitposts? Then That's So Netherworld is where you need to be!

This is something I wrote back in 2014. 

My writing may seem like so much weird shit to those who happen upon it. It may seem the product of overactive imaginations, oversensitive hearts, people who can’t hack reality but whose sober thought processes conjure up scenarios way weirder than any drug trip.

That may be how my work appears to the casual observer.

My stories are actually saying:

The stuff that’s going on in the world hurts me so damn bad to witness.

I just want to make a world where things are maybe a little crazy, often a whole lot of fun that I'm never able to have in reality, and where everything turns out okay in the end.

If that’s crazy, then I'm proud to be crazy. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Real Cie

(aka Cie Cheesemeister)

aka The Ornery Old Lady

Head Buttmunch in Charge

Team Netherworld

A Pot of Poetic Gold

All right, it's nowhere near as good as finding a pot of gold, but from March 17 until March 21, 2020, you can pick up the Ornery Old Lady's first book of poems absolutely free. But don't wait because, on March 22, the price returns to 99 cents.

Enjoy varied verses from melancholy to wacky in this virtual treasure trove of rhyme and free verse. Grab your copy today!

Why would you wait? Getting a good thing free is the second best thing to finding a pot of gold. And if you decide that the Ornery Old Lady's thing really isn't your thing, well, you spent exactly nothing to make that discovery, so you still come out ahead!

Ornery Owl

Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors on Pixabay

Heeding Haiku: Raindrops on Rose Senryu

Photographer Unknown

raindrops on a rose

rain mingles with fallen tears

raindrops on my face

~cie~

Enlightenment Senryu

seek enlightenment

inside or outside myself

sometimes fragile peace

~cie~

note

There was a wall hanging depicting the picture above in the Buddhist Temple in Boulder. I used to enjoy going for Sunday meditation, although parking down there sucked. Then I had to start working nights again, and it just wasn't possible. Currently, these Haiku are my form of meditation.

Many Temples Senryu

Image by Little MiMi from Pixabay

so many temples

away from the daily stress

enlightenment here?

~cie~

notes

I don't want to spend too much time rambling on, but I want to give credit where credit is due. This poem was partly inspired by the prompt, of course, but also inspired by a line from the song She's Come Undone by The Guess Who, which pretty much sums up the way I've felt about things for most of my life.

I know that some people get comfort from religion and I'm not saying they can't. However, I never have. Religion never did anything except make me feel worse about how flawed I am. 

Further, people tend to conflate religion and spirituality. A lot of the time, I believe that there is a higher power and that the soul continues following the death of the body. I believe in the possibility of reincarnation. I don't need to believe in any specific deity or dogma to hold the aforementioned beliefs. 

The Norwegian black metal musician Gaahl said that God is not in some building, God is in nature and God is in each of us. I wish we would extend kindness to one another's souls rather than being hateful to one another for our external differences.

Sometimes I reckon I'm just fucked and there is nothing but a life of pain followed by nothing. That possibility just makes me feel worse, so I try not to entertain it for too long.

Too many mountains, and not enough stairs to climb
Too many churches and not enough truth
Too many people and not enough eyes to see
Too many lives to lead and not enough time

 It's too late
She's gone too far
She's lost the sun

She's come undone

Carpe Diem Shikoku Island Pilgrimage: Kanjizai-ji Senryu

Image Source

I wonder if you

are there, and can you help me

I am too far gone

~cie~

notes

Kanjizai-Ji is situated in the town called Ainan and is devoted to Yakushi Nyorai or the Buddha of Medicine and Healing. He is still one of the most important Buddhas especially during rituals that are performed at funerals because he is also the Buddha who leads the Buddhists to Nirvana.

Heeding Haiku: Senryu for Sadness

Image Source

never leaving me

I carry you in my heart

sadness, my partner

~cie~

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Wednesday: White Chrysanthemum

White chrysanthemum

I look holding it straight

no dust at all

nothing can remain unchanged

all will become dust in time

~Basho & cie~

notes

The Hokku was written by Matsuo Basho (1644 - 1694). The Ageku was created by me.

Carpe Diem Shikoku Island Pilgrimage: Vulture Peak

Vulture Peak

view with reverence

standing strong against the sky

mighty Vulture Peak

~cie~

Carpe Diem Shikoku Island Pilgrimage: Sakura Temple

Sakura Temple, Shikoku Island

Sakura temple

I sang of cherry blossoms

when I was a girl

~cie~

notes

When I was in the fourth grade, we learned about Japan. We sang a little song about Sakura. These days I wonder if the school would have been accused of some sort of disrespect or cultural appropriation. I have trouble understanding how learning about other cultures is a bad thing. Shouldn't we try and understand each other? I guess I'm just too old to be "woke."