A Tribute to Lou Reed

March 2, 1942 – October 27, 2013

I wish more people
Were vicious like Lou
We should all strive to be
As intolerant too

Lou was one of a kind
His tunes may be imitated
But his heart, soul, and mind
Can't be duplicated

Still, it would be nice
If we all could just be
So vicious like Lou
And just let others be

Love,
Tempest

No Quarter

Note: I am currently in quite a low place emotionally, and this poem is what was inspired by the 100 Word Song challenge. If the only thing you have to say is to tell me that I "shouldn't" feel how I'm feeling, then kindly fuck right off. I am feeling how I'm feeling, and I don't have the patience to argue with the sort who wants to sanctimoniously lecture me about it.

I've found in my long and often difficult life that the people who want to tell a sad or angry person to stop feeling that way have gleaned some sort of uncomfortable truth from said individual's work. I've got some bad news for you, Sunshine. Life is not always a happy place, and there are some for whom it's always a struggle. If you can acknowledge that with an open mind, read on. Otherwise, go here.

No Quarter

When you are

Middle aged

Mentally ill

And

Badly Broke

You realize

That there are no

Opportunities

For those like you

To triumph

Ever

You stop trying

Because you can never triumph

You stop sharing

Because the only thing that happens

To the words you share

Is that they are torn down

Love is meant for beauty queens

And opportunities

Are only given

To those who meet certain qualifications

Agreed upon by a shallow

Youth-oriented

Society

I learned the truth at seventeen

But fueled by denial

I hoped that the bleeding hearts and artists

Would embrace me

It never happened

~Tempest~

Wasted Moments

Wasted Moments

Warning: Post contains NSFW image (nonsexual nudity)

You told me you didn't care

About the size

Of my thighs

That you loved me fat or thin

But my dear, you couldn't win

Against hate so internalized

You said you wanted to see me

But I turned out the lights

We could only make love at night

I despised the body I had

Taught from day one that fat is bad

What I am just wasn't all right

I wasted so much time

Hating myself

Wanting to be someone else

I regret those wasted moments

Blinded by internal torment

Instead of celebrating ourselves

My body is what it is

~Yeris~

Dedicating this to my husband, who will be gone 11 years this February

An amazing photographer who sees the beauty in various body types

This is the body type that I have, and this woman actually looks quite a bit like a younger version of me. 

I never hated other fat people. 

I never used to be able to say the word "fat" without thinking of it as an insult.

I so feared being seen as fat that I did some very damaging things to myself in my younger years to stay thin, although I was never really thin.

With less time and more kids, I became heavier.

This happens to a lot of us, and it isn't something we should be ashamed of. It's just nature.

I only learned in the past few years just how much damage the diet industry does to people. They pull in billions of dollars every year selling shame and self-hate. I refuse to be part of it any more. I thank the friends who introduced me to Health at Every Size and Size Acceptance.

These days I like to look at photos of larger women, either nude or in beautiful clothes, to help remind myself that there's nothing wrong with the body I have.

This is one of my favorite blogs:

Fat Girl Posing

A Likely Epitaph

Fun tombstone found here

A Likely Epitaph

Here lies Wanda Bates

The lady who waits

She didn't get what she was wantin'

So she's comin' back a-hauntin'

~Wanda~

My Poetic Friends

 

Edgar, the Raven and I

Hang out in dark places

Sometimes with black cats

Sometimes with unquiet spirits

 

Visit the artist

 

Howard and I

Try to ignore the rats in the walls

As we search the eldritch lore

For inspiration for our work

 

 

Dylan and I

Feel the pain of our fellows

Sometimes too deeply

 

 

e.e. and i

try to remind the world

not to take itself

too terribly seriously

 

 

Christina and I

Escaped the goblin market

But cannot escape the pain

Of loves gone wrong

 

 

Though life may go wrong in so many ways

The words of my poetic friends

I'll have with me through all of my days

 

~Opal~

 

 

Daring By the Numbers

 

Daring By the Numbers

 

1

 

Some people think me daring

Though I never sailed the straits of Bering

Nor did I ever meet Mr. Behring

Or battle Mr. Goering

I might be prone to fits of swearing

If I slip on a ball bearing

I occasionally fish for lake herring

And spice up my writing with red herring

 

2

 

Do you believe yourself daring?

Your scrutiny is unsparing

You enjoy making people sad

Tearing down what makes them glad

Your attitude is very bad

I think you to be a cad

Who always follows the latest fad

Your meanness makes me mad

I'd like to set up nets of snaring

And feed you to the king herring

 

3

 

I

am not

sexy hot

or daring cool

I'm not a pepper pot

But I just might take you to school

Maybe you should go jump into the pool

You think you're a truly irresistible guy

I think you make yourself look like a fool

You get off on being cruel

Trapping hearts in your knot

Lord of misrule

caring not

soul rot

lie

 

~Tempest~

 



To My Father

 

To My Father

 

His name was Richard

He was a high school English teacher

He loved to work on cars

And motorcycles

He loved his wife and son and daughters

 

Its name is prostate cancer

It slowly stole away his life

Turning him into a shadow of his former self

But it never was able to take away

The love he had for his family

 

Or the love we have for him

 

~Wanda~

 

Richard Bates

September 10 1932 - August 28 2004