doubt 04/10/10

Doubt if you like, that the sun will rise
Doubt the oceans are wet or the deserts are dry
Doubt the floor is below and the sky is above
But never my child, should you doubt my love

Doubt a dropped rock will fall to the ground
Doubt that thunder makes a mighty sound
Doubt the waves that rock the sea
But doubt not my love's greater than infinity

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 04/09/10

no--you can't make me
you may as well have shouted it
your face said it all

©2010-Art Belliveau

senryu 04/08/10

buried in paper
struggling to dig myself out
hampered by red tape

©2010-Art Belliveau

writing is my release 04/07/10

writing is my release--
when
everything gets hard
when
everything gets confusing
when
everything gets frustrating
and
i reach that point of heat inside me

a heat so hot it turns water directly
into steam

the point where
i want to take the next whiney little voice
i hear and rip it out

when i get to the point of violence
i know it is time to write
cause that way no one gets
physically hurt
and
i can take those angry words
those hurt words
those words of rage and pain

now on paper
and
i can rip them up
or
i can shred them
or
i know--BURN THEM!
and
watch my dark emotions
vanish in the light of the fire
and
drift away
with
the smoke

©2010-Art Belliveau

Pocahontas 04/06/10

Pocahontas

something about this
leaves me cold
i want to like this
i want to like this as much
as i like the picture’s namesake
but i cannot
Pocahontas was wild and free
not stiff and posed
When the English came she was ten
not a woman grown
She was the full blooded daughter
of an Algonquan chief
not a one-quarter Chactaw

where is the flavor
of this life so lived?
the amazing life
is frozen, amberlike
draining the life
from the legend

©2010-Art Belliveau

Weaponized Words 04/05/10

in the corner of the room
the young girl huddles
shoulders shaking
from the force of her
silent sobs

the bruises she sustained
cannot be seen
they are not physical

the other girls
have been at it again
repugnant rumors
poisonous prattle
grotesque gossip

are the wounding words
even partially true?

it doesn't matter
not really

lies and truths
are both weapons
in the endless war
of junior high

©2010-Art Belliveau

historic mistakes 04/04/10

We all know what Santayana said:
"Those who do not learn
from history
are doomed to repeat it."
And it sounds good.
And it makes sense.
To a point.
But he could have been more
specific:
What good does it do
for me to learn from
historical mistakes when
I cannot seem
to learn from
my own?

©2010-Art Belliveau

Partly Here

my body is here
just a foot or two
away from you
on this comfy old couch
in our living room

but my mind
is far away
in the book i am reading
in the poem i am writing
in the thoughts i am thinking

and i only get pulled back
completely here with you
when you call me from
my reveries
and force me to pay attention
to what i have
instead of
the things i never will

©2010-Art Belliveau

Swimming Laps after School

water
the universal solvent
takes my pain
my anger
my frustration
my uncertainty
and dissolves them
as i swim my laps
after teaching
all day
my sweat
and my tears
mingle with
the over-chlorinated
pool water
creating
the best
solution

©2010-Art Belliveau

Sicko 04/01/10

my head is stuffed
my nose is runny
this April Fool's Day
does not seem funny

i will try to write
a deeper poem later
so please, cut me a break,
don't be a hater

©2010-Art Belliveau