you got me going

i want to share with you something more, a line, a word, a turn of phrase that reminds you of me, of a time long ago, of the time when we were glad to see each other, the time before the storms, or being in the midst of one together, we were thunder and lighting rattling the windows down, no one believes me when i speak of you, they thought you were a figment of my imagination, so let it be, let that time be just mine, and yours, just for me, just for you, behind closed doors and shuttered windows, enclosed in a space of just us, no one understands, no one was really supposed to, we were only for each other, only for a time, and in that moment...that moment was forever.


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2018 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

summer showers

staring out the window, watching the sky. clouds move in sweeping arcs. rain comes down in blinding sheets. don't care what comes out of your mouth today. don't care what sounds you have uttered before. open wide, point upward, fill yourself up. tell all the travelers i'm dead. turn around, listen to the noise, escape unscathed once more. when you think of love, do you think of me? thunder moves through unrepentant. you're the reason why i feel at all. striking light across my eyes. you unfold sideways waiting for a reply that won't come anymore.


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2017 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Location Not Available Yet

I am located on the other side of the door.
You, yawn, scratch and wonder what next.
We are not sharing secrets over tea, since you remember the before-time. You knew me way back when...You talk so much I've stopped listening, that doesn't stop you from continuing your incessant chatter. I am careless with your memories. The thin rain has started to fall leaving a thin sheen over the afternoon. You plunder my thoughts with ginger-scented letters. Sugar on my tongue and madness consumes me for a spell. I am trying to put enough distance between my body and your touch, between your laughter and my want, between my words and your music. There is so little difference between us, space-wide. The glass of water had been sitting on the window ledge too long. How warm your skin tastes against my lips. The room hums with your breathing, it reminds me that I'm still alive, barely.

Answering the Question

I've been:
packing
drinking
watching women's soccer
making endless to do lists
resisting the urge to smoke again
huddling in bed waiting for a migraine to subside
getting my nails done in metallic purple
looking for an apartment
wishing it was Friday on a hungover Monday
raising my face to the rain on a hot humid day
remembering lost friends and lovers
mental note to pick up Pandora's prescriptions, buy her food, and clean her box
wanting, wanting, wanting to sit on a beach and watch the waves crash
resisting the urge to smash glass
stealing time with my journal to write
finding it's not enough
feeling empty staring at the blank page
careless with words
careless with time
watching the future with it's gaping maw opening wide
my tongue has gone dry
the song is stuck on pause skipping over the same word...want, want, want
the list continues endlessly stretching out unfolding down the street, getting wet under the summer rain.

Brash howls the nighthawk

Brash howls the nighthawk. Thin branches bend in a penitent way. Night sets in an unforgiving fashion. Fall asleep at the wheel while indigo visions tunnel me blind. We are never far from our true nature despite evidence to the contrary. Drama manuals are drawn up on crisp white linen sheets. Bedstead rules break while wearing maroon fingernail polish. Your sex is distracting me from ending things between us. Pylon pieces smash upon the hearthstone. If you happen to pass my life on the street, grab her and drag her home. I believe in terrible ghosts from strange places and the paper monsters that dangle from string. Your frailty skim my hands and I believe in my foolishness to make you burst into laughter. If you look out the window, a hovel burns down the stretch with licking flames. Your departure has left careless marks against my questions. Snail-slouching murmurs gather where raindrops have pooled. A metallic taste lingers on the tongue when there is talk of kinship. Thoughts hunker down; silence floats freely along an undercurrent.

*****
My thoughts:
One of the things I've been contemplating is the fine line between short versus long poems. This piece is an experiment of taking lines from shorter pieces and mixing them up together. Lewis gave me some decent feedback about the prose poems I submitted and I find the way these lines mash-up against each other working in a way I hadn't thought before. So if you recognize lines from earlier drafts you know why. Poets recycle, recycle, recycle to mine those gems.

****
All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2009 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Squint

It began with a blinding day and that's where it all started going wrong.
How often have I changed your mind? Oversize canvas bag slung over shoulder and rested upon a hip. Who's going to break the fall when the stars have slipped. The path of least resistance is catching up. Stutter stops the heart again. I wish I could wake up beside you. Let's go back to the start. Science and progress do not speak louder than the heart.

The second hand speeds up to catch up to the seconds. Through tinted windows there are odd shadows. She watches me move and I can't think straight. How often have you changed your mind? Your emotions echo across the space between us. A strong hand reaches over to give support. Wild hair curls around fingertips. Snail slouching whispers where rain has gathered. Nicks against the grain, initials carved in.

¿Que te importe que te ame, si tu no me quieres ya? Spinning words to find the proper sequence of events. Time is neither linear nor circular. Your departure has left careless marks against my questions. Apologies cannot erase being viciously unkind so I squint my eyes when I face the sky.


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2009 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

04.19.09

A paradigm shift betrays internal itineraries. The house felt empty with teeth. In dreams flowers grew long stems through an icy lake. Out of the thorns, calla lilies unfold. Lost in the ashes of time, cut space into the wider shadows. The veils sweep gently against the floor bathed in blue light.

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2009 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

04.18.09

If you happen to pass my life, grab her and drag her home. Just be careful with her claws, she may leave behind thin wounds. Thick round shoulder can bear larger burdens. The house burns down the street with licking flames. All the love falls down in spark ashes and cinder pieces.

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2009 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

04.17.09

Thin bare branches bend in a penitent way. The world owes us nothing on this day. I wonder if the questions fill your head. They say do it for fun and do it for the joy of it. What’s that like?

No need for words when the odd directions come indirectly. The city sets around me.


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2009 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

04.16.09

Drama manuals are drawn up on crisp white linen sheets. You want me to fuck him only so you can watch us. Break bedroom rules while wearing blue fingernail polish. Who left the light on, while I ran around? You left feeling less than perfect. Puzzle pieces smash to fit into the sentimental heart even though the shape has long since been changed.

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2009 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

04.15.09

Love will come through, wait at the crossroads with a snack and an umbrella. To escape from you, it comes in multiple waves of denial. There are layers of lies creating the illusion upon the wall, a shadow losing sleep over wasting time. The sands continue to sift through slotted eyes. Remember to pack sandwiches in case we get hungry.

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2009 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Publish Post

04.14.09

Cover her with compassion there is a war inside with a new broken song. All you worry about is how you are running out of time. Deadlines loom in the horizon. Drag out the seconds by repeating the secrets. The candle is burrowing a hole in your hand. Don’t write it down, the words may expand.

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2009 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

04.13.09

I envy the way you enjoy life so intensely. Can we trade skins and lay our burdens down at the foot of the bed? Everything stays the same in this letter to you. We’ve repeated patterns of words and anger and words and tears and words the same way for quite some time. Break apart the skull and glance in, I think something is jammed.

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2009 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

04.12.09

Her posture these days resembles a concave mirror in its distorted shape. A book of dissent sits behind yellow caution tape. Her anger resides in thin plank veneers beneath her skin. Tree rings encased by a textured bark. A serpent skin forgotten in the yellow laundry basket lies beside a satin shift. Push a cart among the temple ruins and hands will burn against the metal cage.

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2009 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.