Tuesday, May 21, 2019

sleeping beauty

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i see the street sweep
is here
it is early and more
needles will be dropped after
his routing - i love heroin - what a
novel
it makes of a city, what character
characters
it displays along
with the jealousies of all those
perfect people
not partaking
"recovery is not as fulfilling"
beauty 
last spoken

"she is just sleeping" says the street sweep 

...........

bread soaked in blood
 can take one to heaven, true, true but....

heroin's wait time is of
shorter duration

the street sweep was blinded
by the light
said the local dispatch
 his start time will need re-
adjustment

"but before the sun sets on her sixteen birthday, she shall prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die"....die, die, she shall die.....


bkmackenzie 2019
copyrighted

dverse poets.....
poetry pantry
photo Mary Frances
quote from Sleeping Beauty

33 comments:

  1. A heavy poem. Liked the line that though the sweeper goes through more needles will drop... recovery not as rewarding as the fix.

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    1. recovery comes to very few unfortunately...bkm

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  2. Wow, it's like a fever dream, powerful and fragmented. I really like the parallels you draw here.This is a fascinating response to the image.

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  3. This is a dark riff on Sleeping Beauty, Barbara, steeped in night life, heroin (not a hero or a heroine to be seen) and its shorter wait time for heaven. I feel sorry for the street sweep.

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    1. recovery actually works for few of them...how sad...bkm

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  4. Oh... this is such a powerful poem... the Sleeping Beauty in the image of that overdose, the world has too many sleeping beauties these days, and too few princes bringing Narcan

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    1. yes my son works at a grocery store in Portland OR...a women died right in front of the store...her last words were..."where is my purse"...this is our America...bkm

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  5. Holy shit this is extremely powerful Barbara! A punch to the gut! WOW! ...and sadly, the tragic horror show continues. During my rock & roll band days of the 60’s and 70’s I lost several bandmates (friends) to Horse. So sad! They were weak, not bad prople. Here is a poetic tribute I wrote to one of them: http://www.image-verse.com/battling-the-dragon

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    1. i will read the poem...some of our major cities are some plagued with this curse...i was thinking Seattle here...what a beautiful city what a curse on our nation...so, so sad...bkm

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  6. This was...it just stopped me cold. Those images are still burning in my head, particularly the needles yet to drop in the street.

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    1. thank you...so many cities this could be...to many sleeping beauties...bkm

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  7. This is dark and powerful! Unfortunately recovery comes to a few amount of people.

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    1. yes few make it....sad especially for the families of those...bkm

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  8. So sad, so chilling. "She is just sleeping." The long sleep. Sigh. Poignant and powerful, Barbara.

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    1. Seattle was my inspiration for this one...bkm

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  9. This gave me the chills. A slice of real life these days, unfortunately. A long sleep indeed, and so devastating for her family.

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    1. Seattle was my inspiration for this one...bkm

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  10. A dark and disturbing image, and a sad reality.

    Elizabeth
    https://soulsmusic.wordpress.com/2009/01/24/bear-seasons/

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  11. An intense, powerful piece. Brilliant writing. And that closing quote … chilling.

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  12. Intense... the references are beautifully drawn and the reality dark and painful.

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  13. A very sad tale. The battle was fought, no winner left standing. If it doesn't get you today, it will wait.

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  14. oh wow! a poem of stark beauty.
    i remembered the scourge over here in the 70's, the junkies mostly smoked them, or 'chased' it, and some do use the needles.

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    1. yes it seems to be so much more accepted now...that is so sad...bkm

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  15. Some forget that the older fairy tales can be extremely dark. I'm entranced by how this piece really works that classic dark but is fully modern. As Bjorn said, there are too few princes ready with Narcan these days. I know in Philadelphia there's a growing movement for more people to carry them, which is hopeful.

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    1. it is sad that we have come to this as a human race....i can not say what the answer is...bkm

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  16. Australia is the biggest ice user in the world.Cheap and accessible. It is out of control...so many people are using it. Violent crimes on the rise are the result. Terrible scourge on the world. Good to address these realities in poetry.

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    1. yes poetry is not all love or sweetness...there are shadow sides to everything...thank you...bkm

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  17. Sad indeed, and I expect it's the truth of it.

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