Daily Citadel: 12/04/2022 - 12/10/2022

12/04/2022

Welcome to the Glass Citadel! This week, you can expect a different poem every day. I can think of no better way to begin Glass Citadel Poetry than to dive head first into creation. Thank you for reading, and be sure to follow to stay up to date.

12/05/2022

Instagram; "The Boat"

There was a boat floating down the

creek. It was dinghy, and small, 

and its passengers had all already

jumped overboard.


So it wound its way beneath the 

canopy, fading with the twilight.

It descended into a world it could

not believe.


It beached on the bank between

some boulders and trees. And

there it sat.

As the moon rose

and then fell.

As the sun rose

and then fell.


And again, and again, and again.

Its wood was weathered 

by termites and squirrels,

chewed and clawed so that

it could never sail again.


But that’s okay.

Just because it is beached, and just

because it was made to tread the lakes 

and oceans, does not mean the boat 

hates the forest.

 

It loves it. 

 

As the water dried up, and the forest 

consumed the boat more and more, 

it gave itself willingly to the animals

and the plants it had come to love. 

 

When the boat was beached, its story 

was never over: it had only just begun.

Twitter; "I spoke to some flounders..."

I spoke to some flounders yesterday:

They weren’t too happy.


I tried to explain homonyms,

And that it wasn’t an insult but rather 

a coincidence: 

They didn’t buy it. 


I guess I see their point;

I mean, could you imagine if the word

Failure also meant human?

Like, it’s a separate definition,

But would you ever really separate it 

in your head? 


From now on, call them Dounts. 

That’s what they told me to say.

12/06/2022

Instagram; "The Blueprint"

Paper clips. Thread and needle. Scotch 

tape. Nails. Staples. A disused washcloth. 

                                 — The Heart will be put 

                                 back together, again.

Twitter; "Somewhere, a child mourned..."

Somewhere, a child mourned

their driveway chalk masterpiece

as winter came without mercy.

 

And when the snow cleared the next day,

it melted to water and flowed until 

the person the child drew was crying.

 

At least the crying child did not feel alone.

 

Tomorrow, the child, with their chalk,

will begin the process all over again.

12/08/2022

Instagram; "The Reflection and The Shadow Talk"

As I stand before the mirror,

my reflection

                            rises and argues

with my shadow. 

 

     “Which one is the real one?”

they argue endlessly. 

                                             Neither 

of them ever make a point

of addressing me, as if they

couldn’t see. 

Twitter; "Red"

Red

from the new Sun’s glow

comes through the trees

like

an old best friend.

 

We greet each other.

I smile,

and ask ‘just where the hell 

you’d been?’

 

I think you give a little shrug,

or at least the best a color could.

You say ‘the night’s are getting longer.

Just the time of the year,

or something.’

I guess that’s okay.


You say ‘the clouds are coming’

and that you have

to go.

I say ‘you just got here.’

You say ‘I know.’

 

‘You better be here tomorrow.’

The red just laughs and says

‘I will.’

 

The colors get subdued. 

Red is gone,

and the sky is now

just blue. 

 

Just blue.

12/09/2022

Instagram; "Ivory Tower"

You sit in your Ivory Tower

and ignore the mob of

elephants down below.

 

“Barbaric!” “Monster!”

ring the cries from their

trumpet-trunks, a symphony

of righteous indignation.

 

From the Gates of Ivory

come all the worst ideas.

 

Next year, you’ll just use marble

and pray the statues don’t wake.

Twitter; "All the Meters Below"

The rain always seems to pour

the hardest when the sky was

the sunniest only a moment before.

 

     Sometimes the clouds 

     don’t even bother at all.

 

And you rarely hear your voice

when you’re talking except when 

you’re looking for what’s wrong.

 

     But yelling at change to change

     won’t change a thing at all.

 

So join up with the tide;


roll with the waves (and the punches)

and stay above the water

no matter the depth.

 

     All the meters below don’t

     matter when you’re trying to float.

 

Don’t let the clock tell the time

when you can see how it flies

for yourself when you try.

 

     An alarm doesn’t tell you

     how to live, only when to start.

 

Start living now.

12/10/2022

Instagram; "An Apple"

                                                            falls

          and smashes

                                       hard 

                                                   against the

 

             g       r      o     u      n       d.

 

The worm that’s inside

slithers out and then cries 

For its home

                           lies in pieces

                                                       before it.

 

It can’t repair it

          (worms don’t have hammers).

Worms also don’t have insurance.

 

The late bird then comes by

and spies with its eyes

the little sad worm

crying over its home.

Just this once,

despite the aphorism,

the bird gets the worm

because good things come

to those who wait

(for tragedy to do the brunt of the work). 

Twitter; "When it Rains"

When it rains that’s just

A cloud crying 

Because the wind went and

Blew it 

Far from its home

And it’s over our hills it just

Don’t understand. 

 

The clouds hate the wind 

Because they just cannot 

Resist,

Though they insist.