Charmed Chaos
Musings on Life, Love, and Linguine-Poetry & Writing
On Love, Death, and Hurricanes
Hurricane
I’m sorry I woke you up
in the middle of the night to eat ice cream,
but the hurricane is here and now the power is out
and I don’t know what to do with all the food,
it’s going to rot and start to smell
please wake up now
there’s not one single ice cube to be had
to cool a glass of sweet tea
what I wouldn’t give
for an ice cold glass of tea right now,
with the outside of the glass
sweating in the oppressive humid air
or hell, maybe a beer because
I am really stressed out
about this damn hurricane.
Death
No one lives after taking 20 hits of acid
but you did and I watched over you all night
while you rambled on about nonsensical things
and worried myself sick about whether
you would live or die
you didn’t tell me
what you were going to do
and back then I was so naive, so good
still innocent to the ways of men
with all their talk dressed in Sunday best
that was really hiding the devil within
and yet we made it until morning,
me the watchful protector, you the crazed musician
and finally at last you settled and slept
and I knew enough time had gone by
that you wouldn’t die and I wouldn’t be alone
to live with your death but yes,
death eventually came for you
you had been chasing it for so long
and death finally said, “Okay, you win, let’s go.”
Love
I can’t believe you stood
in the kitchen and screamed
You are a nymphomaniac
and the windows were all open
for it was a hot summer night
and the neighbors probably heard
every word of the argument
while the men in the neighborhood
kept thinking to themselves-
Man, are you out of your mind,
but yes you were at the time
because you had been through
some really tough times
and now here I was
having the audacity
to love you
at the very same moment
a part of your life just ended.
©2020 Linda Lee Lyberg
dVerse Poets Pub: MTB The Death Sentence Amaya is asking us to write up to three one sentence poems with the following rules: Rule #1-The poem must tell a story in one sentence. Rule #2- The poem must explore the theme of ‘the end of civilization as we know it.’ And lastly, there is one more hidden rule that must be followed if your poem is to be a “death sentence” in its pure form: it must be improvised.
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Charmed Chaos 
What excellent examples of two rambling poems of disaster… two very precise examples of worlds coming apart that seems to be able to happen for real.
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Thank you Bjorn!
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Like me, you’ve written about what you know, Linda, and given me an insight into your personal Armageddons, although I do know what it’s like to have power cuts. We get them too, usually unexpectedly, when there are no storms! I really felt the ‘love’ poem.
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Thank you so very much Kim. That’s wild about the power cuts, but I recall seeing that on the series- The Crown, which is one of my faves.
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I like your references to all that melting ice-cream in the first poem and what the man in the street must have been thinking in the third. They seemed to go together.
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Thank you Frank.
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Each of these packs such a punch, Linda. I can feel the emotional reverberations from them.
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Thank you Lisa.
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Kudos for doing three excellent poems. LOVE was my favorite; somehow it really resonated with me. Next I dug DEATH, full of empathy, innocence and truth.
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Thank you Glenn!
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sounds like you’ve had a pretty tough life or are a most creative writer … these resonate and sound so real!
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Thank you Kate. They are.
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Wow Linda, I’m wondering if the ‘you’ is the same ‘you’ across the board. If so, what a wild ride.
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Thanks Amaya. Yes, the same ‘you’ across the board. And for sure, a wild ride.
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I really like all of these.
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Thank you!
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I think I like the first poem best. It has an opening line that grabs the attention and sustains the interest through the ice cream and the hurricane.
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Thank you Jane. I followed the rules with no edits other than spelling. I enjoyed this stream of consciousness exercise.
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I’m rereading Ulysses at the moment. Stream of consciousness seems quite appropriate at present.
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This is an applaudible read. I am clapping. Bravo!
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Thank you so much!
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What is spectacular is you managed to deal with 3 serious episodes in such a light-heartedly manner that it reveals your great sense of humor. Humor takes a lot of talents, Linda, great job!
Hank
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Thank you kindly.
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Reblogged this on The Reluctant Poet.
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You have mentioned that you are the actual voice in all three poems, I picture the other character as being the same man in each of them as well, making this a rather tight sound cycle that dances back upon itself so poignantly, a threat from a storm, the thirst in the midst of rain, a longing for thirst to be quenched. Then waiting and being present to watch one come back from the brink of death. Then an argument and the freely given loosening of the hold of vengenace and counterpoint despite the conflict in the third poem, this is truly Love, even in the recognition that a part of the person who had come back from the brink, had actually lost a part of himself,, and in the process, so did she in a way. This is lovely Linda. I am going through the convolutions of a divorce, amicable, sane, and incredibly sad… but this cycle speaks to me profoundly. all my moorings and paradigms are shifting, it seems the only thing left is to try to care for each other, all of our each others. this is inside my head. so well done.
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Thank you so much for your thoughtful words. My heart breaks for you and what you are going through. Be good to yourself.
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Love these, Linda Lee!
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Thank you!
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It’s amazing the way this prompt allows for a never ending flow of images, intense, significant stories that need to be released, yet somehow the emotions remain stoic in the background. That is how these three pieces made me feel. Just so wonderfully done, Linda.
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Thank you Mish!
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