Featured Poet -Jackie Chou

Featured Poet - Jackie Chou

RED LEAVES


Red leaves fall like sliced-up hearts

Bloodying the rain-wet sidewalk

Against the cold my crossed-arm guards


To the base sparrows I give my regards

At my lone figure they appear to gawk

Red leaves fall like sliced-up hearts


Life deals me many unfortunate cards

Of my failures the wind seems to talk

Against the cold my crossed-arm guards


Pursuing stardom in obscure arts

At my ideas the mainstreamers balk

Red leaves fall like sliced-up hearts


Hanging around a group of bards

My mere ink on paper I try to hawk

Against the cold my crossed-arm guards


For these rough streets I lack the smarts

So back to the care home I walk

Red leaves fall like sliced-up hearts

Against the cold my crossed-arm guards



THE TORMENTING VOICES


I try walking away

from your serpentine voice,

snaking its way into my core,

but walking away isn't enough.


I envision an endless sidewalk,

miles and miles of concrete road,

stretching out like chewing gum,

and still,

I would not be far enough from you,

from the torments

that you make me feel.


Your words cling to me,

like a cloak I cannot shed,

no matter where I go

on this futile journey,

where all I want to do

is to run and run,

until you're no longer with me.


CHRISTMAS SONG


Christmas arrives without any cheer

The hours of an ill-spent day linger

Like rain clouds my eyes fill with tears


No sleigh bells from Santa do I hear

Nor the harmonic voices of carol singers

Christmas arrives without any cheer


Alone I am with the snow globe deer

So close to the real thing this ringer

Like rain clouds my eyes fill with tears


I think of days when we clinked our beers

Saccharine drinks made with ginger

Christmas arrives without any cheer


With shrill laughter my enemies jeer

Of my suffering they are the bringers

Like rain clouds my eyes fill with tears


My heart pulsates with fear

Of plans laid down by God's fingers

Christmas arrives without any cheer

Like rain clouds my eyes fill with tears



ON THE BAKERY PATIO


The pigeons stop by only for the crumbs

Pecking at a fallen cake by my feet

The ground speckled with blackened gums


No one is out at this time but the bums

This lounge chair my permanent seat

The pigeons stop by only for the crumbs


Dreaming day and night with no qualms

I've become a fixture on the street

The ground speckled with blackened gums


To this solitude I've become numb

There's nobody I'm here to meet

The pigeons stop by only for the crumbs


Some look at me as if I am dumb

Walking everywhere in the cold and heat

The ground speckled with blackened gums


The feasting birds seem anything but glum

Though they cannot taste the sweet

The pigeons stop by only for the crumbs

The ground speckled with blackened gums

ABOUT JACKIE

Jackie is a poet with schizoaffective disorder. Her work is inspired by her difficult mental health issues. Her two collections of poetry, Finding My Heart in Love and Loss, and The Sorceress are published by cyberwit.

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