Author: Jared A. Conti

memento mori

| Jared A. Conti

pacing ‘round the parking lot

still

with white snow

ball bearings

    making their move

tracks

bearing the weight

that which

they were never meant

 

my back against the building

mirrors yours

against the door

grimy with

schmutz, and dust

this window’s

reflection

into a bitter, torn up soul

 

a shell of its former self

superheroic fortress

solitude, alongside Superman

robots, yet you

are no longer the hero

and one I could never be

 

so again I walk away

deep in thought, hands

deep in pockets

fiddling as I get my bearings

a worrying

balancing act

one forever alone

 

the other

Advertisements

Two-Step

| Jared A. Conti

Two-Step

 

from Homelands

a Traveling Tales of Waybackwhen book

 

What a tangled, mangled

web they weave

dancing

with the dewdrops,

mirroring universes

reflected

in each others’ eyes.

 

Hung up on the harangue,

breath catching

the sticky

sweaty stench

suffocating

beneath the spinning

twirls and dips

however harmless and halting.

 

Music

strums the heartstrings

and it triggers

something else…

primal

that which

needs to feed

waiting patiently

black widow

wearing white

hourglass

is but a mask.

Hot Pursuit

| Jared A. Conti

Hot Pursuit

 

from Metro

a Traveling Tales of Waybackwhen book

 

The cold

does not bother him.

 

Etched into his bones

as the emptiness

resides there.

It has found

a home, to languish in.

 

It is where the heart is:

to have

and to hold

as it bleeds out

bridging fate and fiction.

What once

they shared

wrested between,

gate forever closing the gap.

 

Snow having fallen

flakes like teardrops

make their own tracks as well.

Ties and ballast

holding the rails

in place

his purpose

a shape.

 

Parallel lives

lines that will no longer

cross,

but that one

once he catches up.

Penned In

| Jared A. Conti

Penned In

 

from Homelands

a Traveling Tales of Waybackwhen book

 

Cock-a-doodle

how do you do?

Rooster, fair weather

shaking his tail feathers

strutting his stuff

never enough

that comb on top

preening, scheming

non-stop.

Rudest of dudes

leads his brood.

 

“with a
cluck-cluck
 here, and a
clack-clack
 there, here a
cluck
 there a

clack
 everywhere a
cluck-clack

 

cluck-clack

cluck-clack

cluck-clack”

 

chicken run,

racing down the tracks.

 

Which came first?

The ‘lectric or the lights?

Boxcars, larders laden

gently laid in

a mistake to break

a few eggs for

omelets.

 

Yard bull

the big shake

seeing red

busting heads

toe-to-toe

with hobos.

 

All the while

the wily fox stalks

over in the henhouse

picking up chicks

yip-yapping

yadda-yadda-yadda

jaws flapping

gotta gotta gotta

Autumn Retreat

| Jared A. Conti

Reds and oranges

joined the chorus

skish and crunch

listened to the leaves

beneath the feet

of those that

forge the forest floor.

 

Ogethan pondered on

his path marked out for him

map, yellowed

at the edges

like calendar pages

falling

as time went by

quicker

and quicker

with the dying light of day.

 

Sharpe, Garth Addison, Jones…

…Lynnae.

 

Cheery cherry

pit in his stomach, turned

grew dense

caught up in

lives of little sparrows

and breathed

chest,

too narrow

inhaled the crisp

cool air, breathed

out a sigh of relief

and his heart

fluttered

migrated farther

and farther

how much more the Lord cared for thee.

…of Happiness

| Jared A. Conti

The flock of fifteen

or so, blue birds, Jays

across the field

and that of my vision.

 

In twos and threes

and struggling singles

making their way

to winter over

James Brown road way.

Prayers for the Order to Our Houses

| Jared A. Conti

After the living room shake-up

the pleading fight

to watch

“just one more show.”

The brushing of the teeth

lasted less than I care for

gummies and two Batman phonics readers

the long I and U

sounding suspiciously

like a Bugs Bunny cartoon.

 

Say it with me now.

 

After the bedroom shake-up

the pleading fight

to read

“just one more story.”

The gnashing of the teeth

lasted longer than I care for.

 

After the noodle song

which was first composed

from the front seat

during the witching hour

(expertly timed to the latest breakdown)

a tune, incorporating

long vowels of its own,

yet never mentions noodles.

 

Say it with me now.
Nah, we’ll not go into that nonsense.

 

Then come the prayers,

say them with me now:

 

We pray for Harrison

We pray for Mommy

We pray for Daddy

And we pray for baby Ida Mae

 

We pray for all of Harrison’s friends

all of Mommy and Daddy’s friends

and all of Ida Mae’s friends

 

We pray for Grammy and Bop-Bob’s house

Poppy and Julie’s house

Gumpy and NiNi’s house

And we pray for our house at North Hall

 

Last comes the freestyles:

 

Heavenly Father, thank You for this day.

We especially pray for Mommy

for NiNi…

…and Gumpy.

Yes, Harrison, Gumpy, too.

…and the 3Ds

…and George

 

…and GiGi.

Call for Submissions: “Fazed”

| Jared A. Conti

Think I”ve got just the poem!

EPIGRAPH PRESS

EPIGRAPH PRESS is currently hosting an open call for submissions for our first issue, “Fazed.”

Submissions close Monday, October 1st at midnight (PST) with a projected release date in October 2018.

Faze: (v.) disturb or disconcert (someone).

What fazes you? We’re looking your darkest and most eclectic imagery, whether it’s Sharp Objects-esque or related to our current political state, in the forms of:

  • Poetry
  • Short Stories
  • Artwork
  • Photographs
  • Essays or Articles

We are interested in submissions that are multidimensional and subvert the horror genre while humanizing our deepest fears.

We encourage:

  • surrealism, science fiction, mystery, thriller, and satire.
  • Creative submissions and artistic interpretations
  • Works that combine and play with language (English works that intertwine other languages are encouraged).

DEADLINE TO SUBMIT: Send submissions for “Fazed” to epigraphpress@gmail.com by no later than midnight on Monday, October 1. We will respond to your submissions via email.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

For poetry, please submit 1 – 3…

View original post 270 more words

Illinois, by India LaPlace

| Jared A. Conti

This is some good stuff here.

Silent Motorist Media

Illinois

by India LaPlace

36530567_10155458499746056_5730413076482621440_n

We drove through Illinois once.
Actually, we were driving home to Utah,
From Huntsville, Alabama.
You were leaving me.
Not leaving me, really.
That wasn’t fair.
You were being deployed to South Korea.
I had to wait it out until the army said that I could come too.
I told everybody how sad I was,
How much I would miss you.
My heart was aching,
It had never felt so heavy
And I wanted to tear it out of my chest.
But it was aching because I knew I wasn’t in love
And I didn’t know how to leave.

This was real.
Legal.
And I had made a mistake when I signed those papers.

I was nearly four in the morning when we finally stopped.
The hotel was shitty,
But we were exhausted.
You always talked about how you could drive for hours on a road…

View original post 502 more words