Nicole Tasker Woods

Suck on unsound thorns and brandish rosy heads over me…

Five hundred bloody petals dance and quiver over me.

Arms stretch out and I spin to lift up towards the timid sun,

Spiral to Heaven, broken pencils hover over me.

Open hands cup and paddle through stars and milky way dark,

Knees bend and snap to feather kick the earth up over me.

Reeling up to the rising, toes drown in liquid crescent…

Dreaming through Beta blue, week-old fish bowls try to ground me.

Wish I could fall away, lose myself in timeless rapture,

Look up long enough to taste the rumors blushing over me.

Copyright © 2010 N.E. Tasker

Oh my  snowy New Englanders

I am envious of your snowy New Englander plans

As you are heading to snowy New England towns

For a snowy New England Christmas

Copyright © 2009 N.E. Tasker

It was left to dry
On the front door’s balcony
But an unexpected midnight storm
Of rain and rushing winds
Lifted it up and over the side
Violently thrashing as it flew
Through murky skies
Falling hard on the bushes below
Left soaking long enough
For snails to make their home
In the damp folds of water repellent fabric

Copyright © 2009 N.E. Tasker

Limited by worth and unconnected to this world

Related to nothing but the seed of purpose

Forget the rules and social initiations

Be yourself, be willing to grow

Expand

Find one thing that will not name you

Revel in it – whatever it is – do not fear it

Do not buy into acceptance

Approval is overrated, eccentricity is a lifelong staple

Revive

Breathe in criticism and spit out insurgence

Societal structures are mundane – step away

Go to introductory club meetings but strive not to fit in

Skip the buffet of what you should do

Curiosity

Find your expression, give it unbroken interest

Pull the bag off your shoulder full of missing needs

You never considered necessary and plunge your open hand

Wrap your fingers around who you were

Squeeze

Release the pulp of who you want to be

Invest in the sparks of unlikely inspiration

Refuse judgment and leave the looks behind

Honor your artist within and embrace the unlimited

Untamed

Copyright © 2009 N.E. Tasker

A lost parade of chances, marching in

To save the lefties, virgins all in red;

Untying timeless trials they can’t win,

Until estranged and socially unwed.

Distorted webs of lucid dreams stay trapped

In pot-luck buffets and one unlocked day:

Set free to taste the peace of nerves unsnapped;

To revel over high school years that stray.

A dangerous divorce from happy past,

Unbearable for future calls to home;

With peers, alliances aren’t meant to last—

And when deterred by friends, you’re on your own.

When breaking ties that mean to bind for life,

You’re bound to die choking on dated strife.

Copyright © 2009 N.E. Tasker

Is it wrong to say I deserve this and mean it?

Is it unethically insane to take something that you believe

Belongs to you, but in the eyes of the world

It isn’t rightfully yours?

Is it immoral to disagree with the law because your own rules

Seem more logical than those established by society?

It may not be yours, but you have to take it—regardless!

Wrap your eyes around temptation and swallowed it whole

So the sourness can fester inside.

Copyright © 2009 N.E. Tasker

Flawless pools of lotion with a proof twenty-three,

Make no impact when applied on skin that’s exposed:

It invites freckled stains on face, belly, and knees;

And bleaches the peach fuzz that tickles arms and toes.

A sparkling-new tee-shirt, colorless and clever

When hit with a shaft of light, is most likely bound

To define hints of dirt and unclean whatevers,

That compliment sticky secrets lurking around.

Like an exploding sneeze from distant clouds above,

Fate creates disasters out of chocolate-box plans;

Until there’s no more polished moments to dream of,

Nothing left worth saving in the palm of your hand.

Stars will have no purpose, your hopes will have no point.

And every rhymed verse will disappointedly break.

Copyright © 2009 N.E. Tasker

She’s gone and I will never see her again
Does he say that…?

Sitting in his chair
In the house they used to share

Getting picked up by one of his sons
Joining their family for dinner

Lying alone in bed
Feeling empty space beside his body

Over loud screams of television
Can’t make out, can’t understand

His mind is empty of emotion
He cried that day—was that it?

Where his heart resides, it is void of love, of anger
Filled with relief
That I do not feel today

I don’t want to share his absence of sadness
Just want today to be over
To hide, to avoid

No alcohol, no sweets
No bubble bath, no movies

Maybe a feather pillow
One-thousand thread-count sheets

The funk that surrounds me
My cheeks, My aching eyes
Has me out of sorts

Hands cover face
Breathe deep
Step away

Copyright © 2009 N.E. Tasker

The air is bland today
I get sleepy, eyes are droopy
Turn the radio up

 
Tuuuuuesday…
Aaaaaafternoon

 
I love that commercial
The announcer asks
As the music fades into the chorus

When was the last time you took your daughter
To the aquarium
On a Tuesday afternoon?

The little girl’s eyes are so big and bright
As she stares dreamily at the fish
A large turtle swims towards them and waves

The blues and greens of the aquatic life
So serene, peaceful…sleepy
Let’s change the station, shall we?
And try to stay awake ALL the way home

I find a song that I can scream the lyrics to
This will do…

And truth be told I miss you
And truth be told I’m lying
When you see my face
Hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell
When you walk my way
Hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell

 
Before I know it
I’m pulling up to our complex
Getting the mail
Still screaming along with the music
My neighbors think I’m nuts
But it is OK because now I have my second wind

 
Copyright © 2009 N.E. Tasker

What is happening?

What is happening to me?

What is happening to me this time?

What is happening

To me

This time

Is a chance to open up

The prospect of trying something new

And totally off-the-wall-crazy.

It is one of those moments

When Microsoft Word

Does not automatically correct your spelling errors…

It is all up to you to remember ”i” before “e”

Avoid, using too many, commas,

I used to be a victim of the comma

Instead of a pause, they were

A breath, a blink

The chomp of your teeth down on the trident

You’ve been chewing for 40 minutes.

Well, the smell of garlic is gone

The taste no longer lingers;

Slap on Aphrodite’s Pink Nightie

Slip into Chinese Laundry

And off you go

Copyright © 2009 N.E. Tasker