I shook your hand
I took the loss
Escape was impossible
I took the loss
...
The hand of friendship was offered
The hand of friendship was slapped away
The trajectory of the spurned
...
We are the goldfish in the bowl
We are known as Mr. and Mrs. Goldfish
I don't mind this transparency, a benign surveillance
...
Have you ever heard Saturday morning radio?
Is the radio programming different on Saturday morning compared to weekdays?
She dreads small talk and making his lunch
...
Love sighted through an opening in deep forest
A blur that moves quickly and vanishes
But leaves a lasting impression
...
If obnoxiousness is art consider this your exhibition gallery
Different stages of difficult behavior hang on the walls
"Don't touch" but some illiterate fool usually ends up doing just that
...
She is the queen of the replacements
Her people await further orders in a large open-air building
A former factory - old and gray and damp, it looks like the 1950's
...
My father in law
Barely missed the last just war
But saw the severed heads of prisoners of war
The Japanese displayed them
...
A lot of time and effort is spent describing blue eyes
When hazel eyes are a lot less obvious but a lot more powerful
Flecks of disturbance pool within like a river made brown and furious by a storm kicking up
...
Today I made a breakthrough
It was not a warm and cuddly breakthrough
Quite the opposite, I built a wall
This reminds me of a game I played as a child
...
David talks only of money
Which is why we feel we don't need to see him
He knows a riddle which is too easily answered
Fading pulse of the hammerhead age
...
You're doing this the wrong way, I can't tell the difference
Ineffectual cult of friendship fails to show up
With maximum duplicity and minimal efficiency, the guru of inefficiency miscalculates the truth
...
What kind of dance is this this
That throws an ugly body around a marble floor
In contortions whose existence makes those watching not want to live with themselves
...
Fell in love with a Pepsi shortage
And container debris as regretful memories
Pendulum dogma patriot with his underwear worn on the outside
...
I won't stand on the edge of your nonsense pit
Where the footing is precarious and speech is the best offense of a merciless combatant
My position here is unsteady, lucidity staggering
The vertigo caused by language
...
All I ask is to catch my breath
And for you to disappear for a quarter century
Fade from view like riding out a sudden impulse
...
Running the gauntlet between indifferent meter maids prepared to dish out fines or not
Terry pops change into the parking meters of those who have lost track of time and have not returned to their vehicles
Bicycle sell-out is like interbreeding
...
Pugnacious yet gracious, he caught the attendant's eye
She marveled at a walking catastrophe and could not do much else social other than offer a greeting
Blocks fitting into other blocks - alternately, why should I care about you?
...
Someone asked if anyone in the room played piano
And I wanted to speak up and volunteer
But I don't know how to play piano
...
In me, the shroud is removed from judgement
The spare room is prepared for traveling judiciary
Did you expect a description of judges to include theirbrowser history?
...
Hello there, My name is Raj Dronamraju. I have previously published three volumes of poetry - THE RETURN OF THE MAGNIFICENT NINNY, SOLIDARITY WITH THE FLESH EATING MOSAIC, and TRAVELS WITH THE ANTI-JOHNNY APPLESEED on Post-Egoism press (not self published) . My publisher's page for me is here http: //rajbooks.postegoism.net I am also the author of several novels. In addition, I am the editor of a poetry and art magazine 21st Century Flow - Links can be found on my poetry blog www.rajdronamraju.wordpress.com. I am an American living abroad in Malaysia. I am married to a Malaysian woman and teach English to make a living.)
I Don't Even Smile
I shook your hand
I took the loss
Escape was impossible
I took the loss
I went indoors, contorted into an ugly shape by desire
I came back out beaming phoniness
I couldn't find shelter indoors
There's a day coming where this will not end so easily
When it will be taken hard like a blood vendetta
And passed on to future generations
And that's when a smile loses all meaning
Is merely the go to expression of a demolished psyche
Is flashed with the frequency of a bellboy summoned for the carrying of guests' bags
At that time, I don't even smile
And I'll say people are a black hole
And I get sucked in and then get spit out in a place I don't recognize
Not worried about being lost
Not worried about being alone
I don't even smile
For you, endurance finally breaks
Washes over us with violence
I will snap, I can't shake this off anymore
I find Raj's poems extremely refined, amusing, entertaining, educational and admirable.