Lauren M. Hancock Poetry and Prose

Tag: poem

  • Poem: Stay a While – 28/12/19

    Poem: Stay a While – 28/12/19

    N.B. This post may be triggering for some people. Please consider if you may be prone to being negatively affected by reading this post. 

 Stay a while, they said to him, 
 consume, consume, 
 of us, 
 take your fill.
  
 There is nothing in life  
 we cannot fix,
 blindly drink, 
 devour, ingest,
 take us in,
 we are your fuel. 
  
 Then,
 Stay a while, 
 They say to him, 
 as he sways from side to side,
 excessiveness his served meal, 
  
 Stay, my friend, stay, 
 an echoing voice calls,  
 the past dragging him behind 
 to a voice he once knew well. 
  
 Stay, my darling, please,
 her voice begs of him, 
 as he foams at the mouth, 
 his eyes rolling terrifyingly,
  
 Go if you must, 
 his mother’s saddened voice is faint, 
 barely a whisper, 
 as she strokes his hair,
 wipes away the slick sweat.
 
 In a moment she knows he is lost. 
  
 Teach them to stay, 
 that life is worth living! 
 she announces to the 
 assembled crowd 
 at the gathering where 
 awareness is raised
 for her son and the psychology of 
 many lost and living others.
  
 They need to stay,
 she beseeches, 
 they need to know we want and need them to remain,
 love will teach them,
 that they need to stay a whole while longer.
  
 © 2019 Lauren M. Hancock 
also known as Alice Well. All rights reserved.

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  • Poem: The Reverent Red – 28/12/19

    Poem: The Reverent Red – 28/12/19

     We gather ourselves today 
 to consume everything that is red,
 rich tomato soup, 
 delicious garnet apples,
 carefully sipped crimson wine 
 once owned by the dead.
  
 As we consume our favourite hue 
 for the day
 we wonder to ourselves at this tradition,
 a wondrous worship involving 
 splashes of colour,
 a sharpened shade in a bull’s eyes, 
 his enraged mission.
  
 Red, red, red, 
 all around,
 encompassing our eyes,
 enriching the sounds.
  
 Today we celebrate lives saved, 
 vibrant souls rescued who avoided being 
 felled before their time,
 red balloons released in 
 large bunches into the skies,
 each signifying a soul saved, 
 we collectively sigh.
  
 Our ancestors who gave us our existence
 carried us through life
 raised us through their past sufferings
 they were plucked from 
 the danger zones,
 they were released from 
 their war-torn strife.
  
 So today we feast upon all that is 
 rich and red,
 to carry on their memories, 
 we quietly enjoy what we have been given,
 and with gratitude we accept 
 the food and appreciate our lives provided.
  
 We accept that we are here 
 because of the actions of brave others,
 soldiers, saviours, missionaries, 
 nurses, doctors,
 red is passion, red is life, 
 and it breathes within us the 
 thankfulness that this day delivers,
 it is because of their actions 
 that we are breathing life.
  
 © 2019 Lauren M. Hancock 
also known as Alice Well. All rights reserved.

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  • Poem: Together in the Next Life – 27/12/19

    Poem: Together in the Next Life – 27/12/19

     Helpless waves of injustice wash over me
 as though I am present in the front line
 of the battlefield
  
 where I am made to press forth,
 my life on the line,
 my squad leader thinks nothing of my sacrifice.
  
 As I hurl my body forward 
 into the hail of bullets,
 shrapnel pins my left leg down,
 I am in agony.
  
 My sister in solidarity knees beside me,
 cradles my head tenderly,
 whispering that I’ll be just fine,
 if I continue speaking.
  
 As the mayhem washes all around me,
 brothers and sisters they fall 
 with frightening regularity
 and it is with sadness and a deep pang
 that I feel the life flowing out of me.
  
 In the danger of the moment
 my sister cannot stay but she chooses
 to lay her life on the line
 for me,
 for our friendship,
  
 Bullets continue to hail down,
 like acid rain
 they corrosively reign upon her and I. 
  
 And her, my dearest, 
 who will never let me go,
 together forever,
 our lives will end as we know. 
  
 But while the battle rages around us,
 wave by wave the lines of soldiers
 are forced onto their paths,
  
 my sister and I,
 our love will eternally last. 
  
 © 2019 Lauren M. Hancock 
also known as Alice Well. All rights reserved.

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  • Poem: Cinnamon Milk – 26/12/19

    Poem: Cinnamon Milk – 26/12/19

     Cinnamon and sugar dusted over my
 warmed cup of milk,
 it comforts me, it makes my stomach smile,
 my grin shine, 
 have a taste of it yourself!
  
 I will prepare yours with the greatest of ease,
 dust and sprinkle it as I please,
 to present this to you with a glowing smile, 
 ahead of a stomach set to be full of liquid
 deliciously worthwhile. 
  
 And how about a shortbread biscuit?
 Santa left a couple on his plate,
 perhaps he’s on a bit of food restriction,
 heaven knows he’d been eating at every house last night!
  
 Paired with some cinnamon sugar and paired with some milk,
 enjoy your time together,
 this time of year is for family and friends,
 such loving proof, the mood overwhelms.
  
 Sip and nibble upon your milk and cookies,
 tell stories, recollect old memories,
 and remember past loved ones,
 who once sat in your spaces with bright eyes 
 and open hearts and expressions so warm.
  
 © 2019 Lauren M. Hancock 
also known as Alice Well. All rights reserved.

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  • Poem: A Little Tea Party for You and I – 25/12/19

    Poem: A Little Tea Party for You and I – 25/12/19

     I arrange the setting outside,
 we have unicorn cake and fizzy grape juice,
 the drink I loved in childhood,
 my very own permitted wine.
  
 I smile at you as we seat ourselves,
 this sunlight is painfully glaring,
 but, I adore this quaint set up,
 it’s perfect for you and I. 
  
 We sit and we nibble,
 our cake tastes like pink candy!
 So much like confectionery that
 the dentist, far off, 
 almost sings fine and dandy.
  
 Within minutes our treats 
 have been snarfed away into 
 our little hollow bellies,
 but there is more to digest,
 more unicorn cake and drink aplenty. 
  
 © 2019 Lauren M. Hancock 
also known as Alice Well. All rights reserved.

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  • Poem: Delighted – 25/12/19

    Poem: Delighted – 25/12/19

     I am delighted 
 by the gift
 you gave to me,
  
 it’s not ordinary,
 it’s holy
 and it’s beautiful to me.
  
 It’s something which sings of praises
 both far and wide,
 a little figurine set, a nativity scene.
  
 I’ve never owned one before
 though I know the tale well,
 such beauty, adoring Mary, proud Joseph, 
 fresh faced baby Jesus. 
  
 It resonates within me,
 this miraculous scene,
 three so alive in the arrival,
 this is the true meaning of Christmas. 
   
 © 2019 Lauren M. Hancock also known as Alice Well. All rights reserved.

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  • Poem: Reach and Repair Us – 23/12/19

    Poem: Reach and Repair Us – 23/12/19

     I reach into the depths of myself
 and pluck that certain something which makes me Me,
 beneath the surface I am swimming,
 searching for something that signifies, 
 which best expresses my essence.
  
 Is it that particular pitch of 
 laughter which resonates within you?
 That characteristic flick of 
 hair out of my eyes
 because I needed that haircut months prior?

 Or my grasping onto your arm,
 oh, how I needed the support from you,
 when crumbling and falling apart
 you were there. 
  
 Darling, we have patched ourselves so hastily,
 from broken and battered to healed with wefts
 and super human glue –
 Tarzan would be proud –
  
 Of our issues we seem to have 
 tentatively repaired,
 it’s no longer you and I 
 but us together, 
 an entwined pair again at last. 
  
 In pulling myself apart,
 in making myself experience discomfort,
 in making me try to bring forth that 
 which had become hidden,
 I knew I must draw myself forth,
 melt away the layers of my hesitant heart,
 for the good of ourselves,
 to fix what had come undone.

 But, the rusty handle of the gate 
 had been squeaking,
 begging to be oiled.  
  
 I attend to it lovingly, 
 with my brightened laughter and smiles, 
 you observe my work while you 
 attended to the rusted hinges.
 
 Then, perfection: 
 the gate is salvaged, 
 it no longer sings,
 though, it glides,
 view the beauty and smoothness it casts
 upon new memories now created 
 by the hearthside. 
  
 © 2019 Lauren M. Hancock 
also known as Alice Well. All rights reserved.

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  • Poem: The Roast – 23/12/19

    Poem: The Roast – 23/12/19

     The roast looks magnificent, 
 I can almost taste the glistening juice, 
 dripping down the sides as though 
 there is no other place for it 
 but before our hungering eyes. 
  
 I see you practically 
 salivating opposite me,
 between us the roast is 
 perched quite perfectly,
 
 a distraction,
 a piece of meat to catch your eyes,
 instead of falling upon me. 
  
 A wave of jealously: 
 how ridiculous! 
 How can I be upset that you’re 
 adoring a piece of cooked flesh?
  
 But it’s the intent behind 
 that stare that makes me
 pale behind the way you 
 usually look at me and assess.

 Perhaps I’ve grown too old a view —
 overfamiliarity can cause a rubbery chew.  
  
 © 2019 Lauren M. Hancock 
 also known as Alice Well. All rights reserved.

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  • Poem: Floating – 22/12/19

    Poem: Floating – 22/12/19

     Here I float,
 in this ether of dreamy fluffiness,
 in this air of pillowy indefiniteness, 
  
 where I am swimming,
 arm over arm I transport 
 my body, less than willing
 from the beginning, 
 where did it start?
 it’s all so blurry.
  
 The billowing surroundings breathe 
 around my form
 as though they are carefully 
 brushing, pressing, enveloping me
 to create a sense of protection
 to be truly brought forth.
 
 And now I decide to ascend, 
 into a reality that’s perfection for this 
 aching corporal form itself.
  
 Allow me to float higher,
 allow me to rise so freely,
 permit me the sanctions of allowance
 to wipe away past human sins.
  
 The freedom of moral purging
 expunges the inner darkness
 of its deepest historical seeds,
 and the effect of cleansing 
 it duly permits
 can be endlessly felt and seen.
  
 I am a rising spirit,
 an ethereal being
 now free of earthly sin.

 Watch as I become at one with
 earth and air,
 I am now purely immaterial,
 I am no one,
 of my former self,
 there's nothing there.
 
 © 2019 Lauren M. Hancock 
also known as Alice Well. All rights reserved.

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  • Poem: Reel to Reel – 20/12/19

    Poem: Reel to Reel – 20/12/19

    Photo: Pexels.com
     You take that tape of reel to reel
 and remind me that its presence is real,
 the details tracked,
 the history to be assumed
 is bright and colourful,
 but darling, can you promise it won’t leave this room?
  
 You promise me,
 you assure me,
 that the secrets won’t leave your lair,
 and darling, I trust you,
 in this fairground of livelihood,
 please make me all the more aware.
  
 I trusted you with my imagery,
 and do you wonder why I call upon you this eve?
 Strange occurrences have been befalling me,
 and the trail, my former muse, 
 appears to lead to thee. 
  
 Does your heart beat an altered pattern?
 A skip or two missing, in lieu? 
 My darling, you were never my darling, 
 you tricked me, 
 but in the end, I eluded you.  

© 2019 Lauren M. Hancock
 also known as Alice Well. All rights reserved.

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