the sieve and the sand » rcribay

overnight

rcribay — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 01:35:05 +0000

trees have blossomed
bursting
like daytime fireworks
pink and white
frozen, but swaying sweetly
with the wind.

dear winter

rcribay — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 03:27:46 +0000

i know things have been rough between us lately, what with “global warming” and all. on behalf of humanity, i apologize. i’m sorry. i’m sorry we use energy inefficiently and i’m sorry we’re not smart enough or concerned enough or motivated enough to develop something better. but please, don’t leave so soon. stay awhile longer. bless us with your frosty breath and let me awake to icy roads and malformed snowmen. give us at least one goddamn snow day. (it’s one of the few perks of my job.)

half an inch

rcribay — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 21:42:28 +0000

before we fall asleep
you look out the window and notice
the first snow of winter
finally falling
it thinly coats cars trees streets

and before we fall asleep
i pray it will stick till morning
so i can see the paw prints
of the black cat i just saw
running along the fence.

haiku

rcribay — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 02:21:01 +0000

a crow alights
upon the church’s skyward cross–
leaves scrape cobblestone.

short story

rcribay — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 02:06:30 +0000

fuck you, he said
then dissolved into
the rainy evening.

she shut the door like thunder
then fell against it,
melting into the floor.

eyes clouded with tears,
head in hands flashing hate,
she prayed to God:

Jesus, why is this so fucking hard?
let me be stone. let me be the ground.
solid. unfeeling. undisturbed. Jesus,
why is this so fucking hard? just
get me the hell out
of this body.

seasonal shift

rcribay — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 17:02:40 +0000

having had enough warmth
i welcome winter’s arresting breath
let me leave the windows open
go to sleep shivering
wake up beneath covers soft as God’s lips
having held the one i love throughout the night.

haiku

rcribay — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 05:54:59 +0000

among the purple
blossoms: one
ringed with white.

if i could pee this poem into the snow

rcribay — Thu, 19 May 2011 01:14:30 +0000

i would.

(but it’s spring.)

(under)lying

rcribay — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 02:08:06 +0000

this class is boring as shit
i am bored
i am bored
i am bored–
i cannot understand this
i cannot do this
and i am sick of trying

i gave up long ago

in elementary school
when i had to read aloud
i stumbled over words
like tree roots in the dark
the other kids laughed
called me dumb
so i stopped reading aloud
i stopped reading
i felt ashamed and i did not want to feel
ashamed

i hated that feeling
that same feeling when
i brought home my first Fs on my report card
and my mom yelled at me
why you so dumb?
why you lazy as shit?

it was easier to give up
than to keep trying
and keep failing
and keep feeling ashamed

i started to pretend like i didn’t care
like i wasn’t trying
it was just so much easier–
but i haven’t, really,
stopped caring
it still stings when i’m handed a book
i know i can’t understand
when my mom comes home
from parent-teacher conferences
and looks at me
like she wishes she had a different son.

haiku

rcribay — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 03:41:00 +0000

shoveled soil,
lifted,
reveals pale worms.

haiku

rcribay — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 01:09:14 +0000

i took a video
of the mulberry branches’
shadows swaying.

haiku

rcribay — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 05:16:07 +0000

my breath rises
through the latticed branches
to the waxing gibbous.

mail

rcribay — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 03:18:38 +0000

she opens the envelope
replaces it on the table
closes eyes inhales
the words
written in cursive recognizably
rising and falling
written in syntax matching
the map of her thoughts limited by
blue lines blue lies
and all she ever hoped
you might say.

words [remix]

rcribay — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 16:56:21 +0000

i screamed autumn songs

haiku

rcribay — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 21:44:16 +0000

christmas lights burn
quietly
into mid-january.

haiku

rcribay — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 05:47:30 +0000

i watch the moon
eclipse–
you sleep somewhere beneath.

morning

rcribay — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 21:53:22 +0000

strings of light
we forgot to turn off–
deflated santa in a heap.

goodnight, moon

rcribay — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 03:22:01 +0000

i called you
two minutes from home
because the moon,
low and orange and gigantic on the horizon,
was worth seeing

when you couldn’t see it
you told me to pick you up
so i pulled over
you stepped in
and we drove

no longer visible from
where i had called you
we continued to drive
over the bridge
into the next town–
to no avail–
nothing lay on the horizon anymore

we marveled
at the speed of the moon
(but really, the speed of the earth’s rotation)
kissed beneath nothing but a street lamp
and drove home.

haiku

rcribay — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 23:37:39 +0000

the leaves’ shadows
shift across the red brick wall–
an unseasonal warmth.

just back the eff off, st. nick

rcribay — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 00:29:10 +0000

make a pile of
the wrapping paper
the faux snow
the illuminated reindeer
the green and red hershey’s kisses
the oversized candy canes
the inflatable snow globe with frosty and his wintry wenches
and send it all up
in a yuletide blaze.

in the ashes
plant
dessicated corn stalks
uncarved pumpkins
bulbous gourds
racist pilgrims and noble savages
turkeys unaware of their imminent demise
and let them all reclaim their fucking month.