Category Archives: People

Poems about people

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The Artist


Michael Stipe’s bronze cameras – part of the “Relics” exhibit at the Rogan Gregory store in NYC

This poem was written for Read Write Poem Prompt #33: Wordplay is the New Black. We were encouraged in this word limiting exercise to find a way to compose poems out of a limited number of words. Some possibilities included: Shufflewords, taking words out of a book, using random words flying around in one’s brain. I devised my own way, which was to limit myself to words founds in the lyrics of R.E.M.’s third album, Fables of the Reconstruction. I used the lyrics available at Kipp Teague’s RetroWeb site and wrote a hay(na)ku chain. Enjoy.

-Nicole
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light
open-armed
haloed garden colors
Continue reading →

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You Want This

This was written for the Friday Five Prompt at Poefusion. This week’s words were: doctor, roll of film, secret, telephone, and stairwell. Enjoy.

-Nicole
—————————————————-
You want this. You want this secret burning
connection as badly as I do. In
the stairwell we dampen this shared yearning
with looks saturated with words, unspoken –
Continue reading →

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Stranger

This was written for both this week’s Three Word Wednesday Prompt (the words: shake, spontaneous, and rumor) and as a second poem for the “questionable” prompt over at Writer’s Island. Enjoy.

-Nicole
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lithe
fine-boned
ethereal blond stranger Continue reading →

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Thank You, George

George Carlin by J.M. DeSantis
George Carlin by J.M. DeSantis

George Carlin
May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008
Rest in Peace Tear the Roof off the Sucka!

NOTE: For this poem, I have no problem if anyone wishes to take and use it. All I ask is that you let me know and state that I am the author. See my contact info for more details.

-Nicole
————————–
You who made
us laugh,
friend – Continue reading →

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The Dark Knight

This was written off of a prompt on Scott Woods’ live journal – write a poem using the words “piecemeal”, “gallery”, “submission”, and “belt”. Enjoy.

-Nicole
————————————————-
The young orphaned boy grew into a man
forever in submission to sorrow and a
bright burning anger. His servitude was Continue reading →

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A Musician’s Warning

Musician by Vasilissia
Musician by Vasilissia

This is a rewrite of an older poem, “To The Musician”, and a poem written in response to the Read Write Poem Prompt #32: Reuse, Recycle, and Revise. I reworked the original piece into a pantoum. One request: please read the original at the link above before you read this version.

Enjoy.

-Nicole
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Wrap safety and caution around you;
your fingers caress the skin of a lover
just as easily as they caress
the thin steel strings of your instrument. Continue reading →

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Angel

This poem was written off of this week’s Three Word Wednesday prompt – write a poem with the words “open”, “frequent”, and “someday”. Note: The poem is based off of events in the musical “Rent”. Angel and all other characters mentioned in the poem are from that musical and are the creations of Jonathan Larson (1960 -1996).

Thank you, Jonathan.

-Nicole
———————————–
I frequent the Life Support group.
I am there whenever those doors are open,
and the people there are open to
me,
you,
and anybody else who walks through those doors. Continue reading →

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He Can Never Know

This is another poem for Writer’s Island – I decided to take their other two prompts of transformation and alter ego and write one poem for both of them. Enjoy.

-Nicole
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He can never know. He can never know
the face behind this mask I wear; I’ve made
my choice and with it I must now live. I
can never give away that I was once
his idol, his Superman, the same who Continue reading →

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Raven Mocker

This is a response to a Writer’s Island prompt, “superstition”. I chose to write about raven mockers, a kind of wizard/witch/evil spirit in Cherokee mythology. Enjoy.

-Nicole

————————————————
I come for
the souls of the dying;
for they are

my only sustenance.
I can smell impending death
from far away.

What you consider
stench is incense to me,
sweet and toxic;

guard your dying
well, for I seek their
hearts for food.

I take the
form of Raven so that
I am not victim

myself, for scavengers
are not the stuff of
other creatures’ sustenance.

Beware me: I
live long from the strength
of your souls;

For I am
Raven Mocker, and I seek
out your dying.

Written 6/16/08
© 2008 Nicole Nicholson. All Rights Reserved.
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by

Help

This was written off of prompt #16 on Scott Woods’ Live Journal:

“Write a poem about an aspect of a national tragedy that contains:

- no statistics
- no references to other national tragedies
- no newspaper headline references
- no mention of the media, or lack thereof
- a focus on some aspect of the tragedy that no one else talks about much, if at all”.

I wrote about a second-hand story told to me about an act of kindness in the wake of 9/11. This is written in chained lunes. Enjoy.

-Nicole

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clean wet lines
left by the tear tracks
on her face
Continue reading →

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Mama Said

This was was written for Read Write Poem Prompt #31 – Write a poem where you are being told a story. Enjoy.

-Nicole

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mama
said, your
grandpa died fighting Continue reading →

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Bad Day At Work

A little early for Poefusion’s Friday Five this week, but none the less, here it is. This week’s words were:

social worker
mop
hotel room
beeper
fire alarm

Enjoy.

-Nicole
———————————————————————
my beeper goes off
then the fire alarm screams
dropped my mop, started
now social worker found dead
in hotel room, I just heard

Written 6/12/08
© 2008 Nicole Nicholson. All Rights Reserved.

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