Digital Smiles | February 2024
Beyond the Plain | First Edition 2003, Second Edition 2018
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(Copyright E. Hughes, 1974)
New poetry from Digital Smiles by E. Hughes (2024)
Disinformation by E. Hughes
Disinformation
is information of a most insidious kind.
It disguises itself as truth
to render us blind.
It preys on our fears
plants itself in our minds
rinse and repeat
two thousand and twenty times.
It provokes us to anger,
sowing distrust
spurring us to acts
of wanton bloodlust.
It’s not what we seek, but often what we find.
Disinformation
is information of a most insidious kind.
“US” by E. Hughes (2024)
There are two of me now
wherever I look
is it my shadow?
or is it a crook?
figment, a pigment
an imagination game
a figment, a pigment,
caressing my name
it stood beyond my light
to bask in my shadow
to stand in my footprint
but its feet were too shallow
it sang out its words
but its message was hollow
I spun to my left
it aggressively followed
spun a web of lies
and foolishly wallowed.
There are two of me now
wherever I look
it wasn’t my shadow.
perhaps it’s a crook?
Here I Stand by E. Hughes (2024)
I felt the calmness of water trickling through my hands.
The warmth of my feet, pushing into sand.
The tranquility of sunlight warming my skin.
The coolness of rain, washing away my sin.
The air cradled me in a warm breeze.
My ears caressed by the sound of swaying trees.
My eyes dazzled by beams of electric light.
To stars shimmering in the stillness of night.
Here I stand, in cool brown earth.
Here I stand, a lamb by birth.
Here I stand, below the sky’s diaphanous haze.
Here I stand, before the moon’s luminous gaze.
Tethered to the soil by reality’s tenuous grip…
Eyes wide open with a trembling lip.
Poetry from Beyond the Plain by E. Hughes
One Breasted Woman
A one breasted woman
sits in a field
with two babies between her thighs
she wonders which one she must kill
she looks into their eyes
her face clearly reveals
the pain inside of her heart
that I know she must feel
the sun bears down upon them
she curses him and asks,
“Why do you punish us so?”
As she aches in misery
of which of her children must go
drying her to the bone
the one breasted woman shivers
she loves him,
but the little one must go to the river.
The longest walk of their lives
the pits of their stomachs growl
as she waits
and she aches
the demise of her child
his large eyes narrow
he innocently smiles
so small and withered, floating away
down the still dusty river.
The women all look at each other
they know not what to say
as the one breasted woman
hobbles away.
Too weak to look back she lifts her apt breast
to feed her one child
she lays down to rest
in the distant dry field, a hollow drum beats
and though there is only one child left,
there is still,
not enough for the child to eat.
The one breasted woman releases a shiver.
Unable to cry,
she returns to the river.
Lover’s Clown
I wear my emotions like a badge of shame,
and my heartbreak like a crown,
I entertain his game, when his touches inflame,
my teardrops to make smiles out of frowns.
When I love him regardless,
even when he’s heartless,<
and laughs at my weary pain,
his touches inflame,
I wear my heartbreak like a crown,
I wear my emotions like a badge of shame,
for I am, my lover’s clown.
I dangle from strings
of meaningless flings
and nothingness things
the shamefulness brings
when I dance to his song
he loves, and hugs
then leaves
I grieve
when he leaves me alone.
I beg him unsure
if I can endure
wearing the paint of jest.
The beating [of my heart] obscures
the feelings impure,
and the hollowing emptiness.<
When sadness rings, the morning after
and the rising sun pulls me down
my tear drops bring forth his laughter
until my heartache halos me like a gleaming crown.
I wear my emotions like a badge of shame
for I am my lover’s clown…
Nobody’s child
She never been mommy’s little princess
neither daddy’s little girl
left trapped underneath a rock
she was shown the dark side of the world.
But despite her torn skin and gritted teeth
she ambitiously crawls from beneath
this boulder somehow
with the aid of no one
she’s nobody’s child.
Though she seems unpleasant
stick around for a while
get to know her, she’s nobody’s child
you’re bound to see her beautiful smile
though she often, wears a frown
living in a world where she doesn’t belong
always singing her sad songs
of years, tears, of heartache and strife
living as she’s lived, an ugly woman’s life.
No one held her in their arms
no one protected her from harm
she is nobody, but flesh to feast
with no one’s love to set her free
from the belly of the mountain, she’ll climb
out somehow
from the depths of the ocean where she was
left to drown
don’t cry for her, she’s nobody’s child.
Don’t ever look into her deep brown eyes
no one sees the tears she cries
she is no one’s wife, no one’s sister
she’s been gone for years, yet no one’s
missed her.
She could use a friend, stick around for a while.
Love her or use her, she’s nobody’s child.
And Dress me as you do the Lilies in the Field
When the sun quietly rises, and night’s chill splinters,
and my soul is as warm, as earth’s molten center…
I lay still in my cocoon,
beholding its splendor.
But have you ever seen anything as beautiful
as a lily in a field?
or a willow tree blowing
at the top of a hill?
Just waiting on my slice
of that pie in the sky,
and when I’m suffering,
I ask Jesus why.
Lord dress me as you do,
the lilies in the field,
may my eyes sparkle like stars
and blaze like a shield.
Until…
I’ve seen anything as beautiful
as a shimmering lake,
as I lay still in my cocoon,
fully awake.
And when the Lord grants me a slice
of His pie in the sky
I’ll make a pumpernickel road,
and bake in some rye.
My soul is warm
and energized with love,
a bridge to my Lord
and heaven thereof.
Beyond the Plain
Walk with me
in the park
we’ll hold hands
because it’s dark
in our world
we’re only two
there is me
and no one but you
the sky is glass
so we’ll break through
and then we’ll pass
beyond the blue…
Into twilight
where we will talk
amongst the stars
where we will walk.
Nothing will matter
but you and me
and we’ll skip stars
over the sea
and build a tree house
on the moon
and shower ourselves
in the monsoon
and then we’ll play
out in the rain
and roll down hills
beyond the plains.
We’ll never say we love each other
let our actions speak louder
than rolling thunder
And then we’ll bask
in the brooding light
and in the eve
we’ll close our eyes
and I will die
come sun rise.
And I will bristle
at the rest
and I will nestle
into your chest
and you will hide
close to my breast.
Come run with me
out in the rain
over the hills
beyond the plains.