Tag Archives: poems

Simmer #poem #poetry #resist #equality

Simmer

In that uncertain space

where fear and hope

are still separate things

take a rest

take a breath

Let rage and indignity simmer

We’ll stir the pot

until our anger boils into a scream

that rises above

their manufactured misery

Image description – photograph is of the night sky. Clouds are on the left side, the moon is in the middle, and clear dark sky is on the right side of the photo. Barren branches rise from the bottom of the photo.

I don’t really have adequate words for the sadness and fear many of us feel about the orange mistake taking place today. I’m still in shock and trying to process how this could happen and what the fallout will be. Taking a moment to rest and gather strength is the kindest thing we can do for ourselves, but after we rest, we rise and we won’t relent until equality and decency prevail.

NEW POETRY ANTHOLOGY RELEASE – Unstable #poems #poetry #anthology #books

I’m thrilled to have three poems (Salt, Garden’s Revenge, and Transformation) in Querencia Press’ anthology, Unstable!

This anthology was inspired by a bunch of asshats on social media being jerks. In response to that behavior, the creative team at Querencia Press asked contributors to send in our most unhinged work, and out of that, they put together Unstable. Read with care.

Purchase links for Unstable:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/UNSTABLE-Emily-Perkovich-ebook/dp/B0DPLLGFS3

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/unstable-emily-perkovich/1146640020?ean=9798341839038

If you’d like to read more of my poems, find about my latest book release information, read excerpts, get book recommendations, and other fun stuff, you can find me at:

BookBub:  https://www.bookbub.com/authors/christina-lynn-lambert

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christinalynnlambert

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15900423.Christina_Lynn_Lambert

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christinalynnlambert

WordPress: https://christinalynnlambertwordpress.com

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/cllambauthor.bsky.social

Everything is Fine #poems #poetry #workersrights #humanrights

Everything is Fine

Relentless misinformation

permeates the fabric of logic

Propaganda

gives insatiable corporations

an excuse to create

ants

that march through the prescribed routine

Punching time

Hoping for enough scraps

to tide them through

to the end of the line

but the liars redraw the line

and move the bodies

so they can pretend

everything is fine

Image description – a photo of a small tree that has fallen and become partially submerged in the muddy water of the James River. Surrounding shrubbery appears unkempt and somewhat unhealthy.

What inspired this poem?

The broken system of unchecked corporate greed and wage theft in the US was weighing heavily on my mind when I wrote this poem. In a country with relatively few protections for employees, there is no real incentive for business owners and corporate executives to pay their workers a living wage or ensure that employees aren’t overworked. One particular tool of misery currently being utilized to lower employee pay is the customer satisfaction survey.

Though the original intent of the surveys was (possibly) to make businesses aware of how to improve the quality of their service, that is rarely how the surveys are applied. The results of customer satisfaction surveys are tied to frontline employees’ bonuses. In many cases, their actual pay rate can be contingent on their survey ratings. What makes it difficult for employees to consistently achieve good scores is the fact that the questions employees are evaluated on are often out of their control, which gives employers a way to sneakily cut costs without having to expend much effort.

The problems customers complain about on the surveys won’t be fixed— more people won’t be hired, equipment won’t be updated, prices won’t go back down, quality of the product won’t be restored, not until the business is financially ready to make the investment. But since employees are usually the scapegoats for bad management decisions and corporate cost cutting strategies, employees impacted by negative surveys will be the ones who have to apologize to the customer, grovel for forgiveness, give free merchandise or discounted services, and beg for better ratings on the next survey.

Every time I see a customer satisfaction survey in my email inbox, I’m disgusted that politicians have allowed businesses and corporations to design a system that keeps employees constantly in fear of losing their jobs along with their health insurance. It’s time to fight back against the corporations that have refused to pay proper wages while forcing workers to sacrifice their physical and mental health.  

The Moon Screams the Truth – new poem #poetry #womensrights #equality #poems #resist

The Moon Screams the Truth

Spoiled

vines strangled the moon

She grew teeth and tore free from

rules meant to keep her

silent

Image description – a photograph of the night sky. The moon is visible and shining bright above several trees.

The initial shock and numbness of the previous day has worn off and now, I’m livid. Now, I’m gathering strength and screaming the truth. Many rules aren’t created to keep us safe, rather, they’re passed by those in privilege and power to keep people quiet. Their main objective is to shut questions down and make it too hard, too dangerous, too costly to object. My voice gets louder every year. My teeth get sharper.

We have to come together in anger and find ways to tear down the system that tries to silence us. We can stand and hold signs, write and call lawmakers and demand they give us an audience. We can run for office in record numbers. We can write about the truth, whether in fiction, Fahrenheit 451 style, or as journalists reporting the truths we see. We can continue teaching our children to be decent human beings and we can reach out to people who need a hand. We have to fill the time and space with our presence and with our voices. We have to be unrelenting.

Funnel #poem #poetry #nature #horror

Funnel

Sparrows navigate

through radioactive fog

Glossy brochures are selling the dream

Ornamental trees placed sporadically

near coffee shops and phone stores

Unforgiving concrete

choked up the streams

but developers were still hungry

They swallowed the river

and spat out luxury homes

Newly paved roads funnel shiny cars

into a rat maze

Competing strangers mow lawns and try not to drown

in rain that burns

and mortgages that sit like cinderblocks

on heavy chests

Keep moving in the circle

Don’t stop working

Don’t breathe

Don’t ask questions

The banks want you to hold on tight

to their dream that stops

everything from singing

Image description – photograph of snowy forest of barren trees. In the center of the barren trees is one small, bright green tree.

The county where I live is becoming more and more overdeveloped. Each month, a new cluster of expensive houses, condos, and high rises appears. The amount of forestland and waterways that have been destroyed in the last ten years is astounding. The traffic is an ever-increasing nightmare, and the air isn’t fresh and crisp anymore. The haze of funk is spreading and thickening. It’s harder to breathe. There are shops everywhere but nothing good, or strange, or weird, or unusually fun, just phone stores, vape shops, coffee places, and chain restaurants- the same old thing up and down the main road.

Did we really need more of the same? Was this necessary? Was it a good idea? I guess it was for the banks and real estate developers, but there are so many other ways to increase revenue to a county or city. There were other options. One of the best options, of course not the most beneficial to developers, would have been to help the people who were struggling with employment and with home maintenance and with feeding their families- on a scope beyond just the basic crumbs that barely suffice. When people are able to do more than just barely survive, when they have hope, there’s prosperity within the community. I guess it’s just cheaper and easier to ignore the people who need help and ignore the people who could use a few steps up the ladder to lift themselves into better circumstances, and to build new, expensive homes instead.

The people living in those new, high-end homes have their own share of problems. Some live in constant fear of losing what they have so they spend their lives working but not living. Others have so much, they forget to see and care about the struggles that people below their income bracket face, and instead become the monsters that eat the rivers and pour concrete over the truth.

Yesterday’s delight #horror #poem #scarypoem

Hope everyone is having a fantastic month full of all the scary stories, horror movies, macabre decorations, and haunted sight-seeing tours. May your Halloween costumes be as gory or ethereal as your hearts’ desire! Here’s another scary poem to enjoy. I may get the chance to share some flash fiction horror stories too before the month is over.

Yesterday’s Delight

Yesterday’s delight

grows teeth

and shifts into a callous skin

bristling with chaos

Screams choke the air

seeping into the fabric

of the future

(poem appeared in Feral Feline Literary Magazine’s issue 2: Forbidden Fall on November 28, 2022)

Image description – picture is of the roots and dirt clinging to an overturned tree. Within the mass of dirt and roots is a hole that looks like a mouth.

Spider Rain #poems #scarypoems #spiders #spooky

A creepy poem in honor of Halloween month

Spider Rain

Silk that seems

like angel’s wings

are spiders crawling in the darkness

Webs anchored in splayed hair

Summer raindrop memories are eight legged babies

descending

into satin sheets and draperies

Shadows keep secrets

from the morning sun

Image description: a picture of a large green and black spider climbing down its web in front of a window. The close-up photo shows the spider in detail, including the hair on its legs and the translucence of its green and black body.

For Halloween month, I will be sharing spooky, creepy, haunting, and strange but lovely poems, pictures, and posts throughout the next two weeks.

Slow #poem #poetry #disillusionment #endworkerexploitation

Slow  

Slow

because even after

endless hours of effort

the profits aren’t mine

Slow

because my body is stuck in service

of creating unnecessary things

Slow

because with each day

of this unfair exchange

my mind slips further into acceptance

So I’ll fight while I can still fight

to slow

the productivity

that will never benefit me

Image description – photo of the James River which is mostly obscured by a rusty transmission tower, the view underneath railroad tracks, and an expansive building. The blue afternoon sky is slightly hazy and grayish.

What inspired the poem Slow?

Promotions and promises of better pay, and maybe, just maybe, a chance to rest and take proper vacations- these are carrots, pulled on strings by corporate executives who profit off the backs of employees who give up so much of their lives yet receive hollow promises and inadequate compensation in return. People are asked to do more work than their bodies are meant to perform and once they manage to meet harsh deadlines or produce an outrageous amount of revenue, even bigger results are asked of them, all while employers use the common tactic of decreasing the number of workers available to perform tasks.

Workers are being shamelessly exploited and underpaid in the United States. Where does it end? What must employees give up in order to produce the results that should never have been asked of them? For some, the answer is to slow down and take care of themselves, to take time off instead of giving all their time to a corporation that doesn’t care about them, and to fight back against ridiculous deadlines by decreasing their pace to one that doesn’t feel like it’s pulling them into an early grave.

Secret Teeth – a horror poem #poems #horror #poetry #horrorpoetry

Secret Teeth

Trash cans ate

syringes and good intentions

each time success escaped

the grasp of latex gloves and lab coats

The scientists begged each new batch of cells

to please multiply into the perfect meat

that never bleeds or needs to sleep or eat

But they never mentioned dreaming

Upon success, the commercials assured

that the raw cubes infused with extra protein

could help save the world which was gasping for air

and grasping for another chance

The animals that survived

all hid in the shadows and pulled knives

when we tried to outsmart them

And not many things grow in the soil

where our hatred exploded

Factories followed the lead scientist’s careful specifications

to produce quiet, profit-sized, edible squares

that don’t sleep or eat or bleed

Manufactured meat slabs would never dream

of breaking free

They were infused with extra proteins

and something else, it seemed

The manufactured meat

had secret teeth that sank venom

into our veins

and drained away the people

they were meant to feed

Save the world

Save the animals

And the perfect meat

infused with secret teeth

found new houses

and ate and slept and dreamed

but they never once

made the earth bleed

Image description – photograph is of the skeletal frame and empty inside of a burned-down house

I wrote this poem after reading that scientists have found a way to grow meat in a lab from stem cells of animals. This meat production method sounds like it could be a good idea. Maybe it’s a good idea. Maybe nothing will go wrong, but so many things could. What if the manufactured meat wasn’t soulless cubes that would just willingly allow themselves to be consumed?

What the Trees Hide #poem #nature #peace #shortpoems

What the Trees Hide

Peace grows beneath the trees

that gave their leaves and limbs

to hide the seeds

of hope

from the searchlight moon

Image description- photograph is of the night sky. The moon is in the center of the photo and is surrounded by clouds and trees.