Writing Through Hard Times
Each month, the Denver VOICE publishes a selection of writing from workshops sponsored by Lighthouse Writers Workshop.
The Hard Times Writing Workshop is a collaboration between Denver Public Library and Lighthouse Writers Workshop. This workshop is open to all members of the public—especially those experiencing homelessness.
Hard Times meets every Tuesday from 3-5 p.m. on the fourth floor of DPL’s Central branch.
The Lighthouse sponsored workshop at The Gathering Place is specifically for that organization’s clients.
To check out more writing by the poets featured in this column, go to writedenver.org.
Darlina
In the Beginning
Just a place to sleep is sometimes all you look for
Whose door?
Will anyone welcome the poor?
Panic attacks the closest to sunset
Or the colder it gets
At first it’s a matter of pride
You still look combed
And somewhat nice
You don’t smell
Hasn’t gone all to hell
Just don’t want people to know
You’re facing dirt and facing cold
There shouldn’t be shame
But there is the blame and disdain
That rots at your core
As you promise yourself
You will not beg
And will not “whore”
Just find a bed to place your head
To be safe and sound
Instead of lost
And never found
So stay in your car far
From the greedy meters
Aloof robots, thieves
Hack cheaters
And wife beaters
All with this same sentence
Those with greed
And We with assigned decadence
That would keep you or me
From opening that door
And not welcome the least,
And not welcome the poor
Benjamin Eric Nelson
Burnt Tongue
Heat Blasting My Body
The Smell Of Sweat
I Want To Break Free
Sun Still Containing My Awful Discomfort
Noodles Boiling Like My Brain
At Least That Heat I Can Live With
At Least I Can Cook Well
Cooking Like My Pain Wracked Skin
Pasta Al Dente And Sin
Inside The Waters A Burnt Tongue Lashes
Lashes Out At The Forceful Dictatorship
Oh King May You Live Forever
Sarcastic Tone To The Bland Speech
This Is The Retreat
To A Land Ravished With The Unlucky
This Is Not The Place That I Seek
My Spine And Bones Shriek
Calm Down Then Lose The Ability To Speak
Still Conversing With The Past
The Future In A Flash
Can I Be Able To Travel To Hell???
Time Will Tell
Can I Cast A Fiery Spell???
Or Will It Disappear As Well???
Walk The Road
Get Hungry
Need To Eat And Drink
No Time To Think
Must Believe In Green
This Ship Won’t Sink
Dean Glorso
A Feeling
How many eight legged creatures
Did I crush in the bathroom?
With a tissue
Before justice was served
For the murder of my niece
A real human being
With each extermination
Over these almost 30 years
I thought of this man
Who reportedly dropped dead today
Now I feel bad for the spiders
