Longing for the Words to Come

Other than an occasional lame poem I've had writer's block for a very long time now, what seems like forever. It's killing me very slowly and painfully.

I wrote this way back in 2004 and since it describes perfectly what I'm feeling I'm posting it again.

I desperately need to write, I long for the peace that it brings to my frantic soul. I sit at the computer, staring into the blank document that mocks me for my inadequacy. No brilliant ideas, no eloquent words flow from the keys as I type and I am frustrated. My soul is blocked, overcome by negative energy and fears I can not contain. My spirit is tired and weary of the fight, of the daily struggle to survive. There is so much I need to put onto this page but my mind is a barren wasteland numbed by the tediousness of daily strife. Each day has ceased to be its own entity and now all flow together into a tapestry of despair that can not seem to be overcome. My soul is drowning in angst, slowly suffocating under the weight of responsibilities I am powerless to fulfill. The days grow ever bleaker and the road in front of me is shrouded in perpetual blackness. If I only had one hint, one hope to cling to as I battle the darkness, but nothing seems certain anymore. Each attempt to claw my way out of this desolate pit, every accomplishment seems pointless for with each hard won victory there are a thousand devastating losses. I feel lost, alone, and in my despair I wish I could find the words to describe it.

'Writer's Block,' Copyright Patricia Schoenberger 2004, all rights reserved worldwide.

I Need

Oh the writer's block has been crippling, plunging me into despair. I finally managed to write this poem today using my prompt at Jane's Inspirations and it felt so good to write again. I really hate writer's block!

Sorry I haven't been very good about answering comments and reading other blogs lately. I've had so much happening and I can only do so much before I get all frazzled and crazy. I've also neglected Jane's Inspirations but there is a new prompt up today, which, as I said, I used to write this poem.

The words for the prompt were:

plague
constructed
wasteland
lightning

I Need

Longing
yearning
for something
undefined
a touch
perhaps
silken caresses
to shoot lightning
through this body
that has grown
so cold.

Or perhaps
compassion
an affirmation
of the pain and misery
that plagues
each and every
day.

Maybe I long for
a stirring
in this heart
that has hardened
over time
until nothing
penetrates
this fortress
I've constructed
around it.

I need something
to ease this misery
this wretched
emptiness
something to warm
this frozen
wasteland
that has become
me.

'I Need' Copyright Patricia Schoenberger 11/21/09, all rights reserved worldwide.

Nightmares of Insanity

I wrote this pom for 3WW, the words for that being:

incubate
nightmare
vanity

and also for my Jane's Inspirations Sublime Saturday prompt, the words for that being:

thrilling
chilling
lurking
horrors

Incubating fears, thrilling
permeating surreal dreams
vivid, terrifying
haunting her each night
as soon as lids close
over blue eyes pinched
with horror in expectation
of nightmares lurking in the dark
fighting them is surely vanity
as pointless and futile
as trying to capture smoke
between grasping fingers.

Tortured each night in slumber
sleep no longer blessed escape
but now a twisted caricature
of what should never be beheld
images of fury, running red
with blood; wicked acts
committed sadistically
with cruelty unheard-of
screams penetrate the night
aching shrieks of agonizing pain
chilling in its ferocity
pleading whispers begging
for mercy; she hears them so clearly
cannot escape the horrors
awakens to find
the blood-stained hands
are her own.

'Nightmares of Insanity' Copyright Patricia Schoenberger 11/1/09, all rights reserved worldwide.

Autumn Frenzy

This is my poem for my prompt site Jane's Inspirations. The prompt for Sublime Saturday this week are these words:

Petulant
Chilling
Tenacity
Inexorable

Petulant wind howls
chilling in its tenacity
thrashing through trees
whipping leaves
into violent whirlwinds
that swirl and twirl
gleefully dancing
in the ferocity of the night.
Thunder rumbles and explodes
inexorably reverberating
through my bones.
CRACK! Lightning strikes
callously, no regard
for the flames that erupt.
The storm rages on
as all cower in its wake
in awe of the ferocity
of Nature's magnificent fury.

'Autumn Frenzy' Copyright Patricia Schoenberger 10/25/08, all rights reserved worldwide.

Delicious Solitude

This poem was written for my prompt @ Jane's Inspirations, which is Solitude. If you want to participate, head on over there after you've written your post and leave your link in the comments section.

Delicious Solitude

Lingering moments of quiescence
envelope me lovingly
soothe my soul
shattered and raw.
Peace and silence caress me
rapturously
with a lover's touch
wistful in its ardent longing.
The house is hushed and
still, even the dust has settled
contentedly languishing
in the tranquility.
Sleeping cats lie
complacent and satisfied
tails swishing every so often
in the midst of a dream.
Settled comfortably on the couch
swaddled in a blanket
book in hand, to venture into fabled lands
I sip apple cinnamon tea and
savor the delicious solitude
of precious moments spent alone.

'Delicious Solitude' Copyright Patricia Schoenberger, 10/17/09, all rights reserved worldwide.

New Prompt Up

Just wanted to let you know that I have a new prompt up over @ Jane's Inspirations. If you're looking for some inspiration, go check it out!

Hiding Away

This poem was written for 3WW. I'm not sure what's going on with me lately but I've barely been writing and when I do write it just feels off. But, I keep at it hoping that the inspiration will return.

Anyway the words this week were:

frustrate
indecent
understand

Hiding Away

Frustrated
I retreat
into myself
withdraw into my shell-
a turtle's natural survival
tactic-I curl in upon myself
not wishing for death
which brings rebirth
but instead hoping
to disappear
forever.

Can you understand
the indecent treatment
inflicted upon one
already ravaged and raw
from pain and
despair?

Can you comprehend
the judgments and
condemnations
flying through the air
like spears that pierce
straight through
to my deepest core
leaving me bloody and
defeated?

I think not.

Unreasonable expectations
outrageous denials
justifications and
ignorant demands
erode me and consume me
until there is so little left
just bits and pieces
here and there
that flutter away
on the breeze
leaving nothing
but the shell
in which I used
to hide.

'Hiding Away' Copyright Patricia Schoenberger 10/14/09, all rights reserved worldwide.

Paper Tears

Picture reflected
in my mind
portrait of agony
that never subsides.
A future abandoned
parchment portrayal
trapped in its frame
crying paper tears
that never stop falling
as time and distance
decay its likeness.

Dreams once shared
fantasies intertwined
with memories
of all that once was
elusive and unreal
fading away, dissipating
into the mists of time.
All that is left
of what we once had
is this withering portrayal
perpetually crying
its paper tears.

'Paper Tears' Copyright Patricia Schoenberger 4/24/08, all rights reserved worldwide.

Wolves at Midnight

I'm posting this poem for the Monday Poetry Train Revisited and for my own prompt site, Jane's Inspirations. The prompt this week is Soul Stirring. Listening to the sound of wolves howl stirs my soul. I love wolves. The wolf is my spirit animal and I wrote this poem in honor of those beautiful animals and my own longing to be free and run with the wolves.

Cacophony of howls
yips and barks
pierce the cool dark.
A chorus to
mysterious moon
full and bright as
shadows skulk and
stalk the night.
Something primal
awakens within
the wind stirs, teasing
the scent of earth
pungent and rich.
Primordial yearning
overtakes me
a longing for freedom
a need for
blessed release
an urgent desire
to let loose my soul
and howl
at the moon.

'Wolves at Midnight' Copyright Patricia Schoenberger 8/20/09, all rights reserved worldwide.

Untitled

This very short, untitled piece was written for 3WW.

eclipse
languish
velocity

Eclipsed by your beauty
I languish in your shadow
content to be propelled
by the velocity of your love.

'Untitled' Copyright Patricia Schoenberger 9/24/09, all rights reserved worldwide.

Hungry

This poem was written for the Sunday Scribblings prompt, Hungry.

Empty, devoid of creativity
my Muses have abandoned me
leaving a great sucking void
that robs me of vitality.
Frantically digging around inside
searching for something
anything poetic, a flair of brilliance
or even something mundane.

Yearning for the words to flow
like water, fluid and graceful
releasing the pain and
agitation inside. But they are fixed
frozen somewhere in my mind.

Hungry for inspiration
embittered by its lack
longing to create, to weave
the words together
vivid strokes upon parchment
cleansing my soul and
releasing the demons inside.

'Hungry' Copyright Patricia Schoenberger 9/20/09, all rights reserved worldwide.

Licorice Legs

Just to let you know, the new prompt for Sublime Saturday is up over at Jane's Inspirations. It's a day late, sorry about that. I'm still getting into the swing of things over there. So, if you need some inspiration, check it out!


This is a poem that I wrote a long time ago. It started out as a prose poem and I revised it so that it's an actual poem now. I'm posting it for the Monday Poetry Train Revisited. Yes, I'm a day early, but that balances out my being late with the prompt at Jane's Inspirations, don't you think?

Licorice Legs

Frustrated
the woes and cares of life
slowly eroding my soul
like the ocean washes away
the sands of the beach.

So far to walk
but my legs are licorice whips
that bend and sway.
I fall into nothing and never stop.
Falling, falling, always falling
the hand of god
or is it the devil
choking, strangling
those chill fingers mostly bone.

Running, running, still running
but I can't get away
those legs of licorice again.
Useless.
Don't support nothin'
especially not this tired woman
back bent from years of life
chipping, chipping, chipping away at her spirit.

Flat, empty, one dimensional
a portrait on the wall
a future that will never be
trapped in its frame
as time decays the paper flesh.

Tried, tried
gone and tried I did
but no one's home
the sound of my knuckles rapping
echoes through a house long abandoned
even the ghosts gave up and went away.

Away, away, so far away
from everyone I once loved
just more ghosts rattling their chains
in the past I can't outrun.

Trying, trying, trying to run
but these licorice legs
just won't support me
no more.

'Licorice Legs' Copyright Patricia Schoenberger 2004, all rights reserved worldwide.

Apathetic

I have a bad case of the blues, blahs and blechs today. So, this is the poem I wrote to reflect that. I hope it's not as flat as I feel. But then, maybe that's the point.

Apathetic
flat, flavorless
insipid, indifferent
to reality
to fantasy
to life and
even death.

Pointless
prosaic existence
lackluster lifetime
unending.

Numb
dazed, detached
listless, lethargic
eternal wearisome
wretchedness.

Retreat
into a hole
under a rock
darkness embraces
soothes my
shattered soul.

'Apathetic' Copyright Patricia Schoenberger 9/16/09, all rights reserved worldwide.

Thirst

This poem was written for One Single Impression's prompt Thirst and



for Weekend Wordsmith's prompt Pallid.

Before I post the poem, I want to remind people to head over to my other blog, Jane's Inspirations to participate in the prompt I posted on Friday for Sublime Saturday!


Thirst

Pallid shadows drift
through dusty days
dry and arid, parched
devoid of moisture
and sustenance.

Thirsting for...something
a touch, a taste of life
a swallow from cool
nourishing springs
something to fill the void
raging within, devouring
from the inside.

Self-induced
solitary confinement
safe yet constricting
is cruel in its merciless
tyranny.

'Thirst' Copyright Patricia Schoenberger 9/13/09, all rights reserved worldwide.

Jane's Inspirations Up and Running Again

Just wanted to let you know I've started weekly prompts at Jane's Inspirations again. I will be posting them on Fridays or early Saturday morning and they will be called Sublime Saturdays.

Come on over and check out this week's Sublime Saturdays!

Happy Writing!

Jane