Evan Stephens: Favorites

Montana

May 29 Evan Stephens

Thomas W Case

Montana

We used to talk about
going
to Montana--escaping it all,
building a log cabin and
making a garden. We were
going to hunt and fish for
food--make rugs and
hats from the fur.

But look at us now.
You live in the
city and drive a Volvo.
Goldfish in a glass bowl.
You even taught your
cat to walk on
a leash.
Can you see the
sky with all the smog?

I'm not any better.
Living under the bridge;
the only hunting I do is
for cans, the rare and
illusive
aluminum nickel, so that
I can buy *****.

I walk down to the
river's edge and look up at
the expansive sky.
I close my eyes.
And when I open them, baby,
we're in Montana.

Here's a link to my you tube channel where I read poetry from my recently published book, Rise Up Collected Poems and Short Stories, available on Booksie.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1khU1Mo5AKE

#love #loss #pain #change

May 29 Evan Stephens

The Cockroach and the Window

May 29 Evan Stephens

jules

The Cockroach and the Window

the night pressed in,
heavy and mean,
the way it always does
when you’re sober long enough
to feel everything you’ve been running from.

i sat in the kitchen,
a cigarette burning in the ashtray,
the smoke curling up
like the ghosts of all the things
i used to believe in.

there was a cockroach on the floor,
big, slow,
moving like it had seen worse days than me.
i thought about smashing it,
about what it must be like
to live your whole life
dodging shoes and poison
and still keep going.

but instead,
i opened the window,
watched it crawl out into the night.
then i crushed the cigarette,
and thought:
maybe that’s all there is—
just figuring out
who’s worth saving.
and hoping someday,
it’s you.

May 29 Evan Stephens

Velvet

May 29 Evan Stephens

Spicy Digits

Velvet

When the world
Screams in my ear
You are faulty,
You are worthless
A little paw stretches,
Resting on my chest
And I am reminded
I am her world,
I am lovely.

May 29 Evan Stephens

Maybe I'm Werewolf

May 29 Evan Stephens

Kalliope

Maybe I'm Werewolf

I do wish we hadn't met actually
I don't want to ache like this
Because of you I know things can be different,
And it's me who sits around complacent
You made my mind feel young again
And I had the audacity to wish

I dreamt of airplanes, and long drives through the states,
Coffee dates in the morning, every night staying up to game.

I pictured a wedding! One where I say I do.
That would have never happened if I never came across you.
I'm dissecting my feelings, which isn't unusual to do, but I'm doing it from your perspective, and you'll never know so *******.

If I never knew you I could have just stayed on my path, not wondered what different, gentler things could be like,
Because I'm not destined for that.

If I only said "Hi" and went on my way, not giggling at your texts each and every day,
Would I be arguing with myself unjustifying reasons not to stay?

You believe in destiny, and red strings, and fate,
But if we were fated to meet,
It's a cruel fate to have you taken away

#selfsabotage #growth #longing #lettinggo #holdingon #restless

May 29 Evan Stephens

Page 394

May 29 Evan Stephens

Kalliope

Page 394

And so it ended.
Like how they always seem to do,
caught up in a whirlwind until
I'm thinking of "I do"'s
And the future-
A lovely happy place,
with midnight kitchen dancing and sleepy morning looks on our face.
You weren't my longest,
and not even my first
But there's something about you-
the remedy to this thirst.

And so it ended.
In fact, you scared me more
How could I love a man so much who never walked through my door?
But I felt wanted
And truly very seen,
you'd call me out,
didn't care if I'd shout,
Never falling for a
smoked mirrored screen.
You craved depth
Deep down I craved that too,
but when you tried to reach that place
I'd launch you to the moon.
And I'm sorry
For not having more interesting shallows,
If there were more fish,
brighter colors,
I could have kept you entertained
while I found a safer path deeper through my waters

And so it ended.

I've just been in such a writing mood lately
My notes app is cluttered
And the writing prompts have been too good

#endings #love #grief #reflection

May 28 Evan Stephens

Everybody Remembers Their Third Grade Teacher

May 28 Evan Stephens

CJ Sutherland

Everybody Remembers Their Third Grade Teacher

Mrs. Goddard
Looked like Mary Poppins
Always a smile on her face
Caring, Kindness Grace
I wanted to please her
By doing my best
Ace every test

“If At first
You don’t succeed
Try Try again”

The reward
“To be a Study Buddy”
Help a friend do better
“A feather in your Cap”

We all wanted to be
The little engine that could
To always do good

“I can if I think I can”

Third grade was
A milestone
Our touch tone
It was the First time
Our voices were heard
Even the
Outlandish absurd

I wanted to
Come to school
To learn
“The Golden Rule”

Every morning
She smiled
Every inch
Every mile
She started
The class
With promise
We were beguiled
She had many sayings
Like Mary Poppins

“A spoon full of sugar
Helps the medicine go down
Is the most delightful way”

I still remember
“Silence is golden
So get rich quick”

We would settle in
Wiggling anxiously
In our chairs
Giggling without care
Soaking up
The happiness
In the  AIR
Glancing around
Anticipation giddy
Ready to get to
The nitty-gritty

It was a look
A glance
A waltz
A dance
An expression
Her finger
On her lips
She invited us…

“Are you ready?”
Every face, Smiled
“All right, Boys and Girls ”
“Put on your Thinking Caps”

Each eager child
Full grin smiles
One and all
Went through
The motions
Of putting on
Their Thinking Caps
Arms over the head
Adjusting it just right

She would ask
“Is it on
Good and tight”
We Readjusted our
Caps for good measure
Her face beaming
Smiling with pleasure

We saw our Cap
in our mind
By her
Design

That was the start
of  Our
Imagination
Time
Infatuation
Admiration
Appreciation
Nurtured
We grew
Sublime

We were all
Diamonds
In the rough
With years of
Refinement
We will shine
Sparkle glow
To perfection
Let our inside
Show

Don’t worry
About
Little chips
Imperfections
Polish and shine
Until
No detection

Five minutes
Seemed
Like Forever

Seeing
the end In sight
Never

As we grew
We knew
Interminable
Time
Marched on

All we can do
Is wait
For what comes
Next

Inspired songs;
1) everything is beautiful 1970
By Ray Stevens

2) remember the days of the old school yard 1977
By Cat Stevens

3) teach your children well
By Crosby Stills Nash & Young 1970

BLT Webster’s word of the day challenge
May 27, 2025
Interminable
Things that have or seem to have no end, especially because they continue for a very long time.

That was the year a boy kissed me
I was madder than a hornet‘s nest. He put our friendship to the test. I had no interest in boys. I was a tomboy
I interested only in running faster, better, then the boys. Not because I wanted to be a Boy, but because I could
My 4 brothers called me a (tomboy) my father called me Charmin Carmen. That’s the year. I got my nickname.
My mom still put me in dresses, but I wore shorts underneath to maintain my propriety.
It wasn’t easy t climbing a chain-link fence with a baseball mitt in a dress, but I did it gracefully!
The first girl baseball player in full stride , by third grade
A rural country girl in a city school.

#3grade #goldenrule #school #lessons #transition #love #friendship #countryliving

May 28 Evan Stephens

between the ages of eighteen and death

May 28 Evan Stephens

rick

between the ages of eighteen and death

when you trim your ***** and your mustache with the same pair of scissors
when you hand over your entire paycheck to the bartender of doom and glee
when you write a bounced check at the grocery store
when you sleep with a girl who isn’t clean
when you’re young, lost, broken and poor
when your childhood runs hard and your luck runs out
when your best friend is dead and your other friend is ******* your girl
when your dog sleeps in the afternoon and dreams of the neighborhood *****
when your nutrients gets replaced with Xanax bars over the one who just left
when your tired eyes meet the brick & mortar of strenuous labor
when the smile is so fake that it appears genuine
when you go all in on someone you weren’t 100% sure of
when you wait on bleeding knees for the unreliable god
when you bet on the boxer that crashed to the canvas
when the interest is high and the banks are closed and the creditors don’t care about grace periods
when you understand very little and you expel a whole lot
when the cord of anxiety strangles your very essence
when you turn out to be just as everyone expected

don’t worry

it’ll all turn around

and find you again

someway

somehow.

#poetry #poem #prose #sad #reality #adulthood

May 28 Evan Stephens

Broken Scroll.

May 28 Evan Stephens

brooke

Broken Scroll.

Back in the summer of ‘99 when
My mom and adoptive father got married
I remember the cream white carpet of the pastors house and the table with a gaudy white cake, my mother’s hair in black ringlets around her face and the white t-strap dress shoes, scalloped around the edges.
I remember the staunch silence of my
soon-to-be-brothers probably wondering why he didn’t stick with their respective moms but being altogether curious anyway, of them looking on with their sad blue eyes.

Years later when they’d tell the story of how they met, I’d romanticize this divine encounter only to
realize in my early 20’s that it was more of a business arrangement, really. And in 2018 when my late boyfriend Thomas asked during a boots and bling gala why your parents don’t touch or dance with one another I defensively respond that they don’t have to do that to love one other but

That was all wrong, really.

(C) Brooke Otto 2025

I really enjoy this rhythm and meter of writing, more story like. Inspired by a number of people I’ve read on here, lately.