Ragged Feathers.

All my books are available on Amazon. Here's a link https://www.amazon.com/stores/Thomas-W.-Case/author/B0CL2RKDGX?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=

Hope is that little wild thing,

furry and fragile,

that sits on a shelf behind your heart,

where the room smells of cheap whiskey

and roach powder,

and the streets have been unkind

for a month of Tuesdays.

It’s that pocket full of pennies

pounding against your hip

as you count the steps to the liquor store

in the pouring rain,

hoping they still sell that cheap vodka

that tastes like kerosene.

It’s breath and ragged feathers,

huddled in the alley behind the tavern,

where neon paints the wet asphalt

and the rain tastes

like childhood dreams.

It’s the canary escaped from the coal mine,

sitting on the desk that keeps your hands moving

over the keyboard, over torn pages,

even when echoes lean in from the ceiling,

laughing at your stubborn fingers.

It’s the click in your skull that whispers,

Don’t quit yet,

while the world collapses,

while the nights stretch on forever,

and the coffee’s gone,

and the toilet’s overflowing.

Hope doesn’t beg like a stray dog.

It doesn’t glitter like a fake god.

It slithers beneath your skin,

a little blood, a little pulse,

and somehow keeps you waking up.

Author's Note

New long-form poetry reading on YouTube—featuring work from Aluminum Cowboys and a sneak peek from Searching for Nod.

Watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNzeVyF51Og

Books on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Thomas-W.-Case/author/B0CL2RKDGX?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=xsU45&content

Reviews

[red93]

I believe yr reference here is Emily Dickinson, and it's a good one. You give us the true authentic feel of America's mean streets in this Piece Thomas - and there are few that are meaner than those. Exceptional ✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️

[Thomas W Case]

Thank you, my friend.

[Chris Shaw]

I too thought of Emily Dickinson. Hope is everything when the chips are down, and you describe the rough and tough here so well. What a place to find yourself. There but for fortune …

Chris

[Thomas W Case]

Thank you, Chris.

[Soren]

Hope a strange thing a bit out of place and not looking at all like what is around it. It always seems to be there even if hidden. Nicely written my friend

[Thomas W Case]

Thanks, my friend.

[Soren]

Most welcome Thomas