Brain Trust

I have two brains,

one housed in bone,

the other in nest of gut.

There are times they

cooperate, agree, 

but when they don’t

I’m left to decide

which one I trust.

My brain loves 

me to take a seat

in overthink, parade

scenarios, insist 

superiority, argues

logic should guide

every decision.

But my gut, my intuition,

my premonition, my compass

in what to do, avoid, give,

and deny has wisdom I don’t ignore.

My gut has been sending a lot

of messages these days.

The one in my skull is attempting

patience, but its bullishness

doesn’t care for overriding 

so, there are days I suffer its petulance. 

©Susie Clevenger 2025

NaPoWriMo  Day 17

 

Solving Didn't Pass I.D. Check

Ever tried to brainstorm

in a bar where coke courts Jack

and the luck of the draw will

find a monkey on someone’s back?

In the broken neon ambiance 

much of the thinking isn’t worth

a penny, and the only one taking notes

is a waitress keeping tabs.

Serve enough pitchers of beer and some 

guy will think he’s Einstein and a woman

may get lit enough to think she’s Poet Laurette 

of the bathroom wall. 

There’s a lot of problems at The Sticky Pony,

but Solving didn’t pass the I.D. check

with the bouncer at the front door. 

©Susie Clevenger 2025

NaPoWrMo Day 16

Shay's Word Garden Word List ~ There Must Be a Pony

 

Sisters of the Crazy Life

Through cigarette smoke

I can see every yesterday

blush her cheeks sassy. 

Bold pearls on her ears,

turquoise rings on her fingers

decorate her audacity 

to be herself in the AARP chase

to assign her a tombstone. 

Livin’ La Vida Loca

blasts from a speaker

in the background

in bright colored notes.

Neither of us speaks,

but we communicate through a stare.

She dares me to be a rebel…

I reply with a wink, “I already am.”

As fast as it appeared the

magic in rhythm and haze dissipates. 

She turns to order tequila.

I walk out with a match I’ll never burn.

©Susie Clevenger 2025

NaPoWriMo Day 14

 

Little Shrines and Madness

Hello…

“We’re all mad here. You’re mad. 

You must be or you wouldn’t be here.”

Cheshire Cat- Alice in Wonderland. 

I have poetry books

in every room, formed,

deformed, hardback,

paper, from Edgar Allan Poe

to my scribblings. 

There’s not a day that goes

by I don’t hollow out a space

in my ribs for another poem.

When I think about it, my

poetry collections are little

shrines because there’s

always a candle close, some

incense, and a prayer for

a bit of talent to slip into my ink. 

I skip prayers when

It comes to poetry forms.

Most of the time when

I attempt to write one it feels

like I’m forcing myself

into a push up bra that’s

never going to work. 

Oh,

 and those 

shrine rooms

have no mirrors.

I do enough digging inside

 myself reading and scribbling

 I don’t need to peer into glass 

to see my madness. 

©Susie Clevenger 2025

NaPoWriMo ~ Day 7

Shay's Word Garden Word List ~ Immortal Poems

 

Chasing Nightmares to Feel a Dream

She has lipstick eyes

and plastic intentions. 

The blood of her days

living on erased has

her chasing nightmares

to feel a dream.

Before 2022 she had

the right to choose

her body’s direction.

Today it’s been sharpied

into the decision of men.

No one asked her.

No one gave her the choice

to decide if a God without Jesus

or no god at all had the 

right to force her to live by

a faith or plan that had

outsourced compassion. 

©Susie Clevenger 2025

#NaPoWriMo Day 5

 

In the Haunted Spaces

I live in the haunted spaces of my art

where eyes write themselves blind,

and ink goes deaf from trying to hear. 

The madness of creativity is

it doesn’t fear ghosts or the voices

that speak through paintbrushes. 

I roam tombs and fly on butterfly wings

while my feet walk crumble floors in need of a broom.

The water of imagination may be where I drown

or a sea I sail to totally unexpected.  

©Susie Clevenger 2025

NaPoWriMo Day 3

 

Whiskey Cigarette Lines

There’s a smile that wants

to dance across my lips,

but I taste its sweet,

and I haven’t an urge for sugar.

I do find humor in the

civil war on my face,

and the audience

who’s not sure if I’m angry

or simply (if simple ever fits) insane.

My husband swears I’ve been

reading Bukowski again,

those whiskey cigarette lines

keeping his bluebird from

nesting in my chest. 

It’s a day… Just a day.

I‘ll get through it, around it

or over it.

But that smile, hmmm,

I’ll keep it to a smirk. 

©Susie Clevenger 2025

NaPoWriMo Day 2

 

If There's a Spotlight in Hell (Day 1 NaPoWriMo)

 

How do I glitter empty

when leather words

are all I hear?

You know the kind,

cracked, broken, 

overused, beyond repair. 

I waver between rage

and whatever while staring

into my coffee cup searching

for a crystal ball in the caffeine.

If there’s a spotlight in hell,

I know a few who would 

burn the lightbulb into their image. 

There’s not enough school in a politician

to read a room or hear an opinion

that hasn’t fallen out of their own tongue. 

I’m having a moment among many.

Today I’m feeling like the news is

filled with a pack of rabid children

I’d like to chase with a needle

so they won’t put their teeth

in anyone else. 

©Susie Clevenger 2025

Shay's Word Garden Word List ~ Game Six