Poetry by Jackie Chou inspired by Plath,Sexton and Marilyn Monroe

The Morning Walk

I wander the streets 
in late mornings,
windblown hair brushing 
against my face,
jagged at the ends,
as if torn by a shark's teeth.

The eyes inside the booming cars 
pierce my thin skin.
I wear a sweater,
but it doesn't protect me 
from their glares.

I'm a pedestrian.
My slow steps and daydreams
get in the way of a world 
that needs to keep moving,
keep its children fed.

Escaping the Voices

The night has fallen,
turning the sky deep purple,
the color of bruises.

Outside the glass door
of the place I call home,
the noises,
and the witchy voices 
on the intercom,
are drowned out.

Some men have tried 
to quell my anxiety.
We've gone browsing 
in the shoe store,
the phone company,
to distract me from fears.

But I've come back
again and again,
to hardened criminals 
with hard hearts.
I've held them to my chest,
let them chew me to bits.

I've gotten used to 
this frozen sidewalk,
where I've learned 
to ground my feet.


The following Poem inspired by Marilyn Monroe's poetry

Life-

I have been a rose,
sometimes wishing to be the bee
buried in its petals,
the one who is intoxicated 
by another's nectar.

But life-

I have bloomed 
in your very dance halls,
twirled under the strobe light 
in satin and chiffon dresses,
red-lipped and silver-footed.

I've looked into the mirror
long and hard,
my flushed cheeks yellowing 
under the bathroom lamp, 
the years stolen from my face.


Bio: Jackie Chou writes poems about romantic love, friendship, coming of age, grief over losses, mental illness, the creative process, and more.  Some of her works are published by Fevers of the Mind Press.  Her new poetry collection, Finding My Heart in Love and Loss, published by cyberwit.net, is available on Amazon.





Poetry inspired by Picasso from Jackie Chou “The Path”

inspired by Pablo Picasso's poem "A Lonely Road is That I Walked"

The Path

I walk a lonely road,
because I know no other way.

I have broken the bridge,
which stretches across the lake 
to the laughing crowd.

I walk a lonely road,
because my lover
has let go of my hand,
and taken a detour 
to follow the trail of glass.

And I know of no street,
that glistens in the sunlight,
only this black asphalt path,
on which my shadow grows.

Bio: Jackie Chou is a poet whose work is inspired by her inner world and the urban landscape where she grew up.  Her work has appeared in Alien Buddha Zine, Cajun Mutt Press, Spillwords, Highland Park Poetry, and Fevers of the Mind Poetry Digest.  Besides writing, she loves to watch Jeopardy and thriller movies.

Inspired by Langston Hughes Poem by Jackie Chou

inspired by Langton Hughes’ “Harlem”

What Happens to Unrealized Dreams

Do they get wrinkles, strokes,
become misshapen?

Do they spend their last days
in dingy nursing homes,
surrounded by paisley walls?

Where do they go when they die?
Are they cremated,
or neatly placed into a grave?

Do they rise up
shrunken and hunchbacked?

Maybe they're just like you and me,
waving their gnarled arms in the air
until the very end.

Bio: Jackie Chou writes poems about romantic love, friendship, coming of age, grief over losses, mental illness, the creative process, and more.  Some of her works are published by Fevers of the Mind Press.  Her new poetry collection, Finding My Heart in Love and Loss, published by cyberwit.net, is available on Amazon.

8 Jack Kerouac inspired haiku by Jackie Chou

my pretty name
on your lips–
dawn birdsong

traversing
my poem on the screen–
a cockroach!

dawnlight–
two in the care home
yelling together

the poem’s ending
also its beginning–
enso circle

living the dream–
the suburban house cat
squinting 

daydreaming 
in an attic room–
think outside the box

the bird
who flew in last night 
dead by the coke machine 

a pink tree
that's not sakura–
only pinker 



Bio Note: I write free verses, rhyming poems, and Japanese short form poetry, some of which saw the light of day in journals like Alien Buddha Zine, Spillwords, and Cajun Mutt Press, Fevers of the Mind Press. I am also a Jeopardy fan.

Poems inspired by Prince from Jackie Chou

Starfish and Coffee
(inspired by Prince's Starfish and Coffee)

I wake up to coffee I make,
Nestle instant with green tea,
powdered creamer,
and a dash of Sweet and Low.
It tastes crappy,
but I love the feeling it brings.

I cannot afford Starbucks,
miss the whipped cream,
the caramel swirls.
Don't like maple syrup and jam,
or ham, or tangerine,
but orange marmalade with butter,
on crusty biscuits from KFC.

My mother clothed me 
in mildewed sweaters.
I wouldn't be surprised,
if she fed me starfish for breakfast.
She'd pack it in a grimy tin box,
for all my classmates to see,
just like the song goes.


Raspberry Parade: A Ghazal for Prince

On my way home from the cabaret,
I realize I've lost my beret.

The street is an endless parade,
raspberries on my float, not a beret. 

Vagabonds crowd the sidewalks,
wrapped in colorful rags, but no beret.

I wear a red dress my mother bought,
with a crystal tiara, not a beret.

She passed away in 1994, 
and the song isn't about me but a beret.

Bio Note: I write free verses, rhyming poems, and Japanese short form poetry, some of which saw the light of day in journals like Alien Buddha Zine, Spillwords, and Cajun Mutt Press, Fevers of the Mind Press. I am also a Jeopardy fan.