David Harth 2025-11-30 David Harth 2025-11-30

Sister Snakes

They were twins living together

No birds of a different feather

Secretly they would move under the river

Shed light to dawn bodies quiver

Lonesome island access gained

Bread and butter chained

Together they laughed and cried

Neither would crawl in shame to hide

Loved their liberty

Periscope to mastery

Chivalry cherished on the common sea

Shore to shore a double she

Black thigh high socks

Reveal the pen and paper art locks

They slithered beneath memories

Like reflecting diamond treasuries

Hid in dark corners away from flame of desire

Serpent stirring and sliding higher

Their imagination ignited creativity

Traveled the world for no lack of eternity

They were admired by many

Counted thoughts for your penny

Held accountable for no fault

In each quad chambers vault

Buried deep within the nest heap

Reflecting hearts not bowing to sheep

Identical and comparable

Torn sleeve is bearable

They constrict and construct

Under sheets tucked

Now and then they may adorn a skirt

Ten-fold pump station squirt

Secret songs sing and sung

Avoid their poisonous tongue

Sisters from mother

On your silent face smother

Snakes from father

Below belt no bother

25.11.30.06.44.46@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2025-11-18 David Harth 2025-11-18

Sifting Through Sand

Never found a diamond beneath the swing set

Or sold out a show

Never been told I was beautiful without paying someone to say those words

Or tied a bowtie around my neck

Never painted a painting with a hand-made horse-hair brush

Or listened to Elvis on vinyl records

Sifting through sand

On a sad day in March

Never knew my grandfather to march in a Veteran’s Day parade

Or planted a lone tree in a meadow

Never listened to my daughter play flute in the school’s concert

Or had late night conversations with a bartender I didn’t know

Never placed flowers at an early grave on a cold rainy day

Or slept in past breakfast

Sifting through sand

On a sad day in March

Never took a bus North

Or fell in love with a friend

Never returned a book to the library

Or wore my favorite color socks

Never lied to get out of a date

Or messed around with someone’s calendar

Sifting through sand

On a sad day in March

Never baked a frosted chocolate cake

Or ate too fast

Never swallowed my pride

Or apologized without my fingers crossed

Never hit a baseball out of the park

Or sat scared past midnight

Sifting through sand

On a sad day in March

Never woke up in March

Never forgot December

July never came like a revolving door

Sifting through sand

25.11.18.12.39.27@345ParkNYC

David Harth 2025-09-23 David Harth 2025-09-23

Strange Things Happen In Ohio

So many things

Are happening everywhere

Outside closed doors

The world rotates

On an imaginary axis

Slowly orbiting the sun

Knock at the door in Cincinnati

Led to a phone call to the police

A cruiser came by

Officers arrived and made a call

An unmarked vehicle came by

Detectives took fingerprints, took notes, took coffees to go

I-75 was just outside her door

Big potted plants stood like soldiers on her porch

A dim light danced with night-time moths

But the moon is what really claimed the night

She exited through the back door

Slipped on out and bypassed all the investigators

Went to the bus station for a Greyhound

Decided it was time to flee

And make for the Eastern Seaboard

25.09.23.14.42.00@345ParkNYC

David Harth 2025-08-15 David Harth 2025-08-15

Strangers Are Listening

Recently

I found my way to the internet

More specifically

Actually

An app

Which is short for application

An app called

Instagram

And on this billionaire owned platform

I find myself in absolute confession

About fears

About truths

About failures

About dreams

About depression

About imagination

About sexual encounters

About …

Thank you, Strangers

For listening

25.08.15.15.31.52@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2025-08-01 David Harth 2025-08-01

Salt To Taste

I took the meat out of the freezer

I let the meat thaw overnight

I turned off the alarm

I admired the sunrise

I got out of bed

I cleaned my body and cleaned the house

I took out the trash

I washed my hands

I put on my apron

I placed the meat on the cutting board

I carved the meat in preparation for cooking

I placed the meat chunks on skewers

I grilled the meat over the open flame

I opened the door for my dozen dinner guests

I sat them down one by one

I finished preparing the meal

I placed some cooked meat on every guest’s plate

I told each guest to salt the flesh to taste

I listened to my dinner guests admire my cooking

I told them what kind of meat it was after they inquired

I told them my wife died just last week

25.08.01.16.56.56@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2025-06-25 David Harth 2025-06-25

Speak of the Shadows

There are whispers

When you turn corners

Don’t speak of an assault from yesterday

Incomplete assassinations are inadequate

Poor judgement and poor timing

No printed names in tomorrow’s paper

Don’t speak of that hidden space

Between her inner limbs

Just under the edge

Such a dark corner

Don’t speak of secluded cabinets

Filled with curious collections

Passionate about someone else’s skin

Just out of an upstate penitentiary

An interlude of romance

I love her

She heals my forever scars

Let’s me say no farewells

Introduces me to the wisdom of the moon

The illumination of the sun

Don’t wish you didn’t witness

Take an endless breath

Cut out their hearts

Plant their thumbs in terracotta pots

Don’t listen to secrets untold

Put your ear to the floor

Hear footsteps of the unknown

Drop a coin down the wishing well

Don’t turn back to history’s faults

Grow out of insufferable danger

Concentrate on camps for children

Find an escape route across vast seas

In our justice

There is silence

In the greatest violence

25.05.25.15.56.46@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2025-05-02 David Harth 2025-05-02

The Surgeon

Like a migrating bird

coming back each year

Like wild indigo

coming back each year

Like a trip around the sun

coming back each year

Took a photo together

Started over the East River

Took a dip and broke the bed

Admired the sunset

Three dozen stories above

Perverted

Passionate

Paradise

Children heal from her wisdom

Children heal from her steady hands

From the city that never sleeps

To the heartbeat of Africa

Reservoirs filled with cravings

Running laps and hiking mountains

A shade of autonomy anatomy

And a dash of brilliant buoyancy

Naughty nectar nailed

Orchestrated orgasmic oasis

Enjoyable erotic encounter

Genuine glowing grace

Raw radiant rhythm

Unrestrained unfolding uptown

Sensational seduction slipping

Going

Coming

Hiding

25.05.02.11.54.00@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2025-04-24 David Harth 2025-04-24

Stolen Coffee

As usual, I wake up at 5:15am, every day of the week.

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Some mornings I eat breakfast before I work out with my trainer at the gym starting at 6:00am. Some mornings I take my 4-mile brisk walk around the park starting at 5:20am. Some mornings I do some at-home fitness. Some mornings, after breakfast, I’ll have coffee. To prepare that coffee, I first start boiling water in a blue kettle. While the water in the blue kettle is heating up, I pour the whole beans (Usually of single origin) into my bean grinder. I then grind the beans for about 20 seconds. After which I pour the ground coffee beans into one of my three French presses. The blue kettle whistles to let me know when the water has come to a boil. I turn off the flame and I pick up the blue kettle. I then pour the boiling water from the blue kettle into one of my three French presses. Then I place the plunger and top of the French press in place, but don’t yet plunge it downwards. I let the coffee sit and sit. Then when I think of it, usually, I’d say, 5-10 minutes of seeping, I plunge the filter downwards in the beaker of one of my three French presses.

My coffee smells delicious.

The scent alone rattles my insides.

With notes of rich smoky chocolate.

I pour my hot coffee into a huge 16oz white mug that has the letters “coffee” on one side. I’ve always wondered why it was spelled “coffee” and not “Coffee” with a capital letter “C.” I’m convinced this mug holds more than 16oz. I love this mug so much. So much that I bought two of them, out of, perhaps, irrational fear, that one mug would break one day. Years later, I found the mug again and purchased two more. I now own four of them. All are operational, not broken, and continue to bring joy in my life every day of the week.

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

I was alarmed today.

Someone stole my coffee.

My coffee was gone.

And gone was my coffee.

25.04.24.08:31:09@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2025-04-14 David Harth 2025-04-14

Sorry I’m Late

My watch around my wrist

Not too tight to make an impression

Finest time piece from Mesozoic times

Even a collection can’t buy time

With paisley shirts and penny loafers

Opa’s cuckoo clock

From the streets of Gießen

To Kristallnacht’s escape

Discovered it was a dentist’s office

Now a student’s flat

Sister’s clock radio with the red digital digits

Made of plastic wood

With wire cord too short

Alarm set early and snooze always pressed

Upside down books get you nowhere

Grandfather clock down the hall

Chimes on every hour like a soldier

From Bethlehem to Queens

Ghosts never left home

Elijah waltzes in without veto

Tick Tock the clock the students spy on

Until school day’s end

Hanging on institutional green paint

Recess at play be gay

Jeanne gave chocolates behind the teacher’s desk

A lost man in a meadow

Taught me to read the sun

As he bled from his wounds

His blood mixed with the dirt

If only he called ahead

I apologize I’m late.

25.04.14.15.06.17@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2025-04-03 David Harth 2025-04-03

Scab

I am the scab

that keeps coming back

I am the head in the oven

I am the river below the bridge

I am the tracks guiding the train

I am the knife hidden in the drawer

I am the gasoline next to the kindling

I am the current beneath the hull of the ferry

I am the mouth on the end of the exhaust pipe

I am the spool of heavy rope in the corner of the studio

I am the time not taken

I am the eulogy not given

I am the echo in your head on repeat

I am the revolver you pick up at the end of the day

I am the depression that whips you around the bend

I am the scab

you cannot defeat

I am the scab

you cannot heal

I am the scab

you cannot pick off

I am the scab

you cannot let go of

I am the scab

that keeps coming back

25.04.03.14.46.16@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2025-03-21 David Harth 2025-03-21

The Sea Garden

The cats come in

The cats come out

At night,

Feed them all about

At day,

Sleep until the sun is highest in the sky

And sleep some more

She was a mystery

I had not known

Oceans swarm

As a sea garden blooms

But her cat on a bench

Looked just like mine

Even though her cat on the bench

Was not really her cat

But just a cat

Sleeping in the sun

Until the sun was highest in the sky

25.03.26.07.37.00@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2024-12-04 David Harth 2024-12-04

Suicide Registration

I stood up

Walked out of the classroom

I was frustrated

This was not the class I signed up for

This was not the professor I hoped to learn from

I went to the administration office

I sought clarification

And then I realized

I did not register for Suicide

I registered for something else

24.12.04.22.22.51@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2024-12-01 David Harth 2024-12-01

Shadows

Running out of time

Can’t compete against this current

Can’t win against this tide

Can’t keep my head over water

Can’t recover

Can’t forget

And

Can’t remain

So remember my strength

Remember I tried

Remember my name

And

Remember my epic dream

I put you aside

To surrender to love

I lost what I once had

But gained so much more

And

The darkness ate me alive

I got buried

Beneath the great depression

24.12.01.16.17.00@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2024-11-07 David Harth 2024-11-07

She Came Inside

Pry

Pull

Pick

Peel

Prod

Plow

Push

Poke

Pluck

Probe

Pierce

Prompt

Puncture

Permeate

Penetrate

Emancipate

Evacuate

Excavate

Exorcism

Exfoliate

Extrude

Escape

Extract

Egress

Elude

Expel

Eject

Evict

Exit

Infiltrate

Intrude

Invade

Inject

Assault

Attack

Access

Autopsy

Sneak

& Peak

Trespass

Pass

Paassssssst…

Pssst…..

Psss….

–

Entrance

–

She’s going inside

And inside she went

I opened wide

And she came inside

24.11.07.09.45.48@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2024-09-22 David Harth 2024-09-22

Sleepless Nights

quiet

night

silence

drift

fray

whisper

unknown

falls

end

tie knot

dark

loss

lost

yesterday

tomorrow

mourning

night shade

listen

alone

final

untold

secret

wind

footsteps

moment

shadow

grace

forgotten

last

echoes

24.09.22.21.23.00@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2016-05-17 David Harth 2016-05-17

Skin & Bones

All she ever was

To my silent majority

And catastrophic heart

Skin and bones

And skin and bones

Contemplating spine crushing

Chastity locking

Ego stroking

Couldn’t be at yesterday’s benefit

Couldn’t be at the reception

Couldn’t be at the morgue

Skin and bones

And skin and bones

Rrrrrrrrash

Skin and bones

Scrape

Up off the floor

Scrape

Skin and bones

Scrape

Seasons come and go

Scrape

Lessons to be learned

Skin and bones

2016.05.17.15:53:17@200VeseyNYC

David Harth 2016-02-21 David Harth 2016-02-21

Sometimes in the Sadness

In fear

Reaching into the unknown abyss

Attempting to find location

Empty handed

Blind to the reasons

Crawling upon the ground

Pulling the weight of your body

With digging fingernails into the splintering floor

Scratching the dirt

The sound of chalk on board

Burning decaying eyes

Guilty pleasure standing tall

Expensive expanse

These battles and quiet hymns

Raging fires scorching

Dying screams unheard

Sunken heart of despair

War is on

16.02.21.20:45:19@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2014-01-24 David Harth 2014-01-24

Something I’ve

She approached

With a wave and a hatless flow of hair

Her killer smile made my knees melt into the snow below

But I won't talk about that

For now

Because her intellect

Stimulated conversations

Of multiple directions

She kissed me

I kissed her

In the frigid air

Taught me well

A new perspective

Which I love

At my old age of dry eyes and acid reflux

To listen

Think, once again

Before I speak

A reflection

A believer

Romance

Forefront

Forward

She enveloped me

Briefly we thought, scared me

I checked

Her bitten hands covered in gloves

There was that smile again

Hop on the plane

Next destination

Prediction, perhaps

Welcomed observations

If she never comes back

To the circle I have become

She shed light

To the fact that sometimes

I am indeed

Too square

But she

Is the circle with no fear

The courageous tiger that stares back at you

The global beacon

Which I hear,

Bing, Bing, Bing

The educator - The teacher

Not even counterfeiting

Or dancing

But prowling with determination

Sly, she knows

With a whispering departure

She goes...

At the end, it’s all

Something I’ve learned

14.01.24.02:36:41@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2013-02-11 David Harth 2013-02-11

Saying Goodbye

For dozens of years, I’ve whispered your name

No matter how many times you’ve disappeared

The dreadful day approaches the same

Beneath these falling snow flakes

I separate the clouds and part the seas

When I’m in love, I never halt the brakes

So, when I hover over you in your deepest sleep

Share secrets of my heart with your dreams

Do not fear and do not weep

For I’ve come to guide you and rescue you

My honest chivalry and sublime passion

Worn on my sleeve, shown through and through

Before I depart

Know my veracity

I loved you more than my art

Once more I shall see your seductive eyes

I shall put up my sail and be on my way

After we say our last goodbyes

13.02.11.09:59:53@130BklynNYC

David Harth 2012-09-29 David Harth 2012-09-29

Sarah Gail Hutcherson

In passing through others

I heard her name

And she heard mine

One day

We detected and determined

Something quite similar

Not acted upon

Only shared and discussed

We attempted to arrange

And engineer the similarity

Yet still to this day

Only a dream

Of warm coastal drifters

And north east storm dwellers

By three names she goes by

Like children who show and tell

With hidden secrets

And the push of pull

Of wondering

And the constant wandering

From state to state

In the unconscious state

Of our minds

12.09.29.13:21:02@130BklynNYC