One Poem from Nicole Nottke

losing teeth

that reoccurring dream
stopped by for a drink
last night
didn’t bother to
take his shoes off
at the door
just slopped up
my pretty little
brain clouds
with broken teeth
falling from mouths

they say it is beauty
a sign of its decline
or fear of losing time
control or my pull
on someone or something
they say

somewhere someone
is watching me

and i know it is late
that the shoes i chose
for the occasion are
just not as great as
they were two hours ago

and that diluted smile of yours
becomes my revelation
not meaning to be manipulation
but spawning contemplation

you leave me with water spots
you leave me untying knots
you leave me alone
you leave me

now last night’s fight
to keep all 32 teeth
has left me tired and dizzy
and restless for sleep

so don’t think that
just because i’m here
that just because i have
this sweaty beer
and a look of good cheer
that i do not fear
your broken glass words
the way they rip
this delicate flesh
as they fall
fast and past the clogged drain
to maim my slight silver-lining

see somewhere is shining
my supernova my super someone
gonna take me higher
and you were better than drunk
better than any drug
better than sound sleep in
my own bed
but you were never love

that reoccurring dream
stopped by for a drink last night
stopped by
stopped

and i let him in

Nicole is a local area poet who enjoys performing at various open mics in the Chicagoland area including; Green Mill, The Café, Molly Malone’s, Graham’s 318, Barnes & Noble, and has been featured at the Batavia Art Gallery, Plano library and the art exhibition at the Old Historic Courthouse in Yorkville. She has been published locally in the Kane County Chronicle as well as Arts Beat Magazine. Nicole’s style of writing is deeply personal. She crafts honest imagery of interpersonal exchanges and haunting experiences, often pooling reflections ofa struggle with identity and purpose. Her very real style of writing shapes the raw beauty of love, loss and the pilgrimage of a confessional spirit. Having begun her journey as a poet in 2003, Nicole continues to evolve. Poetic influences include: Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes, Billy Collins, Mary Oliver, and singer/songwriters Tori Amos and Ani DiFranco.

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