The most recent free verse poems by Mel Irvine.
Public Transport (1/29/2018) - .. stancia ma’am … Estancia . .. ma’ … we both fit inside cooling pizza pressed to knees my head cracks the thin metal roof and the rider (his knees pointing upward) sweep the metal handles connected to the brakes… 
On the Street Today (8/7/2018) - men with an oozing bellies calm fighting roosters water boiled by fire, pours to a plastic bucket duck eggs, grilled corn, peanuts hot, salted by hand flapping tarps and bright umbrellas wet school shoes sirens sounds, and shredded traffic a… 
My Younger Self (10/9/2018) - I saw myself at the bottom of a pink camellia bush stretched out and flailing as my younger self (a perky pink bud) looked away in disdain how could she know? that actually she was looking at herself © 2018… 
Art or Autobiography (4/19/2019) - Is it possible to see a piece of art and not look for yourself? Or arrange each piece without turning it into your own autobiography of lost toys, lost time lost poetry, and lost vindications? Not today. Blogging-U: This blog… 
Bad Me (3/3/2016) - bad me’ i heard his little voice say ‘bad me’ small head turned into the pillow ‘bad me’ i had scolded him for breaking a yellow colouring pencil he stomped it into two pieces discarded for garbage i found it… 
El Niño (4/28/2019) - mid-summer heat settled shouts out curling leaf fronds brown and cracked clear voices cry rain hear us rain When my mother and sister arrived in Iloilo City 2 weeks ago, they both asked about the brown stuff they could see… 
Lady with Orange Flowers (11/2/2017) - paying 10 pesos for photographs and a peek into her life Day of the Dead floral tributes hand woven (her own hands) into little bamboo baskets the hands of the poor in every bunch. © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Daily… 
Early (5/19/2017) - light passing torn clouds palm leaf rags tattered hut poverty a man into rice fields out the window of the bus © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Photo Challenge: Reflecting
Shadows on a Wall OR Fake News (9/19/2018) - like a shadow cast on wall sometimes you have to step back and remove your sunglasses or step forward and adjust your eyes to see what’s real and what is not © 2018 Melinda J. Irvine
It’s been a long time since my hands have held my little sister (9/3/2014) - my finger tips are dry but feel well against my cracked lips today they have silenced a whisper parted barbed wire picked wattle and broken a fall cut words from a book older than my mother held a cup of… 
From the Black Forest (12/5/2016) - Fundraising to adopt Jerry has really binded my family as we all search for once sacred relics to sell. This little wooden bear was handed over enthusiastically with detailed instructions for pricing (which I will strictly adhere to as this little poem illustrates).… 
The Mental Health Section (6/19/2017) - Thumbing the sketchbook I find the mental health section Volume 1: “She Thought She Might Implode:” In Blue Biro. Volume 2: (Out of Print) © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Daily Post: Detonate and Volume I’m part of Post A Day… 
Smile for a sack of rice (11/3/2015) - they know exactly why they are smiling why I was arriving at 10.30 in the morning why they had to put on pants and shoes eldest sister points her little brother to the camera light smile for a sack of… 
Inside a Tree (8/22/2016) - i wish i could give you the beauty of this tree how (even in all this) rusted bars dirty glass framed with grime and plastic tubes roaring air-con dust clad window noise little pieces of wire strung bits of stuff… 
The sun has gone (5/31/2019) - the sand scorched heat and absence our monsoon rains are late this year and tonight (at last the night) the dogs will sleep inside fresh holes dug to the cool sand not like this burnt afternoon dusk, where the sun… 
Guitar Pic (8/9/2018) - I wonder how many poets have written lamentations of unscratched fretboards plectrums and melodies swallowed? Maybe I should too ///
Not Yet Real (9/21/2018) - at night shadows strike already dark walls and your eyes create things not yet real with a weird filter © 2018 Melinda J. Irvine
The Magic of Ebor Daisies (11/30/2016) - Tired driving hands turn the wheel exploring white roadside flowers. Calm is their magic and, soothed by their spring arrival, those same hands return. © 2016 Melinda Irvine 
Click here to permanently delete your account (11/12/2015) - Feeling strangely like cyanide The killing of my digital self I am afraid So bold hours ago I made lists So I would do it properly Not miss a thing Kill everything Insecticide myself Yet here I am I am… 
The words I write hurt (4/29/2014) - sometimes the words i write on the page hurt too much and i cannot look at them then my hand cannot make a shape and i can’t feel anything at all have i written too much? will it just add increase to… 
Spring Circle (10/1/2017) - as any great journey spring in the garden is a sunny place to sit watching the changing sky © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine This is my response to the Blogging University course Writing: Intro to Poetry (Day 4 Journey) Daily… 
Finding Myself Again (3/14/2016) - allowing high-tide to wash over my body following dragonflies with sky-turned eyes eating on the sand together balancing on a bamboo outrigger calling two little boys to lunch searching for fresh tree seeds and leaves shaking sand from my swimmer… 
One Sunset (1/14/2017) - She warms us, lights us. Of more is she capable, our centre, our sun. © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Daily Prompt: Capable
What is Rain? (10/3/2017) - Feeling athletic we scramble down (jackets off, hats on, sun hot) to the popular spot we rest among passing long weekenders and languages we don’t understand. Rain lands on our shoulders rain lands on our hats rain lands on our… 
Curtains of the Old House (12/12/2016) - Curtains take many forms. Mystical screens weave twelve decades of secrets. © Melinda Irvine Daily Prompt: Mystical
Dark Carousel (8/15/2017) - pointing i followed his vague directions into some dark parade until a graffitied street, red stopped, then turned me out © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Daily Prompt: Carousel I’m part of Post A Day 2017
Unmoored (5/22/2017) - adrift in the wash bucket he climbed my arm unmoored © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Daily Post: Adrift and Unmoored
A Poem in the Morning (5/17/2018) - I woke this morning to the sound of a poem. It rained in through the night words and images. And yet even my first response was not to scramble for a pen, but merely smile and seep into a new… 
What I See (1/15/2017) - You see what I see. See my world in my poems. Though you, you are unseen. © 2017 Melinda Irvine Daily Prompt: Unseen
Wretched Heritage (5/20/2017) - i am living a tradition my eyes pieces of tin, metal scraps for hands feet (torn nails) just look at my toes! but don’t get too close you don’t want to see all i’ve got © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Weekly… 
Ignoring Safety Advice (10/4/2016) - in the beginning i remember thinking … i will never ever board one of those dodgy carnival rides circling fiestas their steel support posts levelled out on rocks and pieces of concrete rubble. but yeh, i did. and yeh, i do.… 
Leaving the Temple (3/28/2017) - wreathed boy spoke limestone or held bird © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Photo: Limestone statuette of a boy with a wreath of leaves
Disconnectivity (12/30/2018) - connecting each to each building to building house to house pole to pole pod to pod me to me you from you post from post tribe from tribe boozer from boozer each from each disconnecting © 2018 Melinda J. Irvine
The Island of Stars (6/29/2017) - to the top we climbed in the sunny shining “ulihi ulihi gid kami” they passed us by going to the down we are so late so very very late © 2017 Melinda J. Irvine Daily Post: Sunny I’m part of… 
Waiting for a Tide (4/25/2015) - vacant fishing boats and children’s voices call from somewhere inside. slow slow tide. ‘Filipino time’ admonishes grandmother (not for the last time) ‘no good’ 3 or 4 hours have trickled by while we wait and wait wait wait wait for… 
Over This Wall (6/22/2018) - Over this wall is a shopping centre aircon and security guards thousands of people over this wall Over the wall is a gasoline station aircon and fancy cars thousands of drivers over the wall Over that wall is a man washing… 
Lemon Tree Flats (3/28/2015) - driving to the lemon tree flats i am a passenger for the first time in months (maybe longer) laughing more than my body can remember i sit in back while we stop for lizards lizards with beards and long tails… 
Black Rock Swamp (3/12/2015) - dirty old swamp transformed to a mirror i ran little in you once long before the rain came dark green river grass flower filled stamens and tangled paperbarks. now sunset fragments sparkling stagnant water decaying long rotting log lumpy water…