may

what you went through when you went through hell 

and lived to tell. by your living force by your spirit by your kindness 

they will know

#katyamills

six two

America today feels like the same old bedrock of world power we've maintained since the first world war.  a hundred years old. in her shadow she feels like fury and sound under an amphetamine sky. stout moral fortitude condensed into some lone wolf capital minded lobbyist fighting a tide of rising interest rates and people who care about something other than money. amortized forms trapped within a threadbare atmosphere. thinning arguments floated to buy time to solve the latest imperial conundrum. underclothes made of petrol product as we pitch our protests high against fossil fuels... wondering how can we unpack it... formulaic disobedience left unpunished to our dismay. we come home to blackened soot of unbecomings, where before was pastoral beauty. our unified material focused attention on one bloodbath after another through the news feed and sound byte of choice. amusement park of adrenal cells worked out again on the unoxygenated dashboard. we hold together somehow. like polar ice drifting toward the equator. maybe it's hope.    #katyamills

5.31

terribly windy all night

gave way to stillness this morning

self disinterest gave rise to self

compassion

confronted with an orange

i swallowed it whole

#katyamills

stranger

when on holiday sometimes

it's like i forgot who i am

after all the weeks and months of work

sometimes you need to talk 

or coax yourself out

then appear like a

stranger

#katyamills

5.30

the wind howling in the winter. the road winding around the lake. the red barn with white trim. the icy stream and snow. we gathered around your pot belly stove for warmth. it's memorial day. though i am too far from New Hampshire to lay flowers on your grave, i am thinking of you. the hot cocoa. your wicked laughter.  #katyamills

the long days

what the fuck was i gonna do?

you were suffering from the long virus 

listen to you and hope with you

that insurance will wake up and pay 

for your meds 

#katyamills

5.28

saturday.

i pushed for an oily cup of joe to loosen my structural bolts

swam out and caught a monster wave

#katyamills

commie manifesto

they nod off in class

walking the pencil lead down the line 

grounded at the margins

this is a brand of resistance in an autocracy

falling asleep 

they cannot control what you dream

#katyamills

un.con 39

in the thirty-ninth year on earth the uncon appeared and became conscious. a new formidable player in my life. uninvited. she had to be held up at the gate, a credentials check was imperative. this puppy has some torque to her, i thought, my adrenaline rising at the sight of her. she might turn over the apple cart (the stomach the sole beneficiary). i made a quick decision and i killed her - with kindness. i could no longer survive being conned.  #katyamills

XYZ

you don't call. you text. don't ever call first or you may be banned or cancelled. if it's an emergency call 911. you can text emojis to convey your feelings. some emojis may have different meaning depending on your generation (x, y, z) marker. if you call you don't exist. and remember: no one will ever listen to your voicemail. strategy to survive: take nothing personal. 

 #katyamills

impressions from a dream

i had a dream. you were standing in line for concert tickets. for us. i was waiting in the car outside. i could see you through the glass. when you got back to me i realized you only bought one. for yourself. we had a big fight. i was outraged again. you could see i was hurt and nothing could be done about it. emotional i pulled away from the curb. deep in the heart of a city. i was full of adrenaline and losing it. i stepped on it and drove that old Chevy into a subway enclosure. bloody stepping out on the street. you were okay, more worried for me. someone called for an ambulance. then we could hear the sirens. you embraced me. i finally got it. you cared. i couldn't calm down.  #katyamills

summer love

 hearts throbbing

ice cream cones sobbing 

they traded kisses

all summer

#katyamills

go on. be infinite

delivering packages on a bike

i am pumping legs

exhaust through my nostrils

the city a living breathing monster

the cars are out to kill us

flat on my back 

staring up between skyscrapers

blood trickling down the side of my mouth

i am no longer finite i am

a strange peace

#katyamills

5.22

the news of the world became more and more a venom

administered into the vein by the cell phone 

#katyamills

BOOK REVIEWS

BOOK REVIEWS
Posted on May 21, 2022 by KatYa


HERE ARE THE INITIAL REVIEWS ON GOODREADS.COM FOR MY POETRY BOOK: ‘UP FROM THE DOWNTRODDEN’ – Katya Mills
Average rating3.53 ·

Rating details

· 30 ratings · 13 reviews

#There’s nothing like the feeling of connection with poetry… “you tore into us drunk again one of your moods unpredictable charged”

#overall, this poetry style wasn’t for me. however, the author has a great flow, and even when a poem didn’t do it for me, i could still feel the rhythm of the words. i did really enjoy some of the poems!

#It takes me what can seem like a long while to read a book of poetry that itself is not that many pages with poems that aren’t themselves pages long. I do this because, to me, poetry is a short form of expression that, even in its longer iterations, conveys deep emotions and intimate thoughts in terms sometimes abstract, but always involving a tone/mood. Katya Mills’ collection is ripe with such short poems that convey certain moods.

#i LOVED reading this book. i win it in a giveaway, and stayed up at four in the morning reading through it. im normally not a poetry person, but something about this book really made me connect with it. ill definitely be reading through again, making it like my daily one page at a time book.

#I’m not a big poetry reader but I’m very happy I got to read this gem. It was so refreshing and I really enjoyed reading it.

approaching LA

a tractor rolls 

slow across a dusty canyon

a cowboy perched atop a full blooded bull

waves his hat 

the mountains splash shade

southwest of Bakersfield

the sun will rise there 

from the east

forever

#katyamills

27

the age the artist died

by 28 was sitting with all the others who 

were wiped out around Saturn 

having breakfast after the last

supper

#katyamills

fade into culture

campbell's soup cans tagged on subway cars descend into giant holes in the earth. it gets dark. we pick up speed. ✨️ the sound of steel on steel is amplified by the concrete coated walls. an artist absorbs every sense of it. a product comes into being. to be sold. sold. sold. my hair turns white like warhol. 🙃 when we come into the light i have my mysteries inside my heart. you will have to kill me.

#katyamills

may 18

i have this aching in my bones. but it's ok. summer is about to strike. the sun the source of energy. i love this feeling. i know this feeling. i'm at the edge of a jagged cliff. preparing for a deep dive... into a book.

#katyamills

commerce

they came up with creative ways to describe what they were doing and what they wanted and how to get it...

belushi

rolling up the window

bang bang girl

#katyamills

id.11

identity 

intentionally made public was 

for visibility not vying for 

attention

#katyamills

10 baby geese

we went on a walk. the clouds were trying to hem in the sky. a man played tug of war with a pitbull. we talked about society and how people find one another through attributes they lack. ten baby geese waddling to the pond. connections can help you get ahead but what's ahead? is it money? visibility? business? fame? all of that and an insatiable sense of loneliness.   #katyamills

approach of summer

distant fireworks and a full moon 

overnight i lost my mind and

fell in love 

#katyamills

tongue.

through the years they lost everything they ever loved or had. the relationship with language endured this troublesome time. to a point of speaking somewhat in tongues  

#katyamills

writing.

writing is the only outrageous thing i do anymore

#katyamills

blue.

blue periods long

after writing

blue periods before 

writing

blue periods when 

unable to locate

the words

#katyamills

sonny leon and the strike

we jumped up and down hollering 

they came from 15 horses behind and

charged ahead to win

the odds were the worst but we 

took them. by the tears in your eyes

i knew: you carried long odds and i 

carried them too 

#katyamills

mean.ing

one sweet morning 

after years of falling down 

cursing and swearing and berating 

themselves

the mean streaks became 

a frame to hold the inner

beauties

#katyamills

5.8.22

historically having had 

a rather severe allergic reaction upon contact they

reached out to their mother annually 

by the root end of a fiery

orchid

#katyamills

turtle 2

what you got from the outside 

while curled around your profound emotional wave tunnel was 

likely to be invalidating 

#katyamills

the F up

i got in about 3 words for all 

yours i know you tryin to connect 

so no love lost. i will resist speaking over you 

4 only so long then. becomes. please

shut the fuck up

#katyamills