Josh Stone
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joshstonepoetry.bsky.social
Josh Stone
@joshstonepoetry.bsky.social
430 followers 540 following 130 posts
Kentucky Poet. Educator. Percussionist. Writer. Administrator. Dreamer. Gardener. Hiker. Worrier.
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Excited to have three poems in this anthology. Currently sitting at #3 on Amazon’s best selling poetry collection, just behind Matthew McConaughey’s new book 😎
when my faith runs dry
like ink, like sand
I lay my head on your chest
and your heartbeat retells the story
again and again and again

#poetry #KYpoet #love
when all I had was a pen
and everything looked like a page
you held out your hand and let me
write love on your arm

the pressed black ink
now pulses under your skin
your veins filled with
words I could not speak

#poetry #KYpoet #love
the yard feels larger now without you
wildflowers have laid down in the grass,
branches hang heavier with silence
I’ve put the feeders away

with each departure
wings and words fold into the air
I stand in the ache you left
slowly learning to let go
without calling back

#poetry #KYPoet #grief
at least losing you
has helped me understand
why the songbirds scatter
when I get too close
though I’ve only ever fed them
and shared dreams of taking flight

they do not see my open hand
only the shadow that falls before it
and though I walk as softly as I know how
the earth still trembles
#poetry
Tonight, I almost told her. I almost whispered it into the dark, into the space where we usually laid down the small truths of our lives. The words pressed against my teeth like glass— sharp. But I swallowed them.
She stirred. “Are you okay? You seem tired.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Just tired.”
#Poetry
Reposted by Josh Stone
there’s thunder
brewing on her tongue
her bones are beating
drum, drum, drum
all their training’s
come undone
there’s rage
in her ribcage
and lightning
in her lungs

#poetry
Just signed my first author contract.
👏 Clap for me! 👏
Yesterday, I almost said what was on my mind.
when the world erupts
and ash-black skies spew flame and fury
remember, your skin
was never meant to swallow it whole
hold your pain with open hands
and fill your pockets
with the promise of dawn

#poetry #KYpoet
Which news channel does your father watch?

Not what kind of books does he read
Not who is his favorite poet
Not who or what inspires him
Not whether he prefers Monet or O’Keeffe
Not Rock n roll or Jazz or Classical top 10s
Not his thoughts on existentialism
Not his wildflower garden
#poetry #KYpoet
don’t talk to me about expectations
just tell me how deep the water is before I dive in
is this love going to break me in half
or plunge me
into the most beautiful unknown

#poetry #KYpoet
being wanted as I am
unravels the north wind:
first cracks, then rivers,
then marigolds again
from puddles
I hoped were frozen forever.
freezing and thawing
never leaving winter
never finding spring

#poetry #KYpoet
winter arrives too soon,
and glacial air fills my lungs
I start the car
and drive away
shaking
too cold to speak,
too cold to shape sound into a plea.

#poetry #KYpoet
I’ve never been enough—
your uncharted mind,
your body, your wild spirit
keep me dismantling myself,
chipping at the ice,
stacking blocks
carving a figure from frost,
praying it would breathe,
and resemble someone
you could hold
even if for a fleeting moment

#poetry #KYpoet
I freeze
tongue-tied,
like a boy rehearsing your name
until sound collapses into breath,
throat filled with snow,
a silence only the winter knows.

#poetry #KYpoet #winter
I wish I knew how to
steady myself
for the moment you could love me,
but you arrived like an early frost,
marigolds burning in their own mouths,
petals whispering heat,
the worst parts of me
refusing to surrender
to a tumbledown season.

#Poetry
roots stitching
seeds splitting
petals unfolding
branches bending with fruit
rain pooling in the leaves’ cupped hands
damp moss breathing forgiveness
all of it trembling
with the quiet insistence of life

and in the center
the sun rises
over this broken earth
washing the world
in deep
green

#poetry