unheard

my voice has dried up
husks in the wind blowing far
silently crowding through the trees
unnoticed now
as the rain begins to fall

feel it

i used to try to make my poetry rhyme
forcing meter through the most awkward of lines
some of it was good
but most of it was lacking the one thing that makes poetry real
a piece of my heart
neatly wrapped up with words
delivered on the shining white platter of the page
beautiful technique means nothing if you can’t feel the poetry move through you

latched

people in my church used to talk about letting god into your life
as opening all the doors of your heart
no matter what lay behind them
i don’t know if i ever managed that
but i have a new closed door now
it’s right in front of me every day
closing me into a small space where i feel safe
for a time
until i look up again and realize that the door is still there
no matter how many songs i sing or movies i watch
the door never moves
books and art can’t cover up the dull silver handle
my only way out through the disappointment and heartache
that lives
behind that door

raise the white flag

there’s a lot of uncertainty when change comes
we feel out of control
going mad with the lack of knowledge
tearing our hair out with the pressure
of making the “right” decision
and eliminating the possibility of regret

i’m continuously amazed at how much control we have
over our own circumstances and minds
but the fact remains
that when stronger forces act around us
we still must find a way to cope
no magic word will allow us dominion over the winds

as my life feels torn apart
i’m trying to keep in mind
that whether a greater power is directing this storm
or not
there is nothing i can do to change its outcome
the only action left is to search for happiness
in all the little things still left to me
and leave the rest
to the gods

hate to hope

life has kicked me a few times
pretty hard
right where it hurts
but no matter how bad things have gotten
i find i never lose that irritating hope
that someday my dreams
will finally come true

only a moment

every year i miss spring
i know it happens
it must
because one day the trees are bare
glancing down only for a moment
suddenly the grass has grown to my knees
trees overflow with leaves and flowers
the young animals are already birthed
moving quickly on their sturdier legs
but in between
just when i blinked
is when it all happened

collision

you can’t stop me now
i was waiting for myself
just around the corner
didn’t know where i’d find me
but here i am
unstoppable
now that i am we

fluffed rocks

unsatisfied workaholics have a lot to learn
if only they would just sit down with a good kids’ story and read
they might realize that silly little princesses
cavorting in glades with tiny fairies
have far more fun than businessmen of any station
no money can buy what counts in this life
the secret the princesses hold

just after dusk

this is the time of night
when the vampires slink in the shadows
as the substances to forget
run thickly in the veins
drawing us down that sinister dark alley
laughter ringing hollow against the stones
until the eerie hush falls
only one emerges
a small smile and a lick of the lips
not revealing the white-tipped sharpness
hidden underneath

voices rise

the silent wars have raged
flinging this world about
each rushing force
tearing into the heart of the mother
watching her children die
unnecessarily for stubborn pride
all men equally dead upon the bullet