Floods

Composed 7/8/15
Description: Inspired by the weather. A more musical poem regarding infatuation.

The summer heat makes my bones weary
There are burns on my arms and gnats in my eyes
Some love the heat and call it home
I long for the comfort of a misty day
It breaks the hours of sun and the same

You say your love will rain on down
You’ll roar each day with the downpour sound
But you can’t have rain without the clouds
And without the sun we’ll flood the town

With all that rain I’m sure to drown

I loathe revealing all my skin
It’s fresh and pale, vulnerable to scorch
Some make it a habit and call it beauty
I long for the comfort of a cover’s squeeze
On a cool day, just a bit of heat

You say your love will rain on down
You’ll roar each day with the downpour sound
But you can’t have rain without the clouds
And without the sun we’ll flood the town

With all that rain I’m sure to drown

Sun nor rain can nurture alone
It’s a balance just as all nature is
Some call drowning a pleasant demise
In drought I’d curl up and blow away
Either way the outcome is the same

Don’t you see the vital flaw?
What’s loved must not be the only gift
A rainy day needs a bit of sun
That’s the beauty
That’s where rainbows come from

You say your love will rain on down
You’ll roar each day with the downpour sound
But you can’t have rain without the clouds
And without the sun we’ll flood the town

With all that rain I’m sure to drown

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Better than Counting Sheep

Composed 1/10/15
Description: How do you prepare your mind for sleep?

1, 2, 3
1, 2, 3
waltz away the thoughts with me

1, 2, 3
1, 2, 3
whisk me off to heavenly dreams

let’s both leave the world behind
comfort me with words divine
whisper in my ear

ease me, gently, off to sleep
my love
when you’re not here

Just Words

Composed 1/8/15
Description: Hello, world! How’s the new year treating you so far? For me it’s been pretty quiet, though the year is packed with possibilities… One of those possibilities is writing more; I am officially setting the goal of posting one piece a week — so expect more from me! 

What’s with me and starting the year with rather unhappy pieces? Maybe it’s just purging myself of the stress of the year… But anyway, something that came to me last night. 

I try to pretty my voice with flow’ry metaphors
And catch your attention with clever rhymes
But I can’t hear the music playing
And without that I’m lost

So many people hear songs in life
The mixed up rhythms of day to day
While I’m trapped in words roboticized
Stretched beyond sincerity
Where not everyone can reach

I long for the life of a lyricist
Who can capture a life in a minute or two
And send it out to the masses
Who think themselves the writer

It’s one thing to study the masters
Another to live your life and capture it
Bottle it and send it off
To loved ones and strangers

How can I succeed when others tell my story
Better than I?

And tell it so prettily –
In syllables like waves
Both predictable and unexpected
In their undulating flow

Oh, if only I heard the music
If only you could touch my soul
Would you
Could you
Teach me your music?
I need it to feel whole

New Old Days

Composed 6/29/14
Description: After I moved back home after completing my last semester of college, I began to have a hard time writing. I feel like this has something to do with the change in atmosphere. All the things that inspired me as I truly began writing poetry are now gone. I’m much more isolated here in my small town than I was in a larger city amidst a college campus (obviously), and everything is just so… routine. So quiet. So familiar.  And yet I don’t belong in it like I’m supposed to.  And somehow this has robbed me of my words. Even this poem came out with a lot more work than my poems usually do.

My muse let go on the ribbon road
And clings to pink leaves and iced cotton snow
It hides in phantom walks and rains
Sleeping in joys and old heart pains

Now vibrant colors halt at my eyes
While silence surrounds these small town country skies
And even as storms blow gray and wild
My voice shrivels up as a weak frightened child’s

I cannot speak in this peaceful calm
In the lull of unknowing I write no songs
There’s nothing to see, nothing to say
I’m alone and muted in these new old days

In solitude I think myself blind
And meaning hides in the shadows’ bind
It’s all too familiar and a tad amiss
Like a soon ex-lover’s first sweetly forced kiss

This place drains life from my body and words
So I sit, a stunned and silenced bird
And like the red leaves that showered me
So too my words have been crushed to seed

I cannot speak in this peaceful calm
In the lull of unknowing I write no songs
There’s nothing to see, nothing to say
I’m alone and muted in these new old days

On the Other Side

Composed 4/28/14
Description: (Day 27 of NaPoWriMo) Yes, I know what you’re thinking; I missed yesterday. Whoops! But trust me when I say this weekend has been one of the busiest of my life! With my last semester of college winding down, I am drowning in projects, tests, and activities. Yet, despite that (or perhaps because it’s over) I’m having a great day! Oh yes, it’s a Monday, and it rained all morning, but it only inspired probably the happiest and most soulful poem/song I’ve ever written… So enjoy!

(And I do intend to write another poem today to make up for yesterday… so stay tuned!)

Rainy day mornings don’t drag on me
‘Cause the rain’s just a portion of an April’s spring
And I broke my umbrella and my hair is damp
But heart’s oozing warm like a kerosene lamp

‘Cause I’ve got hands to hold and I’ve got kisses to give
And I know who I am so I can really live
And no matter what troubles come out at night
I know the sun’s just waiting on the other side

Afternoon thunders don’t frighten me
‘Cause the flowers still bloom and the grass is still green
And the clock keeps ticking through the rain and sun
And I know I’ll be dancing when the storm is done

‘Cause I’ve got hands to hold and I’ve got kisses to give
And I know who I am so I can really live
And no matter what troubles come out at night
I know the sun’s just waiting on the other side

Windy evenings don’t frustrate me
Though it tousles my hair and sweeps me off my feet
‘Cause though the wind blows me across the way
I’ll be laughing it up as I float through the day

‘Cause I’ve got hands to hold and I’ve got kisses to give
And I know who I am so I can really live
And no matter what troubles come out at night
I know the sun’s just waiting on the other side

A Brief Romantic History

Composed 10/8-9/13
Description: Another Literary Arts Magazine potential. Though, also a subject I’ve been intending to cover for awhile…

The first
He lured me in
Sweetly as a song
But he held me out
At arm’s length
Before I was there long
But I was young and clueless then
So I stayed firm by his side
Hoping that
One day
He would change his brilliant mind
A year or so went by
That was all that I could take
So I looked away and pushed him off
Drifting across the lake

But looking back
I see now
The blessing that heartbreak turned out to be
I lived life
And discovered myself
Only because I was free

The next
He crashed right into me
A derailed train
Unintended
We fell hard with hugs and words
But the illusion of our bond
Soon ended
So with a sigh of relief and sorrow
I pushed him far away
Thinking that I’d seen the last
Of any chance love had to sway

But looking back
I see now
The blessing that heartbreak turned out to be
I stayed true
And re-established myself
Only because I pulled free

The last
Remains a mystery
A construct
Hypothetical
And some days I do think
My beloved will stay
Theoretical
Especially when it seems
All potentials look away
And loneliness seeps
Deep within
As I go throughout my days

But looking forward
I admit
The blessing that heartbreak can frequently be
I continue to grow
And remain myself
As I savor the years of being free