Blessed with Looks

Composed 11/27/13
Description: I wrote this for wdbwp’s poetry prompt: “Giving Thanks No. 2,” in which we were to write about negative things we were thankful for. Here’s mine. It seems befitting enough that I should post it now, since it’s officially Thanksgiving!

I am thankful
For the plain
Emptiness of my features
The vast, doughy roundness
Of my flushed cheeks
For thickened eyebrows
And spotted complexion

How I rejoice
In a slow metabolism
And a fondness for sweets
Resulting in a swelling bulge
Falling under a broad ribcage

For without it
Who could stand my presence?
My pride
In every moment
Would blind
Repel the good and
Attract the leeches
Looking for a place to feed

I would neglect
The sweet parts of me
I would not care
For how far I could go
With a fair face
And a fair frame

Kindness, warmth, integrity
Humor, IQ, honesty
Are all unneeded for beauty

But for me
They are essential
So for plainness
I am thankful

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Company

Composed 8/1/13
Description: This is my response to We Drink Because We’re Poet’s prompt, Love.  As the prompt dictates, this is a Kyrielle Sonnet.  I have not done much with forms since I’ve started this blog, so this is something a little different for me. The form, which stresses repetition, seemed appropriate to express my idea of love — that love is consistency, not a one-time thing.  It’s living life together, day after day.

Let me know what you think!

Love’s the warmth of a bed that’s shared
The feel of freshly shampooed hair
Smells of your coffee in the light
And peaceful breathing in the night

Laughing after a night with friends
Teasing, touching until night ends
Soft spoken pledges after fights
And peaceful breathing in the night

Watching kids as the school bus leaves
Rubbing each other’s hands and knees
Stroking tears when life won’t go right
And peaceful breathing in the night

Love’s the warmth of a bed that’s shared
And peaceful breathing in the night

Dependence

Composed 7/25/13
Description: My response to We Drink Because We’re Poets’ Thursday Poetry Prompt: Weakness. What is weakness? There are many different kinds of weakness I could write about, but this one spoke to me this evening….

when ice water shoots through my heart
and bugs bite beneath my skin
you tie me up in puppet strings
and stand me on my feet

step

by

step

you lead me through

but the wind whips briskly still
and your strings
twist and tie and trip
and slip off of my wrists and feet and then

step

by

step

I fall

my arms
my legs
they’re frozen now
my heart
my head
their pain throbs new
when I’m forced to walk on my own feet
my strength starts and stops
with you

Honor

Composed 7/18/13
Description: My response to We Drink Because We’re Poets’ Thursday Poetry Prompt #12: “Honor.” What is honor? In response I recorded a  scenario I’ve imagined many times. It’s short, but, I hope, powerful.

A door beat down
A gasp
A gun
A snarled question
A yes
A shot

The most peaceful way
To die

True Happiness

Composed: 7/15/13
Description: I wrote this in response to We Drink Because We’re Poets’ Prompt “Happiness.” The prompt challenged us to write a poem about what makes us happy; so naturally, I immediately scribbled down perhaps the most depressing verse ever. Ha, but it does get better, I promise!

True happiness?
How can one know?
I’ve rarely seen that thing
The glow
Not here
Not on this stone cold earth
We are doomed to sorrow
The moment of birth

True happiness?
I’ve just seen a gleam
In a mother’s bright eyes
A toddler’s glad scream
And then in a book
That speaks of a man
Who loves me so much
When no one possibly can

True happiness?
No, not here
There’s too much sadness
Shame and fear
But the book is a key
To a skyward bridge
True joy awaits
Just beyond the cloud’s ridge

And that joy I can taste
When the clouds rain down
And the man holds my hand
So I will not drown