I chase dreams
never daring to rise
beyond the water line
keeping to the reeds
and shoreline of familiarity
afraid of being shot down
Afraid that dreams aren’t mine
to claim, that I am damned
doubled cursed as woman
and child of sin
I will fall often
drown in pools of stagnation
till one days these wings
A mind of their own
will lift me up
and catch those dreams.
(Afraid To Fly appeared here June 2019.
Art my own)
Shore knows repetition
tides thrust, withdraw –
natural rhythm
Why then should I question
strife’s return – is it not just
tide returning my load?
Not as stalwart as the shore
misery bleeds onto page
tainting my ocean.
(Tuesdays, I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson.
This poem edited. Image my own.)
Daunting
the looming
mountainside
or the oceanside
cliffs whose ascent
mocks my limitations
Fragile,
the glint of
spidery thread,
whose expanse, though
delicate, stretches without fear
The way our income curves
downward, while
our needs
mount
Life’s slopes
precarious, demanding
inevitable, and yet we find ourselves
ill-prepared when forced to navigate them.
Urgency and age, well acquainted
Is it Celestine, this draw
or a fateful sense of lacking?
Time ticks a cringeworthy rhythm
insists I pay attention – Fine!
say I, lingering over a defiant tea
Passive is my denial
aggressive is the fear
Tomorrow, I tell myself.
( Tuesdays, I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson. Image my own.)
If I measure progress
by “used-to’s”
illness and age win
I used to play tennis
speed and muscle
ease of ambition
This place, the nexus
of how life has changed,
teaches me appreciation
Frost in my veins
permanent, warmth
of memories aglow.
(Image my own.
Tuesdays, I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson)
Curious by nature
drawn by hope
we push forward
spring ourselves
from mud-mired
traps of psychological
undoings
focus on a horizon
where sunrises
and sunsets
offer glimpses
of glory
optimist and pessimist
daring to believe
that the beckoning future
bears equal promise.
(Hopeful first appeared here May, 2108. Image my own.)
Raised in a battlefield
quantity doled out
in abuse, quality
not yet defined
Now I write myself
out of the darkness
each chapter
an uphill climb
Page by page
reconciliation
no shortage of words
value between lines.
(Image my own.)
Compare every love to first
unrequited – a poetess
obsessed – regret, longing
No wonder I lack roots
goodbyes stack up
like cardboard mannequins
There is no presence in yearning
I am automaton, disengaged
heart chained to fantasy.
(Image my own.)
Captivated by bridges
connection previously
assumed impossible
A grandchild’s love
the loyalty of a dog
the kinship of writers
I watch life pass by
flash on sorrow, till
bridges restore peace.
(Tuesdays I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson. Image my own.)
Let’s chat!
Seldom an invitation
to friendly repartee
Voices will rise
foment latent resentment
Where’s the purpose in that?
I already bear the marks
of vile contempt, soul-etched
in permanent ink.
Let’s chat?
I’d rather not.
(Image my own.)
