Torn

Torn apart on the bleakest day
I’m scattered to the winds
Like dandelion wisps
Across skies and fields
Pushed beyond my ken

I long to rest my weary head
Halt my frantic pace
To plant my feet
Unfurl some roots
To just sit still and breathe

When the pieces are picked up
And I’m pulled together again
Who will it be
How will they see
And will they want me still

Rushing through
Broken and cracked
Tired and spent
Senses stripped
This is how I am

Torn apart again and again
The barrage never ends
Don’t discount me
Don’t forget me
I’ll keep my words in the wind

September 10, 2013 0

please

don’t silence me
please
it’s taken so long
to find the right words
they must come out
or I will fade back away
from all that’s good and light

September 10, 2013 2

Autumn Chill

will there ever be a day when he won’t be like a sliver under my skin
or will I always carry the painful burr
a reminder of the finer times
when fun was important
learning was exciting
every place was exotic
sleep was a luxury
the way he whispered my name felt like spring rain
the way he laughed felt like summer sun
I’m on the verge of autumn
and it hurts like a chill to the bone

September 9, 2013 0

Dreaming Awake

another little piece of me is gone
surrendered to time
when I was asleep, I was six again
with the world a bright, sunshiny place
when poetry met me in a field near the school
but when I awoke
it was so dark in my room
no stars or moon
and I was old, beyond my own reckoning
but I still had words
to describe and comfort
so when I fell asleep again I was seventeen
on the cusp of a bigger world
with more people and places
and words faded as I soaked in the city
when I turned around I was twenty-eight
with my own walls closing me in
there were few words as I made a family
but again at thirty-nine the words bowled me over
as I saw a field like when I was six
I began to write
hoping to capture the feelings
so when I’m ninety-nine I’ll remember
my dreams when I’m awake

September 9, 2013 3

Nothing But Time

I didn’t want jewels or furs or flowers or chocolates or cars or letters
All the things you said could be mine
I wanted your hand
But it was full of things you were doing
I wanted your kiss
But you were busy talking to others
I wanted your time
And that was something
Too precious, valuable
For you to ever part with
For such a silly pursuit as love