The Poetry Marathon

I wear my heart on my sleeve,

you tell me.

I am hurt by your words

but as they sink in,

I realize they are true.

I DO wear my

heart on my sleeve.

That is because

I love hard, deeply.

I love everyone who means

something to me.

I fall in love with them:

my children,

my friends,

my students.

Exposing my heart

so openly

makes me more

vulnerable.

I am madly in love with

people who make me

laugh, cry,

feel, love.

You reap the benefits

of my fashionable heart

on my sleeve.

Feel free to tug on it

if you feel it needs

a little more love.

I can always use

more of that.

Eve Remillard

6/14/2014

Black cat, Luna, sits

in window, gazes at night

Moon smiles at namesake

Eve Remillard

6/13/2015

I have been…

a baby

a little girl

a daughter

a sister

a student

a friend

a girlfriend

a bride

a wife

I am…

a mother

a friend

a teacher

a writer

a dreamer

a survivor

I will always be

a mystery to myself

Eve Remillard

6/13/2015

Come with me…

wherever we may end up.

Plant a garden,

hang a hammock,

take a nap.

We will take walks

and talk of things

we don’t remember.

I will cook your dinner

and you will build a fire.

We will spend our evenings

reading, holding each other.

The years will go by

and we will grow old together.

Eve Remillard

6/13/2015

We need…food

that we might break bread together

We need…wine

that we might laugh and make merry together

We need…understanding

that we might lean in on each other

We need…joy

that we might find our burdens divided

We need…love

that we might always belong together in the chaos

Eve Remillard

6/13/2015

Girl sitting

on cold cement,

hungry, shivering,

watching spectators

enter the Garden

oblivious to her existence.

Young man walks by,

noticing girl who has before

hungrily accepted his offering

of a sandwich and hot coffee.

His own pockets light,

He once again proffers sustenance.

“You look like my brother,”

she says, looking into his blue eyes.

“You remind me of my sister,”

he tells her, noting her lank, blonde hair.

He takes his leave of the homeless girl,

pockets empty, heart full.

Eve Remillard

6/13/2015

Love that reaches

beyond the heavens

deeper than the

trenches of the oceans

No one knows the ache

of that love

but she who bears it

She prays and hopes

that all she does

is right

She fed them

and prayed with them

and sent them to bed

when what she really did

was send them back to

God

for she could not

bear the ache

any longer

Others ponder

pass judgment

criticize and punish

There but for

the grace of that

God

go I

For I have known

hurt and despair

And I plumbed my heart

trying to reach

beyond the heavens

deeper than the

trenches of the oceans

I saw the gifts I had been given

and loved with all of my

God-given heart

For He named me

Mother

and asked me to take care of them

So I fed them

and prayed with them

and sent them to bed

to live the joy of

many days

Eve Remillard

6/13/2015

Your blue eyes…

are the sky after a storm

are the place where the sky and the ocean meet

are a summer twilight

are the peace in my soul.

I could look into eternity for

their beauty and calm.

Eve Remillard

6/13/2015

Loneliness…

the sound of

the soul

and

the heart

crying

together

Eve Remillard

6/13/2015

Old man,

cane in his right hand,

Old woman,

cane in her left.

Leaving church,

sharing prayers,

turn to look at each other,

a smile on their lips,

laughter in their eyes,

their free hands joined in the middle,

bridging their hearts

across years of love.

Eve Remillard

6/13/2015