24 Poems ~ 24 Hours
Clockwork Springs
A mechanical heart, wound tightly in its box.
Twisting, spinning, grinding in place to the tune of the jaunty music box.
Each click of the gear, each turn of the cog, all leading to the inevitable,
A beat, a rhythm, a metallic plink of comb on drum, over and over.
An echo for the beating heart’s love locked away within the machine.
Listen to the beautiful song and know it plays only for you.
A quick note
to remind you to
make the bed
so I can
come back at
dawn and have
something to
climb into.
Hour 15
I want you to suffer
When I’m in pain
That way I don’t have to
Deal with my own shame
I would rather just find
Someone else to blame
I am never at fault
I am never wrong
You were the problem
All along
I am noble
For being so forgiving
Even though I just don’t like dealing
With the difficult aspects of my behaviour
Rather take it out on my next-door neighbour
Everybody likes me
So I am above reproach
Act innocently
That’s my approach
To gain as many people on my side
I claim to carry moral authority
While I revel at others’ stupidity
I am the tortured genius
God’s gift to humanity
I make you sad
To feel powerful
I distance myself
From those inconvenient to me
I wallow in my self-hate
While I see myself above all the rest
I’m pretty sure I’m a villain
Today I was at lunch with a physicist I know.
His eyes lit with a golden glow,
his cheeks flushed as he said with relish,
“We don’t know what dark matter is,
but dark matter is everywhere, and is responsible
for all of us being here.”
He was proud to educate me, to be part of
something so new, so vast and grand.
Experiencing his words and the emotion
behind them took me back to another
place 40 years before, where I was the one
with the shining eyes. I sat rapt
in a meditation led by a guru I had never seen before
and knew nothing about. He said earnestly,
“Everything comes from love.
Love is in all things and gives form to creation.”
His whole being seemed to glow, and I felt
understanding grow in me..
Hello, Where did you go? the physicist asked.
I told him my memory, and then realized
I had just solved one of the great mysteries of physics.
“The answer is Love = dark matter!” I said. They are both everywhere,
all pervading, the entire ocean in a drop
as small as one cell.
His face was blank.
“Look at her,” he thought, “thinking she understands physics
in an instant, when I’ve studied it for decades
and am only now learning one of the great problems!
She is so naïve. Love can’t be the same as
dark matter just because some guru sitting on a pillow
says it is! How ridiculous! I can’t possibly stay around
someone who is so easily led, and clearly wrong.”
I watched his struggle, thinking, He will not be able
to let this go, and he is about to blame me.
He waited a few more polite minutes, then stood
and excused himself. It was clear there was no future
here, so we parted ways, not relishing a fight,
each of us knowing we are right.
#12: Half way!
Wow! That went fast.
Twelve poems in two hours.
It’s kind of bittersweet.
It means it’s almost over.
I thought I would struggle more.
I thought it would take me longer.
I’m still behind, but that’s alright.
I want to diddy-dally a little longer.
It’s an event I look forward to every year.
But the last few years, I’ve slacked off.
Forgot about it (like this year-despite my reminders).
I made a goal to finish this year.
But I don’t want to rush
Though it might feel like I am.
I’m just excited to be writing again.
I kept pushing ideas off today thinking I had to wait.
I truly believe that if you’re a poet:
The thought of writing is exciting,
And also, something dreaded.
Because eventually, you have to end the poem.
Her hand rests on my blank slate
as she contemplates
what words she will sketch on
my blue lines
I feel the scratchiness
of her eraser
it tells me she is unsure
of what her mind wills
her to write
I want those words
on me
because then they are real
I hold all the secrets
between my lines
to have such power
makes me needed
her words need a
safe place
1 cup cocoa
5 cups blankets
6 cups Hallmark movies
10 cups love
The recipe for a perfect evening
Open the doors,
come on,
step outside.
Nothing can hurt you,
droplets of water,
shower of the rain,
you get drenched in it,
heal the pain.
The water reaches your soul,
fills you up again,
with love and hope,
everything will be well again.
Till then,
dance in the rain.