Birthday
Like a paper old cocoon
I have bent back the husk
of another year
and scuffled it open,
and only time will say
if it reveals a dream
or a nightmare.
J. Pratt-Walter
6/22/2019
Dear Former Self
Dear Former Self,
You are extraordinary.
Don’t let anyone tell you differently. They lie when they call you fat.
Don’t believe your own self doubt. You are smart enough, strong enough, & enough just the way you are.
You do not have to earn love. It is freely given and no misdeed can change it.
Do not be afraid. Your silence isn’t safety. Your words are your power.
Strength already lies inside you. Your body is capable of healing.
Your heart will heal, too. A broken heart is both an emotional and physical pain, like your anxious burning gasps when you fell off the jungle gym in third grade.
Do not stop dreaming. Dream big, dream often.
You do not need to find yourself. You are not lost. You are creating an extraordinary you with every choice, every act, every day.
Unheard [7 – #song]
A girl and a guy walk into a bar like the start of some bad joke.
There’s some country-pop-Americana band playing in the corner under the Bud Light sign and no one dancing on the parquet.
It’s the best summer of his life, only he doesn’t know it.The girl is pretty, in a married five years with two kids kind of way. It is not the best summer of her life. It’s the summer he’ll leave–but no one knows that yet, not even him, for he pretends everything’s fine except that maybe he looks a little too long at the waitress when she drops the longneck on the sticky table.
He doesn’t look at his wife; she crosses her legs and swings one booted foot and watches the bartender, wishing she could sit at the bar and have the conversations that her husband won’t have with her.
The band plays, but no one’s listening.
Stewing
A cold draft whisks through the open window
Pungent odours waft through the kitchen
I don’t mention the after smell
Like a party gone sour
That seeps into jackets and sweaters
I don’t mention the after dishes
When bowls and pans teeter in the sink
I don’t mind,
It’s your house too
But do you really need to make your Thai-style
Stew with pineapples
At 10 pm?
Sevenling (2019 Poem 8)
Dig deep to where you feel
Pull out the words you find there
Comfort them as they bleed
Find freedom in truth
Peace in release
Love in your heart
Write to heal your soul
For Thyself, Myself
Attention Dearly Departed,
I believe you are aware of the consequences of your actions and even your inactions. If by chance you are somehow ignorant of the aforementioned maladies of character and have perchance kept hold of some lofty idea of a Prince Charming coming to sweep you off to everlasting tranquility, please allow me to set you straight for time is fleet, yet far from complete. If you do not straightaway adhere to my advice you are more likely to encounter a happiness with the longevity of Prince Valium rather than Prince Valiant. I have therefore delegated myself as Ambassador of Superior Knowledge. As a longtime voyeur of you proclivities I have procured proper compunction such as the likes of you should find necessary towards mediating the deficiency of your conduct in the realms of your conscious. Please refrain from any disillusionment in my warnings as I am merely here to tell you that you still have time to rectify any and all situations heretofore withered unworthily. Heed my warnings for the good of your own sake or alas…je ne sais quoi.
Signed and furthermore adhered to by,
Yourselves of Future Times Abutted
Dear Kat, Age 14 With Broken Ear Drum
Dear Kat,
Soon you will be hearing better than ever!
Your doctors have exciting new tools to restore what you’ve lost.
You will be first among teens who receive microscopic surgery,
They will build you a new eardrum with a vein!
Famously speaking, You will be in a book -may be more than once.
It will be a long road with ups and downs along the way.
Music will be as important to you as the Art you create now.
You will one day overcome all the troubles you seem to find.
There’s a world out there
Wonderful and happy –it waits for you.
Keep drawing, keep writing,
Keep your friends in your heart
Though you may be far away.
There is one whose life you will
Touch many important times,
Destiny declares you will be
The missionary you dream of
But not the way you dream.
Rather, in a very special way, helping others heal.
You don’t know it now, but you have what it takes to be used by God.
He has a plan and a purpose for you; it may not be what you think.
He will need to make some changes you won’t understand for many years;
Don’t get discouraged, don’t let other’s opinions
cause you tears…
You know who you can believe.
There is much I want to say
But you are not prepared for that.
Just know you are loved by many
Treasured by a few.
Saved by one.
His name is Jesus.
Lovingly your much older self,
Kat (72 yrs young)
The Chamber of Secrets
Secrets
define us.
What we tell
and what we don’t
binds us or loosens us.
Secrets
empower is.
What we tell
shapes who we are.
But what if your secret is another?
Ocean of Emotions
Soft gentle breezes
the tug of the Moon
thoughts drifting at bay
Tides rise high, tides drop low
all natural occurrences in a day
Predestined
Moon Child
it is the Oceanic way
As rippling water,
the Ocean of Emotions arrive
Waves of thought begin to collide
Maintaining balance gets strenuous
As SELF struggles to ride the incoming tide
Magic Mirror
I wish I had a magic mirror, for memories do fade away, to only look back once more, on yesterday’s, today.
To be able to hold this magic mirror in my hand, to look and see, remember, cry, and try to understand.
To never Wonder just who I am, so I would never wonder why.
To hold it to my chest, to let it shine into my soul, in hopes to see my heart, I hold it there until it broke apart.
I would gather the broken pieces, and reflect them into the world, to undo all that has gone wrong.
I would shine those pieces on every person in the world, to show them all, that they do belong.
Then I would place the broken pieces in a velvet clothe, and lock them in a box.
Then throw away the key, then keep that magical broken mirror hidden for all eternity…
C. Burgess (c)