24 Poems ~ 24 Hours
Hour 7
Secret meetings, arranged in hushed whispers,
Windows creak and our bodies slide through
into the night
into the secret illumined by the midnight sun.
Secret meetings created our path
in the night
in the shadows.
Dear Me,
Oh how I wish we could be two at once –
fully embodied at the same time.
How I’d love to be your friend, your playmate, your confidant.
How’d I’d love to laugh and play with you.
My sides ache just imagining how we’d crack each other up,
how we’d sit and talk for hours.
If we could be two at once,
I’d always listen when you wanted to talk,
and tell you what I think only when you wanted to know.
I’d encourage all your fanciful thoughts and dreams and visions and yes, even your silly inventions for how to open your dresser and get clothes to dress without ever leaving your bed on a cold winter morning.
If we could be two at once,
I’d hold the pillow over your ears when voice on the other side of the door got loud and it made you feel sick and scared and lonely.
I’d lay beside you and try to find a way to distract you until all things quieted.
I’d sleep in the bed across your room, and wrap my arms around half your stuffed animals so there’d still be room in your bed for you and no-one would feel left out.
If we could be two at once…
But we can’t.
So the best I can do dear self, is to tell you that I love you.
And encourage you to remember all that you know right now – in this minute.
It’s not what we don’t or didn’t know that would change things our lives for the better, but remembering what we forgot.
Pay attention.
Learn.
Laugh.
Play.
There is nothing you need to know that you don’t in each moment as it arises.
Be still. Listen. That’s all.
You are all the ‘magic’ you need – all the ‘magic’ there is.
How I wish we were two at on this end.
I sure could use you right about now.
Rain
cascades from the
sky
creating thunder as
it splatters
on the tin
Roof
I stand
in the sky’s
Tears
letting the cold
water
drip the shampoo
from my strands.
Dearest 9 year old self,
When you meet your future best friend for the first time
Don’t beat up her brother!
Dear 12 year old self,
Climbing trees is ok, but don’t jump out, crutches are not your friend!
Poetry can bring you peace,
Stay with it, this IS your friend!
Dear high school girl,
Yep it’s me again, continue to do the things you love, basketball, volleyball, tennis, golf, track. But once it’s over, it’s hard to bring back.
Whomever i am writing to now, whatever your age is of this i will vow-
Just be yourself, and be fair to the masses, if they start a fight, then kick their asses.
Don’t ever let life get you down, you are a queen so wear your crown.
Do unto others as you would want done,
And remember this always, just always have fun!!
Love, your future self
Memory is subject to gradation in the worst way possible. Sometimes, we all miss the way we weren’t: pickup soccer games during lunch, ferris wheels descending into the night, philanthropic endeavors outside a waffle house.
We check every last box and still somehow feel empty inside. In retrospect, it’s not about what you do but who you do it with. We’ll paint the town a bright beautiful shade of sienna and leave it to its own devices.
We may not know where we’re going in this starship but that’s never stopped us before and I’ll be damned if it’s going to have any power to stop us now.
Eleventh Hour
Trees, extend your sinewy limbs towards me.
May I hide my weary spirit
amongst your billowy leaves?
Whisper to me the message from the Wind.
What did he say,
What mood was he in?
As life hurls and whips you to and fro.
How do you stand?
How do you grow?
Who covers you,
when storms rain on your head?
So content are you!
You still lay in your bed
soaking in the deluge
as nearby boats sank,
never murmuring,
you stand tall and
guard your bank.
Trees, no raging accusations have
been brought against you!
On moist days you receive the rain,
on dry days, you are thankful
for the dew.
When I breathe, you have life.
When you breathe, I have life.
Like me you live, and like me,
you die.
Yet on your worse days
you stagger not,
nor wonder why.
Your branches persistently
reach upward to the sky,
Praising God,
Your purpose defined.
Trees, embue me with wisdom
such as you have shown,
Do you too talk to God,
Have you always known?
Though you’ve been tossed and blown,
You stand strong and firm,
rejoicing that you will one day
be seated, at the throne. Compton, CA 90222
June 22, 2019@19:56
Silent Nights
Spring has aged into summer
New greens fading now solstice hues
Dark holes between layers of leaves
Remain and stare back
Evening sun lightens the mood
As the inevitable is coming
With each visit the sun wanes
Creatures shift their watch while
Sounds soften as birds are mute
Once filling the air
Now crickets seem silent
Bats have gone with fireflies
Remember back to summer evenings
When life relayed itself with audible surety
Listen to what has been lost.
TobeTT # 10
Grocery shopping time
Shop shop
Don’t shop when you’re hungry
You’ll be spending more money
Make sure to bring your list
Check it off despite fits
Grocery shopping time
Shop shop
Remember to read those labels
Not that they’re readable anyway
It’s grocery shopping time
Shop shop
What will you be feeding your mind, heart, body, and soul today
At twelve
An awkward age
The things that fill your mind
Some things you really shouldn’t know.
Great guilt.
Your mind
Is not your own
No control where it goes
Feelings come that you can’t explain.
Great fear.
Let go
Get it all out
Be rid of it somehow
Don’t act on it, it just comes back.
Great shame.
Dear Anshu,
2001,
Life is a box full of Surprises
Every moment is a Present
You gotto open it with a Smile
Embrace even the Fragile
Walk another Mile
Define your own Style
And Never settle in being just Fine