24 Poems ~ 24 Hours
I like who I am
where I am
how I am
Comfortable
in my own skin
I used to take
for granted
Understanding
that is not
the norm for
so many
Not a brag
or boast – just
recognition
that I get it
Like Sammy
sang
‘I gotta be me’
– Mark L. Lucker
© 2021
http://lrd.to/sxh9jntSbd
I hate my face
Or my body
Or the whole thing
The whole image of me
I hate body length mirrors
Where I can see everything terrible
I can’t find a thing to like
Despite the protests of lovers and friends
Maybe the only thing I like
Are my eyes
Dark enough that no one is certain
Where my pupil is
They are more capable of expression
Than the rest of my face
Maybe my eyes
Are the one thing that pulls people in
Dragon hearts are greedy.
They care not for the body,
which yearns only to rest,
to rest, to rest, to rest.
The heart wants to plunder,
to gird in glory and iron,
to rend man by fear alone.
To set the earth ablaze.
So even as the body, this old,
joyless flesh, rots steadily away,
the heart clings to its armor,
grasps ghastly fangs and barbs.
It will not let them leave, it
animates a terrible tomb.
The teeth, claws, burning bones
rattle in their fearful mail.
Ode to Coffee
Cup after cup standing as one
Their aroma offering solitude among the chaos,
The grinder growls without solace;
In the coffeehouse the sacred beans
Roast, of life the sacred ritual
To the morning routine of work;
Then driven onward towards the final drop
Of caffeine to their salvation in the last sip,
They seek the semblance of consciousness.
It’s been real
It’s been nice
it’s been silly once or twice
But the place to be
In 5 or 10
will ease my head from then till zen
I welcome pillow prone again
and bid a gracious
me good night
Home is my silence
where these monsters can lie still
feeling protected
The seaside cliffs
being me peace.
Watching the waves crash
from so far above,
I almost feel powerful.
As if I’m the pull
the ocean feels.
In reality,
it’s always pulling me.
One day it will pull me under completely
and I will be free.
As it is said of a Man’s journey (that he is always on a pilgrimage);
Wondering about the three basic things: food, clothing, and shelter.
At the beginning of the journey, his determination is so strong
That if his problems are high like Mount Everest there won’t have been a setback.
Along the way he made friends; some good others bad.
Did these change his thinking? Of course, it did.
Never in his life could he have found so much knowledge from such gatherings.
Apart from humans, he made friends with animals too,
Some he drew close others he drew closer,
Some he turned their hides as coverings and dispersed.
As for his shelter, for a start, he slept on trees,
Then roadsides but as time moved on he got a roof for his head.
Aside from this, he devoted time to his work releasing his energy unidirectionally.
Later, he became bored and sought out his friends.
Alone he became, at his secret corner he felt a longing
So ripening,
Deep down in his heart, he hungers for a pure heart to fill his mind and soul.
Little did he know, he couldn’t get such even having married a beautiful fair damsel with a pure heart.
Although this gap was filled temporarily
As little offsprings came through.
He smiled at the joy on their faces.
At the fullness of time when his age has risen and journey deepening,
He realized there was no place like home.
He needs to return home.
As do we all when the time comes.
We will return home soon or later.
Either alone, full, or with families.
I wish that I had known back then
That asking for help was an option.
Before the downward spiral, before
I took things out on myself, before
I had failed out of college, before
I was a shell of who I used to be.
When someone asked if I
Needed help, I desperately wish
I had known that ‘yes’ was an option.
That ‘yes’ would open doors that
Could’ve saved me from so much
More pain.
Instead, I took 10 years to see
That suffering was not the only
Choice, like I had seen others
Make. I could do it differently
And end the cycle with me.