No Need for Resolutions

The changing of years on the calendar
Isn't something I care much about.
I don't want a new beginning.
My life has nothing left out
Because you and I have
Something so special.
It's already
The best it
Can be,
Love.

This is an etheree/nonet poem about why New Year's isn't important to me. I actually wrote is for New Year's in 2014, but back then I didn't have this blog, so obviously, I didn't post it then. 

Holiday Without You

Two days from Christmas, and I can't see you.
You, with the rest, dispersed globally.
No snow here; no you here - Its wrong.
You said that you miss me too,
Which embitters this more.
I'm buried alive
In gift-wrap; bags.
Rescue me.
I need
You.


I wrote this poem several years ago. It is an Etheree, which is a kind of poem which starts with 10 syllables in a line, and decreases by one syllable each line until you get to one syllable.

Cathedral

I spread my arms and feel the rush
Of pounding blood
Through my transept,
And arch—
Bend over backwards for you
To see through to
My rose windows
Stained with emotions and memories
(—Mysterious blues that you still don’t
Understand the chemical nature of—)
That shed light on
The inside,
Holding secrets within
My syn-apse-s
As you turn back towards my facade,
Which is gilded, but still stone beneath,
And desperately in need of buttresses—
External supports
To keep from crumbling,
But you’re just a tourist,
And you have no intention
Of building those.

This is my 24th poem for National Poetry Writing Month 2014. I learned about cathedrals in my French History class, and again (same semester) in my foundations of art class in the architecture chapter. This was partly inspired by a prompt to write about masonry. I have a lot of architecture terms here. Some are obvious, some are less obvious. (But if you know what they are, the poem makes more sense.) I have some fun experimental punctuation. Yay, free verse. 

Circus of Fleeting Breath

I worshiped you,
Madly thrumming against the walls.
You looked past me,
Unaffected by my broken rhythm.
You summoned darkness to surround me
In my naivete, strangling the light
To mock my vain attempts
At earning your attention,
But, in striking contrast to my flailing limbs
Drumming out my desperation
Against your cold stone,
You did not move.
Dance. Dance. Dance with me--
The repetition of my futility.
You wouldn't even do me the honor
Of holding me at arm's length.

People stared,
Mesmerized by my disjointed movements,
As random nerve endings fired.
They saw only my self-destructing.
You were the constant--
So constant that, to them,
You became the scenery
Unnoticed by my motion.
They didn’t know the reason
For my dissonant beating against the concrete;
Trying to change what is certain,
But I was their little circus of fleeting breath.
They, too happy to observe
The funny sight that didn't concern them,
Would not bestow the gift of death,
And so, I danced.

This poem was written in collaboration with a friend of mine. I left it intentionally vague so that it can be applied to an individual seeking to change an institution that he/she once believed in, a dysfunctional relationship of either the romantic or familial sort, or literally, about a moth beating against a wall (which was the inspiration.) This was also recently featured in a Daily Lit Recognition article on deviantART if that means anything to you.

Pretending When the Flame Died Out

We were young and nearsighted
To build a house of fake flowers,
But together now, the dizzy stars in my eyes
Are gone.
All kinds of magic and gold dust
Echo shadows.
Unlucky in love,
Both of us mask a glance
At someone else
From beneath the ice sheet,
Because guilty, lost love knots the truth.
Steady yourself for endless waves
Of saltwater nightmares.
Robot couple, your engine hearts
Rusted.

This is a found poem using titles of other art as the content of the poem. Some of the pieces have since been deleted, but here are links to the titles I used that are still available. Title: Pretending When The Flame Died Out Body: We Were Young nearsighted to build a House Fake Flowers But together, now. Dizzy Stars In My Eyes Gold Dust Echo Shadows Unlucky In Love Both Of Us Masks A Glance Someone Else Beneath the Ice Sheet Guilty Lost Love Knots The Truth Endless waves Saltwater Nightmares Robot Couple R U S T This poem was recently featured by the group Daily Lit Reviews in their August 17th 2014 Super-Feature.

Doubled Over

Today was one of those days.
I should have stayed home
Because my head is pounding
And fire keeps smothering me.
First, it grabs my arm
And squeezes far too tight.
Then it clutches at my waist
Pressing it's seething fingers
In between my ribs.
It's hard to live your life
Doubled over.

I wrote this in high school when a had the worst migraine I'd had in months and I was having intense back and abdominal pain. Basically, that day sucked. I used to deal with days like this on an almost constant basis. I'm posting it today, because I have had a migraine all day, and it hasn't really gotten any better.

Like the Sun

The day I met you changed my life for good,
And since then, nothing's ever been the same.
My world fell into place. I knew it would,
But not that you would be the one to blame.
It's true that other people can allure,
But they don't know what true love even means,
Since all too often, we are immature,
And focus on the temporal it seems.
I cannot live my life indifferent now,
Because it's cold and worthless without you.
I never thought that you would show me how
To find, through all this darkness, what is true.
I never dreamed that you would be the one.
Now, I revolve around you like the sun.

I wrote this English sonnet for my British Literature class in high school. I'm normally ecstatic about a chance to get graded for poetry, but I am REALLY not a fan of iambic pentameter.