Days Like These

It's days like these
When I walk across the windblown street
Gazing across the green suburban landscape
Past the houses to the forest beyond
Where the world is not so green after all
It's days like these
When I wonder if color will ever return
To the bare gray branches
Blending with the cold clouds behind
Or if the clouds will swallow all warmth
It's days like these
When I worry that spring will never arrive
That the birds will fly back south
And I want to go with them
But I stay, and watch as snow buries my cries
It's days like these
When I am more quiet than usual
When the darkness is welling inside of me
When I reach for hope in vain
When my control lapses
It's days like these
When I pray for spring
Like I pray for peace
And I pray for relief
From the blizzard that holds me frozen
On days like these

Release

The moist, dark wood
tickles my bare feet
The forested hills
on the cloudy horizon
catch my wandering eye
as I walk in between
the lake water
Droplets fall, gently spitting
against my flamboyant umbrella
I hug my soft scarf
watching the Canada geese complain
The hand that holds my high heels
sways back and forth by my hip
I am terribly tempted to throw my shoes
into the seemingly bottomless lake
To let everything go
Every worry, anger, pain
Or even to throw myself into the water
Release my pent-up energy
in this beautiful hidden lake,
snuggled in between the mountains

Unintentionally

As the days go on
The sun keeps setting
Will we ever come out of these dark days?
You've stomped out my spark of hope
All my dark fears
are coming true
You've been hurt
But you're hurting me
Everything hurts
The worst part is
It's not physical pain I feel
She broke your heart
And now
Unintentionally
You're breaking mine
The cold air sweeps my hair
It gets to me
I don't show it
But you get to me
Unintentionally
I keep looking towards the east
hoping to see the sun rise
But fog shrouds my vision
The cloudy horizon
Snow falls from the sky
Beautiful and horrible
Unintentionally
You opened your own wounds
While creating fresh ones for me
Unintentionally
But I would be rude
to turn you away
Instead I sit here
Waiting for the train to arrive at the station
The wind picks up
It's dark, but I'm not afraid of what surrounds me
I'm afraid of what's inside
Nothing, not even the snow, is more chilling
Than my broken heart
You broke my heart
Unintentionally
Will the train ever come?
I'm waiting at the station
Warm yellow glow from the windows
I wish to be inside, to be happy
Soft Christmas music in the background
Wishing for summer
Unintentionally
But with all this accidental pain
Is it really unintentional?
I have no room to judge
Do you?
At some point I will turn away from the tracks
As you might have walked onto them
I will turn and walk away
Intentionally

Light From Above

My shadow follows me

Down the forest path

When I began this journey

The light filtered through the leaves

Above

The birds sang and fluttered from

Tree to tree

But as I progress along this

Treacherous path

The roots grow in my path

Rocks block certain forks

The trunks get thicker

The leaves get darker

Glinting eyes from the bushes

Green, like a sweet spring song

Blue, like a warm summer breeze

Then brown

Like the dirt beneath me

Holding me up and dragging me in

Two in one

My best friend is my own worst enemy

My first love is my greatest dilemma

As I progress deeper into the forest

This journey that I am on

Will the forest go on forever?

When will it end?

What will I face?

I cling to hope that there will be light

at the end of this tunnel-like path

Like I cling to the spring song I sing on my way

And the summer breeze I hope to feel again soon

I dodge roots and rocks

Though it is little, only a glimmer

The light still shines through the leaves from

Above

Happy Birthday Kath

So there's this girl I know

But she doesn't know me

She has the mind of a poet

She has the voice of an angel

And the heart of one, too

This young woman inspires me in

Everything she does

She turns 21 today

So I wrote this poem for her

To say "Happy Birthday"

But if you really think about it,

Every one of my poems is for her

Because if it wasn't for her and her blog

Sonnets and Scribbles

My poem-writing days would have

ended back in elementary school

I wish I could meet her

I wish I could give her a huge birthday hug

She deserves it

She is everything I want to be when I am 21

She is Katherine Cimorelli

Mouse and Lion

There was a little white mouse and a magnificent golden lion.

"What does the universe have in store for me?" the little mouse asked the impressive lion one day.

"Many things," the lion replied, not entirely interested in the conversation. "Only time will tell."

"Big things?" the mouse persisted, thinking the lion was very wise.

"No, no, little things," the lion chuckled, taken off guard by the mouse's large dreams. "You are a little mouse, are you not?"

"Maybe," the mouse responded, giving this much thought. "But I have big things ahead, goals I will reach, places I will go."

The lion grew bored with the conversation and sauntered away.

So the mouse sauntered away as well, in the opposite direction, with just as much confidence.

Because this little white mouse knew it had big things ahead, goals it will reach, places it will go.

And that's all it needed.

Invisible Girl

There once was a girl

who thought she was

Invisible

but inside she knew

She stood out

She was different

from the rest

She watched stories

play out in her mind

and words appear

under her pen

And at night

she wandered

with her head to the

Sky

She wandered

and she wondered

Because the universe

is full of wonders

and this girl knew

that she would never be

Satisfied with her knowledge

She would always wander

She would always wonder

But Today I Am Silent

I shove the thoughts back
They must not become words
They stay in my mind
My mind is a cage
They howl and claw
to no avail
But there will come a day
when the cage's hinges
weaken
The words will come tumbling out
Yes, there will come a day
The words will be free

Fate

The pink east sky

somewhere beyond the trees

awaits a destiny

It is as set as stone

if stone were set

but stone,

like many others,

can change

Everything changes

even fate

But fate itself

is inescapable

Return

Can we return
to the sunshine
and the warmth?
Can we go back
to the days
of you and me?
Sitting by campfire
fireflies float by
anything is possible
even distant dreams
Can we return
to summer?

Midnight

Pain
It is something I have come to know
like an old friend, ready to stab me in the back
Pessimism
Pain and Pessimism
People say love is simple
but I know from experience
Love can be very complicated
A wise old man once said,
"It's hard to love someone who hates himself or herself."
Love
It brings me great joy
and sorrow I've never experienced
Before
Every move I make with my mouth
Sears with pain of winter chapped lips
Even a smile
My head aches from the
sound, light, confusion
I am exhausted
more tired than ever
but as rain that is not rain
slides down the cold, freckled window
the darkness of
Midnight
is still not enough to coax me to sleep
The only thing that could make me better
is your voice
whispering,
"Relax"
"I love you"
It's so very late
I'm so very tired
Sleep is such a long way off
Your voice is so far away
at Midnight.