Poetry Blog is Up

I've started a new blog for poetry, songs, and the occasional creative rambling (perhaps...had to give myself some leeway just in case.)

There's a link on the sidebar but you can check it out at Write of Passage. I've posted one poem today and I'll post one or two a week, I think. Perhaps more. Possibly less. How's that for definite?

Also, I'll head over there and put up a disclaimer, caveat, whatever you want to call it-feel free to copy and post any poem you enjoy onto your own blog as long as you give me credit for the writing and you link back to my blog so others can read me too. =)

Black Gallows Moan

As snow does to a fire through splendid cities white Ophelia floats;
Her sweet madness the devil's paladins;
Like dragonflies threading the bark of the boughs.

On the blue summer evenings the shivering willows
Would dust with fine gold, the flowers that you picked.
In a slumbering alder hemmed in by chimaeras
From violet forests where the stars are sleeping.

The black gallows moan; i shall let the wind
Embroidered with black moss weep on her shoulder
Of an eternal voice and endless.

The rivers let me sail; i have seen maelstroms eternal
Devouring the green azures where gleams the daylight.
Backwards into sleep, i hung there


Poem created using this site.

Beautiful

Beautiful

I cannot hide what I am
Covered in scars old and new
You reach for me and I am
Suddenly whole with you

Inside my heart are the pieces
Of who I thought I should be
You gather up all my false beliefs
And show me what it is you see

In me

Chorus:
And I’m beautiful
When you look at me
I’m invincible
When you stand beside me
I’m everything
I wanted to be
Cause I’m beautiful
When you look at me

I feel the darkness calling
It knows the way to my pain
Just when I think I am falling
You rush to my rescue again

My spirit feels like it’s tattered
But then you look at me
And in your eyes, nothing’s shattered
Not the way you see

Me

Chorus:
And I’m beautiful
When you look at me
I’m invincible
When you stand beside me
I’m everything
I wanted to be
Cause I’m beautiful
When you look at me

Bridge:
And I am not torn
Not the way that you see me
And I am not broken
When you love me completely
You love me completely

Chorus:
And I’m beautiful
When you look at me
I’m invincible
When you stand beside me
I’m everything
I wanted to be
Cause I’m beautiful
When you look at me

Courage

Written by my friend John and posted here with his permission:

Courage

It takes strength to be firm,
It takes courage to be gentle.
It takes strength to conquer,
It takes courage to surrender.
It takes strength to be certain,
It takes courage to have doubt.
It takes strength to fit in,
It takes courage to stand out.
It takes strength to feel a friend's pain,
It takes courage to feel your own pain.
It takes strength to endure abuse,
It takes courage to stop it.
It takes strength to stand alone,
It takes courage to lean on another.
It takes strength to love,
It takes courage to be loved.
It takes strength to survive,
It takes courage to live.

A Thought

today I overheard someone say

there's something wrong with the world today

when babies cry and no one comes

when we kill each other by the thousands

and we stuff our face while millions starve

and devour news of every broken heart

we see pain, suffering, and look away

lest it sink beneath our skin to stay

we hear the atrocities and shake our heads

congratulate ourselves in our comfortable beds

that we escaped another's fate

then complain we've got too much on our plate

and maybe it's right, maybe we're a mess

maybe we can't get out of this

maybe all of life is meaningless

unless

we see the child without a home

and throw open the doors of our own

we choose to spare when we could cause pain

we grieve with the one who is suffering

we open our eyes, we seek and find

the ones beside us who are dying

for compassion, for mercy, for someone to stand

and be their voice, be their friend

maybe we travel across the world to see

or maybe we look across our street

and find the courage to meet the need

find the mercy to help someone believe

that nothing's wrong that can't be undone

when we come together and stand as one

Possible Prologue?

Below is a poem I wrote for an upcoming series (whose characters are getting louder and louder in my head - between this and Alexa, it's getting crowded!).


Darkness

beneath the careless pace we keep
beyond the nightmares in our sleep
crouched in our sorrow, grave and deep
the Darkness grows
inside the worry we won't admit
shrouding the hurt we can't forget
breeding in blood, warm and wet
the Darkness knows

we hear its voice but close our ears
we sense the horror but dry our tears
we do not recognize our fears
and the Darkness gathers strength
we see it but choose to look away
refusing the shadows that blight the day
we let our courage slip away
and the Darkness does not break

it feeds us its seductive lies
promising if we just close our eyes
turn our heads as an innocent dies
the Darkness with be our friend
we turn the key, open the door
shadows spill in, become our core
we hunger insatiably for more
and the Darkness knows no end

we offer our honor as sacrifice
we barter our souls to pay the price
in a prison of our own device
the Darkness leads us all the while
and so we hurt, we fight, we hate
we glory in death until it's too late
we blind ourselves to our own fate
and the Darkness smiles

Sappy Hallmark Warning!

Okay, this is a fairly sappy poem, I'm sure. It doesn't have any of the gothic undertones of most of the poetry I write but the theme just didn't call for it (and it's good practice to write happy, happy, joy, joy stuff now and then, right?) Anyway, see the post beneath this one to find my source of inspiration.

You

Beneath bright smiles and laughter pure
A void lingered and beckoned here
A quiet sense of loss and grief
That spoke to me from underneath

Every person who saw me and said “how strong”
I wanted to shout right back “how wrong”
Every person who said, “she’s got it together”
Then ran to hide from my stormy weather

I held them up to my inner space
Searched for truth written on their face
And every one of them was wrong
Not one of them really did belong

I needed someone true and real
Someone willing to go deeper still
Someone to love me when I was easy to take
But who loved me more when I threatened to break

Someone to listen with more than their ears
To delight in my laughter but stay through my tears
Someone to find more than I thought I could give
Someone to cherish and freely forgive

Someone uniquely shaped just for me
My kindred spirit, my foe’s enemy
My brave defender, with love pure and true
My empty space was waiting for you.

Sleep

dawn will come
a subtle shift
of light as shadows
begin to lift

my eyes will open
a sudden moment
that rips at dreams
before i know it

and i will rise
and i will run
and i will do
what must be done

but until then
i'm captive here
where decadence
aligns with fear

and monsters swirl
past my thoughts
i try to sieze them
all for naught

i run through thorns
but cannot bleed
i hold the key
but am not freed

i breathe out passion
breathe poison in
cliffs fall away
and i dive in

i cannot swim
i cannot drown
i cannot fly
or touch the ground

the glorious
is possible
i find i am
invincible

so let the sun
draw back this curtain
that hides what might be
from what is certain

the promises i've made
will keep
and until then
i sleep