Poetry

The atmosphere has a sudden, unshakeable stillness-

Unaware of what has been forecasted.

Children push on swings and frolic through fields.

The calm before the storm.

I am alone, truly alone, alone, alone, alone. 

I am alone.

I am broken.

I am helpless.

I cannot stand back up.

I will never see the daylight again.

Words used to flow easily out of my fingertips,

my pencil effortlessly connected constellations,

as a stream of simple thoughts transferred perfectly onto a page,

but now my mind is mush,

To be a woman,

you have to mask your flaws.

A little girl, upset at the world-

"you're fine," her mother says.

That girl, now eleven,

is picked on by her peers.

"You're fine," her mother says.

Author's Note- This poem is about a time where I struggled with a lot of intrusive thoughts about the concept of mortality-- none of these thoughts were intentional or wanted.

It’s formed by rocks,

Which undergo weathering.

It’s what dunes are made of,

Mounded by the wind.

It’s spread on a beach,

Admired by passersby.

Friends come and go.

Some may say like the seasons turn,

but that metaphor's not strong enough for me.

Friendships are like children's toys.

Friends come and go.

A child gets a new toy; gives it a name.

America, the beautiful place of the free.

Where people from everywhere come to see,

to speak and love and create with others.

To live and laugh with our brothers and sisters.

The ocean of my mind swirls-

these waters have been tested.

Sirens sharpen in the distance

as the hurricane names me next.

The wind of panic wraps my neck like a noose-

When I was a little younger than I am now, 

I went home after school and wrote until bedtime.

That was enough to take me into the stratosphere. 

I'd play in the cloud for hours and hours.

it only gets their attention when it’s thousands dead

that one little boy had hopes , dreams , and fears , smiled when he was happy and when sad , cried tears

“land of the free” but we watch our step, so we don’t get taken away, and our rights are slowly started to fade