I pour my heart out on the page
My pain and anguish inky red
My anger black as dark as hatred
Shadows seeping creeping in
I tear my hair in screaming terror
None can see how young I am
Just a girl afraid of darkness
Shadows seeping creeping in
On the outside mask-like features
Smiling tell the world their lies
On the inside breaking cracking
Shadows seeping creeping in
So spin on world and leave me aching
What care you for who I am
Just a girl afraid of darkness
Shadows seeping creeping in

I am the poet behind the words
My fingers grasp the pen
My heart is bleeding out in phrases
For the sorrows that I see

A face looks up at shining stars
A child’s wonder in her eyes
A world of struggles not yet seen
A mystery inside her lies

Her braids in darkness shine like gold
Her light amidst the shadowed gloom
Her sweet delight a benediction
Offered to the pale moon

Her past and future swirl around her
Threads of gold and silver weave
Dancing in the moonlit shadows
Some for joy and some for grief

She sees them not, though, complex patterns
Veiled from her sight by time
Her life awaits her through the curtain,
Full of mountains she must climb

She does not fear though, does not know,
Her child’s wonder still holds sway,
A face looks up at shining stars
Glowing all so far away

Fractured.
Fragment.
Broken.
Pieces.
Mind awhirl.
Nothing ceases.
Shattered.
Better.
Mind anew.
No one understands.

flower petals softly fall
to land about my feet
and cover up the blood and tears
I know abide beneath
their soft pink silk
is pure and clean
before it hits the earth
but red with blood
and black with hate
as time plays out its curse
and I just watch in silent pain
as petals fall like snow
the blameless victims in a war
that lays our people low

Don’t you worry darling,
Now’s not the time for fears;
Don’t you fret my darling,
For I will dry your tears.

Though the world may crumble ‘round us
And though the sky may fall,
Don’t be sad my darling,
For I’m not sad at all.

You’re all I ever wished for
And all I’ve ever loved,
You are my joy, my guiding light,
My sun in skies above.

So now that shadows threaten,
I’ll be your light in turn,
And if the world is ending,
Together we will burn.

Buzzing jumbled garbled speaking
Noisome nonsense pressing in
Laughter anger curses feelings
Pouring out in heedless din
Tumbling torrents words and phrases
Lines and essays floating by
Waves of sound sweep past my eardrums
Pressing closing passing gone

I may not be quite pretty
And I may not be that smart
But there are things that I can see
With only just my heart

I see that there are always some
Who just don’t seem to care
Who’ll take your heart and rip it out
And lay your feelings bare

But wait and watch and you will see
That hate does not trump light
That threads of friendship and of love
Will guide you through the night

They’ll wrap around your broken heart,
Your shattered dreams renew,
And they are there for everyone,
For me as well as you

So, to be, or not to be?
Well, what is it to be me?
Who can say, and who can know,
I am everywhere I go.
I am who I listen to,
I am everything I do,
I am what I think and feel,
All I know is not what’s real.
Who am I, and should I be?
What is it, really, to be me?

Only if
If only I
Wishes
Dreams
Are washed away

Tomorrow
Today
And yesterday
Are points on the line
Of time

Red ink
Lines my faults
Marking my mistakes
And failures

Black ink
Tells my story
Speaking of the past
And my regrets

Blue ink
Writes my future
Guiding my tomorrow
And today

Smudged ink
Shows my fear
Telling of my worries
And my pain

Inky pages
Are my journey
Shaping who I am and
All I do

Blotted pages
In the book of time

Someone that I cared for
Once asked my favorite word.
I didn’t have an answer then,
But now I do.

Tomorrow is a word that rings,
A bell whose sound we chase and try to catch.
Through the years we follow,
It’s echoes full of hope and full of fear.

Tomorrow makes no promises,
No warranties on joy;
An accident, a tragedy,
Could be beyond this night.

But though I know that this is true,
And sadness comes for all,
Tomorrow too could hold the door
For my future self

That joyful woman I hope to be
Once all is right that can be fixed.
And so I chase tomorrow’s ringing,
Clear and pure through the nights of time,


And I know that soon the night will end,
And she’ll wait for me at tomorrow.

If I had a poem
I’m my heart for every sob
For every stab of lonleliness
That I must feel anon,
Then I would be a poet
With a library to my name
And every comfort I could wish
Save you safe home again

Two different faces
Who am I?
The one they see
Or who I am
They don’t notice,
So I hide
Behind my
Double faces

A day stretches endless
A year but a blink
Of Mother Nature’s eye

I see the deaths of a thousand trees
In stacks of paper that heavenward climb
And tell the stories of things long past
That the trees have seen

Is it only I who can see their lives,
The precious lives we’ve squandered here?
Is it only I who mourn the trees
Who gave their lives unwillingly
For the sake of knowledge?
Am I the only one who hears their cries?
The whispers of the leaves remain
And speak of loss

What lives on beyond the day we die?
What remains of who we were before?
How can we know, while still we live,
There’s such a thing as more?

These are the midnight mysteries
My mind whispers to my heart
While my brain tries to see my soul

If each raindrop took a thousand tears
I still would be a storm
If every sob had a whipspers’ voice
I still would be a roar
And if every minute was an age
It still won’t be enough
I know I’ll miss you
And I know I’ll cry
Yet here I am

My life is worlds away from war
And poverty;
I need not fear for life
Or liberty,
Yet to remember this
When darkness falls
Is still a test.

When night entombs me
In her shadowed cloak,
And stars are far beyond
My window’s view,
My own adversity will
Rear its head
And make its claim.

Then, as the darkness shrouds my mind,
The starlight cannot
Pierce the shadowed gloom
And the pain of others has but
Little light.

And if this makes me
Cold,
Unfeeling,
Cruel,
Then so it is, and so,
Too, are you.
So are we all.
Cold,
Unfeeling,
Cruel.

A tear is but a raindrop
In a thunderstorm of pain.
The thunder is my rolling sobs,
The lightning, my angry cries;
A flash of light amidst the roiling skies.

Two different worlds
Two seperate skies
And only one that they can see

Inside my mind
When darkness falls
There is no other soul but me

Alone I pace
In deepest night
And no one takes my hand

To lead me from
My shadowed tomb
Where I am doomed to stand

Ah, pray for me,
Though kindness helps,
For only love can save me now

A lonely girl
Lost long ago
Who does not trust, and knows not how

Too often left
Though many cared
And no one saw the pain inside

That lonely girl
The happy mask
Was made so carefully to hide

But now it cracks
The paint wears off
And someone soon is bound to know

And steps will tread
The lonely walks
Where only I’m allowed to go

Perhaps at last
Someone will break
The wall I’ve built around my heart

But no one will
For all have eyes,
And I have been too long apart

And so, alas
For here I stand
A lonely girl in a shadowed land.

When there seems not much to fight for,
Nor many left to fight,
When the dark is closing round us,
That is the time for light!

That is the time for courage,
From those both great and small,
That is the time for love and truth,
For those must save us all!

That is the time for honor,
For friendship's outstretched hand,
For kin to stand together,
One strong, united band!

So now that shadows threaten,
And hate destroys our peace,
Now fear and greed prevail,
Now, now is the time for these!

Now is the time, my comrades!
Now you must heed the call!
Now you must stand together,
Or we must surely fall!

So listen to me, comrades,
Remember my words this day:
Love and peace can triumph,
And drive this hate away!

I, too, sing America.
I am of the brave, one of the free.
They hide my voice behind my too short years,
Yet I speak a truth, and they must hear!
But most ignore the clarion call,
And hide behind their painted doors,
And place their trust in ignorance.
Tomorrow, they must hear my cries!
I'll tell them, they must act, and soon;
I speak a truth, and they must hear!
Nobody'll doubt my vision then;
My age will make no difference, then.
I see the truth that they will see,
And no one more will doubt in me.
Besides, the truth is shining clear,
They'll see it soon, and they will hear,
And they will act, as I now try, for
I, too, am America.

When the lights go out
We should not fear;
Death is our nightmare.

School should be safe,
Not a whirlwind of panic
About bullets and pain.

When the lights go out
We should not think
"We're gonna die."

I remember a window,
It was sunny outside;
The autumn leaves
Shone red in the light.
I remember your smile,
Sunny as well;
How innocent we were back then.

There's a photo I’ve kept,
It’s of us at that window,
Grinning as only two children can grin.
You look like you have some great
Secret to tell me,
A mischievous plan in your head.

You’re wearing that necklace you always had with you,
A shark tooth, I think, but I’m really not sure.

It’s been so long.

The years have since swept me
Where you cannot follow.
You’re trapped in that window,
And now I’m outside.

I like to remember you there,
Since it’s better
Than dreaming of doctors.
And churches.
And tears.

In nightmares and in waking dreams
I see them standing there.
Their faces, they who never age,
Who’ve long been resting in their graves,
Surrounding me with love and with their loss.

“I’ve missed you, since you left me, dear,”
I long to say to them.
I never get to speak the words;
My tongue is stopped with tears.

They smile at me, beckon to me,
Never do they speak,
And while I stay here, trapped by love,
They slowly fade away.

Their memories are blurring now,
Half washed away by tears;
Their vibrant colors run to grey,
A rainbow of the years

Oh sandman, take away my dream
So I will never cry at night,
Wake up sweating
Chilled to the bone
Because you were dead.
My greatest fear
That you will leave,
Like he did
All those years ago
8 years
3 months
7 days
Since he was dead
A day before his birthday.
He was never 9.
And I dream that you are dead
Like him.
His brother too
Died much to young.
Six short years to live.
But you outlived them both.
You are you lived past 6.
Then 9.
Now 11.
But still I wake at night
Because you were dead
In my arms
And you were so very very cold
And still.
I run into your room
And you’re asleep.
Alive.
Sometimes smiling.
But still the nightmare comes

A battle rages all around me
I stand alone amidst the storm.
The banner that I bear aloft
Is savaged by the raging wind.
The words I scream into the dark
Are lost amidst its roar,
My banner unseen, my battle cry unheard.
And yet I fight on.
I’ll scream my message from the rooftops,
Carry the banner until my words are read.
You are worthy.
You are strong.
You are loved.
You are not to blame.

When I close my eyes,
I can almost imagine,
And I almost believe
My sweet, sad lies.
I can tell myself
It’s all a dream,
And he’ll be here
Beside me again.

Each book’s a doorway to a far off landscape
The pages forming portals to the past
The words are my escape
From the twisted path I take
Walking all alone amidst the crowd

I stand alone within my own safe castle
A stronghold that I’ve built around my heart
I let a few get past,
Think each’ll be the last,
But every one still breaks my heart again.

The books can get me through the solid borders
That keep us bound in time and fixed in space.
They help me to let go,
And find a way to flow
In currents rife with danger and with lies

Society’s a bunch of half tamed creatures
Made wild with desire to fit in.
The books can keep me sane
And counter each new pain
That I incur when I refuse to bend

And even through the pain that this will cause me
I see my future clear and shining bright
Though now I shy in fear
Someone may still draw near
And save me from this prison that I’ve made.

Each day when I rise and I walk out my door,
The world that I see isn’t mine anymore.

The rules are all bent so I can’t see their shape,
And on every street corner I pass police tape.

When you sign onto Twitter, catch up on the news,
But it might not be true, so watch out for the clues.

They say, “Hey, you’re transgender? We can’t let you fight.”
“Oh, you’re black? Or you’re Asian? We’re best ‘cause we’re white.”

If they’re caught in their lies, they don’t overreact,
Mumble “something-or-other alternative fact.

If you glance out your window one night and you find
A torch wielding mob, well, just never you mind.

Join the big three ring circus! Its painted faced clowns,
And its ringleader with his red white and blue crown!

So turn on your TV, watch the latest debate,
And what you will see is the next Watergate.

Or just do what I do, use your eyes and your heart,
Then you, too, can watch as fear tears us apart.

Or maybe it won’t, if enough of us see,
When we all work together, we still might break free.

No oceans waters wide enough
To douse the fire in my soul
The tallest mountain still can’t crush
The music that will always flow

The spirit living in my breast
Will never bend or break
Though faltering, my heart beats onward
Pouring out in music’s ache

When Hope comes knocking at your door,
Asking for a handout in the cold,
Who among you would not spare a dime?
Then shame on you.
For deep inside you is the cold
That you shut out behind your door,
It’s brightly painted wood a mocking light
In the gloomy dusk.
So shame on you.
But each of you who gives as you can spare,
Though it be less than one might wish or need,
If with sincerity you open up your heart
To let in Hope,
Then a blessing be upon you,
For you are Hope.

A splash of noise
A crowded hall
A world of perfect
Or not at all

An empty room
A closed tight door
A bubble resting
On tiled floor

A place of talk
Of facts and dates
A place without time
For stop, or wait

A place of students
Hurrying past
Of teachers waiting
To start their class

A place where time
Is of the essence
Where nothing pauses
It’s haste’s quintessence

Hopes and dreams
Will bear me up
To challenge each
New dawn.
And when the sun’s
Last rays have set
I’ll shake my fist
At fate.

Impossible wishes ensnare my mind
And mournful tears drown reality’s view
While my heart still searches, trying to find
The one who was so clever and true

I dream that someday he’ll return to me
And my life would be what it was back then
But I know in my heart that it can’t be
And that I can never go back again

Yet still my silent vigil will I hold
To keep the ever pressing dark at bay
And keep my heart from all consuming cold
With the light of hope’s now faltering ray

And though my mind will tell me otherwise,
My cagéd heart believes it’s own sad lies

Oh laughing brook
Oh happy brook,
Your smile and
Murmur delights.
Your chilly water,
Ice on snow,
Holds my toes
And feet.

Old man time, now white with age,
Who holds the warps
And wefts of fate

Weaves a cloth of stars and moons
With fingers tired
And worn

Darkest shadow
Brightest flame
Burning passion
Silence, tame

Loving one,
Many times
Broken hearts,
Guiltless crimes

Tears of grief
Shed for him
Sunless ages
Dark and grim

Dawn of hope
Of light again
Wakened life
From silence, then,

Circle closing,
Ending, starting,
Edges meeting,
Brushing, parting

Darkest shadow
Brightest flame
Burning passion
Silence, tame

These are the ways of my people
And this is the land that I know
My home will be always these hillsides
Where waters of ages still flow

But time for my people is passing
Our land is no longer our own
Our children forsake now the stories
Of a past that they never have known

For life all around us is changing
And stories no longer apply
The ways of our fathers are fading
And our children shall bid them goodbye

But these hills will be always my homeland,
Though the waters of history pass,
And stories of ages live after
In the birds and the wind in the grass

The blanket fog so white and still
Yet cloaked the land this morn’
To guard her from the morning chill
And keep her ***** warm

It clung to flower, branch, and air
To hide the maiden blush
That rose upon her features fair
When sunlight soft her eyelids brushed

The sunlight in the fog that day
Was as a pearl in hue
It shone and shimmered as if lay
Above a streak of blue

The river’s waters wound their way
As o’er her face they flowed
And caught the sunlight of the day
That broke the blanket’s hold

Her cover fled, that tender maid
Awoke with songs and sighs
And over all bright sunlight played
To warm her as she lies

Dark as onyx
Strong and stalwart
Gnarled by the crashing wind

Leaves of emerald
Turned to silver
Rustling in the mountain air

Berries red as
Roughhewn rubies
Glinting through the falling dark

Alone upon its
Craggy mountain
Keeping watch this night

Broken hearts
Broken dreams
Time is all
That’s left to me

Dreams are fragile
They break like glass
Hearts are brittle
And rip apart

Memories are flawed
And pains too sharp
To stand the wear
And tear of Time

And as time flows
My broken dreams
Are swept away
And lost to me

A boat through starry skies
I row
In paths of time.
My fate I seek;
Remembered pain shall
Guide my course,
Yesterday’s woes.

A moon doth rise
Upon my life
Oh goddess pale,
Hear my cries!
I search for truth.

But waits she not;
Ne’er path she slows.
Oh frosty maiden!
Hear my woes!
But stops she not,
Nor ‘lists to me,
A boat
Upon a starry sea.