A little part of me
Is always left behind
As I grow older
The smaller those pieces become
As a child I would hand out
Quarters of my heart
to those who would take it
Only to receive a veiled rejection
But still a sliver would follow
taken by them
Short friendships only resulted
In battered parts
Returned with fractures
Patched together with tape and staples
Smaller and smaller still
Is left untouched
Undamaged
Everything returned
Except slivers and chunks
Torn from me
Only those taken care of
Does the hole go unnoticed
Filled in with a part of you
Never love
Love would mean
the shy little thing
that's left of my heart
to be given in its
Entirety
But stll I'll lend you
A little bit of me
But just for a while

Does anyone else remember,
When they were young,
Closing your eyes so tight
You saw stars
Some speak of lovely words
Others define it as the edge of reality
A whisper of nothingness
And long winded gasp if sanity
I love the happier times

Some of the best words
Will never be said
Stopping just shy of escaping
My lips, sealed by anxiety
A much needed comment
Or a philosophical thought
A dying need to express
Confined in a hesitant glance
Restricted by half smiles and frowns
The pinch between my eyes
Conveys the questioning side
Torn up lips define only
A brave protester self silenced
The dusting of a blush asks
Only what it could be
Shinning eyes glimpse only
Shy of everything that is meaningful
Chipped and uneven nails
Speak to every single secret
And stripped scars
Tell everything and nothing
About that body

Dear My Fellow Poets,
I'm entering a poetry competition soon and would like some advice on what a successful poem would be. I know that poetry is very much a self absorb sport that we, as authors and poets, do not always care what others think. Though a word of encouragement means the world that is, I believe, why some of us are here. We are a small society that is as close as any other. So this is just what it claims to be. Me, asking for advice from those I do not know but from those that are closer to understanding me than some of my closest friends. And because this is my fear of being rejected I will only ask that you consider responding.
With much thanks,
Courtney

What do you suppose is stronger?
Crystal or Glass
One built of melted sand
Or the one of minerals dripped into place
It's more romantic I suppose
Seeing that it's the collection of many things
To create something beautiful
But glass
Is shaped and colored to meet
Any preference
It let's people see clearly
And can be beautiful in its own way
Both can cut though
A two sided blade
Elegant and dangerous
but what do you suppose is stronger?
Crystal or Glass
Which do you think is better?
I suppose I think we all know

The children do cry
When it could be time to die
Begging asking why

A curious confection
Of mystery and death
Of hated perfection
And reasonable breath
Of nightmarish lines and finds
Of aching bones
And too many land mines
A horridous groan
Of every reasonable thought
That is slipped from your grasp
A life that ought to be wrought
And ends with short gasp
Taking care to not ruffle the feathers
Of the divine
Or trouble the lives of your betters
Oh world would you ever be mine
It's hard to define whatever I could say
That are constructed with truths and lies
If only I could live 'till may
But oh how my time flies
A sweet sorrowful fairwell
To my past to ever last
And to the future pray tell
I hope I go fast