that gaze "you're mine"
sends chills to my spine.

THEREFORE I AM

a blank page
fills me with consternation
each time, rage

seeking to find
some common thread
in which to fill, lines

you may not know it
being creatively possessive i celebrate
stories in which to tell, therefore i am a, poet

By Michael Perry

354

From Cocoon forth a Butterfly
As Lady from her Door
Emerged—a Summer Afternoon—
Repairing Everywhere—

Without Design—that I could trace
Except to stray abroad
On Miscellaneous Enterprise
The Clovers—understood—

Her pretty Parasol be seen
Contracting in a Field
Where Men made Hay—
Then struggling hard
With an opposing Cloud—

Where Parties—Phantom as Herself—
To Nowhere—seemed to go
In purposeless Circumference—
As ’twere a Tropic Show—

And notwithstanding Bee—that worked—
And Flower—that zealous blew—
This Audience of Idleness
Disdained them, from the Sky—

Till Sundown crept—a steady Tide—
And Men that made the Hay—
And Afternoon—and Butterfly—
Extinguished—in the Sea—

I was sick of being a woman,
sick of the pain,
the irrelevant detail of ***,
my own concavity
uselessly hungering
and emptier whenever it was filled,
and filled finally
by its own emptiness,
seeking the garden of solitude
instead of men.

The white bed
in the green garden--
I looked forward
to sleeping alone
the way some long
for a lover.

Even when you arrived,
I tried to beat you
away with my sadness,
my cynical seductions,
and my trick of
turning a slave
into a master.

And all because
you made
my fingertips ache
and my eyes cross
in passion
that did not know its own name.

Bear, beast, lover
of the book of my body,
you turned my pages
and discovered
what was there
to be written
on the other side.

And now
I am blank
for you,
a tabula rasa
ready to be printed
with letters
in an undiscovered language
by the great press
of our love.

Yay turned 17
This is my first b'day on Hello poetry..
A big thank you for all the support..

If the gold can still shine , even after forged and burnt,
why can't I?
If the sun can still shine, even under immense pressure,
why can't I?
If the star can still shine, even after untold centuries,
why can't I?
If you can still shine , even after leaving me broken,
why can't I?

Some may think , ' we are lucky enough to get both eyes'
                                 ' We are lucky enough to see this world'

Others may think, ' we are lucky enough to get to know by touch'
                                    ' we are lucky enough to know true world'

𝕀 𝕡𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕒𝕣𝕜 , 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕕 ,
𝕕𝕣𝕒𝕨𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕞𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕤 , 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕓𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕕

𝕚𝕥 𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕕𝕖𝕖𝕡𝕝𝕪, 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕖𝕪𝕖𝕤 ,𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕞𝕖𝕥 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕖,
𝕔𝕒𝕟𝕧𝕒𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕓𝕖𝕒𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕗𝕦𝕝 𝕞𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕤 , 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕤𝕚𝕡𝕡𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕖

ℂ𝕒𝕟'𝕥 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕫𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕘𝕝𝕚𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕤𝕜𝕪,
𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕤 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕤, 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙  𝕀 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕠𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕞𝕪 𝕖𝕪𝕖

𝕀 𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕞𝕪 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖, 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕓𝕪 𝕘𝕒𝕫𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕥 ℝ𝕖𝕕 𝕣𝕠𝕤𝕖𝕤,
𝕠𝕣 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕚𝕔𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕞𝕖 𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕖, 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕞𝕠𝕠𝕟-𝕝𝕚𝕥 𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤,
𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕔𝕒𝕟'𝕥 , 𝕟𝕠 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕚𝕟 𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕞𝕤

𝔽𝕠𝕣 𝕀 𝕔𝕒𝕟'𝕥 𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕡 𝕞𝕪 𝕖𝕪𝕖𝕤 𝕤𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦
𝔽𝕠𝕣 𝕀 𝕔𝕒𝕟'𝕥 𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕡 𝕗𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦