I need positivity like a sunflower needs the sun
So what do I do when I'm given none?
I'm fed poison and breathe out joy
Bringing life through photosynthesis
Using my outward appearance to make people smile
But I'm cut at the stem
To be given to some much more special than I
And slowly start to rot
I'm given as a gift
Once I wither away and my fresh scent is gone
They throw me away and keep moving on
No one thinks about the sunflowers

Until they're gone.

Yesterday I
opened my old
poetry book, when
I found a pressed
autumn leaf.
Its fragrance took
me back in time,
back in that cold rainy day
Then I was so young
and beautiful
when it got caught in
my hair by the
mischievous wind,
bathed in sky's tears.
But now it's dried
And it will never
be as it was before.
Just like me...

Translation From Catullus.


Equal to Jove that youth must be—
Greater than Jove he seems to me—
Who, free from Jealousy’s alarms,
Securely views thy matchless charms;
That cheek, which ever dimpling glows,
That mouth, from whence such music flows,
To him, alike, are always known,
Reserv’d for him, and him alone.
Ah! Lesbia! though ’tis death to me,
I cannot choose but look on thee;
But, at the sight, my senses fly,
I needs must gaze, but, gazing, die;
Whilst trembling with a thousand fears,
Parch’d to the throat my tongue adheres,
My pulse beats quick, my breath heaves short,
My limbs deny their slight support;
Cold dews my pallid face o’erspread,
With deadly languor droops my head,
My ears with tingling echoes ring,
And Life itself is on the wing;
My eyes refuse the cheering light,
Their orbs are veil’d in starless night:
Such pangs my nature sinks beneath,
And feels a temporary death.

She walks in beauty, like the night
     Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
     Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
     Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
     Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
     Or softly lightens o’er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
     How pure, how dear their dwelling place.

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,
     So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
     But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
     A heart whose love is innocent!

Take a breath, curl your toes
over the edge of some unknown.
Recognize how high you feel
only to look down and find
just how small your worries are
compared to this.
This.
The edge of something beyond
any warm-blooded imagination.
Let go, it says.
Let your hair tangle
in the spokes of the universe.
Let it sound and bend the notes
of this journey.
Let it write the music for a song
you'll welcome to stay stuck
in that wonderful little head of yours.
Let it sing.

He felt the scars up and down her arm
with the tip of his index finger.
Tracing ever indentation that was left by a blade.
“Why did you do it?”
he asked.
She sighed and answered
“Because I had to.”
His brows furrowed not understanding
how she possibly had to do this to herself.
“I did it to control the pain.”
He trailed kisses from her wrist up to her neck,
“I still love you,”
he said enclosing her in his arms.

My life began simple,
Like the flow of a breeze,
A baby girl born in winter,
January, 98.
I had always been wanted,
By my mom and my dad,
They'd been waiting for me,
Since the first kid they had.
I was the last of the litter,
Taking on three older brothers.
They adored me at first,
At least until I grew older.
We were a happy family,
Of which nothing could change,
But that reality slowly melted,
Like the snow in the rain.

By the time I could walk,
I noticed this plain,
The fighting that happened,
Over and over again.
Though my brothers did hide me,
From the pain and disdain,
It inevitably overtook me,
Day after waking day.

My family was broken,
Like the mud made from rain,
And nothing could fix this,
Not even the coldest winters day.

My mother, a drinker.
She drank the pain away.
Making life more difficult,
Dad was slipping away.
The fights were a hate fuel,
And I got dragged along,
Placing great strain on a child,
One who could never overcome.

When the divorce became final,
I got split down the frame,
Switching between houses,
Like a broken monopoly game.
A strain grew inside me,
It turned to anger and hate,
Emotions unbearable,
After all, I was only eight.

When my mom began drinking,
Nothing stood in her way,
It helped fill her fire,
And burned with a rage.
She wanted to be right,
So the glasses took the pain.

But my dad was always there,
It would go without saying,
Trying time and time again,
To save us all from burning.
But at that age I was quiet,
Didn't know how to speak up.
My brother the brave one,
Always knew what was up.
When left alone with our mother,
He was my savior, my clutch.

He'd pretend to call a friend,
When the drinking got bad,
Lock himself in a room,
And call up our dad.
He saved us both from struggle,
Standing his ground,
Till mother went overboard,
Became abusive and mad.

From then I was alone,
My brother living with dad,
Leaving me a small child,
To deal with every mishap.
For a long time without him,
I dealt to my best,
Though speaking up for myself,
Was the hardest thing yet.