My mother was a writer.
I remember her,
papers spread out upon a bed sheet in the sand,
stacked pebbles protecting her work from the wind
as I made drip-castles at the water's edge
and braided crowns from wild poppies.
I would run to her so she could
rub grape sunscreen into my sandy shoulders
and I asked her once,
“Mama,
is that poetry?”
and she said “No little one,
you are poetry,
this only tries to be.”
and I thanked her,
and ran back to the water
to search for flat stones to skip,
and thought no more of poetry.

When I wither in times of drought
And my roots become weak,
When my petals wander and blow
From even the slightest breeze
Water me.

When I shiver in times of winter
And my bones become fragile,
When my skin goes numb and I break
From even the gentlest touch
Warm me.

When I can't walk in times of travel
And my feet become ash,
When my human frame crumbles away
From even the minutest weight
Deliver me.

When I breathe in times of pain
And my chest becomes still,
When my burden is heavy and dark
From a life lived in shadows
Illuminate me.

my soul is a basement
flooded with un-choreographed movement,
rapid waters of words I never really meant
and empty fish bellied breaths
My heart is no different
just one big blue gilled vessel
aching
wishing for stars within black veins

Again, I find myself at home
The home I made last year
And while it hasn't changed too much,
That I have is my fear.

I loved this place and made it mine,
And tied myself to it;
But now that I've returned, I'm lost
And not like the rest, I admit.

Will I find my place? Or will that only come
With friends who are my home?
Am I isolated now, and is this why
My home feels so alone?

Perhaps this feeling soon will pass
And maybe it'll get better;
But for the moment, I'm alone,
And can't seem to find my tether.

Sierra, don’t be so hard
on yourself.
Treat yourself as if
you are the world’s treasure
because that’s exactly what
you are.
I know sometimes you feel
as if you hold the world
on your shoulders
but I’m here to tell you
you’ll be okay
and to just breathe.
Stop giving second and third chances
to people who didn’t exactly
deserve the first.
It’s in your heart to
always see the good in people
but you shouldn’t feel guilt
for the times you have to
let go.
The world is yours,
I want to go out
and discover it.
Never be afraid to take
that jump,
someone will always be
there to catch you.

You have my heart
My foolish heart
You have it
In your hands

With me,
I carry,
but a piece
Of your heart
I have it
where my heart was

Without me
You’re no whole

Without you
I am, not at all

I saw you on the bus yesterday.
The first thing I saw was your leather jacket
The one with the orange patch
Your hair was golden brown
And its waves fell down to your shoulder
You pulled out a book
And I see the small scribble of a tattoo on your right hand
As hard as I tried I couldn't see exactly what you were reading
I imagine it was something done by Faulkner, Twain, or Hemingway
I imagine you listen to jazz and drink black coffee
You play the banjo and guitar
You order scotch on the rocks
Every ******* time
You write poetry for your friends sometimes
And You claim its terrible
And your friends claim it brilliant
You would write me some,
and I would recite it when we fight
You would take pictures of me when I wake up in the morning
with nothing but your shirt on
You would take them to the dark room
and hide them in your drawer
You would laugh at me when I put on your ******* glasses
and I at you when you would tell me bad jokes
You would drag me with you
to see all of your favorite shows
And I would joke like you actually had to drag me
I would drag you shopping
but you never minded as long as it was a thrift store
Our apartment would be small
Because neither of us cared too much about being wealthy
We would follow our dreams
I would paint
and tell people how they are feeling
And you would play music
and sing
and write
and tell me how I am feeling
We would be rich
with love
The love girls pray for every night
before they go to sleep
See, we would wake up every day with that feeling
like the one you get when your crush in high school says hello in the hall
We wold be mad for each other
But I don't even know you
There on the bus
I watched you, a stranger, walk on
and walk off
In this amount of time
I have constructed
a whole new path of life
A path I might have taken
if I would have picked up my bag
sit two seats closer
If I wasn't so nervous of what you may think of me
and asked you about your book
Do you like it?
What is your name?
If I were to have asked you out for coffee
Life today would be different
I would be saying your name over and over in my head
I would have started the book you are reading
Maybe I would be texting you
right now
Instead of writing a poem
Maybe I would be writing about the man I met on the bus
not the man I never met
Maybe you would break my heart one day
But we may never know now
Maybe I will see you again
Maybe then I will ask for your name
or the book you were reading in February
But this city is a big City
And there might not be such a thing called fate
And so I will miss you
And your scribble tattoo
And the path I was too scared to take.