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He told me to look into a mirror and write down 10 things I saw there.
Not of the flesh, not of beauty, but the reaction one gets from one's own eyes.
What are the eyes? he asked me
In reply I looked away allowing the words to be ripped from my mouth The windows into the soul

One by one he asked me to look into each person's there, over and over asking if I could trust them.
With a laugh and a hint of sarcasm I don't trust easily
But my heart felt empty and a hug well needed,
to try and heal all those years unheeded.
I look and see his truth, to trust and love without doubt.

Have you ever gazed into your own eyes?
What did you see there,
was it things you knew or secrets you've hidden even from yourself?

Can you look into your own eyes, tell yourself that you are beautiful and mean it?
If the eyes are the windows to the soul what lays behind your shutters.
Oh lover I've been asking myself what you are hiding.
Can I look into the dark centers fading to the storm outside,
find your meaning, what you hide behind?

Can you blink and sweep away the pain hidden there?
Can you hide behind that smile so sweet?
Can you, my sweetheart, cease the flow of rain cascading down my cheeks as I try and walk away?

When will I learn
This question runs through my mind.
what is my worth
I try to find some peace of mind after flinging a towel over my mirror.
For I did not like what I found hidden there.
A fun little exercise. Look into a mirror at your eyes for 10 min and write down the first things that pop into your head.
 Apr 2014 Riley Key Cleary
Lua
Wish there were proper ways
Or methods to explain
What I'm trying to say.
It makes me insane,
I cannot convey,
Let alone find phrase.
It leaves me amazed,
Even entertained,
It makes me exclaim:
"It's here I do proclaim
That my heart has a face
And he's too far away."
The power to persuade
With a magnetic gaze,
He is able to state:
"She is the link to my chain,
Without her I'm not the same;
My other half and soulmate."
Love feels... keeps it real...
 Apr 2014 Riley Key Cleary
svdgrl
All of those identities that end in "t" and "r" and "n,"
make us feel god awful and self-conscious.
Singer, artist, writer, musician, mortician, poet.
Who entitles us to use them?

And it's true, your voice touches in between my shoulders,
and melts to the bottom of my stomach when you croon,
but you don't find yourself an apt enough player of the voice box.

And sure, painting the reasons why I woke from your dream,
might seem like I'm an artist, but I rather just say...
I enjoy painting.

And right, we like to etch words into books and alchemize
the desire to question into stories,
but we're just fans of reading.

And you know, when the air cradles the harmonies of your guitar
like newborn unicorns, I want to point and claim,
though you think you know too little to call yourself musician.

And yes, the way we lay our bodies to sleep every night sometimes hopeful we don't rise again,
is much like how we treat our desire to declare ourselves,
but that makes us only those who give the dead away.

And of course, my blood courses in order to stitch and weave worded thoughts like these together,
because they lighten our concerns and brighten our better qualities,
so of course,
yes,
I know,
Right,
Sure,
It's true,
I am a...
I might dabble in poetry, here and there. No big deal.
Dear tea mug,
Dear, dear tea mug.
I have finished what must be
My seven hundred and fifteenth cup
Of tea.
I see a faint discolored ring inside you
You're getting old, my friend
I see scratches at your bottom
And a bit of sediment
But no matter what, you're my favorite
And no matter how old
Or discolored
Or scratched you become
I will depend on you to carry the great burden
Of
Mint
Chamomile
Or orange spice tea
For years and years to come.
I raise you to my lips
My sweet carrier of warm drink
And set you back on my windowsill
As I read on my wooden bench
Cushions pressing against my back,
Blanket embracing my cold legs.
But no matter how drafty it gets, kind friend,
I will always depend
On you to carry that great burden
Of tea
To warm me.
I appreciate how hard you work
I'm writing a poem about you, see
And I just want to let you know that
I love you and your burden of tea.
This one's a bit haphazard, but it gets the point across, no?
There's too many battles to fight
They are of my own demise
My downfall, oh god I know i'm only such a sight
And you with your quickly spoken bitter lies

Maybe I don't give a ****
With every heartbeat the tension grows stronger
I feel it, i'm running out of luck
I don't know if I can wait much longer

It's coming forth breaking free
Bursting through my weak jaw
It's not just about me
For us it's the law
Who the **** knows
I wrote a poem.
A long, healthy, glorious poem.
It started as a tingle in my gut.
The longer I ignored it, the angrier it got.
Until I could not hold it in any longer.
So I sat down.
I worked it out-
I stressed and pushed myself
harder and harder
until finally -
Release.
Catharsis.
Expelled out of me and into existence.
I looked down at my newborn poem
and became overwhelmed by a putrid sense of shame -
It was ****.
I flushed it.
"It's April."
I tell myself.
"They can't all be winners."
Because NaPoWriMo...
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