I remember how I wrote for you
Rhyme after rhyme
How you pretended to love them--
My words, every time

I remember how you said you read them
But I soon realized you lied
Eyes devoted to your electronic screens
As my stories laid beside

I remember how I valued your opinion
Any emotion my words may evoke
You knew they came from deep inside me
Yet, you lacked the depth for them to soak

I remember how you asked for help
When you needed something written
As you sat beside me demanding
I pick up my pace, write quicker

I remember when you scolded me
Exclaimed I couldn't write
You knew how much it meant to me
How writing is my life

But now I've learned my lesson
And I'll remember it for years to come
I don't write for you, but for me instead
You weren't worthy and no longer will I succumb

© JL Smith

What you ask for
I promise I'd try to give
But all I've known
Are patterns of brokenness
I'm not willing to relive

I've heard it before,
"I'll never turn my back"
But all I've known
Are watching the ones I've loved
Leave before they fully unpack

I cling to your words
I'm fascinated, I'll admit
But all I've known
Are promises spun from lies
Absent of action, no one who commits

And yet, I promised I'd try
Here I go, up I climb
Even though all I've known
Are heartaches and blows
I'll attempt to trust, one last time

© JL Smith

As the man on the street corner
Sings his blues
So my fingers type each bruise

To experience such joy
In only a moment
I had first witnessed pain
Years, broken and molded

Look closer, dig deeper
You'll begin to see
To the eyes we scream sadness
But it's persistence and strength

He belts from his soul
About the love he had lost
But he stands before the world
Sharing his song at all costs

I speak through my rhymes
About the hurt I've endured
But I reveal each scar
As I've grown and matured

He'll keep singing his song
I'll keep writing my words
To share our stories of ache
As we persist, undeterred

© JL Smith

It's one big puzzle
Piecing this with that
Learning to walk
Without falling flat
Placing one foot in front of the other
And not looking back
Falling in love
Getting sidetracked
Making time for others
A balancing act
Nurturing yourself
Embracing what lacks
Forgiving the source
Of the pain from your past
Letting go of it all
As it comes and goes just as fast
Like tides of the ocean
And the weather forecast
Challenges arise
But soon they will pass
The grand picture unfolds
As your stories amass

© JL Smith