"sincerelyjoanwrites" poems
Hello world
You may not recognize me
though now I finally recognize myself
I made a difficult choice
freedom over familiarity
I ran to a new beginning
Shedding all those who attempted to control
through lies and vitriol
I have found my voice
I will use my voice
to be a truth teller,
a mirror,
a fierce catalyst for wellness
I have found my voice,
so I sing out
with rebellious joy
Hello world
Hello
© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
Mar 25, 2025
Mar 25, 2025 at 4:16 AM UTC
Hearts are meant to break
This is the undeniable truth of our human condition
Whether the blade is sharpened by lies
or selfishness
or hormones
or mortality,
others will always betray in some way
My demons are the loudest when I’m grieving heartache
My reliance on past paths to numbness breaks my heart anew
Maybe I am as weak as he made me feel
Or maybe I am just human with a heart built to break
© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
Mar 7, 2025
Mar 7, 2025 at 9:41 AM UTC
Your family hates me for leaving you
They don’t know
I would have died had I stayed
Even a cactus can die of thirst
© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
May 2, 2025
May 2, 2025 at 7:52 AM UTC
Truth
It breathes
It speaks
Sometimes in a whisper
like a mother’s gentle kiss on her child’s fevered forehead
Sometimes in a fierce growl
like a protective dog with hackles raised and teeth bared
Sometimes as a calm, steady chant
like the beating of a drum
vibrating in your heart
Truth speaks
We just need to breathe
and to listen
© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
Apr 9, 2025
Apr 9, 2025 at 9:20 PM UTC
I need truth & light,
not lies & fights.
Emotional security,
not shame & anxiety.
I need love that’s true.
Sometimes ‘Hello Me’
is pronounced ‘Goodbye You.’
Not every promise is golden.
Sometimes, vows need to be broken.
Leaving was brave,
given how you behaved.
Not every ending is unhappy.
Sometimes ‘Goodbye You’
means ‘Hello Me.’
I’d rather be single
than a married martyr.
I’d rather laugh & mingle
than keep on trying harder.
I need something new.
Sometimes ‘Hello Me’
is pronounced ‘Goodbye You.’
I choose my mental health
over double-income wealth
Wellness over weakness,
happiness over secrets,
freedom over familiarity.
Sometimes ‘Goodbye You’
means ‘Hello Me.’
© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
May 4, 2025
May 4, 2025 at 8:54 AM UTC
Didn’t always love you
In fact I think I hated you
Tried to erase you with my sick games
Tried to **** you by ignoring your light
But now I see
I feel
your light
your life
is lovely
What a feeling it is
to embrace and accept
I love you now
I accept you now
I see now
You
Are
Beautiful
© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
Mar 27, 2025
Mar 27, 2025 at 11:39 PM UTC
She is The One That Got Away
This is who she is to him now
Who she is to herself
It is newly tattooed on her soul
This new identity
She became this despite his best efforts
Countless words to trick her into believing she was The One That Stayed
Clever words, to confuse her and cloud reality
Soft words, to flatter and ******
Sharp words, to cut, to make her bleed out her resolve
She used to be The One That Stayed
She played that part for many years
Until the stars aligned illuminating the path to a new role
A role many have died trying to get
She made it out and got away
Not all at once
Slowly
Piece by piece
First, her heart
Until she was numb
She felt nothing during his declarations of love,
Emotionless during his promises of change
All his tearful pleading simply echoed in her hollowed out chest
Then her body
Fleeing to the strong arms of her sisters
To the safe house of a friend
Then to a new home among long grasses and tall trees
Finally, her head got away
Like sand from an hourglass, his lies emptied out
Making room for beauty,
the healing wisdom of her helpers,
the power of her truth
Yes, she is The One That Got Away
The judge issued an order to legally make it so
The officers took him away when he refused to believe it
Another judge declared it again
And her new last name tells it to the world
For all new tomorrows
and all of today
She is and will remain
The One That Got Away
© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
Mar 2, 2025
Mar 2, 2025 at 6:50 PM UTC
I once had a friend like a shadow
Always together wherever we’d go
Running and tumbling and laughing through life
Always connected, one in the same
But then a cloudy day came
And with no sun to shine
I lost that shadow friend of mine
The darkness rolled in and my shadow friend disappeared
Scared off by the first sign of trouble, the first drop of tears
So I learned my lesson
Shadows are easy to come by when the sun is shining bright
But shadows bring little comfort in the chill of a dark night
And when the storm cleared
And my shadow friend reappeared
Ready to run and tumble and laugh with me again
I had to turn away
And say goodbye
For I learned my lesson:
a shadow is nobody’s friend
© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
Mar 20, 2025
Mar 20, 2025 at 12:44 PM UTC
She felt the weight of his words
Even as she waved a hand to dismiss them
Even as she smiled
And rolled her eyes
Even as she turned away
Bounce-stepping down the hall
She felt the full meaning of his words
Crushing her into the ground
Into dust
© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
Mar 3, 2025
Mar 3, 2025 at 9:14 AM UTC
Inside the shadows of my mind
I search
and reach
and try to find
I kneel
And dig
And scratch the black
Aching for direction
An answer back
What buried treasure will I find
What happiness
Motivation
Peace of mind?
Is there really any reason to be found?
What’s it all even for?
Maybe it’s just darkness
And dirt
And nothing more
© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
Apr 27, 2025
Apr 27, 2025 at 7:55 PM UTC
I am a candle
burning past hurts
craving new air
reaching to the sky
leaving a mark
I am stronger than my scars
wiser than my mistakes
more capable than my
insecurities
I can only be me
I will only burn brightly
© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
Mar 6, 2025
Mar 6, 2025 at 11:35 AM UTC
A quiet moment
I steal it and wrap the stillness around myself
Bury my head in it
Until the sharp, outraged cry of my babe
Indignant at being left alone in his crib
Pulls the covers off
leaves me cold, shivering
Then I’m up
Tripping along
to my day job as Mommy
© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
Apr 2, 2025
Apr 2, 2025 at 5:47 PM UTC
Like soldiers of comically varying heights
I line up my pill bottles along the border
of my place mat for morning roll call
Some plastic, some glass—
Green, white, purple, yellow, gold
Each with their own earnest promise—
Energy, metabolism, muscle function,
allergy relief
And I earnestly swallow each down
Willing each to complete their mission
To find success in the battle against time
Willing them to bring new life
to this tired body of mine
© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
Jun 11, 2025
Jun 11, 2025 at 8:32 AM UTC
I did not run away
I ran to
To the end of angry criticisms masquerading as love
To freedom from the dark cloud of your untreated mental illness
To standing on solid ground instead of walking on eggshells
To the time and space to discover my strength, my skills, my autonomy
To doing everything you taught me I needed you to do
To seeing my sincere happiness reflected on my son’s face
To the luxurious solitude of a queen bed all to myself
To waking up with a smile
To waking up
I did not run away from you
I ran
to me
© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
Mar 2, 2025
Mar 2, 2025 at 6:51 PM UTC
Hills, trees, rocks, cold waves
A city wrapped in the wild
Duluth, steel and heart
© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
May 9, 2025
May 9, 2025 at 10:32 PM UTC
choose your mirrors carefully
what those mirrors reflect will cling to you like perfume
tint your vision like sunglasses
don’t let a broken mirror trick you into thinking you, too, are broken
look carefully
look long
look with eyes wide open
a mirror will always reveal it’s true nature in times of stress
Be vigilant!
here’s the secret
when you realize the ugliness
is a reflection of the broken mirror
not you
you can walk away
walk away
into the light
into the freedom
walk into the loving embrace of those who show you your true self
I know
because I did
© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
Mar 14, 2025
Mar 14, 2025 at 9:59 AM UTC
On a sailboat
On Lake Superior
This shimmering body of water and I
are separated only
by a thin layer of sunblock,
a pair of shades
On a sailboat
On Lake Superior
Moments move as slowly
as the low breeze nudging the sail
I know not the year
or state I’m in out here
I know only
that I am the water
and the water is me
To Do Lists of life on land
cannot find me
sheltered here
by waves
Cradled here by currents
older than any human care
I am free as I float
Agendas, ambitions, anxieties—all inferior
On this sailboat
On sacred Lake Superior
© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
Jun 21, 2025
Jun 21, 2025 at 2:05 PM UTC
A faded feather shed upon the ground
trod underfoot,
soiled and bent,
Is still a feather
Though it no longer shines with colors bold,
no longer soars,
caressing the clouds
though it lays there
abandoned
in the dirt,
dreaming of sky
A still feather is a feather still
bent and broken
a feather still
Flightless and forgotten
a feather still
I am a feather
© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
Mar 4, 2025
Mar 4, 2025 at 9:28 AM UTC
When I speak with confidence
I hold my head up high
I look ‘em in the eye
When I speak with confidence
I no longer feel small
I am ten feet tall
When I speak with confidence
I stay calm and kind
I say what’s on my mind
When I speak with confidence
I stake my claim
And invite others to do the same
© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
Apr 24, 2025
Apr 24, 2025 at 5:09 PM UTC
The summit looked so far away
We started walking anyway
Sometimes we spoke
Laughing and teasing
Sometimes we fell silent
Looking and listening
Sometimes we needed a brief rest
sip of cool water
granola snack pulled from a pack
Then back to the hike
Walking and walking
As the trail ascended
Navigating rocks and sand
One step and then another
Until we looked up and realized
We made it to the summit
The place where we started looked so far away
from the top where we now stood
Thrilled with ourselves and the view
Happy to have made it there, together
The land never looked so alive
the sky, so blue
As it did from that summit view.
© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
Apr 14, 2025
Apr 14, 2025 at 9:33 PM UTC