The Girl I Once Was

July 13, 2017

I saw her today,
The girl I once was

She did not recognize me
How could she?
She looked forlorn
And her poetic verse
of melancholy
She,
at odds
with her mind
Society
And body

I listened
To her song,
And smiled

I told her
It would get better
But there would also be pain
“You will find happiness
In sources
Your young soul
Can not yet fathom”

I told her
Not to overlook good
Where it is
And to savor
The pain,
From it “you will grow
And nurture empathy,

“From this all
You will become
Me”

Status Update

July 11, 2017

Irritated
by childish tweets
courtesy of the commander in chief

Frustrated
by the “news”
When monopoly controls the sources
And what journalists can say

Sick
as women and children
become negligible casualties
of the patriarchy

Tired
as black, brown, red
And lgbtq lives
Still struggle
to prove
they matter

Helpless
as lives become subject
to the terror on target

Suspicious
as IT produces
what anonymous faces
Think we should see

Eager
to spark light
And climb out of the dark
Of this Orwellian American dream

Bouquet

July 11, 2017

Starting  over,
Picking pieces
To put together
A bouquet
Of my own

Independence is fragrant  
With excitement
and trepidation  

But this is my own
And I  will  own
this arrangement
As one picked
by and for
All that is essential
to me

Trip to Paradise

July 9, 2017

Yesterday,
I sojourned
to old stomping grounds
To the valley, a paradise,
Where the pond, gates,
and Main and Green streets
helped shape me

The store fronts and faces
may be changed
But the spirit holds true

And as for me,
My skirt flowing
Open heart and
Spirit soaring,
Belonging-
I felt sure,
reaffirming
I have not betrayed
The me
I cultivated here

Algorithms

July 8, 2017

An algorithm
controls your life,
This “love”
is numbers
playing with your mind
With constant coincidences
and real life imitating fiction
It is stranger still

To fix the insanity
Of mind control
We take a pill
-the screen flips-
And we wonder
Just how much
Of everything
Is real

More than Coffee (I Love You)

July 6, 2017    (Dedicated to Amelie)

I love you
More than coffee
More than mermaids
More than tattoos
More than books
More than writing and drawing

I love you
More than French fries
More than ice cream
More than blueberries, apples
Oranges and bananas

I love you
More than silver and gold,
And gems that sparkle
and shine

More than green grass and flowers,
More than butterflies
More than cozy camp fires
More than the ocean

I love you
More than rainshowers,
sunshine and rainbows

I love you
More than the moon
And all the stars

I love you
More than sleep

I love you;
More than anything
and everything.