Tag: Poetry

Half a World Away

~ Vanessa ~ Leave a comment

When you were half a world away
I worried for you,
Worried for your loss,
Worried for your life,
Worried for your mind,
Worried for the time slipping you by,
Worried you would not receive my next letter,
Worried I would lose a friend,
I had yet met,
When you were half a world away,

But I was gifted
Something not every pen pal gets,
I was gifted
From half a world away
The chance to see you,
Know you,
Touch you;
My worries were prayers,
Part of me believes,
Answered by angels I cannot name,
That brought you home,
From half a world away

Half a world away,
I cannot fathom what filled your sight,
What fears might still keep you up at night,
That is not my place to know,
But to just be here,
Writer and reader,
Companion
Near,
Half a world away

“We Are All the Same”

~ Vanessa ~ Leave a comment

We want to say
“We are all the same,”
And believe it with our core,
It’s the message we were taught from cut and pasted MLK,
We don’t see the whole picture
If we close our eyes and assert the truth of our sameness,
But are we all the same?
Not in experience,
I cannot say I’ve lived a day in your shoes,
To appreciate how life is as you,
Human, sentient, even then variation makes our experiences
Different,
Location, soci political climate,
Characteristics that dictate our place in it,
Social qualifiers that mark our skin, our minds, our bodies, our heritage,
And the histories behind them,
Must not be glossed over,
It must be worked through,
Recognized,
To see the truth beneath,
And the real meaning meant
Of “we are all the same”.

The Plunge In

~ Vanessa ~ 1 Comment

I have said “yes”
To something
I cannot completely yet fathom,
The pieces have not all come in to place,
Come in to view,
Fear of the unknown
Keeps me at an edge,
And yet warm comfort of hope and good will eases me into the bathwater of mysterious depths,
There has to be something good,
Out of something so right
I tell myself,
As I hold my breath
Preparing for the plunge in

Rains End

~ Vanessa ~ Leave a comment

Unexpectedly
Rain clouds part, bringing sun rays,
Beams hope of rainbows,
Fog disperses, leaving misted
Blades, petals, skin, fresh with new

A breath is sighed,
Rejuvenated Mère Earth,
Again anointed,
Cleansed by her own tear water;
Creatures rejoice, and breathe deep

Privileges

~ Vanessa ~ Leave a comment

Some can say
“I don’t
Want to
hear it,
See it,
be reminded,
Think about things outside
Of my control”,
“I am comfortable here”,
In ignorant complacency,
Not thinking from another’s point of view,
“This is my space”,
Of chosen apathy,
“I can sugar coat,
Pick and choose
what I subject my mind to”,
Some can forget,
Can remain ignorant,
Can be the fish that swim
Never aware that there is water,
That is their privilege at play,
But I cannot
Remain blind,
My multiple identities remind me every day,
And being aware is my burden,
And I know
I have privileges too,
But I count being awake
As one of them