A poet friend put out a challenge for April, National Poetry Month. The challenge was to write a new poem every day for the entire month. I decided to take her up on the challenge. My side note is not all of the following are brand new, some are, others are older but have not been published or seen by eyes other than mine. Check back often as I will be adding at least one new poem every day!
Poem-A-Day: Day 1
CAUGHT IN THE ACT
I have tread dangerously close to the edge
yet again
dancing with the dark feet of arrogance & invincibility.
I knew it wouldn’t create what I really wanted
when I started dancing that ancient dance,
every move timed and taken
with the exacting prevision of heartless repetition.
The familiar and the known are best friends,
seductive with memories of ease and this-is-just-how-its-done.
I lost myself, forgot for a moment,
my heart requires attention to grow.
I caught myself,
yet again
just before I slipped unconscious
off the edge and fell head first
into that quicksand of despair.
More than once is has snuffed out
the will to live with its greedy hands.
The stance now made out of shock and shame
I sit gasping on that edge,
the sliver of choice between life and death.
I close my eyes, wanting,
gathering all the parts of me
together here in this one place.
Despair bubbles and calls
reminding me how quiet it is in there.
My breath, voice and courage are all still in tact.
I stand, shaking,
peering over the edge into the familiar nothingness
and walk away.
Poem-A-Day: Day 2
DEFINITION OF A MOMENT
It's getting late
and more than anything
I want it all back,
my passion and innocence.
I want the "before I knew
what I know now",
before my jaded eyes see
what's supposed to be
and trick me into
chopping off my right hand,
that it might be trying
to kill me.
And now it's just so late.
I'm loosing daylight
on this treacherous search
ignoring all the tell tale signs
of misdirection and regrets.
And trudging dangerously close
to an abyss
I'm so familiar with.
Turning toward
the unrelenting blackness,
about to give over and give up
again,
reaching for the hand
that has been long time gone,
something moves and my reflection is
blinking back at me.
There is Life in those eyes.
Life that I was sure
disintegrated long ago.
I can do nothing but stare at her
and wonder
has she been there this whole time?
The darkness does not take her
but instead
gives her a place to be
like a back drop
supporting
the real picture.
I put a hand to my face,
she gazes through me
eyes shining,
a smile softly growing on her lips.
My fingers trace the smile
with a whisper,
recognizing the way
she is all Me.
Poem-A-Day: Day 3
COLLAPSING
No hands, no feet, no arms, no eyes.
The threads of what I know
disappear like smoke into the realm
of unknown circumstance.
I collapse fully
into the despair of the fight.
There is no way out,
no end.
A flutter brushes me here
such a small movement and then gone.
I reach for it but with what
I do not know.
Something bumps me
as if my solidness
is somehow real here
and I reach for this too.
And then
a door flutters open
brilliant golden light pours in
and I know.
I collapsed into my own darkness.
I gave into what I could not see
and let myself drown,
as It did what it does
and loved me unconditionally.
Poem-A-Day: Day 4
SHAKEN, NOT STIRRED
Shaking loose
the lies that have bound me together
all the misapprehension
and tears spilled trying to remain solid
pieces scatter the ground
caught on the wind and disappear
most of them weren’t mine anyway.
Shaken
from somewhere deep I cannot name
every fiber and cell
up through the Heart and out my hands
uncomfortable beingness
not familiar to anywhere I am
I am never what I have thought I was.
Shake the boughs
of the trees and watch the leaves fall
without restraint
or resistance to their chosen course
so must i
learn from their brilliant example
and embrace with grace my own steps forward.
Shakedown revelations
turn fears toward illumination
breaking through
the phantom shadows of doubt
perception opens
reality shifts with the current
I am always more than I think I am.
Poem-A-Day: Day 5
PRAYER FOR LIVING
Eyes close, awareness lifts up and out
flight, rippling movement, soft connection,
drifting inward vision, a place where possibility
unfolds and blooms with flower-like simplicity.
Breath slows as first-eye clears space
for life stories told in simplistic rhyme
as translation becomes a single note,
giving definition to the indefinable
two syllables forever gifted,
one heart to another
repeated with loving intent
Thank you, Thank You, Thank you.
Poem-A-Day: Day 6
EXCLAMATIONS
I Can
I Will
I Am
Those words flew from her
with the unshakable strength
of wings
that have always known how to fly.
Even with the loss of feathers
or broken bones
that indelible knowledge of flight
still lives and can never be forgotten.
And she remembers...
her voice carries her
like wings set free on the wind.
I Can
I Will
I Am
Poem-A-Day: Day 7
SECRET STANCES
Secret stances
stealing glances from across the room.
I know they will take me somewhere new
and I want to go.
I lean that direction
but a familiar voice urges
I might be seen
and the hesitation leaves enough space to reconsider.
Now the stance
and movement are gone
leaving the same old posturing
in their wake.
I go back to what I was doing
but cannot shake the impulse
to let go
and lay a palm over my heart.
Before too long
with my body as a bridge
I have found something new
and those stances are not so secret anymore.
Poem-A-Day: Day 8
MAYBE IN MY TOES
There is singing going on somewhere
Maybe in my heart.
Maybe at the depth of me.
Maybe in my toes.
There is joy going on somewhere
Maybe in the sun.
Maybe in the leaves as they fall.
Maybe in my toes.
There is change going on somewhere
Maybe where it can’t be seen.
Maybe over there.
Maybe in my toes.
There is fear going on somewhere
Maybe every where I look.
Maybe right here.
Maybe in my toes.
There is peace going on somewhere
Maybe right next door.
Maybe on that frozen lake.
Maybe in my toes.
Somewhere there is Love going on
somewhere in the world.
Maybe it is whispering to me to join in
reminding me I am already a part.
Maybe in my toes.
