Poetry

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During high school I wrote a considerable amount of poetry. Pushed by my composition-literature teacher to write as frequently as possible and full of teenage angst, I usually penned a few lines of poetry rather than something more structured. Last night, during a conversation with a student about high school and how things have changed, I was reminded of poems I write in yearbooks one year. One of the cheerleaders failed to submit a page change in time, leaving a 5" x 7" gap in the sophomore class pictures where a candid should be. When I signed a yearbook, I wrote a personalized poem in that spot, knowing it would not be taken. I have not written much poetry since then.

This week, I wrote one for the first time in many years. Since it's something also that makes me who I am, here it is so you can see what is on my mind and how I write in other forms than prose.

Lost,

Adrift in a sea of emotion,

I rise and fall

On waves that remind me of

Highs and lows with you

And feel so very far from land and home.

Obstinate,

Like Columbus I press forward,

Trusting my heart

And God's whisper that

Somewhere beyond the horizon

Lies a land of promise for me as well.

Valiant,

Each day and night I peer,

Focused on the goal

Trying to hold to hopes

That my search will

Bring me to a green shore like his.

Exhausted,

My eyes strain against the light,

Hoping to find land

But aware that tricks play

On the mind of the weary

Until I no longer trust what I see.

Hopeful,

When night falls, I hang

A light in the window

To keep my mind aware,

My eyes adroit

My own lighthouse against the storm.

Unsure,

Since these same details already

Hang around my neck

Like ballast I cannot shake

That drags me back down

But never far enough to fully despair.

Resolute,

Knowing that I've arrived before,

Despite storms

Despite mutinous dogs

Despite myself even

Since sometimes I remain my biggest threat.

Thankful,

For protections extant

To know the feelings that guide

My heart, my walk, my way

Across torrent waters, in storms

While all hell wails against my passage.

Someday,

Maybe the promise,

The premise given on sultry lips

In whispered hush backed up

By feelings, by actions

Will bring you back to light my door and life.