Thirty Days, Thirty Poems

In celebration of National Poetry Month, I am challenging myself to write a poem each day in April. I like the idea of pushing myself a bit, and I am curious what will be collected here at the end of the month. Will there really be 30 different poems or will it end up looking like the same poem written 30 different ways? Time will tell...30 days to be exact.

For more on National Poetry Month, visit www.poets.org, a website from the Academy of American Poets. And check out this year's poster while you're at it. She's a beauty.

One of Those Days

This is one of those days.

The ones where I just want to close my eyes,
go back to sleep, or rather,
to never have awoken in the first place.

It was easier to not know,
or pretend to not know,
until it wasn't. Until it was impossible.

I understand there was no choice, really;
it had to happen. But what a lonely road.

It's hard to travel with an open heart.

It's hard to feel so much when for so long
I felt so little.

On these days I wish for the stony heart of yesterday.
I may not have felt the joy, but I didn't feel the pain, either.

But we don't get to choose one and not the other.
It's all or nothing.

Feel it all and be full of life, or
hide from your heart and never live.

I hope the hard road is worth it.

We're All In This Together

I read. And read and read and read. A lot. And I am grateful to those who share their thoughts and experiences, because when we read something another has written and find common ground, we also find strength, and comfort in knowing we are not alone on our journey.

I suppose that's why I write, too. Not just for my own catharsis, but for the slim chance that what I share will ease another's burden, even in the slightest. Here is something I recently found that lifted me up. It brought me such calm. Perhaps it will ease your mind, too.

"Don't insult the girl you once were. Don't put her down, be ashamed of her, wish she never existed. That's like looking behind you and dismissing the road that got you to your destination. That doesn't make any sense. She got you here. She took you the only way she knew how. You're here now. You can look back, you can love her, accept her, forgive her, honor her. It was scary sometimes, it was frightening, it was lonely. It took a warrior's courage, or you wouldn't have survived. There were stumbles, but every stumble still another step. She did the best she could or she would have done better. Now you know better, thanks to her; she endured those lessons for you, she passes on the knowledge. We wake up at the rate we wake up. She went as fast as she could. Surrender. Be here now, bless the road and girl who got you here, now. There was no other way to go but yours." – Sarah Durham Wilson

Unexpected

many tiny flakes
escaping the cold grey sky:
a heart breaks open.

Looking for the Lesson

Restless. Uneasy.
Today is uncomfortable.

There's a tight grip
on the center of my chest.

There's a rising in my throat
that stays lodged and throbbing.

Eyes dart, hands wring, toes tap.

I feel desperate to make something happen,
anything to ease the discomfort.

But there is a lesson to be learned,
and as much as I fight it,
it seems the answer is this:

"Don't just do something; sit there."

Rising Tide

Love like the rising tide today.
Ever expanding,
swelling beyond borders,
too vast to contain.
And why would I?
Love is not meant to be held back.
How foolish to suppress it,
how naïve to attempt control.
Bring on the flood,
let love spill all around.
Let us be awash in all that is
and swept away toward
all that will be.

On The Verge

a moment's hesitation
in the midday sun
there on the step
on the verge

not born of fear
but a desire to feel
the heft and the ease
in that moment

the lock slides
the latch clicks
the door swings

open

to change and challenge
to promise and possibility
to everything that lies ahead

in this wild new world

down the road i go