the flame sustains its glow
flickering as the wind blows.
the light is the protective shield,
an aura of power to wield.
keep this forceful energy alive,
it will keep you warm to survive.
Category: poetry
compromise means promise
I toss and turn,
One side to the other.
Loyalty to neither
I lay on my back
Against the wall
Without knowing
The way, the choice.
Being standstill,
Stagnates and stales.
Muscles atrophy,
Brain cells dwindle
Creativity becomes bare.
Until I join the two sides;
As teammates, not enemies.
Compromise means promise. It means hope. It means there is some kind of agreement in some shape or form. We don’t need to become one another to reach our ultimate shared goals: happiness, freedom, love and security. But we do need to meet in the middle. We need to come to terms with what we do agree with and what we can compromise from each side in order to reach said goals. There is no need for hate. There is no need for violence or anger.
We need to be honest. And we need to be vulnerable. We need to communicate in a realistic way in order to get through the heavy layer of superficiality, pride, and pettiness in order to get to the core issues. The issues that need addressing.
It will take time. It will take a lot of trust. But the truest of all the statements is that we need to want to first.
taste of sacrifice
Sacrifice does not discriminate
With anything and anyone.
Wordless gestures and actions
Mimed in heavy hearts of morality.
Age is but a number
From babies to adults of life
Has tasted sacrifice in its bittersweetness
To choose to give and take;
Flight, fight or stay.
No balance in burden
But one ultimate truth given,
The gift of life.
honesty
honesty is the sand particles
on the beach of low tide.
they can never fully form
in the palm of my hand.
loads fall to the ground
when carried for a long time,
only a few remain loyal
like coins of spare change.
but when water is added
potential for sculptures arise
like the waves from the high tide.
clumps become castles and mountains.
admired, awed and seen with pride;
no longer is honesty an elusive lover
it has become a created structure;
the kind that is followed and believed.
I recall a question I got asked a lot as a kid, “What’s your favorite ice-cream?” And it would always be strawberry because I liked the pink color. As I got a little older, it changed because I actually accounted for the taste. I liked strawberry, but for honesty sake it wasn’t my favorite. It was vanilla & chocolate. It became cookie dough. It was mint chocolate chip. I don’t have a favorite now. As long as it has some kind of chocolate and that good vanilla taste, I’m more than satisfied.
But I think in society, a lot of people like those closed corners and checked boxes. They understand and believe in labels or titles. Or follow structures that may no longer make sense anymore but it’s what we created. It was easy for me to be brand loyal growing up because it’s easier to not think about it really. Sure, I’ll stick with that product and name because it’s reliable and I use it all the time. Then other factors became priority as my age added another year like budgeting, compromising preferences with significant others and just plain old convenience.
Although I think a lot of people are still brand loyal, I like to think that a lot of them aren’t. They are seeking truth and honesty of something beyond what is created for them. They are using other senses to detect a deeper level of understanding. It was so easy for me to admire the metaphorical beautiful sand castles, but now, I think about how are they made, what they are made from and why are they made?
I realized lately that I am on the hunt for the kind of honesty that will stick with me and keep me grounded. Honesty that can make real changes for the better. I no longer want the pretty pink color, I want that delicious taste, too. Honesty and truth feels like pure gold; feels like something I see and hear about, but never really ever get to hold in my hand.
ending the crisis
You cradled ignorance & greed;
Gave it permission to continue
Like car tires without braking
Tracking all throughout our past.
Your empty words seeped
into the collapsing sinkhole
Spanning a thousand miles
That can never, ever be covered-up.
Take what you need now
Save your futile energy
Because your power is fleeting
I’m pulling the plug.
a good sign
I’m sipping some earl grey tea;
With honey and lemon please.
The power of sweet & sour
Within the quietest hour
Creates a renewal for me.
Sun’s brightness and shine;
Crushed gold; pieces so fine.
Sparkles in every which way
Keeps the darkness at bay.
I’m taking this as a good sign.
a mirage
You walked right past me.
I saw the comfortable sneakers,
The large practical bag for your things.
The coat you wore last year.
But your hair was different.
Dyed and cut.
I walked a little faster.
Caught up to you and saw your profile.
Only it wasn’t you at all.
Just a doppelganger in your shoes.
How quickly my heart rose
And then fell just as fast.
value the best days
Shake me upside down
So coins of knowledge can fall.
Making it worth it;
Valued and polished as any
Pretty penny should.
Can’t gain anything
Without a loss of something.
I am all in;
Cash my tokens.
I want this to be
The Best Day Of My Life.
sorrow
Sadness was set in stone;
Fallen on a heavy November day.
Light rain was forecasted
All week long.
But a heavy storm rolled in;
Suddenly,
With clouds and lightning.
We found shelter somewhere,
Among the woods.
Boarded up the doors
Until it was safe again.
Until the sun said so.
Until we said so.
a sign of the past
The cold seeped into my toes,
Quickly, it devoured the warmth
In an instant, without hesitation.
To succumb to it was inevitable.
It made itself welcome
And settled in just fine.
The chill surged through me
I don’t have much time
Before it takes all of me.
When I become an ice sculpture
An embodiment of who I used to be
A sign of the past.
we see you
you said something sacred the other day
something along the lines of freedom
happiness and dreams we’re chasing.
it’s a lot steps toward the ideal.
it keeps changing.
it’s a moving target.
but we see it.
no matter how far,
or what disguise it’s wearing,
it is so very clear.
we see you.
when money is kin
the universe has a way of not aligning
suppose this is why we keep fighting
for justice, equality, funding and freedom
loud words graffitied in ears to hear them.
who will listen when money is kin
understandings through exchanges, returns
and layaway bins?
& belonging
the moment grew quiet,
tense, warm, heavy.
you looked into my eyes.
i looked into yours.
And you said it.
I said it.
We shared our souls
Together, as one.
My heart filled
With excitement
Then fear,
Then hope
& belonging.
grown
underneath naiveness
is the greatest gift,
of knowledge.
of shedding skin
to reborn and rebuild
into newness.
not young again,
not innocent,
but, free.
denial
This wasn’t for you.
The passiveness.
Looking away.
The subtleties
My voice whispers.
Are you really gone?
