I found these poems in one of my many little spiral notebooks in storage box today.
I wrote them ten years ago.
She is lost in a maze
searching
for the little girl
the woman
in the window reflection
she sees the future
outside
but she's trapped in
the reflection
"peer past the past"
she whispers
"don't be afraid."
She looks all around
and sees
glimpses of herself
little pieces of what
she left along the way.
Go back and pick them up
and then shut the
door,
Don't hold on any longer
There's nothing barring
the door
nothing but your own
strength
try it.
Try the new door.
No one is keeping you from moving on
imaginary locks
they aren't there.
"Open the door"
the past whispers in unison,
voices from lost loves.
"You can do it"-
see what lies beyond the hurt of the past
venture ahead.
"Leave us behind.
It's time!"
____________________________________
Trust yourself
believe
all that happens to you
fits into a bigger picture
you'll see someday it will make sense
you can make it through
all of the past
shake the dust off of your stagnant
spirit
Let it soar!
You can go anywhere
Let it all go
before it drags you down further.
_______________________________
A ship abandoned at sea.
It is not meant to be.
The ship once held her captive.
She sailed alone-
picking up the occasional drifter
men on driftwood
trying to stay afloat
She tried to help them
she pulled them aboard
and gave them all that she had
She did not ration her feelings
She poured them out openly
and the drifter filled up on the rations quickly.
She forgot to save some for herself.
She began to starve and would cling to the drifter
begging to be filled in return.
The drifter was frightened,
too much to ask-
He jumped into the sea.
She sadly watched him sink.
The pattern repeated
one day she looked down at herself-
for she had not realized before
she had shackles on her wrists,
but there were no chains holding her to the ship.
She didn't realize until one day that she was
not trapped.
She jumped into a life boat
and left the ship behind.
Abandoned the ship she thought she
would inhabit forever.
She floated to shore and put her feet on the ground.
The earth stable under her feet
instead of the shaky sea.
No more drifters would distract her from her
destination.
She planted new thoughts and feelings
and they grew
flourished like nothing she had ever given away
to the drifters.
Refreshing and fulfilling
she tended them and knew
that when the man on the land would come
She could give him as much as he wanted,
and she would still be nourished herself.
