found

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.