Haiku: A Girl Expected
Sun creeped through her blinds.
Her mind erupted with thoughts,
Her body was slow.
Anyway, she rose
Adorned her silky blue robe,
Tied up her blonde hair.
Addressed her mirror,
Looked at her tired eyes,
Blue as the ocean
Would he see them so?
Would the sun illuminate
Their luring appeal?
She left to wash up.
The water was cold and smooth
Over her small hands
Today would be hard
So many expectations
And none of them hers
Just as she thought it
The rain pattered on the roof
Her eyes a dull gray
Chant Poem: The Alarm
The alarm starts to pound
Get out of bed
But you’re dreaming of summertime
Get out of bed
But you’re in the middle of REM
Get out of bed
Fine, your eyes open to a dark room, coaxing you back to sleep
Get out of bed
Maybe 15 minutes more won’t be the end of the world
Get out of bed
But your partners warmth beside you is the safest place for you
Get out of bed
It feels as if your limbs are 100 pounds each
Get out of bed
How you wish you could freeze time to get some more rest
Get out of bed
You turn off your alarm and check the weather
Get out of bed
30 degrees in the middle of December
Get out of bed
I can afford to miss one more class
Get out of bed
But I have work after and won’t be home until 11!
Get out of bed
But
Get out of bed
Fine. You gently kiss your partner and begin to rise.
You’ve gotten out of bed.
This time.
List Poem: My Little Rose
I was 17 the day she was born, and I remember it clearly,
Her little hands wrapped around my finger so dearly.
There are many things I love about my sister
When I left home oh, the way I missed her.
Above all things I have to say she’s funny
I love her laugh when I tickle her tummy
She thinks deeply
And always speaks sweetly
I love when she tells me the things that she’s feeling
Like when she’s in bed looking at her ceiling
She’s only eight years old but her mind is wiser
I’ve never met anyone kinder
She is shy but can be confidant
She wants to dress well and flaunt it
She warms my heart and soothes my soul
To know I’ll love her until I’m old
My sister taught me life’s best lesson
Which is how to love without condition.
Alphabet Love Poem: The Snow Squal
Admittedly I was at a dark time in my life
Before I met you
Carefully, you entered my life
During a snow squall
Evoking in me a kind of curiosity
Foregoing paths I had taken in the past
Growing with you started very slowly
Holding back my urge to move too fast
I treaded lightly when letting you into my heart
Just in case you would be like the rest
Kindness and patience lead the way
Learning each other as best we could
Melting into our thoughts
Narrowing our sights to just see one another
Opening up little by little
Pride and fear bighting my ankles
Questioning the legitimacy of my feelings and yours
Resting in one another’s arms
Satisfied my worried mind with ease.
Together we chose to love
Utterly smitten I became yours
Virtually inseparable
We promised ourselves a future together
Xenomania led to where we are today.
Zealed with a love that will never betray
Free Verse: Cuckoo
My grandmother’s house was always a place of safety for me.
It smelled of leather and her perfume.
To this day my mother keeps that bottle of perfume under her bed
To spare it running out I smell once every 3-5 years.
My grandmother’s house was the 70’s, filled with tiny glass figurines
And her feathered hair.
She would sit on the edge of her bed and use her blow dryer to carefully
Style her straight, shoulder length blonde hair. She would sing and make silly faces
To entertain me.
but I didn’t need the entertainment. I was too preoccupied watching her twirl up her hair and apply the heat of the blow dryer to feather it out and away from her face.
It always entered the round brush wiry and frizzy
And once It was released it was thin and smooth and shiny
As it lightly fell against her shoulders.
We called her Cuckoo, instead of grandma
Which is funny to some people, but the word “cuckoo” encapsulates everything she was
She was the most unironically funny person I’d ever met.
And I believe she was also the funniest person she’d ever met because
When we laughed at the things she did, she laughed the hardest.
Her floor was always filled with loose change that my brother and I would collect.
Once we collectively found 5 dollars’ worth of change. She would always let us keep it.
If the ice-cream man was coming, or we wanted to buy a toy at the store,
My mom would jokingly tell us to collect the change around Cuckoo’s house.
But we actually would. And it was awesome.
We didn’t question it then, it was just a quirky part of the environment
Now I imagine her, frazzled and rushed, just dropping coins wherever she’d go.
And I laugh.
If I could go back in time, I would covet those coins and never spend a penny.
So I could keep a piece of Cuckoo’s home everywhere I go.
