This silent monster inside you Stretched out below the surface Unmoving when unmoved, Frenzied once it stirs: I must avoid feeding it Without letting it go hungry
Category: Poetry
“You Belong Here”
Belonging Is not a wall to keep you in A limit placed on your leg Like a shackle But a warm couch A comforting bed And those who love you Glad to see you come home.
Joy
Joy comes with forgiving And bringing not to mind: Resentment, guilt, and grudges held In both of you unwind Their twining, twisting strangleholds In both your hearts fall loose— Vines drop limply, power lost, After choking like a noose. A grievance nurtured, tended to Cuts off air and blocks the sun Unplant the weed and let its coils Slump earthward, all undone.
Shell
Hope washes up from the sea As you walk along the tide: A clamshell nudging against your foot Interrupting your stride. Its shape and form ambiguous Presenting a mystery to your eyes: Which the front and which the back? Two-sided as it lies. Its surface feels uncertain When you take it from the sand, To touch both smooth and rough And able to cut your hand. It might freely open in your palm Inviting you in like a friend But might hold fast and shut you out Unyielding to the end. Although it could give nourishment— A meal from the meat that lined it— Still such a shell might be a loss, Already empty when you find it.
Authorship
A novel is Falling off a cliff And throwing up a line Hoping it catches On the edge To grapple you back to safety Or at least to arrest your fall.