On this ordinary October day
I did my part to change the world
In a most extraordinary way
I voted
For who I hope will be
Our first woman president
With proud ancestors at my back
My children’s future cast before me
I released my grain of sand into the glass
To do my small part to move us forward
Towards a future the mothers preceding me
Could only hope to dream of
For their progeny
-gws
My future is tabula rasa
Full of possibilities
Slow to emerge from the long shadows
And still brushing off the cobwebs of shame, doubt, and fear
I begin to wonder what awaits me
Who awaits me
The question nauseates me
I'm not ready to open my heart
Nor do I expect to be ready any time soon
And yet I find myself wondering
Will there be another
My heart fearfully whispering,
"Will I get a second chance?"
I'm not ready to fall in love again
I am only longing for the magic of falling
The elation that comes from feeling seen
Feeling chosen
Because all I wanted for so long
Was to feel chosen
To be enough
I am working to remember how to love me
How to be enough for myself
How to appreciate my perfect imperfections
How to forgive the choices I made to survive
I must become reacquainted with me
My future is tabula rasa
Full of possibilities
Bursting with opportunity to craft a life I want to live
And blessed with time to heal from a life I endured
I embrace my next chapter gratefully
Even as my knees quake with each step forward
My blank slate has its first word: freedom
Its second word: peace
I think that's a beautiful place for a new story to start
-gws
His thoughts came and went
Before they could fully form
Like threatening storm clouds
Full of unrealized potential
-gws
How did it feel when I was finally arrested?
Did it bring you glee to know I was handcuffed and taken away?
Were you happy your long standing desire was finally fulfilled?
Were you satisfied with yourself?
Did you celebrate?
Did you pat yourself on the back triumphantly?
Did you rejoice knowing I was forced into the company of actual criminals?
Did it make you giddy to know I experienced the humiliation of being strip searched?
Were you finally satisfied to get the mother of your children arrested?
Was it all you hoped for?
Who does that?
Who plots plans premediates such things?
Who bates and berates?
Who starts a fire and fans the flames?
Who then pretends that they didn't create the inferno?
Who has no remorse?
Who shows love like that?
Who did I marry?
How soon can I be free?
-gws
Tell your story
Detail your plot twists
Describe how you penned your own ending
How you dreamt your next prolific chapter
You are proof that dragons can be slain
Villains can be outwitted
That the condemned can become the hero
Be the light that illuminates someone else’s
Pages through your inspiration
Show that soul their narrative can be altered
Show that soul their misery can become triumph
Because you have told them it can be done
Because you have shown them it was done
-gws
The cell was sparse
Florescent lights
Sleeping platform
Stainless steel toilet and sink
But the walls
They were covered in other people's stories
The wall above the cot had been decorated in crayon
A large, pink pointe shoe
Someone's broken dream on display
Doodles and hash marks
A newspaper clipping of a local sports team's championship win
So many names so the walls would recall their existence
So the next inmates had connection to the ones who came before
I sat alone with their ghosts
Waiting for my turn to leave part of myself behind
-gws
Words Wishes and Wisdom 