Poetry is… No. 5

Poetry is art born from the 
skillful sculpting of words

-gws

Poetry is… No. 4

Poetry is reclaiming the voice 
from fear, doubt, and shame

-gws

Poetry is… No. 3

Poetry is triage for the
open wounds of trauma

-gws

Poetry is… No. 2

Poetry is the screaming
ache of the breaking heart

-gws

Poetry is… No. 1

Poetry is salve for the
philosopher’s soul

-gws

In the Company of Poets

I love being in the company of poets
Words flowing in raging eager rivers
Cleansing souls in their deep waters of truth
The air in the room stilling reverently
To allow voices to take up every bit of space
As the walls, like the audience, lean in to listen

Poets mold experience and emotion like clay
And through alchemy, transmute these raw materials
Into golems of living language
Puppeted by skillful tongues 
In rooms filled with those eager to experience
The wonderment of such masterful magic

I am left in awe and enchanted with inspiration
Yearning to find myself an acolyte 
Amongst a coven of gifted poets
Happy to surrender myself to their castings
Enraptured and enchanted again and again

-gws

Dissonance

I so want to trust what you say
But you believe what you concoct
Making your lies into
A convincing-sounding truth
-gws

Remember How It Was Before

Remember how it was before
When I confidently walked through my life 
Believing in a future full of infinite possibilities
Idealistic and self-possessed
Inspired and free to manifest the life I desired
Never apologizing for the joyousness of my nature
Never apologizing for my independence and adventurousness
Never apologizing

Such a contrast with who I would embody for too long
Cowed and questing to find the right key
That would unlock your love for the me I was before
The me that I thought you cherished
The me that was once upon a time enough
I remember how it was before
I am on a journey back to myself
The version of me that resembles the echos of my unscarred self
Together we will offer an apology to the me that was before
A reclamation of what I thought was lost
And I will be a wonder again

-gws

She’s Not Beautiful

She’s not beautiful 
She’s a bloodied beast
A bold, brassy, badass
Bravely battling brash bandits 
Bone-weary from the bullshit
Burdened and burnt out
Building a budding new self
Walking away from brutality 
Becoming balanced 
Banishing bad habits from her bones
Barefoot upon the earth and beaming 
Beginning a brand new bountiful life

-gws

My demons tell me …

My demons tell me
I’m not enough 
They rake burning shame across my skin
Hiss monologues of self-doubt
In the echo chamber of my ringing ears
They use your voice
Never silent
And they laugh 
At the cleverness of their torture

-gws