Poetry inspired by a prompt
Sometimes
A woman is an island
Steadfast amid the violence
Of salt water and storm cloud
Eyes ever focused
Where the sky caresses the sea
Kissed all over by the ebb and flow of waves
Dancing with moontides
Volcanic at times
Worn and weathered and wiser
As beautiful at sunrise as sunset
As much a force as nature herself
-gws
Nevermind
You see
You were never mine
Not the way I needed you to be
You were an illusion
A twenty-four and seven hologram
Insubstantial and incapable
Pinocchio with a nose job
A foundation full of rot
On which we placed our house
And when the floor fell out
You did not reach for me
Did not treat my scrapes
Nor bandage my wounds
You told me to walk it off
Toughen up
It wasn't that big a deal
Not everything was about me
YOU were the one who was injured here
Look at what I did to YOUR floor
Look at what I did to YOUR life
And I believed I was the weak spot
The salt in the wound of us
Nevermind
You see
You were never mine
You simply made me believe
In an us without a we
Told me that was how it was supposed to be
My every need an inconvenience
My efforts doomed to fall short
A fat lazy black bitch
Who just wouldn't listen
Who just wouldn't drown my sense of self in your ego
And join you in your fortress of delusions
Nevermind
You see
You were never mine
And now I belong to me
After taking too long to see
I needed to be worth more to me
Than I was ever worth to you
-gws
Earthly treasures buried deep
Mined from the richest dirt
Jewels of every shape and color
Amethyst
Russet
Red
Gold
Yellow
Orange
Faceted with eyes
Roasted
Steamed
Boiled
Fried
Crown jewels of my plate
gws
To any who my words reach
In a time and place I will never see
I hope the world is kind
And if such things as kindness
Still prove fleeting
I charge you with performing
Defiant acts of kindness
That your efforts might fall
Like seeds upon fallow fields
And grow like wildflowers
In the hearts of those you touch
-gws
Don't disperse disused desperation
Drastic and droll
Dreadfully dramatic
Deeply disconcerting
-gws
Roses and rust and rivulets of blood
Rubies and robins and radiant flame
Victory red lipstick of defiance
Red flesh of cool plums in summer
Winking red of garnet facets in grandmothers' rings
Washington Reds hanging from autumn apple trees
Red hand prints representing the missing and murdered
Blinking red lights lining dark empty streets
Red dresses whipping and swirling to tango on stages
Crisp red uniforms of Beefeaters on guard
Red sports cars cruising the streets of LA
Cardinal red of Stanford Sports
Crimson Red and Columbia Blue of my high school
Cherry red inside a pie
Glossy candy apple red
Ripe red strawberries perfuming summer picnics
Enflamed red of flushed cheeks
Sacred menses red
Red haze of rage blurring vision
Bruised red of kissed lips
Fruit punch red staining faces
Watermelon red dripping from hands
Red wine glowing in glasses
Berries bright red in winter snow
-gws
Spring has arrived
Birds sing sweetly
In quickening branches bursting with blooms
My winter soul peers out of bleary eyes
Before I pull the covers over my head
-gws
What is happening in my head
That I have dreams that I must wed
Oh what a dream to cause me dread
While I was tucked up in my bed
My dream reflects my feelings deep
That swirl and churn while I'm asleep
Such anxiety does darkly steep
Like vicious shadows slink and creep
And in the morning light I wake
All too aware of my mistakes
Afraid the wrong path I may take
So precious are the things at stake
So ground I must so I achieve
A state of peace I can believe
My anxiety for now relieved
Now in a state of calm reprieve
-gws
I don’t know what I’m doing
I don’t know how to adult
Waking up everyday to
Some new unknown challenge
I’ve been told that God doesn’t
Give you more than you can handle
They don’t tell you God lays out
A buffet of mild to spicy experiences
I don’t think I’m a fan of buffets
-gws
Hope is a soap bubble dancing in the air long past when it should have burst
-gws
Words Wishes and Wisdom 