Tag: Prompted

Poetry inspired by a prompt

Scar

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You cannot see me but you can never forget I'm here
I'm etched upon your existence like a tattoo
I am a scar carved into your soul
A memory of a war waged and survived
You have learned to live with me
Learned to navigate the taught tenderness of my edges
I ache when you rain
I pull when you venture too close to familiar flames
You don't notice me much anymore
You've managed to balm my wound well enough
For time and distance to allow me to heal
But I will never be gone
I will always be the quiet reminder of lessons learned
When I ache you remember 
There was once a grievous hurt that ripped you open
You remember you have survived 
One hundred percent of your bad days
You remember you know how to heal

-gws

Portrait Poem

You smile uncomfortably 
Staring into the lens of the camera 
Your shoulders pulled high
All of your self consciousness visible in your eyes 
You don’t know what to do with your hands 
You do not know how to drop your walls on request 

I wish you could see yourself through my eyes 
The photographer’s eyes
Eyes that see the sparks that spill off of you 
Every time you laugh 
The natural glow on your cheeks 
The beauty of the asymmetrical smile
Caused by the single dimple 
That only appears when your face
Is animated by genuine joy
The unguardedness of your body language 
When you are feeling safe and comfortable 
Hands animating your stories with 
Increasing enthusiasm as you speak

I want the viewer to see the three dimensions of you
Hidden within your two dimensional portrait 
I want the viewer to want to know you
Drawn in by all the small clues of you
Leading viewers toward the vastness of you
I want the viewer to discover your dimple
Question what crinkles the corners of your eyes
Be captivated by the joy radiating from your natural smile 

If I have done my job well 
Your photo will feel familiar to a stranger 
You will appear as approachable as any friend 
If I have done my job well
I will have created a likeness of you
That asks you to befriend and love yourself 
As much as those of us who know you love you
If I have done my job well
You will have premised me to alchemize
A tiny fraction of your soul
So all who come to know you through your image
Will wonder what magic they missed in the opportunity to know

-gws

The Next Chapter

And so comes the end of the heaviest chapter
The plot twisted dramatically 
In the hands of an unreliable narrator 
Linear time fractured
Slowed
Ran backward 
Perspectives shifted
Creating more confusion than clarity

Muted colors of nostalgia dull recollections 
Emotional sharpness blunted
The hollow ache of a long goodbye 
Completed with the deliberate placement 
Of an arch-ending period.

The next act begins with a page turn
“THE NEXT CHAPTER” written atop it

-gws

Crossroads

I stand with Lady Hecate in her place of power
The Great Crossroad
The intersection of past and present
Lessons and possibility
She holds her lantern aloft
Illuminating my options
I can see that each step
Each choice
Leads to another nexus
Another crossroad
For life is a spiderweb of crossroads
An infinite collection of choices
Interconnecting to plot our life's course
In this moment of perfect presence
I breathe
I reach out with my intuition
With deep faith and trust I step forward
Toward a future of my own choosing

-gws

Snow

The world quiets beneath a blanket of white
Sounds are muffled 
Time slows
There is no hurry here
The landscape sleeps
Stillness, like a spell
Descends upon all things

My mind wanders about in this peace
Leaving no footprints in the snow
I am freed of my burdens
Allowed to drift like a shade
Below the frosted boughs
Delighting in the joy of winter’s slumber 

-gws