A Winter Soul In Spring

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

Anxiety Dream

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 Am No Poet

I am no poet
I am an observer
A curious wallflower
Peering into the places most do not dare
The voyeur blending in and watching
Keenly aware of the scene and vibe

I am no poet
I am a witness
A lyrical historian
Peeling back the layers of what is obvious
Making note and taking measure
Commenting on the beauty and the bruise

I am no poet
I am a documentarian
A mental photographer
Describing the visage of the soul
Capturing the form of feeling
Casting light on dreams

I am no poet
I am an illustrator
A linguistic artist
Scratching lines on paper
Forming images from curves of ink
Building portraits from words

I am no poet
I am a woman
A single breathe in the wind
Performing no obvious magic
Sharing the same life experience
Human and divine

-gws

On Carpenter Bees

Isn't it funny how carpenter bees think themselves no less dainty than honey bees?
They faithfully believe the flower will support them even when the stem bends toward the ground.
They aren't exactly wrong.

-gws

Goodnight Bears

Here is you bear
All worn from love
Or perhaps adorned with it
Your partner in your slumbering adventures
Defender against all that scares you
It is your beacon in the darkest night
It's felted heart doused in the 
Nostalgia of your mother's perfume
Tangible reminder of lingering embraces
That will greet you again in the light of morning
Goodnight my little bears
Hold each other tight

-gws

Counterpoint

I am looking for the counterpoint to my melody
A voice both hauntingly harmonic and intriguingly independent
That when blended with mine creates a masterpiece

-gws

Pandora’s Box of Love

Photo by Maria Verkhoturtseva on Pexels.com

Love feels like Pandora's Box of contradicting experiences
Love alights you upon a mountain top of elation
And sequesters you in a dungeon of anxiety
Love can feel like Elysian Fields
And Dante's Inferno
Love can make you feel like an accomplished genius
And the village idiot
Love gives your soul wings
And your body two left feet
Love makes poetry of your dreams
And salad of your words
Love inspires amazing highs
And devastating lows
Love is celebrated when it arrives
And mourned when it departs
Pleasure and pain separated by fate's coin toss
A game of chance we cannot stop playing

-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

On Becky’s Retirement

Your hearty chuckle we will miss
Your quirk and humor too
A life of leisure and of bliss
Is soon awaiting you

No more price checks for you to chase
Nor contracts or email replies
It's time to fill up that empty suitcase
And share your cheerful goodbyes

May retirement be all you hope
And these halls but just a memory
We just ask that you not gloat
As you enjoy your unfettered reverie

-gws

Ode to the Couple on the Corner Compulsively Compelled by Their Compact Computers

The digital divide is a divisive devil
Erecting electronic edifices
Severing sacred spaces
Intended for intimate inhabitation
Subjugating and suffocating
Candid considerate connections
Exsanguinating emotional efforts
Ridiculously replacing rapport
With mindless meaningless memes and
Endless eager empty emojis
Segregated strangers staring submissively
Into inexorable insipidness instead of
Havens of humble human hearts

-gws