The waters were rising, each shallow breath hurt

A pain of her making, no way to divert

Her mind like a tapestry coming undone

When the enemy came, she’d nowhere to run

The tidal wave washed out the girl from before

Leaving a broken one, haunted by war

A thousand calls went out, ‘please help me,’ she cried

So they gave her some medals and claimed they had tried

But the wildfires were coming, th...

I had a dream the other night, I woke up in a cold sweat

A golden, noble eagle - freedom’s epithet -

Flew free and proud above us all, we thanked her from below

But then a dark cloud covered her completely in shadow

I blinked and all around me changed, a stadium filled with us

People from all walks of life, at least a billion plus

Some were wearing red, and some were wearing blue

But all of us we...

I’ve watched from afar, admired your ways,

Known with a certainty, stuck in a craze

On paper it’s perfect, our lives intertwine

Two spirits, one soul: a predestined design

Both athletic nerds, intelligent things

Obsessed with a story, entranced by some rings

A pet you can catch, a ball to be kicked

The cobalt and claret, a yellow mouse picked

But it’s more than our hobbies, our linked families

It...

To the five boys who make every second of my life worth living. I love you.

**CT4**

When you were little I’d say, with a smirk and a grin, ‘all the girls are sure going to love you!’

You’d smile so wide and with the cutest of lisps, say “cause my eyes are so big and so blue!”

You’re older now but your eyes are the same, though they’ve already seen far too much.

You watched as your mama nearly b...

I met you on one of the worst days of my life,

But you didn’t know that yet.

I pretended to be busy when you walked by my desk,

So you wouldn’t see me upset.

But little did I know, you would soon save my soul,

One eye roll and sigh at a time.

When I needed a life vest, you jumped in instead,

Pushed me up when I couldn’t climb.

I was drowning in grief with so many unknowns,

Five kids hung in t...

My screams rent the night, curdling the air

My bellows shift the moon, my moans are a prayer

My pillowcase is stained from the blacks of my eyes

My bookshelves are filled with failed plans I’ve devised

My fingers are dyed red from the blood of my pens

My soul’s painted black from too few amens

My bones are alight with the promise of more

My skin crawls with hope stashed atop Life’s trap door

M...

I can never stop the what if’s,

The maybes, or the who knows -

His escapisms and justifications,

All his not-today-but-maybe-tomorrows.

I don’t know if I will ever be okay

I don’t know if he’ll ever truly be gone

I want to forget him, I want to kiss him —

An apt but much-loathed paragon.

Why can’t he ever just leave me alone?

Why does he text me every few weeks?

Does it bring him great pleas...

It was always a joke, but everyone knows, the best jokes are rooted in truth.

She would never stay put, she was too wanderlust, they mocked her even in youth.

She never stayed down, was precocious and bold, too stubborn ever to quit,

The bullies, they tried, but eventually stopped, when she just couldn’t be bothered with it.

She played four different sports, captained six different teams, brok...

The Star-Spangled Banner, a song we all know,

In a country we love or hope to help grow.

The line near the end that expresses the wonder,

At seeing our flag not ripped asunder,

But waving, still proud, over the battlements high,

A symbol of hope in that bleak, morning sky.

It calls to my heart, my memories, my soul,

My experience of war, and testaments told.

For once way back when, in my yo...

A smile for your witty joke, a ‘thank you’ for your praise,

I can keep this sick act up, could fool you all for days.

My bathroom mirror barks a laugh, my dresser rolls its eyes.

Because they know what you don’t know: my smile is my disguise.

I promised to come back someday, it’s a promise I regret.

This place may be a Romeo but I’m no Juliette.

Utopia is not for me, ‘idyllic’ and I clash

O...