How to Love

Like all the pretty romance novels

I thought that I could change him

He would be the hero

& I would be his heroin

I'd save him from himself

Teach him how to love

I'd be the one that he would run to

The one to hold his heart 

Epic were my plans

Deflated was reality

Nothing is how it should be

No matter what the cost

To teach a boy to love

Is a risk that so few take

I guess I cowered from the chance

That his bite was as bad as his bark

One word and I would have risen

Taken up the challenge

As flowers wilt in heat

A heart withdraws from indifference

To say I was in love

Perhaps would be a lie

But to say that I was willing

Is to speak soft words of truth

It's grand to keep on wishing

Even in the dark

But to hold that candle up at night

Is the worst kind of denial

Clawing Rivers

I came across this beautiful image titled The Riverbank 8, and it inspired me to write this poem. So thank you Crinklechip for your beautiful work.

She holds her head up high

For fear of falling down

The water waits

With it's fingers clawing

Begging for her grace

She almost cries out

But dares not to

For she never knows whose listening

The angry ants

Or crying birds

They wait for her to fall

So out it comes

Her longing laugh

That smile can work wonders

Her moment of vulnerability gone

Replaced by such an act

Never will they see her worry

Or ever even doubt

For she knows that she will rise above

To concur all her foes

Lady

There’s a lady on my doorstep

Sad as she can be

The breathe that once filled her body

Has gone and left her cold

She didn’t weep

She didn’t sigh

She knew that it would come

Her life you see, not unlike ours

Lasts only for a moment

But unlike us

She didn’t fight

She didn’t ask the questions

Why me

Why now

This cannot be

For she knew the way of life

She’d lived for a time

And died on a day

As cloudy as could be

It isn’t right

It isn’t fair

But you see

It simply is

There’s a lady on my doorstep

Sad as she can be

The breathe that once filled her body

Has gone and left her cold

Stubborn

I've got the better of me now

And I'm overpowering myself

Too thick to listen to good reason

Too stubborn to change my mind

So many paths run before me

Which to take

Which to leave

So many emotions running through me

Grow up now?

The time has come?

Do what I think is right,

Or what others view as right?

If what I think is truly wrong though,

How am I to choose correctly?

A simple answer would be nice

But simple is not so common

I'll look at it how I want

Though realizing this won't change a thing

This problem is so insignificant

And yet it seems so important

Although I'm sure, 10 years from now

None of this will matter.

The Idea of You and I

You make it easy, so easy

For my to see us together

But for reasons I won't say

This fanciful dream may never be

Like the seed that had little chance to grow

I guess we'll never know

A single chance we may have

But we'll pass it up

I can see it all

In my mind's eye

I can see our downfall

Before it even happens

We'll pass up our single chance

And think forever of what could have been

Of what we may not have

Of the things we've lost without ever knowing

I suppose I may be the only one over thinking this

But I wouldn't be me if I didn't

This may never have worked anyway

But it's better to be let down later

Than to spend forever regretting the chance not taken

That World

It’s one of those nights

Those nights I still believe

I hear the distant flapping wings

See the faces in the shadows

It’s just one of those nights

My innocence may be behind me

But it whispers to me still

Calling me back to that world

When fantasy was so alive

When my imagination walked the night

I can hear the whispers in the trees

Almost see the flapping wings

Oh to be in that world again

To feel the night

To feel its promise

Forget the stress of today

Forget the truth that plagues my life

Remember what it was

To know reality

Within the fantasy

My Heart is Clean

My heart is clean,

Though my hands are not

Untouched, unscathed, unharmed

My heart inside

Is safe and warm

It’s my feet that want to run

My heart is warm

Though my tears are cold

Leaving streaks of loss behind

My heart inside

Is safe and warm

It’s my eyes that want to cry

My heart is safe,

Though my dreams are tainted

With loss and pain and guilt

My heart inside

Is safe and warm

It’s my mouth that wants to scream

My heart cannot be touched

It remains sanely intact

Though bruised just a bit.

My hands may be guilty

But my heart is not