Poetry

I was inspired by The Writer Says to dig up some of my old poetry and post it. I will do that (although it will be embarrassing and not as good as hers!)soon.

But for now, I wanted to post a poem that I turned to a lot in my early college years:

Comes The Dawn

Author: Veronica A. Shoffstall

After a while you learn the subtle difference
Between holding a hand and chaining a soul.
And you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning
And company doesn’t mean security.
And you begin to learn that kisses aren’t contracts
And presents aren’t promises.
And you begin to accept your defeats
With your head up and your eyes open
With the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child.
And you learn to build all your roads on today,
Because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans,
And futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.

After a while you learn
That even sunshine burns if you get too much.
So you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul,
Instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure…
That you really are strong,
And you really do have worth.
And you learn and learn…
With every goodbye you learn.

 

This poem was so important to me in my early twenties – when I was single, lonely, feeling rejected and looking for my Mrs. Right. It also got me through the hell that was my ex-girlfriend. I’d almost forgotten how much I love poetry. I want to start writing it again. I want to start reading it again.

So I will leave you with one I love by ee cummings (dedicated to my wife;)):

 

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate (for you are my fate,my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

I hope to find my old poems and post them here soon! When I do, please, be gentle:)