Untitled - 5/9/10

When is a house not a home?
When will your archive be complete?
Is this a snapshot
or a memoir...
How do you know
you're not obsolete?

have you been here
gripping your bowels
gritting your teeth
all you need to do is
stop

let gravity do
what you've been trying to defy
the fear the grips
and clenches you
does nothing to help you survive

it's easy to pretend
that it was watching over you
it felt like a close friend -
one it's time that you outgrew

nobody has the right
to dominate you
ignore your best intentions
tell you what to do

it's time to say goodbye
even close friends move away
or sometimes just move on
when there's no need to stay

Untitled 11/10/09

We don't have to talk to know that
You're going this way
And I'm going that way
No it doesn't take much to show
A subtle yawn
Another day

It's been warmer
than the coldest day of the year
I guess that much is true
But that's no reason
to keep living in fear
bracing for another you

The layers of skin fold around you
Protecting you from the air
But don't stop breathing it in
That's your second skin
Still taking care
of you

Stardust (at 12-13)

Swimming in the moonlight
of a purple sky
I wish I may I wish I might
Sprout wings to the heavens I'll fly

Star light, star bright
I want to soar
Above my fright
An open door
Closing the night
Don't die now
I need your light
Into the aquamarine
I will take flight
I will be seen
yet out of sight
The blue abyss
Amidst the night
A gentle kiss
From the clouds snuggling tight
Make me a new day
Bring me into the light
I wish I may I wish I might
Have the wish I wish tonight

A line that strikes me from this poem is "I will be seen/Yet out of sight" because I've been thinking about that idea lately as I'm remembering my relationship with attention as a child. Attention wasn't a good thing in my house, so I tried to avoid it. If my parents' focus was on me, I was in trouble. So instead, when I got home, I went straight to my room and closed the door from a very young age. My mom used to say that I could entertain myself for hours even as a young girl. She never had to do anything to keep me busy.

But the funny thing is I would lock myself up in my room, stay out of everyone's way, and daydream about being the center of attention - whether it was being a princess or an actress or an award-winning author. I wanted so desperately to be seen, and to get some positive attention, but since that wasn't available at home, I isolated myself from everyone, yet dreamed of being connected. So the line "I will be seen/Yet out of sight" really resonates with me, now that I understand exactly what I meant by that.