Poetry

I finally got around to writing some poetry for my writing class. Wanna read it? OK!

The End of the Hall
Black, polished dress shoes
Too polished, too perfect
And tied too tight
Passing through the hallway.

Few people look down at them,
And those that do look aware because
The glare hurts their eyes.

The muted clicking of the soles
Against the floor fades when they reach
The end of the hall.

Their echo lingers for a moment
Before silence overcomes the sound
And no one hears the shoes in the hall
Ever again.


Did you jump for me?
From behind the waterfall I see
You with your camera, taking
Photographs of the water and the fallen logs
With green moss growing on them; so when
I smile and wave at you, splashing
My hand through the falling water,
You don’t notice.

And when our group must hike back
Up the steep trail you run
Along the eroding bank of the river
To reach the path. And when the ground crumbles
Beneath your feet and you fall
Down ten feet, crashing hard
On the rocks in the river below
I think that your head has struck
A rock, and my heart slams into my chest

And I follow you into the stream, ignoring
The ice cold river water flowing into
My tennis shoes and blue jeans as I wade
Toward you. You struggle to stand as I
Reach out to support the weight
Of your body, but you never turn and you never
See me there with you.

And you can hardly walk but you
Still refuse help as we stumble back
Up the path. When we reach the top and
We look for a car so that
You don’t have to walk anymore, you finally
Look me in the eyes for the first time and
You ask, “Did you jump for me?”

And I don’t respond, only look away from
Your face. And you look down at
My tennis shoes, which still leak
River water, and my wet blue jeans, and you smile
And you see right through me, and you
Pull my body into the curve of yours
And it’s the first time I’ve ever
Felt protected by you.

I wish I hadn’t stood so close
I wish I hadn’t stood so close
Because if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have been
So near you.

And if I hadn’t been so near you
I never would have looked into
Your eyes, which reminded me of an angel
Trying not to cry and it broke my heart.

I wish I hadn’t stood so close
Because if I hadn’t I never would have felt
Your breath on my skin.

And if I hadn’t felt your breath on my skin
I never would have felt as though
You could move me, change me, destroy me
In just one breath.

I wish I hadn’t stood so close
Because if I hadn’t, I never would have
Wanted you.

And if I’d never wanted you
I never would miss you when I lie awake,
Alone in my own arms, missing something
That I stood so close to
But never had.

Reunion
Running free along the water’s edge
With ribbons of sunlight bouncing
In her terra cotta hair,

Beaming a smile on her face,
One that reaches from
Her mouth to her smiling, hazel eyes,

Leaping into the arms of a friend
As two years of separation melt away
In a tight, enduring embrace by the sea.