Quatrain

Break the Silence

Days without fights were
The calm before the storm.
Brutality and fear
Became her new norm.

Outside of their quarrels
He’d turn up the charm.
Even she was convinced
He meant her no harm.

Then he would strike.
In turn she would shout.
Neighbors raised the volume
To drown her sobs out.

They stayed out of it.
They felt that was wise.
When she passed in the hallways,
They averted their eyes.

She stopped crying for help.
It just never came.
For her willingness to stay there,
She was to blame.

There were no superheros,
No man in a cape.
She had nowhere to run,
No way to escape.

She was trapped,
In need of a champion.
But she was guilty of staying,
That was her sin.

She wasn’t a victim,
They made her believe.
This was her punishment
If she wouldn’t just leave.

Her body was scarred
By senseless violence,
But not so deeply as
Her mind was by silence.

DVAM-2012

Teacher Appreciation

I am hard at work on the book today. However, my son and I did write this little poem last week so I thought I’d share. Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week at my 11-year-old’s school. They did a circus theme this year. There are three 6th grade classrooms and teachers. Being a teacher is incredibly challenging work and is greatly under-recognized. I don’t know how they do it. We wrote this for them as a way to say “Thank you for all that you do”:

The big top a school,
Three rooms are their rings.
They lead with the grace
Of flyers on swings.

They are ringmasters.
They juggle class clowns.
They reign in the monkeys
When they’re horsing around.

They sooth momma bears
When report cards spell doom.
Mounds of ungraded tests are
The elephant in the room.

They jump through hoops
Just like the big cats
To fulfill state requirements,
And maintain Knapp’s stats.

Their job is a circus.
They do it with ease,
Like an artist in flight
Upon a trapeze.

 

Image courtesy of Microsoft Word clipart.

The Pick-Up Game

“You’re so beautiful that
You made me forget my pickup line.”
Is that all you’ve got?
Thanks but I decline.

“I’m not staring at your boobs.
I’m staring at your heart.”
I hate to tell you this
But that’s not an ideal start.

“Damn girl, you have more
Curves than a race track.”
Oh please, can I get the past
Few seconds of my life back?

“Do you have a map?
I am lost in your eyes.”
Have a seat but I won’t fall
For that clever guise.

“If beauty were time,
You would be eternity.”
And finally he spoke
The line that got him me.

Stop & Listen

Legions of nameless
Hurry by,
Their untold stories
Remain classified.

Wisdom unimparted,
Opportunities missed,
Countless chances but
Lives unenriched.

Faces unseen,
Eyes on the destination,
Much too busy to
Simply stop & listen.

Heads in the clouds,
Noses to the grindstone,
Many here together
Yet each is here alone.

 

Image “Crash” by ckentart on DeviantArt.com

Clouds Like Shades

He was the moon,
The nights that it shone full,
His beams of light danced upon
The dark waters of my soul.

He was the vital sun,
Evoking my heart’s fire,
Torridity of his rays
Stoking my desire.

“I’ve fallen out of love with you”
His words came with a blow.
Like a fool I stood there mute,
And silently watched him go.

My psyche lay in ruins,
Robbed its luminescence.
I wept for him hollow tears
Alone there in his absence.

He’d pulled clouds like shades
Over my window to the skies.
He ushered in eternal nightfall
And denied me my sunrise.