Sunday Scribblings {Collector Personality}

I.

You stand at the edge overlooking the sea
the sound of the tide like the earth's soft breathing:
inhale, exhale--the earth's heart never stops.
One step forward and you could easily slip
from your life taking with you your wild brown eyes
which always look a little sad but also seem
so safe.  Some days you would like to have
the courage to close your eyes and let yourself
fall.  You would like to be that brave.  You
would like to believe you have wings, and if
you ever did let go, if you ever did crash or fly
I promise I would write poems about you,
poems I'd collect and hide in the dark, tucked
under my dreams.  I could write you a better
life and breathe it into your shattered bones.
I could write for you stories you'd forgotten
to read and tie them like ribbons
to the feathers of your wings.

II.

There are times when you can't go home,
times when you can't look back.
We all want to believe in our better selves,
in our ability to forgive and trust and love,
we all want to be brave like that.  But we're
all a little broken, we're all a little lost.
I write a poem for your broken pieces, for
the pieces of you that lost their voice
but still hide in the puddles in your eyes.
They ask what this poem is about.  I say it's
about the way we love each other, betray
each other, forget each other, forget
ourselves.  It's about the relationships we
tumble through trying to untangle our
truth and how the people we choose to
dance with break us, rip us apart, push
us to places where we don't recognize
ourselves, leave us holding questions that
have no answers that we collect like
stones and wear loosely around our necks.
It's about how one look reminds us we're
small and weak and how somewhere in the
middle of all that dancing we find the one
mystery that holds us together:
the very ones that break us also heal us,
they take us to the edge there we find
a whole new world with stories to
be written in our dreams, we look into their eyes
and our reflections are shadows so large
they touch the sky. We dance and
remember every partner has the potential
to help us find our way whole.

III.

Today when you stand miles above the sea
and even more miles away from me, and when
you listen to the silence of the earth's soft
breathing, when you're brown eyes search
the horizon for the courage you feel you lack,
when you step and fall not knowing how the
story will end, if by chance you slip into
that place of forgetting who you truly are
remember once we danced and be assured I am
collecting your broken pieces and writing
poems about all your scars.

Comments

[Frida]

Wow. That is amazing. You've totally thrown me out of my very ordinary lunchbreak - sit and have a peek at a few blogs - into a whole different realm. Your voice and the stories you have to tell in your poetry are so unique. Keep writing, please keep sharing. Also, please stop today and take a moment to appreciate your own amazing talent. Really. Wow.

[colorsonmymind]

oh my darling your writing truly takes my breath away:0
Love you

[harmony]

Beautiful post enchanting.

[harmony]

Love your blog added it to my links

[amy]

just beautiful.

[Alex]

Michelle, this is incredible! I have no words... You have them all! And your words have the rhythm and the pace of your heart, where undoubtedly, life flows abundantly! You're such a gem! xo

[Tumblewords]

Ah. Lovely. Fine phrases and imagery and layers that ring.

[hel]

You put words to that which my heart sometimes want to say to my mother, my sister, my father and brothers, my boyfriend and all the children I know but are not able to put words to.

[ceanandjen]

M~ my words can not completely convey how much this touched me and resonated with me. Tears came to my eyes as I took in the second portion...

Thank you, thank you for sharing this beauty with us.xoxo

[daisies]

this is beautiful ... really really beautiful in its truth ... hugs xox

[eileen]

thanks for continuing to share your writing...very moving.

[JanePoe (aka Deborah)]

"the very ones that break us also heal us" ... there's a lot of truth in this thought. This poem captures the pathos of human connnections. Wonderful. xx, JP/deb

[kate]

I'm glad I found your blog through Sunday Scribblings... your poem hit me between the eyes. I,ve had to reread it a few times to let it sink in.

[Maddie]

such chords you struck -
truly beautiful and sooo soulful -

[Kirsten Michelle]

you have such a gift...
such an amazing gift, michelle!!!
i can't tell you how often your photos and words move me to tears...
i am so grateful to have found you here.

[Jeris]

Wow wow wow! This touched me on so many levels. You are an incredible writer Michelle!

[christina]

I love the first section the most. So heartbreaking. So achingly beautiful. You should write more poems, my dear. You're good.

[christina]

I love the first section the most. So heartbreaking. So achingly beautiful. You should write more poems, my dear. You're good.

[christina]

I love the first section the most. So heartbreaking. So achingly beautiful. You should write more poems, my dear. You're good.

[Kim]

I cant wait to see you in April! ;)

[Karen]

I absolutely love this!!! Written amazingly well!
Gorgeous picture, too!

Thanks, also, for having my site listed on your blog!!

Karen

[cleo]

thank you so much.
there is a light inside these that is rare. they resonate.

it's a rare thing.

[suwami]

I am amazed by your words. Like a majestic mountain or a breathtaking sunrise.. your words speak to something bigger and push the limits of our minds.

I stopped here by accident, went to pass it by, clicked back and took a great pause. WoW!

[what is kratom]

Your blog struck me, this is so true.