Compassion

Compassion isn't national
It's more complex than multinational
Larger than international
It's spectacular
It's interstellar
Stuck between Orion's Belt and your heart
The gun has already sounded it's time to start

Love your neighbor
Help a stranger
Complete a puzzle with an orphan
Donate your organ

Compassion isn't an action read about
It's not a reason to sing aloud
Compassion is helping others without outside motivation

Be Free

A dark black bird cage sits at her desk

A small red cardinal stands perched inside

The pretty little bird grows quite complacent

Yet unwillingly to cry out for help

His dark red feathers fade to grey

He becomes very sick

His wings no longer stretch 

His beak no longer pecks

One day the little girl wasn't feeling so well

So she put on her dark red dress 

When she went to pet her bird

She saw something she'd never forget

The dark red bird laid deeply saddened 

His adventurous heart was hurt trapped in a cage

She saw what must be done 

With the wind blowing 

She opened the cages door

Tears began pouring 

As she watched her grey bird become red once again

Butterflies

I looked up into the clouds
And with all the courage I manifested
I walked over to her
Trying not to choke on my
Poem I previously digested
I with little hope and a lot of joke
Trying to earn my way into her heart

Memories

I took the train today
It wasn't the same
There were awkward stares
And for some reason bears

As I observed
I notice something astonishing
It was my mind that's curved

There were no bears nor awkward stares
Rather my psyche compensating
For the lack of disorientating
Memories

Memories that scared me
Memories that formed
A disfigured green army man
And a torn apart teddy bear
To calmly rest in the frontal lobe

Soon today will be a memory
Yesterday only a is memory
The future is simply a memory

Photo by Jason Townsend at Jason Townsend Photography

The Wordsmith

With words tangled on my tongue
And faith hanging on by a rope
I dance with the thoughts of loss and regret
Shame taking my name and blame overwhelming me

Feeling my chest heave as I stop sobbing
Freeing my mind for one more moment
Fate written in stone yet it never seems clear enough
I know times are rough but be tough
Stay strong
You're not alone

A wordsmith once said
"Love never gives up
Never loses faith
And endures through all"
I know you have your back against a wall
And you're fighting it all
But stand strong and hold the hand of peace
Drop the hand of hate

Times are weary and hard
Look at me with your teary eyes and heart of gold
Put your hands up and declare
"I'm not alone!"
You're not alone

A wordsmith once said
"Love never gives up
Never loses faith
And endures through all"
Stand tall and be the beacon of hope you are

Go now
Take the hand of peace and live freely
Love all and regret none
Stay strong and keep the one

Mental Beaches

There's an ocean in my mind
Where thoughts of you
Get trapped in fish nets

There are waves that transcend time
Brain waves that send
Frosty froth and
Ideas that bend

Sailors pray
That another day
They'll stay
For together they
Will venture into the fray

Once more you appear to me
Then out to the sea
You continue your journey
Through my mind's whipping sea

As quickly as you've come
More quickly you go
A heart as bright as a sun
How I feel you'll never know

Verily you view
A part of me
Never renewed
By poetry

Words That Rhyme

Cowering in a corner of my psyche

Hiding what’s inside me

Knowing this isn’t the end

Not falling in the wind

An anchor of regrets

Is trying to out-weigh me

Weaving grace and love together as a net

To catch hope lost in the sea

Fearfully I make my plea

Trying to fight what’s inside me

Dancing around like a crazed monkey

Fighting to finally see the sea

Nothing has ever been so clear

It’s strange to finally know

That I know why I’m here

It’s like seeing the first flakes of snow

The meaning behind words that rhyme

Is so you can read

Between the lines

And maybe plant the right seed