Simply Put

It’s better not to make frilly verse
Conversation with candy hearts
It’s better not to use silver coins
The copper ones will get you just as far
For less

It’s easier for me to explain
Using small words
That fit together nicely
Like daisies in an open field
Or cotton instead of silk, it’s plain.

It’s harder to understand
Non verbal communication
I’m not sure what I want
Or how to put how I feel
Except for putting it simply

I don’t want a car or a big house
Diamonds or even pearls
A big bed or a big ring

Simply put
I just want you
No one and nothing else will do

to put it quite simply
using only three words
simply put-
i love you.

12:01

This is the worst day ever
But all bad days end
I said so very gently
You said I couldn’t even comprehend

It’s 12:01 now
And I just got a text
Telling me that you’re safe
I fear the worst
but I love you best

This is the worst day ever
But all things must end
I know I love you better
And you’ll never comprehend

Autobiography

I was born at St. Joe's hospital to humble beginnings. An older brother and a mom and dad. I was raised throughout my childhood in Dexter on a street infested with children of the worst kind. We had two big trees out front and I dreamt of climbing on the roof and jumping into their enveloping branches. Surely they would catch me. I recently drove by and to my dismay the trees had died and all that was left were ugly stumps like scars reminding me of what had been. Years after I was born we moved into a farm house to build a house in Ann Arbor. The farm house marked possibly the worst summer of my life. I had grown up in the yards of my neighbors and the farm house was on a road where the cars would run you over without ever a thought of stopping. The heat was deadly, so that summer we wasted away, sweating buckets with a tiny fan and tv reruns of I Love Lucy for companionship. In September of my 11th year we poured the concrete basement of my new house as planes hit the World Trade Center in New York. Tragedies had riddled my life in the past year and this was an unexpected new form of fear. We moved into my new house in December of that same year just three days before Christmas. During the following year i would completely lose my faith in God. I had friends that were going astray left and right and I was trying to follow something or someone ever so desparately. I thought that in so many ways, God had failed me, but it was truly I who had failed God. For three years after this point I struggled with popularity issues, eating disorders, depression and the want to feel loved. I went through cycles of hating God and not believing that He existed. During this time I had entered high school. I started a great job babysitting for a little girl that I often think of as my own. She had just been born weeks before I started babysitting for her. During those years I learned more than I ever thought I would. Through the grace of God I found a book that brought me back to him. "Eucharistic Miracles" was the name of it and I remember that as I read I grew deeper and deeper in love with the one who loved me most. I finally met people that would give me a steady place to stand in a world that moved from underneath me. Before long I would graduate highschool and then move on to greater things. Now I feel like I've better found my niche in the world. Hugs are my speciality. Every once in awhile I drive by my old houses and think about what used to be, and I still babysit that little girl, only now she has a sister.

Upset

To say that I’m upset would be an understatement

You told me that you were frustrated with me

And didn’t know why

I sit here in an upset state

I begin to be ocd again

Picking at the scabs in my ears

Looking to smooth what is rough

Curling into a fetal ball

I close my eyes and begin to cry

I couldn’t sleep last night because

You were upset with me

Now I’m upset with me too

And it’s different the emotions that come

When you are mad or sad with someone else

Then when you are upset with yourself

The tears fall much slower

And there’s no help to get over how you feel

You just sit there and pull yourself apart by the strings

I did that last night

This morning you are still upset with me

stitches

Stitches on the map
Tell tales of love and loss
The little lines weave together
Pulling on the tissues of my broken heart
Oh! If they could bring us too, back together
Stitches protecting the fragile nature of within
Lest my heart should
Tear open again

Stitches on the map
Run parallel to the journey
On which I go
The stitches running seamless with the land
Though our paths will never meet again

Thankful am I for the stitches that cross
Holding back the ruins of my broken heart
Reminding me everyday I go by
That there’s a man
I love
and on the stitches
he died

Resignation by Nikki Giovanni

I love you
 because the earth turns round the sun
 because the North wind blows north
   sometimes
 because the Pope is Catholic
   and most Rabbis Jewish
 because winters flow into springs
   and the air clears after a storm
 because only my love for you
   despite the charms of gravity
   keeps me from falling off this Earth
   into another dimension
I love you
 because it is the natural order of things

I love you
 like the habit I picked up in college
   of sleeping through lectures
   or saying I'm sorry
   when I get stopped for speeding
 because I drink a glass of water
   in the morning
   and chain-smoke cigarettes
   all through the day
 because I take my coffee Black
   and my milk with chocolate
 because you keep my feet warm
   though my life a mess
I love you
 because I don't want it
   any other way.

I am helpless
 in my love for you
It makes me so happy
 to hear you call my name
I am amazed you can resist
 locking me in an echo chamber
 where your voice reverberates
 through the four walls
 sending me into spasmatic ecstasy
I love you
 because it's been so good
 for so long
 that if I didn't love you
 I'd have to be born again
 and that is not a theological statement
I am pitiful in my love for you

The Dells tell me Love
 is so simple
 the thought though of you
 sends indescribably delicious multitudinous
 thrills throughout and through-in my body
I love you
 because no two snowflakes are alike
 and it is possible
 if you stand tippy-toe
 to walk between the raindrops
I love you
 because I am afraid of the dark
   and can't sleep in the light
 because I rub my eyes
   when I wake up in the morning
   and find you there
 because you with all your magic powers were
   determined that
I should love you
 because there was nothing for you but that
I would love you

I love you
 because you made me
   want to love you
 more than I love my privacy
   my freedom   my commitments
     and responsibilities
I love you 'cause I changed my life
 to love you
 because you saw me one friday
   afternoon and decided that I would
love you
I love you I love you I love you

Daffodils by William Wordsworth

I wander'd lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky Way,

They stretch'd in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Daily

She hurts daily
so much more than you ever knew
and they fight weekly
the same fight every time
and it follows along the same lines
she cries on the hour,
yes, every hour of everyday
and every year they draw closer
he's killing her soul away

the underworld

Underneath the world
There’s a place
Where evil goes
to gently hide
Comes and leaves
As it would please
Satan himself

The world unfolds
Underneath the sky
The world is black
And doesn’t care
About sin or death

Underneath the sky
There’s you and I
Fighting for the
Right to stand up
Against evil
Fighting for the win
A fight we’ll die within

Underneath the world
When everything unfolds
There’s a place under the sky
Made perfect for you and I

killing him

My intention was only
To kill him through poetry
Surely and slowly.
My intention wasn’t to
Hurt him physically
My thoughts and words
Last longer
with my pen
I can
beat him down harder
My intention wasn’t to hurt him,
My intention was to kill him slowly
Through my words
Through my poetry

fear

You’ve probably never feared something so much
That it made you want to die
When you see a picture of it
Your eyes begin to cry
Your whole body tenses up
It’s not just
A spider or a scream
a reaction
Of petty childhood nightmares
But it’s a fear so great
It causes despair
You numb up inside
But somehow you still care
It shakes everything
you thought you believed in
It changes the way that you see things
A fear that your whole life is based upon
Without it you couldn’t go on

wishes

If wishes were fishes
Then I’d have an ocean
To float in
I’d go any and everywhere
Cause if wishes were fishes
I’d have time to spare

If noses were roses
The world would be a garden
A soft place where hearts unharden
Beautifying everything
And all the world would be green

If thoughts were worth pennies
Then I’d wish that you would think of me
And someday in my arms you’d be
For forever and eternity

If eyes were like starshine
And you could be all mine
Then wishes wouldn’t need to be fishes
And noses could be posies or anything else
They wished to be
I wouldn’t need oceans to float in
Cause I’d have your arms wrapped around me
The world would be a garden and
the hearts would be unhardened
by the love that they would see
The love in your heart
For me

big hearts

Someone once told me
That big hearts break easily
That was before you broke mine

You once told me
That big hearts love easily
That was before you left me

Someone once told me
That big hearts:
Beat stronger
Fall farther

Love harder

That was before
I realized that no matter
how much pain you inflict
Upon me
I will always have room
In my big heart
for you

The Bee Box by Lowell Parker

In this small box, my love,
you'll not find a ring,
but instead, a brave little bee.
He'll be dead by morn, having given his life
defending his flowers against me.
I felt his sting
while picking the small, purple pansies
growing wild along the roadside,
in hopes of an afternoon bouquet for you.
And I grieved the sting,
more for him than me,
knowing full well the price he paid
for my small pain.
And I allowed him his victory,
leaving his flowers as a memory,
and brought you instead
this brave little bee,
who proves there is love
even in the smallest
of things.

April: National Poetry Month

April is national poetry month, so during the last week or so of April make sure you get some reading in or writing if you are so inclined.
Also, here's an idea from poets.org : National Poetry Month is about sharing and celebrating the wonder of poetry, and what better way to do this than by putting poetry in a public place? Go one step beyond hopscotch squares and write a poem in chalk on your sidewalk!

Pick a favorite line from a poem and choose a clean piece of sidewalk or pavement to write on. You can search for a poem on Poets.org or check your bookshelf for an old favorite. Use bright colored chalk to attract attention to your work, and add drawings or artistic flourishes to create some extra fun. Passersby will pause to read the lines and you'll have put a little poetry into someone's path.

11 seconds

Eleven seconds left on the clock
Time goes so much slower now
And you hold your breath
And wait for the shot
Pulling your hair out
Crossing your fingers
All you’ve got now is
Just a prayer
2 points away
Winning or losing
2 points is the difference
And there’s no in between
You are left
Either screaming joyful victory
Or leaving the stadium
Empty handed

knock twice

Love knocks twice
Then enters slowly
A woman’s voice heard
Talking softly

Love knocks twice
And closes the door gently
After it leaves
Taking the biggest and smallest
parts of me

More Picasso

“The world today doesn't make sense, so why should I paint pictures that do?”
-Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”

I Love You by Sara Teasdale

When April bends above me
And finds me fast asleep,
Dust need not keep the secret
A live heart died to keep.

When April tells the thrushes,
The meadow-larks will know,
And pipe the three words lightly
To all the winds that blow.

Above his roof the swallows,
In notes like far-blown rain,
Will tell the little sparrow
Beside his window-pane.

O sparrow, little sparrow,
When I am fast asleep,
Then tell my love the secret
That I have died to keep.

Pablo Picasso

“Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again. And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are? We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? You must work, we must all work, to make the world worthy of its children.”
-Pablo Picasso

undone

I’ve got my hands in my pockets
And a puddle full of rain
You say that you're sorry
But I don’t feel a thing

I’ve got a pocket full of clouds
That cover up the sun
The words you said made it all
Come undone

written by TMK

Rain

Today I was at the mall waiting for a friend when I overheard this lady say to one of the ladies working that they were waiting on the rain to stop. I thought about it for a few minutes and came to a sort of odd conclusion about it. Why would you wait for the rain to stop? like it's some sort of bad thing? So i walked over to the door to watch it fall, continuing to wait for the arrival of my friend, and I debating going outside and just standing in it. Letting it wash me clean and renew me, dancing in it and embracing it. As I sat there waiting and debating a lady walked in with her two kids, not realizing that I was waiting on someone to come in instead of waiting to go out, she said to me "It's a good thing you're waiting here, you don't want to be out in that" and I wanted so badly to reply "Yes, in fact, all of my wishes right now are to be out there in the pouring rain", but I held my tongue and didn't say anything. I thought long and hard about how if I wasn't waiting on my friend I would surely be running through the rain or playing basketball in it barefoot. I wanted to throw my arms out wide and just be open and let it just wash over me. But i was stuck inside, and as I stood there I starting thinking about my life and how I hope that I don't run for cover every time it rains. I hope that I can embrace my problems as easily as I embrace the rain. I would encourage you to do the same, not to run for cover when you start encountering problems, but to throw your arms out wide and embrace them, knowing that they might wash you clean, but also knowing that you will grow from it.

You Fit Into Me by Margaret Atwood

You fit into me
like a hook into an eye

A fish hook
An open eye

Edit: A little bit of an odd poem here. It was first shown to me by my good friend Deanna. I didn't understand it at first. It seemed really crude to say that someone fit you like a fish hook to your eye. Somehow eventually though I started to understand where Atwood was coming from. Yes, her poem is short and there isn't a lot to draw from, but she uses a concrete idea. I've seen this poem take quite a beating on several people's blogs and I'd like to change that. This poem is about ultimate pain. The pain that results when someone you love hurts you, possibly the pain in this poem was mutual. I'd like to commend the fact that she keeps the poem short, she gets straight to her point without decorating her ideas. I also like the fact that she first explains that he fits her like a hook to the eye and then expands on that idea by telling what kind of hook and that the eye is wide open. It's a crude poem, and it might have even made you wince the first time you saw it, but it's a very important to look past the metaphors and into the passion and ideas that are present. She has a lot of passion for this person and for her topic, whether her passion is bitter or otherwise, and the passion makes the poetry. This poem is a classic piece of poetry, I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

a heart

When I walk
I trip over invisible things
And I wear your heart on my neck
A treasure above all other things.


written by TMK

Resignation by Nikki Giovanni

I love you
because the Earth turns around the sun
because the North wind blows north
sometimes
because the Pope is Catholic
and most Rabbis Jewish
because winters flow into springs
and the air clears after a storm
because only my love for you
despite the charms or gravity
keeps me from falling off this Earth
into another dimension

I love you
because it is the natural order of things

I love you
like the habit I picked up in college
of sleeping through lectures
or saying I'm sorry
when I get stopped for speeding
because I drink a glass of water
in the morning
and chain-smoke cigarettes
all through the day
because I take my coffee Black
and my milk with chocolate
because you keep my feet warm
though my life a mess
I love you
because I don't want it
any other way

I am helpless
in my love for you

It makes me so happy
to hear you call my name
I am amazed you can resist
locking me in an echo chamber
where your voice reverberates
through the four walls
sending me into spasmatic ecstasy
I love you
because it's been so good
for so long
that if I didn't love you
I'd have to be born again
and that is not a theological statement
I am pitiful in my love for you

The Dells tell me Love
is so simple
the thought though of you
sends indescribably delicious multitudinous
thrills throughout and through-in my body
I love you
because no two snow flakes are alike
and it is possible
if you stand tippy-toe
to walk between the raindrops
I love you
because I am afraid of the dark
and can't sleep in the light
because I rub my eyes
when I wake up in the morning
and find you there
because you with all your magic powers were
determined that
I should love you
because there was nothing for you but that
I would love you
I love you
because you made me
want to love you
more than I love my privacy
my freedom my commitments
and responsibilities
I love you 'cause I changed my life
to love you
because you saw me one Friday
afternoon and decided that I would
love you
I love you I love you I love you

Edit: This poem has been my favorite for a long time now. I love how Giovanni plays with her words and somehow comes up with a concrete concept of what love is. Her words are soft but her message is clear and defined. She relates her love to simple everyday activities, "I love you [ ] because I take my coffee black", and manages to make her love sound like the most romantic thing on the earth. I love this poem, it never fails to make me smile.

ramblings

What if every road I took
Took me further
Further away
Away from the places I loved
Loved to walk through in the spring
Spring rain falling on the streets
Streets filled with the people I love
I love you

What if every step I took
Took me further
Further from the things that I need
I need to hold you

written by TMK

Wading

You call with mixed signals
Like a broken lighthouse
I’m not sure whether to stay on the shore
Or to wade into the deep
I need a truthful answer
Like the sirens who tempted Odysseus
You need to call to me steadily
And bring me in hypnotically
I need to know if you love me
So I can wade into the deep
The lightning hits the ground
And the thunder is here now
The waters call to me restlessly
But I’m waiting on you
I need to know if you’ll save me
When I’m drowning
To death at sea
I need to know that you’ll save me
To wade into the deep

written by TMK

tears

Tears
are the pure clean blood of my heart
my stomach drops
my heart stops
and the blood comes rushing out my eyes.

written by TMK