The end is so close
that I can reach out and touch
the hands of the clock,
tick-tocking away this last class.
A day more of typing
the degree will be done.
This stage of the journey complete,
where will I go from here?
poem-moment June 15, 2016
In a moment
everything she thought she’d be
was sliced away.
In a moment
simple expectations yielded
to new arrays.
In a moment
opportunity seized her hand
to her dismay.
In a moment
foolish disappointments
were child’s play.
In a moment
her entire future was pulled
onto a new pathway.
poem-calendars June 13, 2016
Day by day,
week by week,
month by month,
year by year,
Perpetual motion
marks our lives,
cradle to grave.
Recto, verso,
each a new start
toward the inevitable,
inexorable,
final page.
poem-see June 12, 2016
See the twisting silence
weaving between them;
pursed lips, downcast eyes,
See their knot tighten
further together, closer apart.
poem- broken May 25, 2016
If the broken pieces
didn’t blind him,
cripple him,
impale him,
perhaps he’d be free
to see her pain.
And seeing, to embrace it,
tame it, and more–
for her to show him
what she knows,
that slivers can be pulled,
that slats can be hammered,
that broken pieces can grow into crutches,
that the cracks of fractures
can be patched into a quilt
for a bed of nails.
Oh, he is broken, but
Comfort is where you find it.
poem- Star people May 24, 2016
We are all made of star dust
but some of us
are less star
than dust.
Star people cause ripples
in our complacency
raise our eyes
to skies.
poem-pain May 23, 2016
Take that moment of your greatest pain
and channel it into power.
Stare down the darkness and bend it to your will.
Use it to transform words
into a hydro station of energy
that transforms worlds.
poem-realities May 4, 2016
It’s hard to love you
when you shred me,
slice my skin on the sharp tips
of those needle teeth.
It’s hard to love you
when you track mud,
make puddles, and leave
stinking pellets behind you.
It’s hard to love you
but your eyes twinkle,
and your tail wags
and you keep trying to climb into my lap
It’s hard to love you
but the hard things are worthwhile.
I’m building a love story
with training and time.
poem- bloom May 3, 2016
There is a certain futility
in buds blooming in a vase,
but undeniable beauty
bursting open without hope
of bearing fruit.
Shawn L. Bird 