She sketched a picture of me

She sketched a picture of me,
quickly,
with sharp pencil marks
that stuck to my semblance
like darts

I looked like my father
when she was finished
and then I missed the family
we used to have

We used to be so beautiful
Our smiles as wide as
the picture frames
But now, when we say your name…

Well, we don’t use each other’s names anymore
But, remember when we used to?
That was nice, wasn’t it?

We used to go to Disney World every summer
in a RV for Christ sake!
Now look at us –
strangers we’d sit next to on the bus
and miss completely

It didn’t end so neatly
but then, it never does, does it?
I wish we could all sit in the TV room one more time,
and watch some Disney movie
that would bring us all back together again

We decided we’d tape over our memories instead
And see if the eternal sunshine was true,
In our spotless minds

Mirror

When I was a kid, I would look into the mirror when no one was home.
I looked until I wasn’t sure who I was.
Until I forgot about time.

I would look into the mirror and try to imagine myself when I got older.
I tried to imagine what an 18 year old me would look like.
I wondered if a 30 year old me would be successful.

I was fascinated by the feeling of looking into my own eyes,
And falling out of my head, almost as if I was fainting.

I don’t look at myself in the mirror like I used to.
When we get older, we just look in the mirror and convince ourselves
That we are handsome and pretty and worthy.

We tell ourselves those things because the world is screaming so loudly,
That we are ugly
and unfortunately, we all seem to believe that.

Just Like Everybody Else

Wait, am I just like
Everybody else?
I don’t hurt people,
Like everybody else.
Well, I hurt people a little,
Like everybody else.
But my heart’s real big, right?
Unlike everybody else.

Wait, am I just like
Everybody else?
I don’t steal, I don’t kill,
Like everybody else.
Well, I steal just a little,
Like everybody else.
But Facebook too crowded now,
Unlike everybody else.

Wait, am I just like
Everybody else?
I don’t get mad and hate,
Like everybody else.
Well, I hate just a little,
Like everybody else.
But I hate all the right ones,
Unlike everybody else.

Now I see, I’m just like
Everybody else.
I complain and I moan,
Like everybody else.
Well, maybe a bit more
Than everybody else.
But I think I’m the best,
And keep it all to myself.

-TS

A poem is a bad joke

A poem is a bad joke.
It’s all the effort of thoughtful writing,
Without the pay off.

A poem is a lazy novel.
It’s dumbed down and trivial,
Beneath the art of literature.

A poem needs melody.
Songwriters are like poets,
Except they have an audience.

A poem needs visuals.
People process with their eyes,
Really a painting is better.

Poetry is dead.
It was a form that lasted for a while,
Then vanished.

---

Unfunny, uneducated, deaf, and blind.
Still the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

A joke is her when she makes you laugh.
A novel is her full body of work.
A dance is her arms and legs moving.
A painting is her when she’s real quiet.

She dies every Friday and Saturday night.
But on Sunday, reborn! Cause I write her new life.
She dies on the sidewalk, she dies on the stage
But alive once again between the lines of this page.

She cannot stay dead, it’s not in her thick blood,
She much prefers life, than to lie in the mud.
I’ve held her in arms as she gave her last breath,
Resurrect her did I, saved her from death.

A poem, like a phoenix, is never quite dead.
A poem’s when the heart, sings to the head.
A poem, like a phoenix, is never quite dead.
A poem’s when the heart, sings to the head.

-TS

Other than me

It came in the mail.
A simple white envelope
containing one white card,
stating that you will be married
on the 21st of May on a farm
in Southwestern Ohio

to someone
other than me.

 

-TS