SAMPLES

“Sunday mornings”

09.2018

A time when things were so simple

Oh I wish I could go back to

When Sunday mornings were a joy

And the week ahead wasn’t a dread

When naïveté and curiosity fueled my quest

When I didn’t have to try so hard to do my best

I wish I could go back to that sweet little blueberry bush we used to take care of

And nurture with love enough to make homemade muffins

A time when the world was simple and happy

I wonder if the family living in my childhood home is taking care of that bush like my dad and I did

“Sealant”

02.26.2019

Past relationships built a wall around my heart

Each tear sealing the cement around a brick wall

Enclosing within this fragile heart of mine

And oh I’m so scared to let you be the wrecking ball

“Exhibit A: Special Edition”

03.03.2022

You’re my favorite exhibit in this art museum we call love

A gallery boasting only pieces of the utmost standard

as tribute to every beautiful memory

(both previously made and that which is to come)

Each piece, however, captures only but a glimpse

Surrendering to emotion,

I find myself captivated by the most endearing acrylic piece,

painted with such delicacy and mounted by the most exquisite frame

as my heart overflows with every feeling I’ve yet to find words for, that—more often than not—simply translating into the most beautiful tears

(assuming such words exist in the first place)

Undoubtedly, I’m mesmerized by how the emotion portrayed within

a mere collection of brushstrokes swiftly stole my waning heart so effortlessly

making no plans for future return

and then held it so gently as to restore its vitality,

welcoming a life seen in vibrant hues once again

They say a picture is worth a thousand words

But even that many would unjustly describe

the flame that surprisingly felt like home

the moment I first laid eyes on you

Irregardless of the outcome,

(be it time lost in fascination of such beauty or even the happiest of ever afters)

stumbling upon art that touches the depths of your soul

and the parts of you once thought to be dead

catalyzes a resurrection to welcome a life so full of blessings

that every day feels like a dream

And all I can do is help but wonder,

“Was it mere serendipity that our paths crossed or was it fate all along?”

In a class on it own and uncontested by its sheer essence,

my favorite exhibit in the art museum of our love

will last eternity and then forever more.

As my pen so eagerly seeks to share our story

(attempting to recreate with limited inventory)

and my heart clings dearly the sweetest details

(so carefully intertwined)

//this piece of artwork that is our love

has transcended time to become immortal

in this picture perfect memory of mine//

“As the leaves turned brown”

09.14.2022

Inconsistency, conflict, and conditional love all seem to characterize my childhood

All but leaving me with individual pieces somehow fit together to form what I call to be "self”

Romanticizing abuse serves no justice, because nothing is beautiful about:

Hearing your jaw pop at the hand of your mother, curled up in the kitchen floor.

Falling asleep to the sounds of conflict, reaching deep within you for the courage to stay hidden and forget about your fear of the dark.

Harboring resentment for the one who made “home" a place you felt unwelcome.

Feeling like the world might even possibly be a better place without you in it.

There is nothing beautiful about watching the leaves turn brown, wishing so deeply that you too could drift away with them.

However, there is something beautiful about resiliency and so remarkable about the strength required to remove the blinders once considered "reality". Something so liberating to see clearly such pain that ran through and through.

There is something beautiful about the compassion that is prerequisite to understanding the forms harmless intention can assume when disguised merely as bad habits and poor coping skills.

(everyone is good and only harmful when submerged into the icy waters of survival mode)

Only after experiencing a deeply transformative love––fully, ever pure, unconditional love––can I see the silver lining that was so cleverly hidden.

A love that challenged my pre-existing concept of self and showed me how beautiful life after forgiveness has the potential to be

A love that welcomed a deeper appreciation of all that has happened to me

Only now am I able to move forward and understand what it truly means to see