I Need Your Love

I need your love
To strike my cuffs.
To break me free
Might help me be me
More openly.

I need your love
To feel love
Because I don't know
What I've been missing
To make these empty words
Mean something.

I need your love
To make my feelings
Have meaning
Instead of clinging
To these lies
Open my eyes
Please hear my cries
I need you now.

Run Away

He tried to flee
From a family including me
But I hardly felt included.
Everyone seems to leave
Instead of breathe
And stay
And not give up so easily.
It's so easy to run away
But they never stay
Unless they're forced.
All I can do is pray
But it's hard to pray
When you're scared someone might leave today.
And next time you fear there might be no delay
To their scurrying away.

I'm Caught

I'm caught
With my
Mind chasing
These racing
Thoughts.

When I'm a little
Under the weather
And need to get it together
Then I call on my God,
My Father,
And everything
Gradually gets better.

Erased

Everything is dripping
Like these tears down my face
Running a race.
I don't know if this is the case,
For why feelings can
Feel like a waste
But my head seems misplaced.
I can't focus.
These memories are erased
From a child long forgotten.

Proverbs 27:17

Sharp stone
Sharp clothes
Sharp mind
Sharp line
Sharp looks
Sharp turn
Sharp iron
Sharper friends.

So You Want To Be A Writer?

You have to be ready

For words to flood your mind

Like a tsunami

Drowning you in ideas.

But you have to be ready

For droughts.

Every time you sit down to write

Nothing comes.

You have to be ready

To go out into the world.

To find inspiration.

To end the drought,

And flood your mind.

Screaming So Loud You Can't Hear Me

Screaming in my head

Avoids my mouth

So you can’t hear me.

Trying to force

My voice out

Seems impossible

When you don't hear me.

Screaming brushing over

Your head

Trying to tell you what I need.

But you won’t hear me.

Falling Frozen

Help.

I’m falling

Frozen

Underneath your feet,

I’m drowning

Hoping you might see me.

But not just see me

But save me.

Help,

The current is pulling me back.

Not just the current pulling me

But the current thoughts in my head.

They are dragging me under.

Help.

I’m falling

Frozen.

Snow

Drifting

Lingering

Surviving

Enclosed behind a sheet of glass,

I am unable to dance with flakes of white

As I did as a child.

Now trapped behind school doors,

Creativity is crushed.

As pressure builds on students,

Most are blinded to endless possibilities.

2017

Cool crisp air

Stings my lungs.

Fireworks burst

Horns blare

Noisemakers pop.

A new year starts

As another ends.

A new year to start over

Once more.

Fresh starts,

New ideas,

New year.

Foreign Test

She thought I wasn't done

I did as much as I could understand.

I don't know those simple words.

I don't know much of

What the test

Is asking of me.

I wrote what I knew.

I can't handle viewing

The demolisher of confidence

Once more.

I did as much as I knew.

I can't do much more.

I want to do well,

Though I fear I

Am unable to show

What I know.

I might never know

What I know.

The Never Ending Wait

Waiting for another

Name to be called,

Sometime in a year

My name will be called.

People with various expressions

See their tests,

While I wait for mine.

2nd Chance

Clamped hands

Interlocked,

Frozen.

Pressure,

Pressure,

Pressure.

Talking this time,

But not speaking.

2nd chance,

And I still blew it.

Enough

I sit here

Holding back my tears.

I don't understand this.

I will never understand this.

I have accomplished nothing.

But as I peer over

My stacks of homework,

I see my binder.

In it has papers and

Essays,

Worksheets and

Lessons.

"I have made progress."

It's slow but steady,

And I am learning much.

I can't know everything,

But I know enough.

Dare to Inspire

If we were told

We are appreciated,

The world could be changed

For the better.

We can't assume

People think we are important.

Many haven't heard

They are inspiring.

Inspiring?

Important?

Appreciated?

Motivating?

That can't be me.

So say it.

Tell someone you think

They are important.

Dare to inspire.

You may change their day,

Week,

Or life,

Around.

Roller Coaster

Roller coaster

Through my brain.

The ride never

Comes to an end.

Once it hits the clouds,

It comes crashing down

To the land beneath.

It's a never-ending,

Draining,

Frustrating,

Ride.

My mind

Spins

Until I finally

Collapse.

The Mask

The stresses of home

School

And work.

Everything disappears

When her mask is on.

She puts on

That smiling mask

Every day.

But eventually,

It's too much; 

Too exhausting

To pretend anymore.

The mask is found
Just as she gets to school.

She walks around
With her head hung low
Concealed in black.

No one knows her
When her mask
Is on.

America Library of Poetry Submission

I have a favor to ask you. I am entering into the America Library of Poetry national contest. I need help deciding which poem to submit. Please let me know which one you think I should submit. I love you all and thank you for your help. These are the poems I'm thinking of:

Who is the Real You?

Labels are stuck

On each one of us.

They discriminate.

Alienate.

Separate.

Jock.

Nerd.

Disabled.

Rich.

Poor.

What are the labels

That matter?

Labels that build up,

Bring people together.

Christian.

Poet.

Student.

Friend.

Volunteer.

Put assumptions aside.

Get to know a person

For it's surprising what you might find.

Fallen Tree

Fallen tree

Once so beautiful,

Lay on the ground

For no one to see.

Fallen tree

Once stood tall,

Lay in the shadow

Still a mystery.

Fallen tree

Once loved so,

Still gives off

A hidden glow.

Enough

Disappointment streams down my face

In the form of tears.

Disappointed in myself,

My choices.

It seems I can

Never get it

Just, 

Right.

I'm trying so hard,

But it's never enough,

I try to be better,

But I'm never enough!

I feel the need

To prove myself.

That I'm better than this.

I don't know what's wrong with me.

I'm never good enough.

No point in being disappointed in me,

That spot is already taken,

By me.

Absent

Buckling under stress,

I'm drowning in tests,

Assignments,

And work.

Pressure to be

The perfect student.

It's draining.

Gone so much

I can't control it.

I break down in tears

Flowing down my cheeks

In streams.

"I can't handle it,

All this pressure.

It's too much for me to handle."

Writing.

The only thing that

Calms me.

Slows my thoughts.

Helps me think.

"I'm trying to catch up!"

But it's never good enough.

Another wave of work

Comes crashing down

On my sanity.

Abby

Awesome

Beautiful

Bold

worthY

The Power of Knowledge

What if we knew each other

Like we knew ourselves?

Wouldn't there be less conflict?

Less hatred?

And if we knew ourselves?

Less self hatred?

More confidence?

Belief we are worth it?

If we truly knew ourselves,

We could have

More willingness to improve

Our strengths

And weaknesses.

Kaylie

Kind
Authentic
extraordinarY
Lively
Inspiring
Empathetic

Dana

Dependable
Amazing
Nice
Accepting

Lauren

Loyal
Artistic
Unique
Reliable
Empathetic
Nice