truth

Doors

/ lovizmytrio / Leave a comment

absenteeism
shuffles in a class bully
to begin my day

meeting turned sour
by news of favorite students
choosing other schools

(but i don’t blame them
after my reception here
and structure-less rules)

lunch: a cruel email
brings sixty minutes on hold
all for eight digits

if i had those numbers
for what i should earn each day
this wouldn’t matter

dean’s accusation
ends my locked-door afternoon
loss, theft, and questions

at home, door swings wide
my baby with arms open
smile bright as birth

we draw skating paths
multicolored chalk, sunsets
stress melts into love

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Sonnet for Equality

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Modeled after “Sonnet XVIII” by William Shakespeare

Sonnet for Equality

Shall I compare you to a summer’s dream?
You are permanent in the public’s view
In this new world things can sometimes seem
As fair as fair can be if they ask you
But we all know that you don’t always shine
As bright as King summoned under His light
And with the devil, time oft stays behind
And souls oft forget to fight the good fight
Your absence makes a death toll hard to bear
When those in charge can only summon hate
Yet I know deep down you will always care
For humans who would like to change their fate
Equality, I ask for sweet returns
Into hearts seeking solace for their burns

Sobriety is Counted Sweetest

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Modeled after “Success is Counted Sweetest” by Emily Dickinson

Sobriety is counted sweetest
by those who never drink
to never know that poison
would allow you always think

Not one of all the drinkers
would admit that this is true
The devil’s tongue inside the drink
is what gives them joy anew

But if you’ve saved your soul
and avoided all the bars
You’ll have a peaceful life
and not toast your soul to stars

Underground

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we’ll never be friends
i mean, she’s just too damn rich
(she’s so nice, i think)

but conversations
that end play dates in our ‘hood
put us in our place

it’s finally done!
it took so long to finish!
now the kids can play!

(unrelated: us
two basement woes, money lost
to floods and landlords)

million-dollar homes
do not need finished basements
but she won’t see that

and we’ll never talk
beyond the superficial
(it’s kept underground)

now the kids can play
1000 square feet: more space
between us and them

Bent

/ lovizmytrio / Leave a comment

a mental illness
keeps his secret behind doors
his goal: expose her

but she’s not hiding.
this stigma needs to end. Now.
no more closets, please

she needs compassion
a face grinning with the truth
not a pack of lies

you see, she’s unpacked
the weight loss feels amazing
and eye-opening

if he could see it
he wouldn’t stigmatize her
rather, open doors

yet whispers bend us,
the burden of exposure
too oft hard to bear

if his berating
bends her toward the bottle now
he’s unforgiven

no handsome smile
can bend me back to his side
may her freedom sing

Games

/ lovizmytrio / Leave a comment

he scored seventeen
has a scholarship waiting
asks to leave class now

the minimum score?
twenty-one for survival
thirty-six: perfect

not even halfway
to the level of knowledge
for college-bound kids

but he’ll play football
that’s all that really matters
money, money, greed

meanwhile, i teach kids
who spend hours reading words
that will take them where?

the depth of a poem
the silence of acceptance
knowledge lost in games

Life. Uncorked.

/ lovizmytrio / Leave a comment

you’re coming back now
the truth lies behind bottles
wish i could break them

whispers and gossip
that you aren’t ready to face
the rest of your life

how will you swallow
whatever life’s bitter taste
and carry on, safe?

i would walk with you
but i think of empty rooms
how hollow life is

without a family
don’t know if you’re better off
(but i know they are)

all the same, it kills
i worry you’ll die like him
with bottle in hand

to keep it secret
no one will reach out to help
you burden yourself

we all burden this
this fear of speaking the truth
until lies kill us

let’s not speak of death
of morose new beginnings
i wish i’d brought hope

i would uncork it
let its elixir shape you
towards a drink-free life

Planning. To Not Plan.

/ lovizmytrio / Leave a comment

what secrets are found
in twenty years of letters?
and what dreams will come?

at sixteen, desperate
first love turmoil, heart crushed
i lived for friends, love

at twenty-six, scared
new baby, husband’s lost job
i lived on blind faith

now, thirty-six,
my life begins to balance
career, family… home??

sleep in which bed, house?
on which continent–east, west?
in whose arms–mine, his?

the letter will tell
my thirty-six-year-old goals
where my heart beats now

but heartbeats have wings
my girls will be all grown up
the world will change

i hope to keep up
with the childlike soul i dreamt
as a young lovebird

while at the same time
accepting life’s challenges
and… i can’t plan them

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Bask. Basque.

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Cartagena blues
teasing me with memories
soldier guarding life

here i am, snowbound
(silent beauty winter)
biting cold, warm home

i could take this pic
right there next to that palm tree
basque in Spain sun

but i am here now
family on every corner
tongue out for snowflakes

tasted continents
on either side of the sea
and i am home now

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Write of Passage

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our boots squeak with snow
light as sparkling feathers
quiet city streets

middle one agrees
to traipse in winter beauty
so much like her mom

this brings me to peace
from sleepless, sorrowful nights
my words lost, then found

like our snowy prints
only seen from right behind
otherwise ignored

my most precious gift
recorded for all my life
despised by loved ones

perhaps she will walk
behind my wordy footsteps
her write to escape

for now, quiet snow
i accept what i can’t change
and keep on writing

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