Now i lay me

i wake up from a dream

of a war that i have never been a part of

scratches on my arms from

running, chasing, hiding

an imaginary enemy

i am fighting

without weapons

without safety

without reason

the air conditioner hums and cools

 the beads of sweat on my brow

the hostile branches i realize

are just clingy sheets

i am surrendering

without fear

without aggression

without pain

 i allow the fatigue to overtake me
the luxury of protected sleep

enwraps me as a warm blanket

tonight i don't have to fight

because someone else is

without name

without recognition

without hesitating

          This is my first entry for Poetry Slam.  Thank you for listening.  Thank you for hearing.  Thank you for remembering.

this season

this season

means tulips pushing up defiantly

brazen icons of rebirth

wearing purple coats that refuse to bow

to a newborn bed of green

they signal the end of the silent gray

and the announce the first chords

of a jubilant song

telling the masses to rise to their feet

and get ready to dance

THis Little Piggy

I had a mom who tickled my toes

and let me squeeze her hand in the dentist's chair

and put notes in my lunchbox

and didnt yell at me too much when i accidentally lost my retainer

she was the first person i saw in the morning

and the last person i'd see before bed,

usually when she popped her head in my room

warning me to lay down and go to sleep or "else"

I had a mom who tickled my toes

and made treats for my class on my birthday

and always let me buy a book at Farmer Jack

and didnt yell at me too much when i left my retainer at Big Boy

she went on countless field trips

and would bring the soccer cleats i left at home

and lost countless hours of sleep

from the noise of 13 year old sleepovers

I had a mom who said "i love you"

in ways that resembled rice krispie treats and brownies

and would help me dig through the trash

when i accidentally threw my retainer away at school

even the piano lessons she made me take

were "good for me" i suppose

ill always be alright

because i had a mom who tickled my toes

Monster

Down a dark alley
I sprint--panting heavily
arms flailing
churning empty space
panic besieges my heart
chest tightens
constricting bands encircle
my fatigued lungs
echoes of footfalls
shake the night
and tilt the pavement underneath
wind rushing through my ears
as high pitched siren
precedes disaster
Shadows stab at my vision
shapes twisting up concrete walls
I dodge intensely to and fro
hot pain through my skull
drowning out all senses
run run run
run
run
run
     my body screams
 contracting muscles near collapse from the strain
       sweat is flung into the night
a corner approaching rapidly
swaying violently in time with my steps
down on the concrete i glance
look look look
look
look
look
      a silhouette grasping from behind me--
arms outstretched--
almost within reach--
it is him; Time--
and he is gaining. 

This was written for Poets United.  This week's theme was Monsters.