Erased

I'm still here

But you can't see me

Closed your eyes

So I'll go away.

I'm still here

But you won't hear me

Turned your back

To what I say.

I'm still here

Though I'm deleted

Marked and cut

Without a paste.

I'm still here

But I don't exist

Because to you

I've been erased.

Caren E. Salas

Just a Dream

Sometimes I think

It was just a dream

Another life

Me, imagining.

My dancing shoes

Have gathered dust

My singing voice 

Is a little rusty.

My body is tired.

My song is sad;

A quiet echo

Of what once I had.

But still I try

No giving in,

Discouraged by

What could have been.

It may not end 

The way I planned,

But I'm on my feet

And I can make a stand.

And if I can stand,

Then I can dance.

Another show.

Another chance.

I refuse to quit.

No surrendering,

And never stop

Remembering...

That once I thought

It was just a dream

Another life

Me, imagining.

Caren E. Salas

Photo: CSUDH  "A Chorus Line" 1988