STRANGER IN THE DARKNESS (Day #15 - "Stranger _____"

Stranger in the darkness
Goosebumps on my skin
Picking up the pace now
Checking my phone again.

One more block to get there
Should know better than to roam
Out in the dark all by myself
When I could be safe at home.

I'm sure the stranger is someone
Just out and about like me
But I'm not taking chances on
Someone that I can't see.

Pull my keys out of my pocket,
Quickly open up my door
Get in and shut it, lock it tight
Not worried any more.

Well...much.


Caren E. Salas

THE "COOL" KIDS (#19 Cool or Uncool)

The cool kids tease and call her names

Trip her walking down the hall

Knock over books, pull her hair

Laugh at her should she fall.

The cool kids talk behind her back

Spreading rumors around the school

I think these kids really need to learn

A better definition of  "cool".

Caren E. Salas

Photo: Huffington Post - Getty Images.

SOMETHING WRONG (#11 a "defensive poem")

There's something very wrong here
Something not quite right

When a bullied child in self defense
Is rebuked for "joining" the fight;

When a victim's life is opened wide
And instead of comforted, shamed,
Insulted atop the injury
Belittled, mocked and blamed.

How do we alter hundreds of years
Of Survival of the Cruel?
It's time to change some attitudes.
It's time to break some rules.

Apparently it's easy to say
"Toughen up, you'll be fine"
Rather than taking action,
To eliminate the crime.

There's something very wrong here;
Something so absurd.
But being a girl myself, it seems
I likely won't be heard.


Caren E. Salas




Photo: http://bullyingpreventionnow.com/bullying-assemblies/high-school-bullying-assemblies/
Also, check this out! http://www.pennlive.com/news/2016/06/high_school_valedictorian_skip.html

All Too Familiar

Appointments

Procedures

It all seems

Familiar

But this time

It's not me

I wish though

It could be

I don't want 

To see her

...in pain.

More blood work

The needles

The waiting

For hours

The meds and

The diets

Won't know 'til

We try it

I don't want 

Her going

...insane.

It's all

Inconclusive

Frustrating

Confusing

More doctors

Re-testing

It's hard just

Digesting

The answers

Seem so hard

...to find.

So we go

On waiting

What seems like

Forever

I hope that

She makes it

I hope I 

Can take it

I feel like 

I'm losing

....my mind.

Caren E. Salas

Runaway Train

                               My eyes are wide open, my hair is a mess,                                 

My blankets are tangled; can't escape from my bed.  

But the worst part is knowing despite my distress,

And I can't stop the runaway train in my head.

I'm feeling hung over, but had nothing to drink.

I expect to find shrapnel of my brains all around,

Left behind when due to unexpected ignition

My head just exploded, without making a sound.

Still the train keeps on coming, increasing in speed.

Filled with freight cars heavy with worries and fears;

And I'm tied to the tracks like the Perils of Me

Damn Pauline didn't show up, yet the audience cheers.

Was it something I said, or forgot to include?

Did I remember to lock the front door late last night?

There's the long list of things I still have to do.

Did I mess something up? Can I still make it right?

My thoughts are as tangled as the blankets and sheets

That are holding me hostage, twisted up in my bed.

The whistle is blowing; with no rescue in sight

And I can't stop the runaway train in my head.

Caren E. Salas

Photo: "Little Phil and the Nightshadows" Perils of Pauline  youtube.com

A JOB THAT I HATED (Day 9 - Work)

Long ago, before

The beginning of the end

Every day I'd go

To a job that I hated

Waiting for the week to end.

Now each day I fight

Struggling just to stay alive

And I miss my life

And that job that I hated

Waiting for the world to end.

Caren E. Salas

TRUTH OR DARE (Day 8 - Dare)

Truth or dare
A child's game of chance
Reveal yourself, or take a risk
Does anybody really win?
Tell me, are you,
Afraid of the dark?
Do you fear tomorrow
And what lies ahead?
Do you remember how to dream?
Do you remember how to cry?
Have you anything to hide?

I dare you:
Go outside.


Caren E. Salas