AprPAD Day 23 Prompt: Social______

SOCIAL AWKWARDNESS 

I often feel like 

An outsider looking in,

Not allowed to talk.

I'm not supposed to be there; 

Maybe I should just go home.

Caren E. Salas

THE FLOWERS

The grounds keeper said we might as well take
The flowers; he'd be throwing them away.
So we did. Every bloom and bud we could
That wasn't crushed, spent, damaged or broken.
We gathered them gently into our arms
And took them home where we put them in jars,
Vases, bottles arranging them as well
As we could. The flowers brought color back
Into what had been a very gray week
And a bit of light into our dark times.

Now, as each day passes, more flowers fade;

Petals dropping silently, leaves drooping.

Maybe we can dry the roses, maybe

We can press some of them into a book. 

If we lay them in the garden, might seeds

Take root and in the Spring grow back again? 

Anything to keep these flowers alive,

To make them last a little bit longer. 

Because while I still have the flowers here,

I won't really have to tell her good-bye.

 

Caren E. Salas

.

THE WORDS HAVE LEFT ME

The words have left me, so it seems

Packed their bags with broken dreams

They used to stay with me all night

Make sense of things, and hold me tight

But now they're gone, just not around

I'm open-mouthed, without a sound

I've seen the face of love in pain

And a light that's drowning, in ceaseless rain

I'm left with an empty and aching heart

Seeing those I love, now torn apart

The words have left me high and dry

I try to speak but only cry.

Caren E. Salas

ALL RIGHT (#24 Prompt: Lost and Regained)

True, we had lost touch
But when I heard that she was gone
Without a good-bye
And no forwarding address
Nothing about it felt right.

Years passed and often
I wondered what had happened
It wasn't like her
But sometimes we lose out minds
When we're following our hearts.

One day, she was back
She worried I'd be angry
But no, not a chance
I have my friend back again
And everything is all right.


Caren E. Salas

FAMILY (#21 prompt: a poem that communicates with a previous poem)

I miss you

I hope you're happy

Yes, I'm mad

And I'm hurt

I can't believe you'd forget

We were family.

Caren E. Salas

MY FRIEND... (#20 Prompt: what goes unsaid)

What I should have said

Doesn't realy matter now

What I could have said

Nothing I can do about

Can only keep missing you.

Caren E. Salas

Fade to Black - #2 He said/she said

Good night

Is all she said

Turned off the light

And went to bed.

I love you

He whispered back

Closed his eyes

Fade to black.

Caren E Salas

A Day Late and a Poem Short

Somehow, I completely lost track of April. Yes, pretty much the entire month has disappeared from memory. I did go on a cruise the first week of the month, but after that...it's all a blur. I sort of remember unpacking, and trying to catch up on the bills and housework, but other than that....things get fuzzy..And now, here it is: the end of May.

So unfortunately I missed Robert Lee Brewer's Poem a Day Challenge for National Poetry Month which was almost two months ago. At first I thought "Awe, man! I blew it!" But then I realized, that I can still look up Mr. Brewer's prompts and I can still write a poem every day for a month. Well, I can try anyway. So here I go. Hopefully you will join me for the ride. I'll try and keep up.

The first prompt was to write a "Foolish Poem". There's something about that word that sort of bothers me. I don't mind the occasional surprise that makes you jump, or a silly rubber spider in your cereal, but for a person to purposely set another person up to make them feel stupid, seems hurtful, and alienating.  So...here's my post for a "Foolish" poem:

THE FOOL

No one wants to play the fool

The butt of jokes, the target

In a dart game, the bullseye

Talked and laughed about by all

Who need to put down others

In order to raise themselves.

Caren E. Salas

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

EXTINCT (Day 21 - Who I am/Who I am not)

I am endangered
Still living but moving toward
Extinction, fighting
Everyday against all odds
In a world filled with horror.

Each day the number
Of undead is increasing
My chances are slim
And my hopes of survival
Fade into the toxic air.


Caren E. Salas

EMPTY (Day 17 - swing)

There are no children to swing

On the swing-set; it just swings

In the wind. Ching...ching...the links

Ring as they sway, no more kids

Remain to play on the slide

Or ride on the red horses

Mounted on enormous springs.

Ching...ching...the links ring and sway

In the wind like strange music

Echoing in the empty

Playground where once the sweet sound

Of children's laughter was heard.

Caren E. Salas

LONELY (Day 15 - pick an adjective and make it the title.)

All of us have lost someone

Some of us have lost all

Together we journey

We're the walking wounded

The lost and lonely ones.

Caren E. Salas

Heath #28

We couldn't believe
The news on the radio
So sad he was gone.


Caren E. Salas











prompt  #28: "news"
photo: billabout.com

I'll Never Know #20

I'll never know how good of friends
We could have one day been
I'll never know the dreams you had
Or see your smiling face again.
I'll never know if you'd have liked
The story that I penned,
Yet just from my description
You swore you'd recommend.
You left too soon, so suddenly
No time for me to try
To let you know how much you meant
Or even say good-bye.


Caren E. Salas




Prompt #20 "I'll never..." This poem is for my friend Lori Eget. We met on a vacation and were instant friends. She seemed to have that effect on people. You met her and just felt like you'd known her forever.  Then one day I found out she had passed away. Her family didn't know me well enough to notify me, so I missed whatever service there might have been. I think about her all the time and wonder how our friendship might have grown, but I'll never know...

No Excuse #19

There's
No
Excuse
Good enough
For walking away,
The way you walked away from her.

Caren E. Salas



Prompt # 19 An "excuse" poem

My Long Lost Life Long Friend - Day 2 (NOVPAD)

It was strange.

One day she was gone;

My best friend

Confidant

Left no forwarding address,

Just a question mark.

The years passed,

And then suddenly

She was back!

All was good,

'Cause my long lost life long friend

Found her way back home.

Caren E. Salas

Today's prompt was a "together again" poem. Sometimes things happen in our lives that are beyond our control, but if we're really lucky, life has a way of restoring things.

I'm Already There

Sometimes I'm sure that I'm already there
In some sort of hell, though I'm unsure of where.
And I'm forced to endure my life over again
In events and experiences that I never win.
And just when I figure, this time I can't fail
There's a glitch in the system, a tear in the sail.
Back to the starting gate, scratched off the list,
I aimed straight for the target, but fumbled and missed.
But for some unknown reason, I keep playing the game
Though I know that the outcome is always the same.
Sometimes I'm sure that I'm already gone
To some sort of hell, still compelled to go on.

Caren E. Salas

Photo by William Salas

Lost Me

I'm lost

Not because I wandered off

Pretty sure

I was misplaced

Set aside

Somewhere safe

Only no one thought

To remember

Exactly where

I'm out of sight

Out of mind

The dust collects

So does the time but I

Just wait

For a sign

For a sound

For someone

To find me

And clear the dust off me

Maybe even

The someone

Who lost me.

Caren E. Salas