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

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

Weightless

The water is cold; 

Hard to get into sometimes,

But I push myself,

Closing my eyes, believing

For a while, that I'm...weightless.

Forgetting

I dropped the ball.
I let go of the string.
I had it down, I had it right;
But when the time came, everything...
Well, everything went out the window.
All the preparations seemed
To vanish in a fog.
How could it go
So very wrong?
So hard to pick myself back up;
Pieces of myself scattered
All over the place.
I made that leap of faith
But fell.
My self esteem has left the building;
Left with out a trace.
I blew the shot
I jumped the gun
Thinking way too much it seems;
Trying to remember, and forgetting...
Forgetting in the end...
To have fun.


Caren E. Salas


photo: www.oldnick.org.au

Counting Spoons

Twenty-four shiny measuring spoons

One for each hour of my day

How will I use them? What will I do?

Can't let them be wasted away.

Three to wake up, shower, get dressed

Taking my daughter to school: one more

Making my breakfast takes maybe a half

But shopping for groceries takes four.

A third of them gone and it's not even noon,

And there's so much left to be done.

To dust and to vacuum sucks up about five

If I sit folding clothes that's just one.

When I pick up my daughter, I'll stop at the bank

And stop at the dry cleaners too

That's about six gone, but dinner and dishes

Will take up five more and I'm through!

I'm over my budget of energy spoons

So tomorrow I'll be starting with less

Twenty-two and a half, but a new list of chores

You just can't imagine my stress.

Which, by the way, takes it's own toll in spoons

Depleting the few I can use.

And sadly the deficit continues to grow

There's nothing about this I'd choose.

But once in a while I have a great day

And somehow that seems to renew

My little supply of slightly bruised spoons

Sometimes even extras accrue.

So I plug along, counting my spoons

Knowing all will work out in the end

As long as I have a few really good times

And the help of my family and friends.

Caren E. Salas

Inspired by "The Spoon Theory" by Christine Misorandino

http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/

BURY THE DEAD (Day 30 - Bury the ____)

It's time to bury

The dead. Just make sure they are...

Actually dead.

Caren E. Salas

Photo: http://thetangential.com/2011/01/19/reasons-why-we-as-a-society-might-like-zombies/

SECRET (Day 29 - What Nobody Knows)

Can I tell you a secret?

Will you promise not to tell?

I've never told anyone

What I'm about to tell you.

Come in a little closer...

Nope, forget it; changed my mind.

Caren E. Salas

WHAT MATTERS? (Day 28 - Antimatter)

Antimatter,
Like an antagonist
In a story
Of the Universe
Is the opposite of matter:
The Protagonist.
Antimatter is the opposite
Of what matters.
Why does it matter?
You may ask.
I'll tell you.
The possibility
Or the creation
Of Antimatter
Could turn out to be
A simple matter
Of destruction
For our planet.
And that matters
To me.


Caren E. Salas



Photo: science.howstuffworks.com
Info: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/antimatter

DON'T (Day 27 - Looking Back)

I told them not to.

Seeing what was behind us

Could cause a panic.

Better just to run as fast

As we can, and don't look back.

Caren E. Salas

photo:  ibtimes.co.uk

BLOOD-STAINED (Day 26 - use a word invented by Shakespeare)

The zombie hunters traveled

In groups, each carrying guns

And weapons of all sizes

Big, small, sharp, blunt; and wearing

Blood-stained clothes. Some blood is theirs,

The rest is from their victims.

Caren E. Salas

Photo:  http://storiesbywilliams.com/2013/08/04/zombie-hunters/

MAYBE (Day 25 - Across the Sea)

Maybe, just maybe

Somebody has an answer;

In another land

Across the great blue ocean

Someone has it figured out.

Caren E. Salas

OVER (Day 24 - "a moment")

Just
One
Moment
Changed it all
Nothing was the same
Life as we knew it was over.


Caren E. Salas

FUTURE HISTORY (Day 23 - Historical)

In the year two thousand seventy three
A virus has broken out all over me
They say that I'm dead, I say they're crazy
How can I be? How can I be?

In the year two thousand seventy four
I keep eating brains but still I want more
I've never had such a craving before
It's hard to ignore, it's hard to ignore.

In the year two thousand seventy five
I've come to accept I'm no longer alive
But if being a zombie helps me survive
Give me a high five! Give me a high five!


Caren E. Salas


Photo: theguardian.com

BEFORE... (Day 22 - Nature)

Before the bombs and before the machines

Before the pollution poisoned the air

The sky was blue and the grass was green

The children played without a care

Before the pollution poisoned the air

Before every day was a fight to survive

The children played without a care

We never appreciated just being alive

Before every day was a fight to survive

There were no zombies wandering around

We never appreciated just being alive

When life was more than just holding your ground

There were no zombies wandering around

Before the bombs and before the machines

When life was more than just holding your ground

The sky was blue and the grass was green

Caren E. Salas