2019 Poetry

No idea

I had no ideaThat I could love.Broken heartedFrom birth,I was certainI would never findSomeone who could love meAnd teach me how to love.But somehowStumbling in the darknessOf life without intimacyYour voice broke through.And like a childLearning to crawlAnd then walk.And then fall.I’m finding thatI can do anythingEven loveAnd be loved.

150 150 Stafford Wood

Askew

When yoursis the last voiceI hear beforeI close my eyes, I find my dreamsAre scentedWith your scentAnd paintedWith your hue. Everything askewIn a gentle wayWith rising hopeAnd a smile on my lipsThat lasts until dawn.

150 150 Stafford Wood

Seedlings

Your last wordplants a seedin my dreamsAs it shouldAnd I findeach nightis sweeterwhen you sayGood night.

150 150 Stafford Wood

Though

I don’t need you to entertain meThough I love it when you doI don’t need you to be more funThough I love it when you areI don’t need you to be moreThough I know you will be. I need you to look at me like you did Saturday nightEven through the screenAnd the milesI could…

150 150 Stafford Wood

vincible

You make me unafraid to be vincible Every moment that you love me builds me into moreCuts away the armored scalesRevealing who I amAnd creating love in meLove for youAnd for what you reveal in meDon’t stop

150 150 Stafford Wood

Before

You’ve always thought it was your charmThat disarming way you smileYour style, poise andhandsome faceThe pace of your thoughtsAnd what you thinkThat triumph in the last momentTo save the day and delight the crowdWith everything they never found.You always thought it was your way of acting.The characters you feedThe clown. The romantic lead. But it’s…

150 150 Stafford Wood

Who you are

It’s never occurred to me thatYou could want to talk to me.It’s stupid, right.I know you love me.But I think of it as a service you offerTwo lonely soulsBeing what they needServing her desireFeeding the hole inside that needs to be whole.You wanted to call me back.And I smiled for hours.Because I want to be…

150 150 Stafford Wood

Examinations

Every answer is the right answerLike an exam without a keyAnd a student teacher whoDoesn’t want to keep grading papersSo she grades the first pageand leaves the rest unmarkedYou’re certain to passAnd whatever you doThere’s a future bright for youThere’s nothing you can’t do.

150 150 Stafford Wood

Dante’s Purgatory

The place that feels worse than hellNeither good nor bad enoughTo offer what you willNeither beginning nor the endFor its residentsWaiting to see where they’ll goNo flutes and lyreNo lake of fireJust waiting.Full of hope.Full of dread.Wishing you weren’t dead.

150 150 Stafford Wood

Sight

When I see your faceThrough the screenIt sends me wantingMore of youThe man I can seeBut only through the phone

150 150 Stafford Wood
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