A Poem a Day: a Series – Day 81

Day 81: “Bottle It Up!”

I’d like to bottle up pure joy

And keep it for a rainy day

Something to wash over me

And make everything okay

I feel it sometimes

When I’m purely in the present

It’s hard to remember

When I’m lost in my head

I’ll say it now

So maybe I’ll remember

I can make my joy

I can bring me peace

A Poem a Day: a Series – Day 80

Day 80: “What Do You Do”

What do you do

When your pet is dying

My heart is breaking

I wish she could tell me what she needs

I don’t want her to be in pain

I can’t stop crying

How do I know when it’s her time?

Now she just lays with me

I cry

And she’s probably wondering, “What’s her problem?”

A Poem a Day: a Series – Day 79

Day 79: “Death Doesn’t Make You a Hero”

Death doesn’t absolve you of the damage you did when you were alive

Let me say that in terms you’ll understand

Death doesn’t erase your sins on earth

We have a real problem with telling it like it is in this country

We’re really afraid to speak ill of the dead

Why?

Some people were monsters and should be remembered as such

No, death does not make you a good person

No, not even a tragic death

Death does give the final say

Often in conjunction with irony

Giving a deeper meaning

Please, don’t lose the plot

A horrible, hateful, racist, homophobic, transphobic, Islamophobic, misogynistic, sexist, pro-genocide man in life

Doesn’t make a hero in death

You can’t just chalk it up to a difference of political opinion

A tirade against anyone who is not straight, cisgender and white is NOT a product of political opinion

It is a product of violence and hate

And you can’t hide behind religion

A man who stood for violence in many forms

Met his death with a bullet

A death no one should face

But for someone so obsessed with guns

It sounds like fate

A Poem a Day: a Series – Day 78

Day 78: “Oh, Theater!”

The theater is a place

Where you can be someone else for a time

A moment

You can watch something serious

Or sad

Or funny

And be immersed in it

Real life? What’s that

The only real life is Mary Todd Lincoln’s obsession with cabaret and Abe Lincoln’s obsession with men and John Wilkes Booth’s obsession with Abe Lincoln

The theater is a magical place