3 CIHTD?: Tied Together with a Smile

Title:  Tied Together With a Smile

Artist:  Taylor Swift
Album:  Taylor Swift
Genre:  Country

Notes:  I can't tell you how long I have had this album, but honestly until recently it seems this song has never 'shuffled' across my path.  The title drew me right from the get go and then came the words.  The first verse into the course really struck a chord for me.  It use to be much easier for me to maintain / sustain a smile no matter what was going on behind the scenes.  Nowadays I find it much harder to do so and the idea of finally just letting it go...

Tied Together with a Smile

The thread just hangs there
teasing and taunting

a needle could help sew things back up--
maintain appearances 

a pair of scissors could keep things in limbo--
bordering on becoming undone

and a tug
               a tug could unravel it all--
setting me free

I'm tired of holding it all together--
putting on a pretty face

This smile is all I've had to keep
me from falling apart at the seams

But each day it gets harder and harder
to stitch up this facade

The thread just hangs there
at the corner of my mouth
daring me to release the smile

13 Last Call: Laughter Times Three

Breathless Laughter

a small laugh at first
erupts into so much more
tears spill from laughter
as the world twists out of shape
it’s so hard to catch my breath

---

Paint a Laugh

what does a laugh look like
as it floats on air
planting a seed in one’s heart
i imagine a white puff
like dandelion seeds
floating on the breeze
planting a seed in one’s heart

---

All It Takes

her fluttering laugh
that bursts from her lips
like a magical stream of bubbles

her floating dance
that flows from within
moving to a rhythm only she hears

her twinkling smile
that brightens her face
lighting up the world around her

her willful independence
that sparkles in her eyes
brings a smile to my lips everytime

her laugh, her dance, her smile
that’s all it takes
from this precious little girl
to inspire joy within me

---

This is my offerings for this week's dVerse Poets Pub OpenLinkNight. If you get a chance, check out all of the talented poets who have stepped up into the spotlight.

2 Time Capsule: Compliments

Title: Compliments
Date: 03/19/02
Setting: Life after college--during second post-college job
Form: Free verse

Do they see my discomfort?
Do I appear shy
or maybe embarrassed?
Do I act gracious
or maybe uninterested?
Do they see my cringing?
Do my actions speak truth?
For I smile and nod
I thank them and nod
And I know they have not a clue
because they continue
and I nod
Nod past the cringing
the embarrassment
the discomfort
praying they’ll stop
For though sweet their words are
For though gracious I am of their kindness
My heart aches when they speak so. 

Notes: Christmas 2001, my brother gave me a beautiful journal, red leather with a beautiful design of roses adorning the front. In reality, the journal inside was quite ordinary black canvas, but it slipped into the outer leather shell allowing for the journal to be changed once full. As is often the case with my writing, I hit a nice stride and then things taper off. This journal was no exception. I did well enough (while still writing outside of the journal), I made it five-sevenths of the way through from 2002 until 2005, with 3.5 poems in 2003, 10.5 poems in 2004 and six poems in 2005. Since then, I added three poems, one in each of the following years: 2008, 2010, and 2011. Now this of course doesn't mean I wasn't writing at all in the in-between time; I just wasn't writing in my journal. Most of, if not all, were composed late at night as I lay in bed. The journal has been, since I received it, a permanent fixture on my night stand. Maybe it’s time I made it through the last two-sevenths of the journal.

In all that rambling, I never once made note of the above poem. In case you didn't pick up on it, I don’t do compliments well—never really have. There are bits and pieces of this poem and another from the red journal (called You Look Beautiful) that found their way into a (crappy) song I wrote ages ago which is posted here on …don’t open…don’t throw away…. The ‘song’, also entitled You Look Beautiful, appears in two spots, one containing the words in their entirety and one (a voki) with a snippet of me singing the song in another post.

Artifact I:  The red leather rose journal.

Artifact II:  The original handwritten poem.