Poetry
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Pissed Off: A Short List
Note: The assignment was to express anger. I definitely had a lot of anger at the time I wrote this rant. This poem has some bad language, so don’t read it if that might offend you. I worked at a department store from the summer before my sophomore year in college until the end of my first year of grad school. “Pissed Off: A Short List” Free Verse, Poetry Workshop, 2002 My friends think I am angry all the time. They are probably right. On any given day I can list many things that really truly piss me off. Why is it that people steal and don’t even try to hide…
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Waiting for you: Layne’s Song for Jordan’s Sister
“Waiting for you” 2016, written for novel rewrite in progress, Jordan’s Sister There’s more beauty in you Than could ever be true I’ve spent all of my life Waiting for you You push me away While I beg you to stay I’m new to this place And I won’t be the same I’ll take all your pain And lock it away If I don’t kiss your lips I might go insane There’s more beauty in you Than could ever be true I’ve spent all of my life Waiting for you You won’t let me in And I know you’re scared But if you’ll let down your guards I’ll show you I…
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A Eulogy
“A Eulogy” 12-26-05 Written about my grandmother, my father’s mother, who died in March of 2004. She was my favorite person in the world and the reason my daughter’s middle name is Pearl, named for my Meema. When I started college, Meema would write letters to me several times a week. I have saved every single one of them. What can I say about her? Simple doesn’t say it— Beautiful is too generic. All I can say is that I loved her, And can’t believe she’s gone. I still think of her gentle old face, Hollowed in its frailty, smiling while writing letters to me. She told stories of the past with…
