The Poetry Snapshot: standing is falling

A step in any direction could lead her down such different paths,
that sometimes it seems easier to stand still in comfort.
Never move forward so she can guarantee not taking the wrong step.

But what happens when she takes a wrong step?

Mailbox Peak, Washington

Is it that she has to
work harder to climb up?
She reaches a dead end
and has to back track?

If the right step brings her
to the top of a mountain,
every wrong step creates a
story of lessons learned
and memories earned.

Standing still only deprives her
of a beautiful view and a beautiful story.

So move, dance, run, leap,
but do not stand still.

 

The Poetry Snapshot: Instructions for Life

Anderson Lake, Washington

Manuals to assemble furniture.
Guides to care for pets.
Directions to wash your clothes.
Recipes to cook your food.

Unlike everything else,
your life does not come with instructions.
No singular timeline to follow,
or levels to unlock like a game.

Easy enough, your life is yours to live.

But it’s easy to get lost in freedom.
When you were younger,
the hardest choices were in Choose your Own Adventure books.
Now, every decision becomes a spiraling void,
and you become stuck at every fork in the road.

So you put your head down.
You forget about the sunrise in the horizon,
and just see the stone beneath your feet.
You take one step to a dead end,
and another to a cliff.

Oh, how I wish my life came with instructions.

The Poetry Snapshot: Power of Words

Billion of words, glistening in a void.

Toronto, Canada 

All these words shine on their own,
but we string them together into
magnificent constellations to share stories.

Some words are powerful suns
that can bring light to a dark life-
or burn a life down to ashes.

Other words shoot out of us in the moment,
they fulfill spontaneous wishes or cause regret.

People never forget words.

At the end of the day, without fail,
words shine brilliantly
and remind people that we will
forever live under them.

 

The Poetry Snapshot: strength is undefinable

Alpental, Washington

I’ve been told to stay strong.
not cry
be the rock
pull it together
and I’ve succeeded.
I’ve successfully built a wall around me,
locked up my emotions, and lost the key.

All this time I thought someone else
would have a spare,
so I’ve been looking for myself in others.
But when has a locked door
stopped a prisoner from escaping.
Perhaps, I need to bring down these walls
with the same strength that built them.
Because there is nothing weak about
vulnerability.

 

This poem was inspired by a recent opportunity that allowed me to let my guard down and share a personal story to the public. After years of thinking that my strength came from internalizing my story, I realized that sharing it and allowing it to be a beacon of hope for others was my real display of strength. Strength is not limited to the constraints set by the media that showcases our lives filtered and perfected, and a culture of always putting on a happy face. Breaking through those constraints and embracing the authenticity of being vulnerable, accepting mistakes, and needing help is also a display of strength.