You are so lovely in spirit
in appearance and deed.
Is it any wonder I lost myself
in your loving countenance?

My thoughts become iterations
of your insights I ingested
just being in your presence.
No need and no knowledge
have I of where you end and
I really begin.

It never dawned fully in me
that this was the wrong way to be.
Nothing stirred above a low hum
that you and I could be a more rounded we,
that embracing our individuality
would bring a closer, fuller, us.

As time went by we spent less time
being inseparable at home and out.
I learned to be without you and to
hear my own opinions and inclinations.

My interesting discovery upon
receiving my Self in full intelligence
was that I brought much more to us
as a complete me with my own
insights, reflections and choices.

I’ve found, it seems, the more delightful we
that rejoices and revels in a collection
of thoughts instead of a collective mind
that endeavors to move sluggishly forward in
the unnatural cadence of two inclompletes
laboring to move as one.

© 2010 Shari Lynne Smothers

Day 18 prompt: Write a ‘lost & found’ poem; details here from 2010 November PAD Chapbook Challenge

This poem will likely look a lot different when I return with my scissors. I like it, but I don’t and just now I can’t put my finger on the brokenness. I’ll work it out in editing time—if I don’t return to it later. By then, I’ll likely have a title too.

Tell me why I say Yes

Repeatedly you come to me
treat me nicely
demonstrating your
good friendship skills. And
then you hurt me deeply
before leaving abruptly me.

Time passes.
There’s no real healing
just finding places to
save and safely vent
until I’m whole again.

Coast is cleared.
I’m civilized again
even in your presence
when, you come to me
treat me nicely and
then I let you in again.
But why,
when I know
what hurt this leads to?

© 2010 Shari Lynne Smothers

Day 17 prompt: Complete the phrase “Tell me why [blank]“; use it as the title and write the inspired poem; details here from 2010 November PAD Chapbook Challenge

As drafts go, this one’s pretty raw. But, it’s what happens. I’ve got company visiting this week, and I really feel the need to be at least somewhat sociable. Stoicism, isolationism, and my loner smolder are shorn off in favor of my celebratory demeanor. And, more’s to follow…

Well healed heartbreaks
nerves again beneath
newly thickened skin.
She stands, ready
to say yes to a
new dance
invitation.

Enter the
sweet assailant,
same character
behind a new face.
Enigmatically, innocently
seemingly
clear of all wrong-doing
to cut in
with the same knife
along a same scar.

© 2010 Shari Lynne Smothers

Day 15 prompt: Write a “just when you thought it was safe” poem; details here from 2010 November PAD Chapbook Challenge. This is my very rough draft #15.

A lovely face does not a relationship make.
But, in the equation of weighing whether
to remain a couple or separate,
there are some shapes that matter.

For example, there are
the shapes his mouth makes
when he says my name.
The soft arch his hand makes
when it covers mine at a dinner table.
The twist of my arm with his
as we watch movies together.
The bend of his arm wrapped
warmly around my waist
drawing me affectionately to him
as we walk wherever.
The way his eyes almost close
when he laughs out loud with me.

The sturdiness of his squared shoulder
when I need one to lean on
is a great gift in deed. And then
there’s my favorite, the way his smile
forms a mesmerizing crescent when
he appreciates some little extra thing
I’ve done.

These are the shapes that matter to me
the ones that entreat me
to stay and work in a relationship
instead of walking away from it.

©2009 Shari Lynne Smothers

Prompt: Write a poem involving shape (or multiple shapes). You can make the shape the title of your poem, or you can work the shapes into the actual poem in some way. For Day 27 of the 2009 November PAD Chapbook Challenge, from Poetic Asides