Sonnet 1 (Closure)

The years go by without ever seeing,

And never knowing what happened that night,

Were you watching me as I was fleeing?

Or turn away as I ran out of sight?

It wasn’t my choice to turn and run out,

That decision made completely by you.

Whatever the reason; love, hate or doubt,

The answer was something I never knew.

I’ve come to realize after all these years,

The truth is something I’ll never know.

It’s time to put away sadness and tears,

And bring all those memories to a close.

The time has come to pack away the pain,

Leaving memories before that night came.

6/2/14 TLA

Autumn (Rondeau)

Waiting for autumn to show its face,

The heat of the summer it will replace.

The changing leaves they sit atop,

Multi-colored before they drop,

To float to the ground with grace.

The air gets crisp with just a trace,

Of the heat of the summer in this place,

And very soon they will make the swap,

Waiting for autumn to show its face.

For the Earth is ready to slow its pace,

Slowing down from summer’s warm embrace,

Readying itself for the first raindrop,

Knowing it’s time for the heat to stop.

The poor scorched Earth it will erase,

Waiting for autumn to show its face.

6/1/14 TLA

*First attempt at Rondeau poem

Goodbye (Villanelle)

Goodbye

Sometimes you have to say goodbye,

To those you meet along the way,

Then they’re gone and we never learn why.

Some are gone in the blink of an eye,

They’re here and then they go away,

Sometimes you have to say goodbye.

We rage, we cry, we try to deny,

We get on our knees and pray,

Then they’re gone and we never learn why.

Others linger, they will defy,

They do all they can to stay,

Sometimes you have to say goodbye.

But, no matter how hard they try,

They eventually fade away,

Then they’re gone and we never learn why.

Some walk away, others die,

There are things you never get to say,

Sometimes you have to say goodbye,

Then they’re gone and we never learn why.

6/1/14 TLA

*First attempt at Villanelle poem.

Reflection

That reflection that I see each day,

The one that always stares my way.

Why can’t I accept the one who stares,

Why must I continue to always compare?

Why can’t I change it; the one that I see?

Why can’t I accept the one that is me?

6/1/14 TLA

Decisions

If I could only have one wish,

Would I go back and change the past?

Would I change the mistakes that I have made,

Or leave the die as cast?

Would I choose another path,

And start is all anew?

Or would I own up to all my mistakes,

Of which there are more than a few.

Would I keep the love as is,

All the love and pain and sorrow?

Or would I give it all away,

To have a new tomorrow?

But all I am and all I’ll be

Is based on what I’ve sown.

So I think I’ll leave it all intact,

Everything that I have known.

6/1/14 TLA