Poem: A Send Off to Adulthood

And today begins a brave new voyage
Where we give up the vestiges of youth
For the adornment of responsibility
That comes with dawning of adulthood

Poem: Growing Shadows

When Lena was little she used to play
With the reading light on her desk
Twirling her fingers in the dusty light
To make her shadow puppets dance
Laughing at dancing imaginary figures

Poem: Searching for Identity

Removing mask after mask Peeling away the layers and Years of pretending she did To appease them and to fit in Searching under search for The girl who first put on The first mask that had an Askew smile that hid the tears And then she added one who Was always interested in what He

Poem: A Girl Calm in Turmoil

Mina is the girl all the boys talk about
She’s the one that fills their dreams
And makes other girls doubt who
They are in moments in her presence
No one sees her when she’s alone
With all of her thoughts circling
About her brain like vultures waiting
To swoop and pick apart the remains

Poem: In the Basement Dreaming of Growing Up

Down the the basement is a girl
Who is figuring out her world
Watching her twin in the mirror
Move as she moves slowly like
Sugar sweet syrup on a cold day
Leaning into her reflection before
Falling away onto a bed made up
For a girl of about eleven all pink

Poem: Powder Keg

Momma and daddy were gasoline and gunpowder
Playing at least once a week with matches
Until someone exploded into a raging inferno
Large enough that we feared it would consume us
No one ever died but we all had scars from the burns
That never quite healed despite the passing of years

Poem: Bottled Recollections

Tossing beer cans into the canal
Not worrying about the consequences
As young and reckless as we were
Watching the water rush by
Talking about our adventures
Women who we had been with
Times we should have died
Since we last talked