Please, Do Not Feed the Feelings

Once

I was vacationing

At least I think I was

It could have been a day-trip

To a day dream

I can't remember

But I visited a tiny park

With pretty pale wood benches

Mown grass and narrow walks

Trim hedges, friendly green

And a little pond with a bridge.

I wandered to the pond's lapped rim

Toes stopped at rushes' edge

And swooped my gaze across ripples

And then, to toes again.

Then I saw it, from corner of my eye

A chipped paint peeling sign. 

It contrasted so blatantly 

With the pretty, proper park

And I wondered

Why I had not noticed it 

After all, its looks stood out

So I glanced at the families

Wandering about

Nice families 

With small children

And elderly couples, murmuring sweet nothings

But none of them were reading the sign.

I withdrew slowly from pond's edge

And stepped soft through lush carpet

Of mown yet marshy grass

Until I stopped, until I stood

Full view upon that sign. 

"Public Service Announcement:" it read

Letters blue against the white

Peeled painted sign

But there was more, yes more indeed

underneath, in smaller font

But quite legible design

"Please, do not feed the feelings." 

I looked around at the families

With small children 

And the elderly couples, too

Still oblivious, they were

Perhaps they had seen the sign

Many times before, and were bored of it

I considered asking 

One or two 

Of the young parents 

What it meant

The peculiar, odd-ish sign

But if I did, I don't remember.

I don't even remember leaving the park

Or when or how or why

I came to be back home

Sitting at my window seat

Sipping tea

And thinking about that sign. 

We Are Not Our Size

Believe it or not, I envy

your body.

I know 

you hate it

I know society has long told you

you should

But society's changing,

and they say now

That what you have is best.

embrace it

That made me so happy 

at first

I had always thought 

you were pretty

And then society decided so too

and I was so excited

For you and women everywhere

but then

As it became good 

to have your body

It became scornful

to have mine

Now I'm the bad trend

wait what?

All of a sudden

I'm starving

Laughable 

sick

I was born this way

I liked myself

But now

small is very very

Bad

How did that happen?

I hated fat shaming

I've never been fat

I couldn't get big if I tried

(which I have)

But I hated the hoops they put

you through

Just the same.

So why have the tables turned

Why am I considered unhealthy

for having a high metabolism

Why do you get angry 

at the size of my skinny jeans?

I have always wanted

curves

I have always noticed

that men find you more desirable

Even though the magazines didn't

but now you flaunt it

So it hurt to be objectified and laughed at?

no kidding.

I'm happy for you

that the tables have turned

But I don't understand

why we can't both

Be okay

and why we still have to have a "side" 

To hate.

what if we just accepted 

That we are all

(even the in-between sizes)

Desirable. 

Beautiful. Acceptable.

Loved. 

No? Well fine

But I am sure going to try.

So I'm gonna keep loving your body

'Cause dang, girl, you are fine

but you know what else?

No matter what happens in public opinion

I'm gonna keep loving mine. 

::Ode to a Well-Trimmed Hipster Beard::

(Note: this is meant as a farce, okay XD )

I was skeptical of you
at first, but you have finally won me

You are the face of the indie music band
no pun intended

You are endless boards on Pinterest
entwined with rare forest flowers

You are Duck Dynasty's
squandered potential reclaimed

You are put-together
best paired with v-neck and saddle backs

You are mature yet young
unlike cheap scruff or skraggled whiskers

Most of all, you are
more than your components
you are an image, an idea, a concept,
so much more than solely keratin

May you forever grace
the faces of a chosen few
may you never fall to commonplace
but endure as a symbol
of a subculture lovingly, pristinely
maintained.

-Fin.

I might just be human

Sometimes I feel guilty

when I'm not alarmed 

at what the republicans did

or the democrats 

or basically any politicians doing any sorts of things no matter where or why

Sometimes I feel freakish

and rather ungirly or nice

when I try to paint my nails

and find that it's painful and gross and I just don't like it no matter how hard I try

Sometimes I feel dumb

when a person asks me 

to solve a simple equation

or to think logically

I do not understand concrete or scientific things they just make my brain cry

Sometimes I feel rude

when I do not feel the need to 

chit chat without topic

or gossip about other people

I find that boring, at best, or at worst simply hateful I like deep talk and I cannot lie

Sometimes I feel alien

especially in football season,

4-H works wonders, though, too

I'm a city girl in a tiny town

I tried understanding but I can't understand; can't wait till the day I fly

Sometimes I feel a lot of things

sometimes they're quite unpleasant 

I feel out of place

uncaring

passive, nonchalant, aloof and unkind... I might till the day I die

But maybe that's just being human

liking and learning dislike

having opinions or

not caring at all 

might not be wrong or right

I might just be human. Who knows. 

Fall ;A;

Green 

fading into 

rouge

and amber

and fire

then to crumpled, dying brown.

Air 

shifting from 

hot

thick

and humid

to breezes, chilling limbs.

Skies

morphing colors

blue

with cumulus white

clouds

to dingy, lonely grey.

Clothes

changing out

from shorts

and tees

flip-flops

to "warm and cozy" wool.

Food

replacing lovely

watermelon

hamburgers

and buttered corn on cob

with tea, pies, and soup. 

I do not like soup. 

or tea. 

sweaters make me sweat. 

I miss the sun, kissing my skin

I miss the green, green grass.

But autumn comes,

like it or not

love it or no

odd ball; I'm out

It must come.

It must come, so I will set my teeth 

and look ahead

buckle down,

eat candy corn and pie

and wait for warmth 

to come

again.

Shatter Me

Lindsey Stirling fan art: :3

Paper Hatted Greatness

I want to be a boy in a paper hat

walking school halls like a sailor 

all dressed up in newspaper

disregarding the haters

making that shy new kid smile

I want to be an eighty year old lady

coasting car lots in my buggy

like I'm Jasmine on a magic

carpet ride

yeah just lookit them smilin'

I want to be that timid beauty

taking time off from her duties 

playing piano for old folks 

even though she is truly

shy 

just to make those people smile

I want to be some full-out hippie

perhaps just a little bit ditsy 

with a flowered up van and a disarming grin

which despite all that better judgment 

makes the people observing just smile

I want to be a young guy 

dancing it out in the mall like

it's all I have left but I'll give

it my all yeah see me twirl

just to make bored dads 

and boyfriends with girls' bags smile

I want to be a boy in a paper hat

or a girl in a Mardi Gras mask

or a dude drawing chalk on a sidewalk

doing the things that I most love 

not caring which people are watching

just hoping I might help them smile

Because, come on bae, let's just face it

not all of us have guts to embrace it

the urge to do cray cray neat stuff

so we live for those moments of greatness

going on hard all around us 

yeah we're living through second-hand braveness

hoping that they'll make us smile. 

Shelter Kitty

I think she's like a shelter cat

She's wary of the world

She may hiss a bit, or bite

But it's not because she doesn't want to be held

It's because she's afraid you'll strike

Her heart

Don't strike

Please, I know she's quiet

And she often sits alone

But it's not because she dislikes your company 

She craves it

She just can't say so 

aloud

I promise that

She's worth it

Though she can't initiate

If you take her home and treat her gently

She will purr and cuddle and mew

She'll wake up (inside) for you

I think she's like a shelter cat? 

Please just take a chance 

I promise she'll reciprocate

She'll love you

In a glance

A heartbeat

Please just take that chance. 

Toothless! :3

You Lodged There and You Sang

I should be over you 

I should

I really

should

But you got to my soul

through music

and you lodged there

and you sang

You sang of lives

lived vibrantly 

and you sang of 

enthusiasm

You made me laugh

which most people can't do

and you didn't ignore me

when my eyes were grey 

and dull

I smiled like an idiot

every time I saw you

even when I was mad 

mad at you

I couldn't stay away

But now that you're gone

I attempt to make 

believe

that I didn't care

didn't need you 

anyway

But you got to my soul

through music

and you lodged there

and you sang

Music was my first love

you just made it better

so every time I listen

and your song comes on

I hear your voice

alone

Yes, you got to my soul

through music

and you lodged there

and you sang