Day 21: An Empty Bed

This morning I woke
to coffee and newspaper
and innocent eyes.

Long blonde hair grazed my
legs as you crawled back in bed.
I skimmed each headline

looking for words, words
that I could use to say what
I needed to say.

When the courage came,
I watched your eyes while I spoke.
The glimmer in them

disappeared swiftly.
Once green eyes with specks of gold,
now lifeless hazel.

"I'm sorry," I say,
but you're already packing.
I cannot turn back.

Your curtain of blonde
silk is the last thing I see
as I close the door.

This morning I woke
to coffee and newspaper
and innocent eyes.

Tonight I roll to 

your side of the bed, feeling

the soft curve where your

body used to lay,

and I imagine bringing

life back in your eyes.

Day 20: Star-Crossed

Use the word star-crossed in a poem, from prose-n-bows, Thank you!

I studied Shakespeare every year in school
but the year I read Romeo and Juliet
was the year I stopped believing in love at first sight
and I never understood how you can love someone
so much you'd sacrifice yourself for them.
But I analyzed Shakespeare's words
and I wrote my essays
and I knew I would never be so foolish.

Until I met you.

Isn't that how the story always goes?
It took me one second to run into you,
one second to hurriedly apologize,
and one second to notice your hazel eyes.
You were confident and poised,
while I was insecure and submissive.
Like Romeo and Juliet
we were star-crossed lovers--
destined to end in tragedy,
but I didn't care.
And I finally understood
how Juliet had fallen so hard
because I too was on my knees
and I didn't want to get up.

Day 19: You Are Like Poetry

You are like poetry.
The thin lines decorating your hands
are the black ink that marks a lined page,
The beat of your heart is
a steady stream of words
with perfect rhythm.
You are the words I breathe
and the rhymes I arrange
and the ink flowing out of my pen.
You are the thoughts in my head
that I put down on paper.
You are the everlasting memories
that words create.
You are permanent
and beautiful
and mine.

Day 18: Dust Storm

You are the blur in my eyes
that comes from staring at the sun too long,
and your fading light drowns me in sorrow
as you disappear beneath the horizon.
My eyes sting like I've been caught in a dust storm
and my tears burn as they crawl down my face
as if I'm being branded by your desertion.
But then--
a glimmer of hope--
like a ray of light pushing through
a dark cloud
you turn around and shoot me
in the heart with beaming eyes
like lasers
and I am bleeding.
I never understood the term
"broken heart" until this moment,
until I am lying on my back
staring up at the sky
desperately looking for a
glimpse of you in the clouds.

Day 17: Shepherd

Grab the closest book. Go to page 29. Write down 10 words that catch your eye. Use 7 of these words in a poem.
Words from The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho:  
shepherd, protect, years, learned, possible, occupy, curse, dream, suffer, wind

Like a shepherd protects his sheep
I will watch over you.
When you hear the wind whistling,
know that it is me whispering your name.
When you dream about me once in a blue moon,
know that you constantly occupy my entire being.
When you stumble upon bad luck,
know that I will be doing whatever possible
to lift your suffering and show you happiness.
When you have learned everything there is
to know about life,
know that I will be here to teach you more.

Day 16: Indulgence

Here you stand before me
sardonically yammering
on
and
on
I watch your lips forming
letters and syllables and words
as my mind wanders off
into the unknown,
to the depths that my brain
cannot fathom.
Outward is my escape,
I can taste the indulgence
on my tongue like
I'm catching snowflakes
in December.

But I do not wish to go.

Day 15: Sanctuary

What a beautiful thing it is to have loved you.
Your open heart took in all of me and
provided me a sanctuary of safety and love.
What a beautiful thing it is to have known you, 
to wake up to your gentle eyes each morning
and fall asleep in your loving arms each night.
Your body is a nest for warmth
and your mind is an open book for my reading.
Your smile is an invitation
and your lips are my escape.
What a beautiful thing it is have loved you.
You took in all of me
so I will take in you.