Month: April 2021

Posted on April 17, 2021 by j.g.lewisLeave a comment

It was never for the night, but only
for the summer.     My seventeenth
summer. Never would I say it shouldn’t
have happened, because it did.
You with a past
I would certainly become a part of,
and I collecting stories.   An identity.
At seventeen. You took a part of that;
of all, or whatever, went forward.
What I have become.
Bones are formed through experience,
shaping us emotionally, physically, and
psychologically.           Down to the soul.
You were there.    There I was,
not knowing what to expect, and you
expecting nothing but honesty.
I didn’t question your motives, nor did I
question mine. Age was not important,
you said, nor was intent.
                           There was a difference.
Seventeen years. but only one summer.
July heat, the scent of patchouli,
sandalwood and #5. Intoxicating.
I tasted the moon on your breath,
and witnessed the clouds in your eyes.
A sullen anger, a hurt from before, and
your impatient need to get over
the emotions.       You talked about it.
I could only listen, or try, to understand.
At seventeen I could not know.
Yet.   I would learn.   Eventually.
In times of give and of take, we took
consciously. Each of us. Never a moment
of mixing the beginning up with the end.
We knew.      I wouldn’t ask;
at seventeen you don’t.    Of course,
I remember fireflies, the music, touch,
and the sense and secrets we rarely
acknowledged.   Not enough time.   Only
one summer.      It was close, something
I had never had before, but it was not
friendship. A friend you would see again. 
Not only for a summer.

©2018 j.g. lewis

“It isn’t all it seems at seventeen”
                                       -Janis Ian

 

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Posted on April 16, 2021 by j.g.lewisLeave a comment

Interrupted evolution. Restructured
constitution blindly leading us through
these dense desperate days. Last gasp
effort before come what may.
   Unknowingly, in this life, at this time,
we carelessly lend our thoughts to
emerging issues of chaotic unrest,
entirely unimaginable consequences
and derivative theories based on the
unaccountable actions of others;
ignorant or otherwise.
   Disrespectful disruption in our once-
steadfast direction detracts from the
soul focus, purpose and strength,
taking us out of our personal space,
all too often, contributing yet another
layer of dust or deceit to these
ceremoniously complicated lives
we have been striving to lead.
   In unprecedented ways, we can barely
attempt to wipe away persistent residue
of weeks and years of neglect, trying to
remain accountable first and foremost
to ourselves. Aren’t we all
in this together? Expressed empathy
contradicts our haphazard humanity.
   How on earth can we be expected
to clean up societal problems if we all
have our own housekeeping to do?
   At this time, in this life, couldn’t we
all use a little more help?

04/16/2021                                    j.g.l.

April is Poetry Month
all poetry all the time
right here
poetry every day

 

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Posted on April 15, 2021 by j.g.lewisLeave a comment

silky seasonal haze
intermittent pain

will not cloud my judgment

this murky mental fog
                will dissipate

like the weather and its ways

i can see through what is there

i have survived

temperamental indifference
truly toxic relationships

     daring distrust

and personal lack of
steady self-confidence

embittered past
     taking its toll

i have been less than
what I really am

                   i am more

i choose to look ahead

another day

                        blessed

 

04/15/2021                                           j.g.l.