Upon my fleeting words
I reveal my roads.

Step by step, word by word,
line by line, a poet travels
the world.

We breathe poetry,
we eat it too.

Until our clouds are full of stars
ready to rain upon the earth
poetic storms.

©️ 2022 By Amanda Shelton

Fear is the relief of
Being lost in the woods
When the canopy shines
Before the night arrives

Fear is the relief of
Being greeted by the sea
Welcomed by the breeze
As the storm subsides

When I lie awake at stark midnight
At night, I find relief
In the darkest reliefs of the mind
Where fear is a friend of the dark

You asked me what I wanted
A soft life, I replied
You poured me another glass of red
In an iridescent cup
When I press it to my lips
It is sweet
I have lived
Through enough bitterness
A soft life. You promised.

Climb into my bed
Warm skin on gray sheets
I tilt my head back
One more kiss
Before the moon
Takes over for the sun
One more kiss

Was supposed to be an arranged marriage
When he came to see me,
Everything changed when our eyes met.
My heart was racing,
His too,
Both chorused "Yes"
Game over
Our arranged marriage turned into a love marriage.
15/11/2022

yesterday. He's a blazing
heatwave. Her emerald-green grass
cut down to hay. His sidewalk you can fry

an egg. She walked across and burned
her feet. Blisters popped
every chance they meet. She singed

herself dancing in fire. When you run so fast
you're bound tire. She was spring once,
in full bloom. Her sweetness filling

every room, spilled perfume. He was thirsty from
the draught. Hung-over with mouth hung out. She
nursed him back to health. But this sickness

you cannot see. No, this sickness did not
leave. It was their shadow. Hanging on, wrapping
around them as a cloak, sticking to them as

egg-yolk in the frying pan. Some call this the stuff
fairy tales are made of. A slave to the dance,
the sickness, the trance. The heat, the high.

She's not as she is. She's not herself.
And she's not his.

ARE YOU TRULY IMPORTANT???

Please do give this, a serious thought; you are important to only a few, actually  very few.

How many people call to check about your wellbeing, from this we can take a cue;

Parents worried are about your wellness, your whereabouts,  actually about you

Besides them, if inquire other people about your wellbeing, simply lucky are you

So decide how lucky you really are; for call most, only when they need your services,  not you

Armin Dutia Motashaw