When I was a kid,
I was engulfed in a swirling cloud of anxiety,
and depression knocked on my bedroom door.
These emotions tumbled inside of me
playing on water slides
and shooting tears out of my eyes.
The psychologist helped me,
but there was one thing that saved me:
my discovery of poetry.
Sarah Kay was my role model
The words seemed to dance out of her mouth
and frolic with the emotions in my brain,
yet listening and reading couldn’t stop
the storm that was trembling within me.
A pen found my hand and paper fluttered before me
urging me to write something.
Most kids have journals, but I had poetry.
My mind could wander, my mind could be free.
Finally, I found myself in a peaceful land of liberty.
The words flowed from me and
Sarah Kay still inspired me,
but she was no longer alone in the kingdom of mighty poets.
I found Frost and E.H. and so many more that changed my world.
Of “the two roads diverged in a yellow wood”,
I took the right one
the one away from a war with my mind
the one that freed my soul one stanza at a time.
Now poetry doesn’t define me,
but it is a huge part of me.
It influences my feelings and how I view the spinning globe of reality
dressed in a blue and green gown of human mortality.
Poetry is the string that saves the balloon from flying in the sky,
and the balloon is really my mind,
trying to find knowledge outside my world
and striving to better my life one lesson at a time.
Mistakes and memories are two ways
the balloon traveled high
and taught me the marvelous things
that dwell in the sky.
I explore the earth for I’m not sure
where my future lies
but poetry helps me figure out my mind
and digest the knowledge that dwells inside.
I’d like to say I’m good enough to maybe one day save a lost soul,
but today I write for myself to understand the world.
Poetry is my hero and to know me you must know:
my heart is writing perpetually
and the words will never cease to flow.
