Tuesday, December 13, 2011

The Art of Smiling


Have you ever seen
a porcupine smile?
prickly they may be
but even they know how to
smile

the art of smiling
takes up the whole face
I think of smiles
on grandfatherly faces
Wrinkles
emphasizing the eyes crinkling
the upturned dimpled cheeks

it has been forgotten
how to smile
even sitting alone-
it is still an option

Seeing smiles makes me grin
No matter how my day goes
I see
And I follow

I am a smiley person.
Like the smiley faces
in emoticons
my face might wrinkle faster
but I don’t care
I know I’ll be happy

I love to see a smile
When other people grin
I know
It’s not a permanent thing
They know how to frown
They are human too
So am I

When I see eye wrinkles
I think of certain people
The ones who know
The art of smiling

Monday, December 5, 2011

I Needed Words Then


There are so many reasons
That I need words
Loss and pain
Love and hope
To feel, I first have words

The first night of college
in my first apartment
a thousand miles from home
I was a stranger
I needed words then

I was homesick
but also lost-
heartsick and alone
I needed words of love

I wanted to define reasons
For silliness and stupidity
Why I act like a child sometimes
And why I love it
I needed words then

I love the childish feelings
but feeling means nothing
unless there is understanding
and acceptance
Words help me understand

I used to hear a joke
about turtles that could fly
it always made me laugh
even that meant more
I needed words then

When I thought of flying turtles
I could laugh and smile
Just the idea of flying turtles
Taught me to look at life
And laugh

There was a night where it was dark
and I am afraid of the dark
all I could see was my cell
the lights were all turned out
I needed words then

If I could define fear
My fear might shrink enough
That I could go to sleep
In that night words saved me

In different times of my life
I needed words
Just to know what I meant
What had happened
So I write

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Love Me


She told me
To make you love me
Telling stories about myself
Getting a connection to you
Making you love me
For me
But I can’t

I think that people love me
They tell me all the time
“Lisa-I love you”
Usually it’s because they are laughing
I didn’t get an obvious joke
Two and a half seconds later
I got it
I’m like that, always

I have been told that I am nice
And I am
I am one of those people
the ones who pick up other people’s trash
I’ll feel bad for talking
When I say something
behind a back
That’s me

I’m one of the touchy feely people
I jump out of nowhere
And give you a hug
I am always hugging
I’ll see a person three times
Every time I see them
They get a hug
That’s me

You know the people who smile a lot?
Their faces permanently grin
You know what I mean
They just smile
In that way
With the half moon dimples
The mouth turned up at the ends
And the eyes
Crinkled at the edges
Those people
I’m one of them

But just because I’m nice
And because I know how to smile
I hug everyone
That doesn’t mean you should love me
If you want to love me
You should know me better than that
Cause hugs and smiles and niceness-
Everyone knows that about me
Love me for more.

Super Strengths


We all know the people
The ones with super strength
bearing the weight of worlds
on their shoulders

When they are sick
They get up
Miserable or not
They will move on
No matter what
These are the people I envy

Other people are strong
In other ways
They listen to every issue
as it is brought to them
they care
no matter how big their plate

I see those people who smile
And they make me smile
I know they have issues
But they smile still
When I see a smile, I want to smile too
Each smile I see brightens up my day

Little words of hope
Small sentences
with important connections
Quotes
Emotional muscles
Flying turtles
Talking stop signs
These odd ideas
Mortal angels
Ordinary Supermen
I can see
and now I am better

There are people who share these strengths
I am not always one of them
Still I am learning
To gain my super strength