Poems for Gaps and Growth

A mini collection

Airborn

Buckle your seatbelts
Plane on the runway
Your small hand on my arm

Pick up speed
Lean back
Your arm wrapped around mine

Going faster 
Gripping tighter
Airborn

All grows smaller
We climb higher
Until all disappears 
In the white clouds

Origami

I fold myself like paper,
not wanting to offend.
I tuck my corners tighter,
trying to pretend.
I didn’t need the space.
I’ll make me smaller still,
but the folding got so tight and cramped, 
I couldn’t move until—
I unfolded one corner
and another and more to see,
a swan, once folded paper
was actually origami.

Multitudes

How could you forget ___________, Mommy?

O buddy, because in my head are multitudes
         of unfinished to-do lists,
         fragments of poetry,
         and questions about you—
                 Are you warm?
                 Are you fed?
		 Are you cold?

          Of items to pack,
	  tomorrow’s agenda,
	  conversations I regret, 
	  and a graveyard of text messages
	  I’ve thought about sending.

Somewhere in the clutter
my mind became saturated
         wondering if you felt loved,
         if I spent enough time,
         if you are happy or sad—

The truth is, buddy,
       my mind got so absorbed with thoughts,
       when I wrung them all out at the end of the day
        ___________went with them. 

Gap

My body straddles two beds 
meeting corner to corner.
Like I used to rest between two cribs 
and hold two little hands—
fingers grasping to hold on longer.
I watched their eyes get heavier, 
so I could crawl out of the room.

Now, I adjust my body to get comfortable. 
The edge of the mattress digs into my hip.
Nine-year-old feet press gently toward me 
assured I’m there.
Those hands and fingers stretch
chasms away from my reach.
The fears that brought me here want me close, 
but I feel the expanding distance daily.

A body jerks in sleepy free fall, 
and I attempt to escape. 
“Mmmph,” I hear when I sit up.
I freeze, listening.
“Mmmph,” I hear when I take one stealth step.
I lie down again,
imagining their eyes getting heavy
and minds floating to dreams,
my body bridging the gap.

---

It’s National Poetry Month so I brought you a poetry round-up of the poems floating around in my notebook. I have apparently been busy because I also posted these two on my Instagram.

Which one is your favorite?