Give me back my torn ticket
I want off this ride
I am done
With roller coasters
Category: Poems
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Wait
The dawn will break
No matter how dark the night
Even if you have lost your grasp
To swirling thoughts and tears
Forgetting who can help or how
I ask you one motionless favor
Sit and wait for the morning light
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Look Up
The sky is permanent
Our troubles are not
Lightning piercing
Through this darkness
Reminds us to fight fiercely
For the light of our world
To bring us back home
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The Stars
Look up to the stars
When you are lost and lonely
Millions of wishes granted
Floating above you
Shrug off the timeline
Dare to believe
Wish for our miracle
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Winter Joy
I hated winter
Until the seasonless days
Were all strung together
Into nothingness
If it is a winter day
When we are granted relief
From this deadly intruder
I will love winter eternally
For the ever warm memory
Of that blessed day
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Victory
Feel that weight lifted
Off your shoulders
Feel that pent up
Angry energy dissipate
Feel the lightness
Of a miracle set in
You were always brave
Today you are at last free
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I Will Not Leave
I will not leave you
When you are suffering
I will not leave you
When your heart is wrecked
I will not leave you
When you are gravely ill
I will not leave you
When you are devastated
When you are shattered
When you are on the brink
Of a permanent exit
I will never leave you
As human beings
I believe
We are here
To help
One another
Stay alive
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Shared Tapestry
If we stitched together
All our tears and fears
What a small swatch of fabric
We would hold in our hands
From all the overlapping
Our human hearts beat
For the same reason
To love and live
For as long as we can
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Shared Survival
There is a hurt inside of us all
Every person who you see
Is somewhere on the path
Of dealing with their pain
A wound finally healed
A heart recently broken
A trauma triggered
An illness resurfaced
A letting go of grief
An acceptance of a loss
A relatively okay day
A tentative sigh of relief
A return to nearly normal days
Whoever’s eyes you meet
Stranger, friend, or foe
You have the shared experience
Of surviving pain alone
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A toast
Cheers to The brave hearts
The sweethearts
The sensitive souls
Wiser than their years
Kinder than they know
If you see their light dim
Grab their hand
With all the love you have
An empathy recharge
Will bring your hero back
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Your Part
Lots of us are short on strength
If anyone out there
Has any strength to spare
Lend it to a friend
Offer it up in kind words
Pick up the phone and call
Send a thoughtful card
Say thank you
To the someones
Who have shaped your life
For the better
Given it meaning
Made you a better you
Amidst the daily horrors
I promise you they have forgotten
Take the strength you have
Suit up for a rescue
They need you out there
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Off
Energy.
Everyone’s energy is off.
Too much.
With nowhere to direct it.
Too little.
With no way to generate it.
Exploding.
In anxiety or anger.
Imploding.
In depression or paralysis.
Depleting.
In loneliness or listlessness.
All of us.
The question…
Is how do we get our energy
Back to a good place?
Once again
No roadmap unavailable
But we must.
We just do.
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Pain
You have permission
To feel your pain
In its entirety
Without apology
It does not make you
An ungrateful person
To be heartbroken
To be devastated
To be debilitated
To be enraged
To be shattered
To be in agony
To be hurt
You are allowed
You are human
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Uncertain
Our future has always been
Unpredictable
Uncontrollable
Entirely out of our hands
Only nowadays
We are universally
Confronted by this
Unsettling reality
Every moment of every day
As we collectively
Wait to exhale
We are better served
To use our energy
To live in the now
For it is only
In this singular moment
We know what’s happening
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Isolation
Sometimes
No matter how much love
You are surrounded by
At 3AM
It’s just you and the ceiling
Battling your sad heart
Trying to unswirl your thoughts
There is an inescapable
Version of alone
We all have to face at times
Then is how and when
You learn who you aren’t
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Difficult Days
I wish I had an eraser
For today
For all that went wrong
But life does not work
That way I know
If only a sharp number two
And a little pink eraser dust
Could change the answers
All at once
But no such luck
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Sleep
My love affair with sleep
Remains constantly consistent
Too many netherworld hours
I am entranced by nightly
As the day escapes me
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Haunted
Faded memories
Drifting alive gradually
My frightened soul
Fighting to remember
How to forget
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Your Chance
Nothing is the same
If you have even a tiny
Sliver of a way
To do something
To help someone
In some small way
Every day
Now is the time
Now is your time
To change our days
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Hope
Yes, we must follow all safety and health guidelines.
Yes, we must practice self-care to help manage this new normal.
Yes, we must stay connected with love online and remain fiercely informed.
Still with all of these measures we are missing something vital.
Hope.
Hope for good breaking news. Hope for the kind of miracle that leaves medicine and science with no explanation as to how it is possible.
Hope is a powerful life force.
We must have hope.
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Hurting
There is a hurt inside us all
Every person who you see
Is somewhere on the path
Of dealing with their pain
A wound finally healed
A heart recently broken
A trauma triggered
An illness resurfaced
A letting go of grief
An acceptance of a loss
A relatively okay day
A tentative sigh of relief
A return to nearly normal days
Whoever’s eyes you meet
Stranger, friend, or foe
You have the shared experience
Of surviving pain alone
-
Discovery
Let’s hear it for the boys
Reassessing their dreams
Confessing their fears
Learning how to pronounce
Vulnerability
All their days not at the bar
Taught them who they are
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3.7 miles
Close your eyes for a moment
Remember what life felt like
Before all of this
How your heart could fill
With lightness and warmth
Without the strain of darkness
Fighting against it
Just flowing simple
Easy to feel love
As far away as it seems
From where we are today
Dare to run toward it
Poems of Pandemic Days by Alice Curley 