Be kind to the tellers
Of the love story
They are hoping for
You are not a judge
To offer up your verdict
Do not dim those starry eyes
Out of jealousy
Or your own past pain
Grant them hope
For their love story
Even if you think
Their chances are paper thin
During the fragile time
Of a budding romance
You could destroy it
With a few dismissive words
Meet the dream of love
With grace and kindness
No matter how it ends
Give it a chance to begin
In the bluish greenish
Golden sunset of her eyes
Peace unveiled itself
Warmth erased fear
With a sweet soft smile
She healed the cracks
In my broken heart
Lies you tell yourself
Hold a deeper danger
You will trap yourself
In a gaslit room
Of your own making
Steer clear of Mister Maybes
Wait for the gentleman
Who loves you
With his true heart
Always
Do not let insecurity
Rob you of your honesty
Your imperfect self
Is exactly who this world
Needs you to be
In your life, you’ll be brave, kind, and caring
You’ll be unfair, angry, and hurtful
You’ll hate yourself, scare someone, save someone
You’ll do what’s right and not give up
You’ll lose hope and find it again
You’ll let someone in and let someone go
You’ll say I “love you.” before it’s too late
You will be both Beauty and the Beast
Of not so long ago
My beauty is not defined
By your pair of eyes
No more than the sky decides
Which is the loveliest
Of its glistening night stars
We get to construct our lives
With evolving memories
Built more for our future
Than the fading past
The key to happiness?
Be honest with yourself
You already know the answers
Dare to admit the questions
That is how you find your way
You realize slowly and suddenly
You need to protect your heart
Only you are behind schedule
You forgot to hit the breaks
You never saw the road
It is probably nothing
Until the slight twinge in your chest
During the too quiet night
That you cannot shake
Tells you what you feel
It is a tale with telling
To a heart like hers
Took a lot of bows
From center stage
For twenty years
Exited stage left
Out of necessity
When life zig zagged
Down a different road
Then the curtain went down
On everything and everyone
Who wanted a place in theater
For two hours plus
In it together
In the stillness
Of human connection
With the recognition
Of the familiar
Of all that is fleeting
Weeping from a heart awakened
Laughing from a soul relieved
A collective calm remembrance
Of what it is to be us
I offer my resignation
From the periphery
Entering stage right
Without an exit strategy
Out of necessity
a happiness, a peace, a hope
that awakens a little magic
that sets your days in a slight rosy glow
A belief
In what you knew to exist
on summer nights as a child
what you knew to exist when
the scent of lilacs danced
upon your teenage finger tips
Resting in
the dog eared pages of novels
the lines of a near forgotten poem
the lyric that gives
the music it’s harmony
you are the why
and the we
that makes life
a story worth telling
shine brightly
for those who are
lost in the dark
Grant them
a way to see again
and go searching
for a love of their own
Small flecks of silver
In my slightly too long hair
Are a reminder
Of how fast it all happened
Numbers ticking up
Increased social distancing
Strict safety guidelines
Inequality unmasked
Will the immediacy
Of quickly cut checks
Grant him a slick pair of gloves
For his blood stained hands
Psychologists say
To stop listening to the news
Limit social media
I cannot oblige
Otherwise I am haunted
By a fear of going blind
I was chronically busy
Until I met you
My relentlessness faded
Your presence a lullaby
Calming my forgotten soul
When you gently held my hand
Unexpectedly one night
I finally saw the stars
In the delicate promise
Of our unfolding love
Not in love but close enough
Not a couple but close enough
Years full of close enoughs
To avoid a broken heart
Turned out to be easy
There is a world of people
Who would rather be
A close enough than an us
Dearest Annabella
I see the angel in you
Your wings are spread
High to the sky
Uplifting us all
With your blue gown
You look like Cinderella
Lighting up the room
You are a beautiful
Warrior princess
I feel blessed to know
Sending up my prayers
For you always
My cat is moody
She likes to be left alone
With one exception
When something is wrong
Then she will sleep beside me
Like she did today
Tony Stark captured my heart
When he sat down
Cheeseburger in hand
And admitted he wanted
Needed to change
I dare say the fine actor
Who played Mister Stark
Made that same decision
One day and the world
Is the better for it
Do not allow
Anyone’s assessment
Of who you are
Dictate your life
It is you alone
Who gets to decide
Dazzling memories
Dancing through my heart and mind
Of what might have been
Your greatest secret is
What you wrote down
Down on a piece of paper
Never showed anyone
Tore up and threw away
The beast was blinded
By the love light in her eyes
She could sense his pain
As he turned away
He was built to attack her
Instead she had broken him
She was free to flee
Yet she chose to stay
Her eyes had reflected
Love hidden in his heart
What if you are
Both trying
To get up the nerve
To say how you feel
Yet stay silent
Convincing yourself
If he loved you
He would say something
If she loved you
She would say something
Silence is worse than fear
For affairs of the heart
Poems of Pandemic Days by Alice Curley 