Brae

I walk into that cold winter air  Wondering where exactly I’m at Touching the snow with my hands bare
 * __My Villanelle__**

The animals all just sit and stare Thinking “Does she have a hat?” I walk into that cold winter air

“Onward march,” I do declare As if I were going into combat Touching the snow with my hands bare

Where I’m going, I do not care But keeping a beat like pat, pat, pat I walk into that cold winter air

Stopping to take out my very cold pear It slips and falls to the ground like splat Touching the snow with my hands bare

<span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 10pt;">Who really wonders exactly where <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 10pt;">I went and sat <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 10pt;"><range type="comment" id="659415">I walk into that cold winter air <span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua',serif; font-size: 10pt;">Touching the snow with my hands bare

__**[|My Pantoum]**__ I live to love And love to laugh Acceptance is everything Independent and strong

And love to laugh When everything is gone Independent and strong Here by myself

When everything is gone I stand unharmed Here by myself Moving forward

I stand unharmed Acceptance is everything Moving forward I live to love

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"><range type="comment" id="790037">I AM …curious <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">I WONDER …about many things <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">I HEAR …false accusations <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">I SEE …many wrong doings <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">I WORRY …what will happen <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">I WANT …the truth
 * __ My "I AM" Poem __**

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">I PRETEND …to be invisible <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">I FEEL …left out <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">I TOUCH …minds and hearts <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">I WORRY …who will get hurt <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">I CRY …for them <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">I AM …sympathy

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">I UNDERSTAND …the consequences <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">I SAY …I don’t care <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">I DREAM …for tomorrow <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">I HOPE …things will change <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">I AM …everyday thoughts <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">

when I think of this poem, the first word I think of is "Why" __**Meditation By The Stove by Linda Pastan**__ <range type="comment" id="36851">I have banked the fires of my body into a small but steady blaze here in the kitchen where the dough has a life of its own, breathing under its damp cloth like a sleeping child; where the real child plays under the table, pretending the tablecloth is a tent, practicing departures; where a dim brown bird dazzled by light has flown into the windowpane and lies stunned on the pavement-- it was never simple, even for birds, this business of nests. The innocent eye sees nothing, Auden says, repeating what the snake told Eve, what Eve told Adam, tired of gardens, wanting the fully lived life. But passion happens like an accident I could let the dough spill over the rim of the bowl, neglecting to punch it down, neglecting the child who waits under the table, the mild tears already smudging her eyes. We grow in such haphazard ways. Today I feel wiser than the bird. I know the window shuts me in, that when I open it the garden smells will make me restless. And I have banked the fires of my body into a small domestic flame for others to warm their hands on for a while.