The words of those around me, I know,
are shallow still for all their false depth of character.
The words I keep from me, I know,
are deeply held on shallow shelves for easy reach.
I crave to only ever hear my voice, whispering
in the life I dance.
May I long forget the voices of others, weeding
the fruits from my tares.
Celebrate who I remembered I was and
who I’ve yet to become.
Bury the effigy molded of me and
who people hoped to destroy.
A yearning vibrates inside me, the
metronome in time with the sun.
I will keep its rhythm.
Photo Credit: dbnunley Flickr via Compfight cc
C. Streetlights
As a child, C. Streetlights listened to birds pecking at her rooftop, but instead of fearing them, was convinced they would set her free and she’d someday see the stars. Southern California sunshine never gave C. Streetlights the blonde hair or blue eyes she needed to fit in with her high school’s beach girls, her inability to smell like teen spirit kept her from the grunge movement, and she wasn’t peppy enough to cheer. She ebbed and flowed with the tide, not a misfit but not exactly fitting in, either. Streetlights grew up, as people do, earned a few degrees and became a teacher. She spent her days discussing topics like essay writing, Romeo and Juliet, the difference between a paragraph and a sentence, and for God’s sake, please stop eating the glue sticks. She has met many fools, but admires Don Quixote most because he taught her that it didn’t matter that the dragon turned out to be a windmill. What mattered was that he chose to fight the dragon in the first place. Streetlights now lives in the mountains with a husband, two miracle children, and a dog who eats Kleenex. She retired from teaching so she can raise her children to pick up their underwear from the bathroom floor, to write, and to slay windmills and dragons. She is happy to report that she can finally see the stars.
