100 Days of Poetry: Days 41-45

(Playing with the Tanka form)

Living In a Small Town

Shabby, but solid
Instant friendship, fresh gossip
One stoplight in town
They know my name, love my kids
Primed to leave, yet feeling home

Ode to Tea

Spicy scent, sweet taste
Hot teacup warming my hands
Post-run chocolate chai
Lending loose leaf elegance
To a solitary day

To My Teenage Self

Those legs you hide under ballet skirts and leg warmers?
Celebrate them, embrace their strength
They are beautiful and just right

That luxury car and the $3000 dresses?
Probably never going to happen for you
But if you can learn to count riches in memories and hugs
You will be a wealthy woman indeed

You have goals and standards
I applaud you for that
But a cautionary note:
Allow for wiggle room
Let others bloom outside the boundaries of your expectations
They will surprise you and teach you
Be sure to look for the beauty in life's twists and turns
Some of the best views wait down a side road

Love is a little different than you imagine now
And more complicated
But so much better

And no, you will never find the perfect hairstyle, I'm sorry to say
Search for loftier dreams
Change the world?
Sure, you can do that
You can change the world for one person, maybe just for a day,
And maybe that day matters

Hormones

Hope dampened
Overturning my mood in an instant
Recycling old wounds, old embarrassments
Mimicking sorrow and fear
Only in my head
Nonsense, I know it is
Emotions in extreme

Winter's Epitaph

We loved you, briefly, at Christmas snow
But only icicles shed tears at your passing

Sunday Haiku

Spring forward, who cares?
Sunny skies, Sunday napping
Peace begins the week