Submissions by Wafflenose (Ellie)
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Poet Introduction
KALEIDOSCOPE: Poems about life in its glorious technicolour (2022); AWAITING THE DAWN: Poems of hope for life's journey (2023); Both available on Amazon UK, US and Worldwide.
SELF POEM
Published
5th Aug 2021 1:51pm
5th Aug 2021 1:51pm
Realisation (Or the Seven Ages of Woman)
7 years:
Night waking, legs aching.
Bendy thumbs impress my chums.
"Growing pains".
11 years:
Start to feel sharp pain in heel.
Teachers now see I'm failing P.E.
"Achilles Tendonitis".
12 years:
Dislocating jaw, always sore.
"What do you expect? You're having your teeth rearranged.
And besides, you have a Low Articular Eminence."
14 years:
Nothing can calm searing pain in arm.
"Repetitive Strain Injury."
24 years:
Everything seems to crack; increasing pain in back.
"Well, you're not a...
Night waking, legs aching.
Bendy thumbs impress my chums.
"Growing pains".
11 years:
Start to feel sharp pain in heel.
Teachers now see I'm failing P.E.
"Achilles Tendonitis".
12 years:
Dislocating jaw, always sore.
"What do you expect? You're having your teeth rearranged.
And besides, you have a Low Articular Eminence."
14 years:
Nothing can calm searing pain in arm.
"Repetitive Strain Injury."
24 years:
Everything seems to crack; increasing pain in back.
"Well, you're not a...
#illness
#SelfDiscovery
#disability
357 reads
1 Comment
UPBEAT INSPIRATIONAL POEM
Published
4th Aug 2021 10:56pm
4th Aug 2021 10:56pm
Breathe
In... out... in... out.
A reflex. Refresh, relax.
Breathe in clean, cool air.
Breathe in calm. Breathe in light.
Still the crazy cacophony
Of chaotic, cascading thoughts.
From the lucid to the tangled,
Push them out and sit for now
While we reboot.
Make space to be. To rest. To breathe.
Back at the beginning,
I promised to protect you always;
To let nothing hurt you.
Naivety reigned.
How could I keep my word:
You and me against the world?
Your carry the best of us both
Yet I feel a daily ache
For...
A reflex. Refresh, relax.
Breathe in clean, cool air.
Breathe in calm. Breathe in light.
Still the crazy cacophony
Of chaotic, cascading thoughts.
From the lucid to the tangled,
Push them out and sit for now
While we reboot.
Make space to be. To rest. To breathe.
Back at the beginning,
I promised to protect you always;
To let nothing hurt you.
Naivety reigned.
How could I keep my word:
You and me against the world?
Your carry the best of us both
Yet I feel a daily ache
For...
#teens
#motherhood
#suicide #daughter
#suicide #daughter
647 reads
9 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
4th Aug 2021 10:18pm
4th Aug 2021 10:18pm
Ode to Pollen
You didn't get the memo,
So I'll say it loud and clear:
You do not belong in my airways.
I need them for breathing, not sneezing.
It's hard to concentrate
With the throbbing head,
Intensely itchy eyes
And irritated skin.
Please go somewhere else.
You will not have any luck
Growing plants or trees
Inside my nose.
So I'll say it loud and clear:
You do not belong in my airways.
I need them for breathing, not sneezing.
It's hard to concentrate
With the throbbing head,
Intensely itchy eyes
And irritated skin.
Please go somewhere else.
You will not have any luck
Growing plants or trees
Inside my nose.
#trees
#flowers
#summer #nature
#summer #nature
401 reads
12 Comments
SELF POEM
Published
4th Aug 2021 2:23pm
4th Aug 2021 2:23pm
Identity
Who do you see?
The abled one who can’t
Or the disabled one who can?
Two different sides to
The same contradictory coin.
It all depends on your perspective.
From the vantage point of she
Who looks like one,
Behaves like the other
And aspires to be a superhuman
It is impossible to tell.
The abled one who can’t
Or the disabled one who can?
Two different sides to
The same contradictory coin.
It all depends on your perspective.
From the vantage point of she
Who looks like one,
Behaves like the other
And aspires to be a superhuman
It is impossible to tell.
#identity
#SelfReflection
#disability
481 reads
5 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
4th Aug 2021 2:15pm
4th Aug 2021 2:15pm
Strength
Trudging along,
Stumbling occasionally;
Wearing troubles like a lead apron.
Weighed down by woes
And weary of this world,
Moving morosely
Without real direction;
Just keep moving
And find somewhere quiet.
Somewhere to think.
At the edge of the woods,
Circling at first,
Then scrambling among gnarled roots
And twisted trunks which form the gateway
To another world.
Down, down, down, gathering pace.
So cool and calm; finally quiet
But buzzing intangibly with life.
Run past a river,
Leaves...
Stumbling occasionally;
Wearing troubles like a lead apron.
Weighed down by woes
And weary of this world,
Moving morosely
Without real direction;
Just keep moving
And find somewhere quiet.
Somewhere to think.
At the edge of the woods,
Circling at first,
Then scrambling among gnarled roots
And twisted trunks which form the gateway
To another world.
Down, down, down, gathering pace.
So cool and calm; finally quiet
But buzzing intangibly with life.
Run past a river,
Leaves...
#forest
#trees
#nature
546 reads
3 Comments
SPIRITUAL POEM
Published
3rd Aug 2021 8:45pm
3rd Aug 2021 8:45pm
Rescued
Grounded beneath grey waters,
Isolation my companion.
Glimmers of external light shattered
By darkness in my eyes
And despair in my heart.
Suffocating waves thundered overhead.
Restlessness and pain intensified
As sleep was lost.
Escape was inconceivable
With leaden limbs.
Peace enveloped my mind like oxygen.
Night became light.
Earth vibrated with strange colours.
Water glistened on the horizon.
A Presence closer than my being
Questioned my desire to retreat from the terror.
As storm clouds float away, ...
Isolation my companion.
Glimmers of external light shattered
By darkness in my eyes
And despair in my heart.
Suffocating waves thundered overhead.
Restlessness and pain intensified
As sleep was lost.
Escape was inconceivable
With leaden limbs.
Peace enveloped my mind like oxygen.
Night became light.
Earth vibrated with strange colours.
Water glistened on the horizon.
A Presence closer than my being
Questioned my desire to retreat from the terror.
As storm clouds float away, ...
#nature
#faith
#MentalHealth
461 reads
4 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
3rd Aug 2021 8:35pm
3rd Aug 2021 8:35pm
Words as a Weapon
The biggest fallacy of childhood:
"Sticks and stones may break my bones
But words will never hurt me."
How did it start?
Perhaps in a vain attempt
To build resilience.
Yet all of us have been wounded
By a careless remark,
Some needless invective,
An incisive insult
Or a cruel comparison.
The pen can be poisonous -
Spewing out lies, filth and libel.
Words carved out by a nib in minutes
Are capable of damage for decades.
Hastily scrawled letters
Can break hearts, shatter families,
Uproot lives,
And...
"Sticks and stones may break my bones
But words will never hurt me."
How did it start?
Perhaps in a vain attempt
To build resilience.
Yet all of us have been wounded
By a careless remark,
Some needless invective,
An incisive insult
Or a cruel comparison.
The pen can be poisonous -
Spewing out lies, filth and libel.
Words carved out by a nib in minutes
Are capable of damage for decades.
Hastily scrawled letters
Can break hearts, shatter families,
Uproot lives,
And...
#TruthOfLife
#PowerOfWords
#learning
436 reads
7 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
3rd Aug 2021 12:39pm
3rd Aug 2021 12:39pm
Shades of Grey
When I was young,
I believed
That everything was right or wrong;
Good and bad; Yes or no;
Black or white.
It was easy to think that way.
How clever I thought I was
To be so enlightened and decisive,
To have an opinion on everything,
And to think that I was right.
When I grew older,
I realised
That sometimes there's no right or wrong.
That some situations have no good outcome
Or happy ending.
That the answer can be both yes and no,
That manifold factors must be considered, and
That some questions have...
I believed
That everything was right or wrong;
Good and bad; Yes or no;
Black or white.
It was easy to think that way.
How clever I thought I was
To be so enlightened and decisive,
To have an opinion on everything,
And to think that I was right.
When I grew older,
I realised
That sometimes there's no right or wrong.
That some situations have no good outcome
Or happy ending.
That the answer can be both yes and no,
That manifold factors must be considered, and
That some questions have...
#morality
#choices
514 reads
7 Comments
SELF POEM
Published
3rd Aug 2021 12:34pm
3rd Aug 2021 12:34pm
Authenticity
Alone among the elements
I am me.
So small amid the brushstrokes of earth;
An insignificant speck bobbing rhythmically in the sea.
Exhausted yet jubilant on mountaintop;
As free as the breeze which caresses my cheek,
Tangles my hair
And goes where it pleases.
Out of doors, out of routine, outside my head,
I can do what I was made to do:
Just be.
Buzzing with novel ideas,
I truly live.
“Pick me! Pick me! Ask a busy person...”
Stepping into the breach to fulfil a need;
Speaking first; thinking later. ...
I am me.
So small amid the brushstrokes of earth;
An insignificant speck bobbing rhythmically in the sea.
Exhausted yet jubilant on mountaintop;
As free as the breeze which caresses my cheek,
Tangles my hair
And goes where it pleases.
Out of doors, out of routine, outside my head,
I can do what I was made to do:
Just be.
Buzzing with novel ideas,
I truly live.
“Pick me! Pick me! Ask a busy person...”
Stepping into the breach to fulfil a need;
Speaking first; thinking later. ...
#nature
#SelfReflection
451 reads
2 Comments
SELF POEM
Published
2nd Aug 2021 8:09pm
2nd Aug 2021 8:09pm
Circles
One more day.
Just hours old, but
Sleepless weeks have made it weary.
Has it really just begun?
Still the sun rises.
Restlessness.
Losing the fight
But can't give up.
Try to forget, though always aware;
No rest now as pain blurs dreams.
Feeling, denying, pretending.
Striving, grasping, falling.
So much to feel
That time slows down.
Crushing intensity of thoughts
Hurts all over. Emotions strong;
Expression fails. They're
Locked inside.
Striving, grasping, fallen.
...
Just hours old, but
Sleepless weeks have made it weary.
Has it really just begun?
Still the sun rises.
Restlessness.
Losing the fight
But can't give up.
Try to forget, though always aware;
No rest now as pain blurs dreams.
Feeling, denying, pretending.
Striving, grasping, falling.
So much to feel
That time slows down.
Crushing intensity of thoughts
Hurts all over. Emotions strong;
Expression fails. They're
Locked inside.
Striving, grasping, fallen.
...
#MentalHealth
#SelfDiscovery
555 reads
5 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
2nd Aug 2021 8:05pm
2nd Aug 2021 8:05pm
Rhythm of the Ocean
Ocean in constant motion.
Sparkling waves, disordered and
Emanating from random directions,
Crash against rock faces with staggering force.
Glistening, dynamic, tremendous and strong;
So unpredictable.
Simmering cauldron, bubbling and glimmering,
A beautiful sight; close your eyes and you'll
Capture a moment, a vision, a frame;
Enduring image, yet static and still.
Consider the movement, the dynamism which drives
These momentary frames towards a peak, a new form,
And back again.
As multiple waves
Collide to...
Sparkling waves, disordered and
Emanating from random directions,
Crash against rock faces with staggering force.
Glistening, dynamic, tremendous and strong;
So unpredictable.
Simmering cauldron, bubbling and glimmering,
A beautiful sight; close your eyes and you'll
Capture a moment, a vision, a frame;
Enduring image, yet static and still.
Consider the movement, the dynamism which drives
These momentary frames towards a peak, a new form,
And back again.
As multiple waves
Collide to...
#sea
#beach
#water #nature
#water #nature
497 reads
12 Comments
SELF POEM
Published
2nd Aug 2021 11:47am
2nd Aug 2021 11:47am
The Visitor (1)
At first, you entered unnoticed
And curled up quietly beside me.
As a tiny child, I asked no questions;
Assumed you lived there too.
Sometimes, you would follow me around
So I would pick you up and take you where I went.
An inconvenience for a season,
You would suddenly slink off without a word.
I'd look around, and you'd be gone.
Yet nobody seemed to notice.
As I grew older,
I'd sometimes hear your footsteps on the path;
Anticipate your knock upon the door.
I'd let you in without ceremony, ambivalent,
Neither pleased...
And curled up quietly beside me.
As a tiny child, I asked no questions;
Assumed you lived there too.
Sometimes, you would follow me around
So I would pick you up and take you where I went.
An inconvenience for a season,
You would suddenly slink off without a word.
I'd look around, and you'd be gone.
Yet nobody seemed to notice.
As I grew older,
I'd sometimes hear your footsteps on the path;
Anticipate your knock upon the door.
I'd let you in without ceremony, ambivalent,
Neither pleased...
#MentalHealth
#SelfDiscovery
451 reads
8 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by Wafflenose (Ellie)
