The Judge

I stood with Jesus when the angry crowd called for His death,
Shouting, crying, “Crucify him!” upon every breath.
I stood and raised a hand and said, “I find no fault in him;
He’s not a threat to you or me, or anyone in Rome.”

I asked him if he understood the seriousness of the charges;
He answered not a word in his defense.
I asked the people, “Should I free Jesus or this Barabbas?”
They cried, “We want Barabbas, not pretense!”

I had him whipped and beaten as a ploy to save his life;
I wished to avoid riots and the resurgence of strife.
But nothing that I said or did would pacify the crowd;
They wanted this man Jesus dead; they shouted it aloud.

So then I said, “I wash my hands of this whole mess—you’ve won!
You want to kill him? Do it! I don’t care at all—I’m done.”
And so the crowd, they took him out to Calvary;
They took him and they crucified him there upon a tree.

I was not the soldier who nailed him to the cross;
I did not stand and watch him die in pain.
And yet, I am as guilty as the crowd who cried for death,
And I can never wash away the stain.

Some Days

Has it really been three years?
Some days, it seems much longer.
Am I forgetting you?
My life continues on without you:
I love, I laugh, I cry, I smile.
And yet, some days, it feels as if
Just yesterday I saw your face,
I felt your arms around me.

OctPoWriMo 31 - Journey's End

It's hard to believe another OctPoWriMo has come and gone, but here we are. Today's prompt is about journeys and endings.

Journey's End

Every end is a beginning;
Journey’s end can bring new life.
Everything is ephemeral
So enjoy it while you can.

OctPoWriMo 30 - Sensation

Today's prompt is to "write a poem that incorporates each of the senses." The cinquain seems fitting since there are five senses, but it has only five lines, and I had more to say. So each of the five stanzas in today's poem is a cinquain.

Sensation

I see

Art surrounds me,

Beauty encircles me.

Ask and receive; look and you’ll find

Beauty.

I hear

Everything sings;

Music is everywhere.

Listen! You will hear it as well:

Music.

I smell

Snow in the air,

The crisp scent of autumn,

Apples and pumpkins and spices,

Fragrance.

I taste

Pumpkin, turkey,

Sweet potatoes, and pie;

Candy apples and pumpkin spice:

Flavour.

I feel

Chill in my bones,

Warm fire roaring bright,

My lover’s warm lips on my skin:

Touching.

OctPoWriMo 29 - Only Relief

Today's prompt asks us to think about an ending that was positive. I've written a rondel about my first boyfriend.

Only Relief

I felt no grief when he walked away,
Only relief that he was gone.
In his life, I was a pawn,
A decoration for display.

I’d told myself it would be okay.
I loved him; I thought he was the one.
I felt no grief when he walked away,
Only relief that he was gone.

It was a sunny summer’s day:
My best friend told me what he’d done;
I wasn’t enough; he wanted fun.
She’d spurned him, but he’d tried to stray;
I felt no grief when he walked away.

OctPoWriMo 28 - What Makes Me Beautiful

Today's prompt is to record myself reading my favourite poem out loud. I've done this before other years and, this year, I really want to write 31 new poems this month so I'm skipping this prompt.

There are two popular songs that have always bothered me. They are what you might call problematic. "What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction and "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera. Both of them, I believe, are trying to bring across a message of confidence in one's own beauty, but they both fall short.

When One Direction says, "You don't know you're beautiful; that's what makes you beautiful," they are implying that insecurity is attractive and, conversely, that a self-confident woman who knows she is beautiful is not attractive.

Christina says, "I am beautiful in every single way. Words can't bring me down," and that's good. But then, in the very next line, she says, "So don't you bring me down today." Wait, what? If words can't bring you down, why are you worried that anyone will bring you down? What can they do? She's undermining her message here.

I wanted to write a kind of response to these ideas, a poem of self-confidence. I believe that confidence is beautiful. Not arrogance, but knowing who you are. It's taken me a long time to get to a place where I can say that I am beautiful and mean it, and some days I still can't do it. But maybe this poem can remind me of what makes me beautiful.

What Makes Me Beautiful

I know I‘m beautiful

That’s what makes me beautiful

Paint your face
Dye your hair
Lose weight
Because you’re worth it

Take up space
Hear me roar
I create
My own self-confidence

I know I’m beautiful

That’s what makes me beautiful

Don’t tell me
My insecurities
Define me
I know I’m beautiful

For I know
My confidence
Defines me
That’s what makes me beautiful

I know I am beautiful

That’s what makes me beautiful

OctPoWriMo 27 - My Happy Ending

Today's prompt is about happy endings. "What is your happy ending?" I know I've written about my husband several times this month, and maybe I'm a bit sappy, but he's one of the best things in my life. He's my happy ending. Today's sonnet (Italian style) is written in third person, but "she" here is me.

My Happy Ending

Once upon a time there was a girl
Who dreamed of romance, chivalry, and knights.
Since she was young, her mind would tend on flights
Of fancy, free from fetters of the world.
Happiness, she thought, would be a whirl-
Wind love affair, consuming days and nights;
Of deepest depths and, oh, so dizzy heights.
Instead, she found love like a bloom unfurled,
A slow awakening like spring’s return.
Before she knew what happened, she would yearn
To be with him each moment of each day.
She was surprised to find her soul would say,
“This is my other half, the one for me,
My happy ending I could not foresee.”