An Alchemy of Words

Breathless

"Breathless"

These poems pass between us

unwritten, unread;

unlistened, unsaid;

glistening wet as we

lie in our bed,

listless and

listening,

eyes wide in our heads

while our dreams slip beneath us,

unfathomably deep,

silent as whales while we

swim in our sleep

toward a horizon unreachable

with the most beautiful beach

where the salt's in our hair

and the sand's 'neath our feet

and I turn to you, love,

without missing a beat

to say the most beautiful words,

cutting a swath

through everything unspoken,

unheard,

until you know that I love you

no matter what's broken or burned

in me or in you, or in

all that we've learned,

that it's okay to be breathless,

it's okay to be bold,

it's okay to chase dreams,

no matter how old we become,

how much past we accrue,

our horizon's still out there,

our compass is true,

our world is before us and

I'm here to explore it

with you.

˗ˏˋ・。☆.・゜✭・.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
✫・゜・。.・。. ✭

This is one of my most recent poems, I think the last one I wrote before I began posting on Wattpad. So, even with just a handful of poems published here so far, I hope I've been able to take you on a bit of a journey through space and time and my growth as a poet.

I don't use rhyme in my poetry very often so this is a rare one. I'm guilty, at times, of "belly flop" rhymes that land hard, full stop, on the predictable beat at stanza's end. As a free verse poet, it's something I try very hard to steer clear of now.

Rhyme should be exciting and unnerving and delightful. As poets, we should use it to keep our audience slightly off kilter and eating out of the palm of our hand for survival. Don't just rhyme at the end of a stanza. Rhyme within it. Rhyme the beginnings of words, syncopate the beat, use rhyme to draw attention. Use rhyme as sleight of hand. Use it to intentionally lead your reader astray, then double back, pick up where you left off, and say something new that they weren't quite expecting. If you're going to use rhyme, use it rebelliously and with wild abandon, as I've tried to do here.

And, if you insist on doing a belly flop, know that I will feel your pain.