Surprise, by Rose Myers

Surprise

I expected to feel differently,
Perhaps the joy of being pleasantly surprised,
Like opening up a cachet of treasures,
Maybe even the excitement of stepping off a gangplank
and into the unknown.

What a felt was the familiar,
What a I heard was the known,
The sound of the buses groaning,
The thumping of feet joining into one stampeding herd.

The music of the city warmed my soul,
My heart gladdened by the unexpected surprise of
remembering, of knowing.

Longing, by Rose Myers

Longing

For some longing is enough,
I am in pain,
A pain so voracious,
It feeds on my soul,
Leaves my throat constricted
And my heart beating to a
listless rhythm.

I want to laugh with you!

Peace, Rose Myers

Peace

This year the resolutions
will not be set adrift,
As though they were going
nowhere, or somewhere.

Simplicity and clarity
is my goal.
And there will be more than one,
if I can think of them.

There’s a canister on the
kitchen counter.
Can it hold my resolves, my goals,
one by one.

I’ll begin with chocolate,
the good kind especially.
Is it possible to fast a year?
Maybe just on Saturdays.

I know what else, those photos of
babies, big kids, all in boxes.
This year I’ll sort them, or
maybe just box them smaller.

Learn to do poetry, now that’s a chore,
Not something you can purchase at the store.
I wonder if it will be a bore.

Like grains of sand, my resolutions flow,
Into that canister they go,
No one will ever know.

Maybe they are best left there,
They will be kept unspoken, unbroken.
And I will be at peace,
‘Till next year.