I hope my first poem inspired someone to think differently or even to write a poem of their own. The poem was born while I was watching my pet gecko. This just goes to show ideas for poems can come from anything. Many of my poems develop from events that shape who I am, but some encompass an instant. One small happening. You can find content in a host of places. Just look and be inspired. Maybe this poem will help...

Discarded
Overgrown grass
hides from view
a boat
left to rot,
to dissolve into the clay,

the words on its bow
become unreadable
with time
weather and
chip, fading

where someone neglected to paint,
and memories seem to linger
in the splintered oar.

The skeleton of shattered oak
cannot speak
of what lies
within,

whether water once made rich
the dry, cracked wood,
or dust found a home
at the beginning
is unknown

explanations hide beneath time
and silence,
with transgressions committed
by the boat
in time
past,

what was is
unknown
to this lonely place
where the boat
has made its grave

for neither nails, nor boards,
nor grassy blanket
remember what came
before.



All of this came from a glance of a boat on the side of the road.

The First...

Here goes nothing. I'm embarking on an adventure. An adventure that I welcome with open hands and a poem...

Trapped
What are you hiding
in those amber eyes
what lurks beneath
the ridges of your skin
the soft underbelly
warmed
by white sand,
what happened
to bring you here
who banished you from your mother
and held you captive,
were there others before the woman
who sold you to me
or was she the first,
are you angry
that I keep you here
and strip you
of your defenses
or happy that I chose you
saved you
from somewhere far worse than this.
If I let you out
will you stay
or will you flee,
each day you’re trapped
is a day I save you
in my eyes
you are already free
you eat and sleep and play


with no fear
no predator
to fend off
no worries
you don’t have to work
to survive,
you may be trapped
in glass and plastic
and air,
but you understand
just like me
that freedom
doesn’t matter
if you’re happy.