Author: Elena

I was born and raised in the Bay Area. Growing up, I went to Berkeley public schools up until I left California to attend McDaniel College, located in Westminster, MD. I graduated from McDaniel College with a B.A. in Theatre Arts with a focus in Acting.

Feeling Alone/Loneliness

The feeling of being alone or loneliness is one of the worst things we can feel. That leads me to my first quote of this post by Mother Teresa. She says “The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.” I think that quote is pretty self explanatory. Sometimes being alone can be a good thing too. It depends situation to situation and person to person. On the flip side loneliness could be a good thing. This next quote is from one of my personal heroes Mandy Hale. She says “A season of loneliness and isolation is when the caterpillar gets its wings. Remember that next time you feel alone.” As I will say later on in this post, being alone is a good thing because it really teaches you about yourself and you learn how to grow on your own.

We could be one of the happiest people and be surrounded by lots of people, but we could still feel alone. The worst feeling is when you have so much to share, but then you realize that you have no one to share it with. That is what this post and poem is all about. That brings me to the following quote. Teal Swan says “In fact, the most painful kind of loneliness is the loneliness that persists, even in a crowded room.” It is like what I was saying before because we can be in a crowded room but we can still feel loneliness. This is a subject that I can go on and on about.

Just a heads up that this is an old poem so therefore it is an old situation I’ve been through. There are some days in which I do feel alone, but I feel like that is perfectly normal. I think when we are alone is when we get to know ourselves the best and it’s what makes us the strongest too. That leads me to another quote. This one is by Janet Fitch who says “Loneliness is the human condition. No one is ever going to fill that space. The best you can do is know yourself; know what you want.” She is basically saying that you should take the time to know yourself and what you want, especially in those moments in which you feel loneliness which is something we all experience at one point or another.

I know that this is a long post, but I am going to follow up with one last final quote which also serves as a reminder for us all.

Emma Xu says “If you are feeling lonely know that you’ll always have:

Books to nurture your soul

Hands to create and explore

Wind to calm your soul

Breathes to soothe your nerves

Nature to soak your worries away

Stars to decorate your dreams

So I hope that everyone can use the above quote to remind themselves that there are plenty of things around us and within ourselves even when we feel alone. I hope that everyone enjoys the following poem and remember that sometimes it is perfectly okay to feel alone. Cheers!!!!

When Loneliness Takes Over

Every day she puts on a brave smile,
But no one notices the loneliness she
Feels steeping into her bones late at
Night when there is no one else to talk
To. Every day it always the same cycle
Over and over again like a dishwasher
Or washing machine that will not stop
Running. No one realizes she misses
Someone who will hold her tight and
Keep the bad nightmares away. She
Laughs but no one is there to laugh
At her silly and corny jokes. No one
Is there to come home to and vent to
About her bad day at work. No one is
There to love and to have for the rest
Of her days. People come and go, but
No one stays long enough to ask if she
Is really okay, past all the smiles and
The tears she keeps trying to hold in.
Her loneliness is at the bottom of the
Glass as she is drinking away the pain
And sorrow she feels in the pit of her
Stomach. No one sees the loneliness
In her eyes that used to shine with so
Much brightness and hope. She never
Wanted to feel pity from others, just
Understanding that it a cold and lonely
World sometimes. She looks into the
Mirror and I look right back at her.

Life Is a Journey and Having Your Own Path

Life takes us in many different directions. Up, down, and side to side. It kind of reminds me of a roller coaster because it never quite goes linear or straight. That is why I feel like life is a journey. And a lot of the time we have to take the journey all on our own. That is what this post is all about. Not about what that journey is like, but about taking it alone and making our own path. We should all know by now that life is a journey and we should not expect everyone to understand it, let alone travel it. That brings me to my very first quote of this post. “Don’t expect anyone to understand your journey, especially if they’ve never walked your path.” So in other words, do not let others dictate your journey or walk your path, especially if they have never been where you have been. It works the other way around too. Do not judge anyone for the journey or path they have taken.

Sometimes people are meant to walk the same path together, whether it is best friends, co-workers, romantic partners, etc. But a lot of the time your paths diverge and then you are not walking down the same path anymore. Guess what? That is perfectly fine because you and that person may realize that you want different things in life. In that case all you can do is to wish them the best and move on by forging your own path. That leads me to my very next quote which says the following. “Everyone has their own path. Walk yours with integrity and wish all others peace on their journey. When your paths merge, rejoice for their presence in your life. When the paths are separated, return to the wholeness of yourself, give thanks for the footprints left on your soul, and embrace the time to journey on your own.” In other words, be appreciative for the people who you met along the way, but do not be afraid to go your own way, with or without them.

I want to conclude this post by saying that we can all choose our paths, both the good and the bad. That does not mean that we have to stop wishing the best for someone else’s journey. We can still choose to be someone’s cheerleader even if it is from a distance. I never intentionally choose to wish someone the worst or wish them any bad luck or see them suffer because that is just not who I am. The following poems can really speak for themselves because I feel like I do not need to give any sort of backstory to them or anything. I know that you all will get its intention. Enjoy!!!!

Photo credit: amidamaru900 (Instagram)

Down Different Roads

We will pass the night sky like shooting
Stars as I wish we could be together in
Our next life. I always find myself rooting
For your happiness because living in sin
And sadness is never what I wanted for
You. I never wanted to see you suffer or
Beg for something you were never meant
To lose. Love. Happiness and life passing
By in slow motion. We should have spent
This time loving each other and grasping
Hands before it was all gone in a whisper
Of smoke. Clouds part and what became
Crystal clear was that you were the kisser
Of my wounds, but never doused a flame
In my heart that was about to explode.
In the end we went down different roads.

Visual poem titled “Life’s Choices.”

Sky

The sky… we all see it every single day, yet it is something we tend to forget about just as easily. There is so much the sky teaches us and the main thing it teaches us is to appreciate its beauty. This brings me to my first quote of this post by Ralph Waldo Emerson. He says, “The sky is the ultimate art gallery just above us.” In other words, Emerson is comparing the sky to a piece of art or all pieces of art in an art gallery. That gives us more of a reason to appreciate the sky every day. That is why I like sunrises and sunsets especially. They teach me to appreciate the life I am grateful enough to live. I could go on and on but I will conclude this post with one final quote. S. R. Abasi says “The sky speaks in a thousand colors.” That is why the sky is so important. It can speak to us in so many ways. But I will conclude this post by saying to appreciate the sky because it gives us something every single day. I hope that my readers enjoy the following poem.

The Sky’s Beauty

Painted like a picture
The sky reminds me of better times.
The stars twinkle like magical chimes,
But the sky will never waiver or flicker.

Gone are all of yesterday’s sorrows.
We only focus on the present moment
As the sky is the world’s bestowment.
There is tomorrow.

Betrayal

Betrayal is one of the worst feelings in the world. Sometimes we think it comes from those we do not know or people who we think are our enemies, but the sad truth is that it could come from someone we are familiar with. That leads me into my first quote of this blog post. “The saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies.” In other words it comes from people we know and love, whether that is family, friends or our partners. I think that is why betrayal hurts a lot because we trust those people, but then they betray us. It could be intentional, but it could be unintentional as well. Either way it still hurts and causes a lot of pain, especially for those who feel betrayed. There is another sad truth to betrayal. It can be explained best by the following quote by Arthur Miller. He says, “Betrayal is the only truth that sticks.” I think he means that betrayal is the only truth that sticks and lingers. I know this feels like a sad post so I will try to keep it short I promise.

There could be a positive side to betrayal as well. You can learn so much from it and it is a reflection of who the other person is, not yourself. That leads me to my last and final quote of this blog post. Well… actually three final quotes. The first one is the following. “When someone betrays you, it is a reflection of their character, not yours.” I think that quote is pretty self explanatory, but I will try to explain it the best I can. Betrayal does not show who you are, but it shows who the betrayer really is and has nothing to do with you. Betrayal in other words is not completely your fault. So you should not have to feel guilty. The second to last quote by Sherrilyn Kenyon says, “Everyone suffers at least one bad betrayal in their lifetime. It’s what unites us. The trick is not to let it destroy your trust in others when that happens. Don’t let them take that away from you.” So in other words, do not let that one bad betrayal destroy what you hold so dear and give to others… trust, which is one if not the most important thing in this world.

In conclusion, betrayal is one of the worst things anyone deals with, but we just have to keep moving on no matter how hard that is. That leads me to my last quote of this blog post, I promise. Carmen Harra says, “Betrayal leaves us at a fork in the road… we can become stuck in a bad moment forever or we can put it behind us for good. We decide our path.” In other words, betrayal gives us two options. One is to let it linger and fester. The other option is to move on and leave it in the past. In all honesty, it is better to choose the second option of moving on and leaving betrayal in the past because it does no good to keep a hold on it for our present or future. I hope that everyone enjoys the following visual poem about one form of betrayal.

“Betrayal of Love” visual poem. Image by Jills from Pixabay.

Common Sense and Lack of Common Sense

I think common sense would be pretty common (pardon the pun), but I feel like some people out there lack common sense. First off let’s talk about the very definition of what common sense is. When one looks it up in the dictionary. It might say something like the following from the Oxford dictionary. “the ability to think about things in a practical way and make sensible decisions.” In other words, it helps us make reasonable decisions. That leads me into my first quote of this blog post which says what I said from the very beginning of this post. “If only common sense were more common.” Some people have the worst common sense.

This is a short post so I will conclude this post with the poem down below and that is it. I wrote it in the aftermath of the January 6 insurrection because in my mind those people seemed to have the worst common sense. That leads me to my next and final quote of this post. “Common sense is a flower that does not grow in everyone’s garden.” That brings me to what this post is all about. My point is this… there are people in this world who have common sense and then there are those people who lack common sense. For the most part it is very easy to distinguish between the two. I hope that you all enjoy the following poem.

For the Better Good

Some people just lack common sense
As they want to cross over the fence,

But never take the time to know why
It is there. They see the burning sky,

But never know why it is constantly
Burning. They cause chaos and bodily

Harm but never understand the pain
It causes. They complain about the rain

But never understand why people stand
In line for change. They never fanned

The flames and they shift the blame
Onto someone else when they take aim

At people who serve to be our voice for
The better good. They break the door

In the hopes of disturbing such a sacred
Space that is now tarnished with hatred,

Not with peace or their patriotism. They
Need to learn a thing or two about laying

Their hearts in the right place instead of
Shattering the broken remains of love

And sacrifice. Inspire a peacefully led
Revolution for justice instead of a thread

That leads straight to more destructive
Behavior. Be a voice for a more productive

Movement as the rest of us use our voices
And hearts for common sense and choices.

First Love

Whether you want to call this puppy love or first love, it does not matter. We have all at some point experienced this kind of love during our lifetime. Whether it is the person we first dated or really fell in love and it does not necessarily have to be the first boyfriend/girlfriend or first person we dated either. For me it wasn’t my first “boyfriend.” It was a guy I started seeing after college when I went back home. It differentiates person to person. It could be with the person you are with today. It is that someone you do not forget about. It is someone you compare everyone else to. That leads me to my first quote of this post. “No matter what you say, you will never forget your first love.” It is like what I was saying before about not forgetting your first love. Sometimes that first love can be someone like your mom or dad so it does not necessarily have to be romantic because it is that person who taught you what love is. The first kind of love I saw and still see is the one with my parents with each other and to their children.

If you are still with your first love, congratulations, but a lot of the time you do not end up with that person forever. That is unfortunately the sad truth about our first love. That leads me to my next quote by Benjamin Disraeli. He says, “The magic of first love is our ignorance that it can never end.” That is the sad truth about our first love… we tend to ignore the fact that it could end at any point. It hurts, but it happens that way. That person, despite the pain and heartbreak will always have special place in your heart no matter what. They stick with you no matter what. That leads me to my next quote. It says “Maybe your first love is the one that sticks with you because it’s the only person who will ever receive all of you. After that, you learn better. But, most of all, no matter what, a piece of you forever remains left behind in the heart of the one you loved – a piece no future lover could ever get, no mater what. That piece holds innocence – the belief that love really can last forever. It holds friendship and pain, trial and error, that one kiss you’ll never forget and that night under the stars you can never get back. It holds youth and everything you thought love would be. Everything that was proven wrong.” So that person in other words is your first everything.

So I hope that my readers will always remember their first love because that is truly something special and never be afraid to love again if that first love does not work out in the end. That leads me to my next and final quote of this post by Elizabeth Aston. She says “One’s first love is always perfect until one meets one’s second love.” We are allowed to have more than our one or first love. And for the most part our second love is better than the first. I thought I would share not only one poem, but two. Enjoy!!!! And happy belated Valentine’s Day.

Someone I Loved (And Still Love)

You were once someone who I fully loved
As those moments we shared turned into
Distant and far away memories. I shoved
Everything aside, hoping I can forget you

And the way you made me feel. You are
Not here to help me get through all those
Lonely and empty nights. The bright star
You helped me find is there, but the rose

Along with our love died during the middle
Of spring. I had to learn to love the sound
Of walking away as I played second fiddle
To your very first priority. The word around

The street is that I moved on and maybe
You have too, but we both pulled the rug.
We both gave up when it was hard to see
The light at the end of the tunnel. I tugged

Myself out of all those flashbacks in which
I really wanted everything back to how it
Was before; easy and would never switch
Up on each other, but we can no longer fit

Together. All we can do is wish each other
The best and hope that we both can find
Love we search for. Love that can smother
And does not hurt. Love that is both kind

And patient. Love that does not keep us
Second-guessing. Love that is never little
Or too big. On the merry go round and bus
Of life we only keep going until the brittle

Edges of our hearts were breaking. This
Taught me the love never goes away even
When I wanted to hate someone. The bliss
That we had is all I craved and believed in.

Our story and chapter comes to an end,
But in them lays a person I loved. Scratch
That… a person I still love today. I blend
In hoping that you do not knows I catch

Or carry feelings for you. I wear your shirt
In the hopes that I will not forget you and
How it still brings me comfort. We skirt,
Dodge and avoid the past pain. I handed

You parts of me and pretend to be content
Even when my heart is still missing the old
You. It is your familiar touch and scent
That I long for. The “come here” as cold

Days and nights became way warmer with
Your rich voice. All I longed for was to love
You infinitely but love like that is a myth
And fable. Something we can only think of

As the world keeps turning and it always
Comes down to the fact that I have to live
A better life so when we meet again days
Or years later, we will be ready to give

Love a chance that it really deserves. But
For now I think about the what ifs. What if
We just kept trying? What if I tried to shut
Off insecurities we carried? Pour me a stiff

Drink and let’s drink to forget about life.
Let’s drink to forget about love seeping
Through our veins. I wanted to be a wife
Or partner through it all, regularly keeping

You safe and protected from the world
Tossing its leftovers at your feet. I wanted
To be the reason for your smiles, curled.
I cannot let the bad things that haunted

Us to be a mistake as our biggest mistake
Was screaming “I love you” and we were
Too way too late. We were too late to take
The biggest risk of all, having tears blur

Our vision, but we were still willing to fall
Again. I felt like a soldier ready to fight
Because that is all I wanted, but the wall
Went back up again and we lost the light.

So no, I will never be forgetting your love,
Even if I was starting to love someone else
As you are my first love, wearing a glove
To protect something gentle and complex.

Real Love

Love permeates the air because I cannot
Get enough of you, but it is not the lust
I feel in my bones and veins. It is the real
Deal as I used to always get so caught
Up in the past, but not anymore as I trust
You and all the love that is strong. I feel

You even when you are not sleeping here
Next to me or walking besides me in this
Journey of life. I asked a million times if
You loved me and you said, “Never fear
My love as it is sturdier than the abyss
We get easily lost in. Let go of the cliff’s

Edge as it will never hold you and support
Your body weight and heart like I will. So
Trust me when I say I love you one million
Times. Let us fill our souls and passports
With adventure as I wish to see your glow
Forever. I do love you with perfect vision.”

I wish I could articulate it into words and
Notions that make sense, but nothing will
Say it more than all these words to you, my
Dear as we will soon in the future stand
In front of each other as our love’s thrill
Is still here. Love like this is worth a try.

Matters of the Heart

I know I probably talked about the matters of the heart so many times. As I think about it more and more I realize that the heart is one of the most essential organs we have in our bodies. It pumps blood and keeps us alive every day. I really am sorry for everything that I put my heart through. I am thankful for it every minute of every day. That is the very reason why we have to protect it. That leads me to my first quote of this post. Proverb 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” In other word we should protect and guard our hearts because life itself flows and comes from it.

I could go on and on about how important our heart is, but I think people get the point. There is so much more I could say about our hearts, but I will conclude with a couple of more quotes and they are important ones. The first one is by Princess Diana. She says “Only do what your heart tells you.” In other words, you should be trusting and following your heart. You should be doing what your heart tells you to do because it is usually right. That leads me into my next and final quote of this post by Alfred Adler. He says “Follow your heart but take your brain with you.” It is a gentle reminder to follow your heart, but do no not forget to take your brain with you which is very important.

This post is a gentle reminder for those of us who forget that our hearts are the most important organ we have in our body. We have to take care of it, not only physically, but mentally as well because we put it through a lot. The truth is that we cannot always count on others to take care of it for us because it belongs to us and no one else. In a way we have to take care of our own hearts before we take on the responsibility to take care of someone else’s heart because our our health should come before someone else’s damaged heart. So this post is for all of you. Cheers! And enjoy these two poems. The first one is in tribute to Rita Dove who is a poet I came across in one of the competitions I took part in on DUP (won runner up position). You can read her poem that was the inspiration for my poem (click here). Like I said before, I hope that you all enjoy them.

There Goes My Heart

Pitter patter
goes my heart
every time I see you.

Take what belongs
to you – the heart
moving with
every breath
and word spoken
So eloquently.

All I yearned for
was simplicity
and easiness.

The heart never
loses its shape
nor its color
as it never stops
its birdlike or drum
like consistency.

It never stops its
path to freedom.

Visual poem titled “Healing Heart.”

Things That Are Left Unsaid & Unsent Letters

We all have things that are left unsaid, especially when it comes to someone who left or died. This someone may have hurt you or vice versa. In some way these things that are unsaid impact you in some way. These people have an impact on you as well whether you realize it or not. That brings me to my first quote by Sara Zarr, who says, “There are certain people that come into your life, and leave a mark. I’m talking about the ones who, for whatever reason, are as much a part of you as your own soul. Their place in your heart is tender, a bruise of longing, a pulse of unfinished business. Just hearing their names pushes and pulls at you in a hundred ways, and when you try to define those hundred ways, describe them even to yourself, words are useless. If you had a lifetime to talk, there would still be things left unsaid.” In other words, there are people who have an impact on your life and even if you had all the time in the world to talk to each other there will still always be things that will be left unsaid.

These things that are left unsaid also stay with us no matter what. Which brings me to my next quote, which says, “Things left unsaid stay with us forever.” I think I already summed that quote up perfectly already, but I will reiterate. The things left unsaid stay with us permanently, no matter what happens in life. They linger and stay with us.

Sometimes there are things we wish we would have said and sometimes I write those things into poems/letters. It is the best way to get it out even if that person does not see those poems/letters. Those people are such a huge part of our lives and even if we left on bad terms there are some things that are going on in our lives currently that we wish we could tell them. My point is this, even if you do not send those poems/letters it gives us closure in some way or the other. It gives you that clarity that you did not get before. It especially helps when there is physical distance between you and that person.

I wanted this post to be one of the first ones of the new year because it is like starting with a new slate. In a way you are writing your thoughts without really sharing it with anyone or anything besides paper. That brings me to one final quote by Nancy Ducey. She says, “There are letters I have written, unspoken words I must release. I bare my soul on paper, but in the end it is only ink.” So here is a poem that I wrote in some sort of letter format in the hopes that I am able to get almost everything out that I want to. The second one is a letter that I did indeed write and neither one of them had been sent. And I encourage my readers to do the same. Sit down and write a poem or letter, but do not send it. I hope that you all enjoy these poems/letters.

Unsent Letter

I have to write this with a clear heart
And head. I just wanted a fresh start

Miles away from where we met and
Fell in love. I never could understand

How one person who always had my
Heart could be the one to have me cry

Because as I tried to believe in us you
Were shutting down and carried too

Much weight on your shoulders. Even
When I was walking away on uneven

Ground as my balance was slipping
Fast, my eyes were still dripping

With tears of the final goodbye. I just
Knew I tried to move on as the lust

And love were still trying to tug or pull
At my heartstrings one time. I was full

Of doubts and questions. All of this
To say that although I will truly miss

The person and memories that came
With us things we were not the same

As we once were. We are now grown
And changed as the world has shown

Us a different life. Different jobs, hair,
Journeys and destinations. The air

Has changed too because gone are
The days when I could not move far

Along the path I wanted to follow.
So forgive me if I ever sound hollow,

Shallow or selfish because I truly
Did it for myself. I walked from a duty

And promise to you. Although I still
Wait for that one message I fulfill

That promise I made to myself long
Ago of loving myself and staying strong.

To a Poet I Once Knew

September 20, 2018

Oakland, California

Dear D.,

I hope that this letter finds you well. I have been thinking of you lately as the sunsets remind me of our short time together. All I can think about is the first time we kissed as the city lights felt as if they were miles away. For that one moment my heart felt steady and I just knew that it belonged in your hands. Just as the better days were approaching after the hurricane, I found warm shelter within your embrace.

I am forever thankful as I swiped right on Tinder, even though I did not know your story or recognized you in the flesh. Flash forward to 4 months later and our story was ending although I was scared to say goodbye, but I had to say goodbye because although the good memories were there the days leading up to this final climax were coming fast. I could do nothing, but cry that night when you said it was over because who was the guy I was falling for? Because I did not see or recognize the man you became. It is like the time you told me that you did not want to make me cry but looking back now it is a lie. All the memories associated with you are tainted.

This letter to you is to not wish you any ill or bad feelings, but to remember the good and bad times we had together. No matter how many times I have been going around in circles with questions like… Why you? Why her? Why did this have to happen? But neither one of us have the complete answers. Sometimes people like you are just meant to be in our lives for a short time like a stranger who has become a friend and lover. Then they go back to becoming a stranger again.

I have been trying to find it in my heart to forgive you because although you let me carry the weight of the world you also gave me every reason to be alive again. You gave me every reason to grow and carry myself like the woman we both know I could be. And for that I am thankful, but maybe it is best for us to move on like I know you already have. I wish you nothing, but happiness and hope that the sunshine still finds you wherever you are. I hope that you continue to follow the path you have created for yourself and just know that even though we are miles apart I know you will conquer the world one day.


Take Care,
Elena

Lord Byron Tribute

It is time for another tribute post. This one is for Lord Bryon, whose birthday is right around the corner, January 22. I first came across Lord Byron through a book my mom gave me one year for my birthday in college. That poem that I came across and is one of his most well known poems (also happens to be one of my favorite poems today) is “She Walks In Beauty” (you can read the poem here). I will let my poem speak for itself and the poem did get runner up position for a contest I participated in last month on DUP. I hope that you all enjoy it!

She Is True Beauty

I see her standing there like a true vision.

How I wish I could meet her right at the
Water’s edge so captivated by her beauty

And true perfection. In some other world
She would be mine, but in this world she
Is fawned over by many others like some
Boyhood or girlhood fantasy. When she

Laughs like a musical melody others stop
To listen. With her smile she can light up

A dark room and with her eyes she can set
Fires. She walks in beauty like the silence
In the wind chimes, but no one knows her
True beauty on the inside and the strength

In her bones like the women who all came
Before her. No one knows the struggles she

Faces to be like the girls on the front of the
Magazine covers. She does not know that I
Am standing right here to catch her if she
Ever falls. She offers love and kindness.

She is like an angel who walks in beauty.

My Start In Poetry

As we kick off the new year (happy 2021 everyone), I want to take this time and look back on when I first started writing poetry. I first started writing poetry in middle school and I believe it was 6th grade, but by the time I was in 8th grade I really got into it. I always credit Mr. Rose, my 8th grade English teacher for my start in poetry. I began connecting to it a lot more and I have carried it with me since then. It has become my whole world. Poetry is all about perspective and experience. That brings me to my first and only quote in this post. Muriel Rukeyser says, “Breathe in experience, breathe out poetry.” I really do breathe poetry. I do not want to make this post too long, but I would love to share some of my earliest works with you and I hope that you enjoy them as much as I do! FYI, I wrote this poem from my grandma’s perspective who at a young age moved from Arkansas to California. I thank her for being one of my earliest inspirations and for continuing to cheer me on. I love you grandma Nan!!!!

Grandma Nan Moves From Arkansas

When I was ‘bout 13 years old
Younger than you are now
I was leaving our only family home.

I said goodbye to our ratty,
Yet warm and welcoming house.
I also said goodbye to
The faded and chipped red painted barn,
Occupied with the clucking of the rooster
And the loud noises of the other animals.
I was longing and aching to touch them
One last time,
Before I said goodbye
To them for the very last time
I grew up with them
I have loved and cherished them
As if they were a part of my family.

I am leaving the old country side
And all of the roads that
Isolated us from our neighbors
Down the long bend
And those kicking up dirt
As we drive on by in our car.

I was going to miss my Arkansas
But we were leaving
For something better,
A life in the city,
In San Francisco, California
A place known as
“The land of sunshine and opportunity.”

It’s a place where my poppa could get a real job
Making enough money to support us.
He doesn’t have to live on the minimum wage,
Barely making a dollar an hour.

The Great Depression
Swept through the country
And took everything that was in it’s path.

I wonder what ever happened to that house
For I have never gone back to Arkansas
And I still haven’t to this very day.