Memory Quilt

Memory quilt
I stitch each thought
Each sentiment

Together

Maybe someday
I'll give it to you
Whole

The prompt for this week's Thursday Think Tank is timeworn. Ella introduced us to an amazing artist who creates visual poetry using things from the past. You can visit her blog to view her work here. To read the other contributions, or to join in go here.

Thursday Think Tank - Signs of Autumn

image from weheartit

Death has never been more beautiful
Than when I see the leaves
Set themselves on fire
Deciding to go out with
A bang
Instead of
Politely bowing out

The Thursday Think Tank - Books

Today's prompt for the Thursday Think Tank is books. My favorite is The Kite Runner, so I read it every other month or so. Here is my poem inspired by the book. To read the other entries or to join in go here.

image from weheartit

For you a thousand times over
Even if I have to cross the sea
Or brave the desert
I'll come find the little
Pieces of you
Left over from
Our childhood

Here is the synopsis taken from Khaled Hosseini's website:
   Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of the monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable, beautifully told story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Raised in the same household and sharing the same wet nurse, Amir and Hassan nonetheless grow up in different worlds: Amir is the son of a prominent and wealthy man, while Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant, is a Hazara, member of a shunned ethnic minority. Their intertwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them. When the Soviets invade and Amir and his father flee the country for a new life in California, Amir thinks that he has escaped his past. And yet he cannot leave the memory of Hassan behind him.

   The Kite Runner is a novel about friendship, betrayal, and the price of loyalty. It is about the bonds between fathers and sons, and the power of their lies. Written against a history that has not been told in fiction before, The Kite Runner describes the rich culture and beauty of a land in the process of being destroyed. But with the devastation, Khaled Hosseini also gives us hope: through the novel's faith in the power of reading and storytelling, and in the possibilities he shows for redemption.

The Thursday Think Tank (on Saturday) - The Road

I realize I'm super late for this post, but procrastination/tardiness is, unfortunately, a family trait I must battle with everyday and all things considered I think it'll be ok if I'm late just this once. Anyway, I did write this on Thursday but never got around to posting it til tonight. This poem is about a journey I recently embarked on.

image courtesy of weheartit

Strait and Narrow
The road I walk on
Isn't lined with flowers
Or smoothly paved
It's easy to find
But not easy to take


This road is rugged
And often painful
But I can't be happy
Unless
I walk it


This road is hard
But in it you'll find
Love, joy, peace, and
Living water; one sip
And you'll never thirst


This road I walk on
Is quite deserted
Except for One
Whose love alone can satisfy
His name is True and Faithful


It's His road I walk on
Every day and every night
Some may scorn
But I can't be happy
Unless I walk it

"Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." - Matthew 7:14


*I realize my statement "It's easy to find/ But not easy to take" sounds contradictory to the above verse, but what I meant to convey with it is the simplicity of the gospel. Coming to Christ is easy, but that's just the beginning. People often leave out the stuff that comes after accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior, which is what the verse is talking about and the road I am on.

Thursday Think Tank - The City

When we left Mexico City I was too young to remember much, so this poem is based on stories from my family and what I imagine it to be. Even if I tried I could not capture the grandeur of Mexico City in these lines, but I hope you got a small glimpse of the life there.




image courtesy of weheartit


Street sounds
such as cars honking and tires grinding
remind of yesterday
and the life we led in Mexico City
Sometimes
if I close my eyes
I can revisit my home in memory
The smell of sweet churros hangs in the air
while tourists and street vendors haggle
over the price of fresh fruit,
flowers, snacks, and handmade bright blue bowls
I can almost see the swirl of colorful clothing
and hear the rush of feet
existing in a city of 20 million

I am One

image courtesy of weheartit

I am one
And can't do much but
I can see and I can move
I can speak and I can feel


I am one
Solitary soul with no
Political power or
Great beauty to speak of


But I have words
Some of compassion
Some of comfort
But all of love


I am one
But one alone can light the stars

Red - Thursday Think Tank

Cheating for the second time this week! The prompt for Poets United: The Thursday Think Tank is red. I wrote this poem on May 29 of this year to describe how I felt when anger crept into my life. It belongs to a series of poems I wrote while experimenting with formless poetry inspired by an Anthropologie catalog.


Red
               a blinding color
     a shawl enveloping,          choking
my every sense.
                                 Words
               poisoning my ears.
I walk and fall
                 over their clammy hands.