Poems

The Only Song That Matters
by: Larissa Coleman (L.C.)
July 10th, 2006
I know a song
I know a terrible, undying song
It's the song you woke up singing
but forgot as the
day went on
I know a song that cannot be taught
only remembered
listen
there
behind the tears you cried
when you first realized your heart could break
there
in the time you held the moon in your hands
and
watching the light spill in your fingers
realized this was a kiss you couldn't
wash away
listen
there
that first note
the one that tells you that
once you hear this song
you can never unhear it
that this is the song you
don't know how you forgot
the song that's like breathing
the only song that matters
it's not an easy song
-the notes were the first to make us feel joy-
but they are also the words of a people
who know despair
it is not a song you can hear once
without hearing it in every whisper
lurking behind every scream
it is not a song you can hear
without needing to sing it and
never stop
singing
it is a song that has no ending
even if the world ends
even if the stars fall
keep singing
listen
there
can you hear my song?
the one your blood heats to
the one your heart beats to
the only song that matters
the one you can't help
but dance to
the one you're always dancing to
even when your standing still

Rappeling
by: Larissa Coleman
May 10th, 2006

They always ask about the fall
how do you stand the falling, they wonder
the headlong rush into eternity
where forever is crammed into seconds
and your life is measured in heartbeats
a strange thing to ask
because anyone whose taken the leap
knows that the fall
is the easiest part
there is no thinking
in the freefall
in those few seconds
when you fall into the sky
merging with it
until the rose of the dawn
or the black velvet of the night
fills you to bursting
and you don't have to decide
whether you're falling
or flying
because for that headlong, giddy rush
there's really no difference between the two
the fall is the easy part
the hardest part
-the part that makes it all worth it-
is the moment you force yourself
to let go
and trust that
no matter what
you're going to be caught

Ode to A Poem

this morning I woke up looking for you
and I thought you'd be outside
because yesterday you were the sound
of the rain hitting the red clay
of the desert after three months drought
and the way it was absolutely perfect
the way that even though it made the air
smell like horses
it was absolutely perfect

this morning I woke up looking for you
and I thought you'd be in the kitchen
because sometimes you're the bliss-filled
taste of chocolate fudge
after a month's dieting
or the smell of my mother's shrimp and grits
wafting lazily on the morning breeze

this morning I woke up looking for you
and I thought you'd be dancing
in the flame that needs no fuel
or looming in the strange certainty
that comes between breaths
because last month
you were as close to God
as I could get without dying

this morning I woke up looking for you
and I kept looking for you all day
my favorite game of hide and seek
this morning I woke up looking for you
and finding you was easy
like breathing
because today you were like
the breath in my lungs