Fifty-two

Sometimes
I feel so small
out here
underneath it all
The sky is so vast
every mountain so high
I’m a mere speck of dust
to every passer-by
Insignificant
by design
feeling ready
to resign
Like a splash from a waterfall
an unnoticed drip
splattered upon grandeur
preparing to slip
Yet I wonder
if I could be
a friend
to the mighty sea
As insufficient as I am
I’ve got so many dreams
under the weight of them all
I’m nearly bursting at the seams
Ambitions
overflowing
completely ready
to get going
But the path is never straight
and the journey can be so long
can’t always get someplace
unless you’re really strong
A new age
a new me
I wonder
who I’ll be
I’ve searched my whole life
through a forest of tall trees
looking for all the answers
as if they’re there on the breeze
Just more questions
forever found
scattered lifelessly
on the ground
Wonder if I’ll ever find my way
I’m over halfway through
This is just how life is
when you’re turning fifty-two

© 2024 Michelle Cook


Photo credit: https://pixabay.com/photos/woman-path-nature-forest-meadow-2827304/

The best part of me is you…

I get swept away
by the sound of your voice,
transported to that place
where only we exist.

Crashing within the waves
of your all-consuming love,
entranced and submerged
by the depths of your desire.

And since the beginning,
I have always known
that you were to be mine
and I was to be yours.

You are the truest love
that I have ever known,
and the very best part
of who I have become.

© 2024 Michelle Cook


Photo credit: https://pixabay.com/photos/couple-love-stars-hug-pair-1375125/

Obscured connexions


Continued from here

Darla awoke in a somewhat familiar place, yet she didn’t recognize any of the faces of those around her. There was a giant painting on the wall across from her, and she recognized it as one of the Old Gods. But besides the picture and part of the room, everything else seemed foreign. Confused and a bit afraid, she tried to sit up. She knew she’d made a big mistake when immense pain shot through the right side of her body. “Ugh,” she cried as everyone rushed to her side. She fell back onto the hard mattress and tried to assess her situation. Many people spoke all at once, and the language was foreign to Darla. She tried to remember what had happened to her, but her head felt fuzzy every time she tried. She did remember part of a dream she was having before she woke. Abbefore was there, leaning over his orb, mumbling something to himself, when he suddenly spun around on his pedestal and looked straight at Darla. He tried to communicate with her, but like a television with lousy reception, she couldn’t understand what he was trying to say. It seemed he was trying to show her something very important, and he kept repeating the words, “Don’t forget to…” but that was all she could remember of the dream. With a heavyhearted sigh, she closed her eyes and tried to ignore the commotion of those around her. She took a long, deep breath and tried to relax. Abbefore’s image was still so vivid in her mind. “If only I could remember,” she kept whispering to herself. But with an exhausted mind and an acutely injured body, she fell asleep once more.

© 2024 Michelle Cook


Photo credit: https://afterwards.blog/

Writing challenge: https://afterwards.blog/2024/02/05/afterwards-writing-prompt-5-monday-5th-of-february-connexion/

To be something

Like the wind
I come and go
And where I’ll end up
Not even I know

I try my best
To show who I am
But even those closest
Can’t understand

I often wonder
About things I should do
But lack of encouragement
Leaves me feeling blue

I feel like the whole world
Is expecting me to fall
But deep in my heart
I’m giving it my all

I’m no competitor
I’ve just never been
But I want to live my life
And be something in the end

© 2024 Michelle Cook


Photo credit: https://pixabay.com/photos/dandelion-wild-flower-7854275/

Times Square Travails

And then suddenly you were gone
like the rustling of crumpled leaves
fading against the backdrop
of a saturated city

My sails became limp and lifeless
hanging threadbare
against Times Square temptations
leaving me with a melancholy mindset
in the midst of a cosmopolitan dream

Manhattan meanderings
simultaneously stifled
an adventure left orphaned
under clouds full of finality

A meteor shower of emotions
enhancing the dimly lit depression
causing a crater of convictions
to overflow and seep into the crevices
flooding my ever-dispirited heart

© 2023 Michelle Cook


Photo credit: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/ai-generated-woman-rain-night-wet-8020990/