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/

My sunshiny girl

The sun is always rising from your pocket.
A song is ever frolicking in your hair.
The ground is perpetually dancing beneath your feet.
Delight is incessantly playing in your eyes.
And in shimmery rays of glory,
the color of life is forever found in you.

© 2023 Michelle Cook


Photo credit: https://pixabay.com/photos/freedom-girl-travel-adventure-4782870/

*Sunshine – the light given off by the star around which the planet Earth revolves.
(My daughter… you are this light).

Overthinking…

Sometimes our minds
deceive us,
thoughts oft spilling over
as introspection takes flight.

Our minds tend to steal
our boxes,
those fancy ones filled
with practical reasoning.

Our minds can be
negligent and hurried,
blundering through the day,
then seizing up at night.

Our minds are uniquely etched
with thoughts and desires,
each personal contemplation
deliciously our own.

Our minds can get lost
in the depths of depravity
or swing gracefully to the side
of decency and honor.

Our minds are full of reflections,
ideas, and wonder,
serving as a haven
for the things we must hide.

Our minds can be enigmatic
or effortlessly understandable,
typically only ever failing us
if we give away our control.

And sometimes, we obsess
and overthink because we’re human,
forgetting that our minds
have a mind of their own.

© 2022 Michelle Cook


Photo credit: https://pixabay.com/photos/water-beauty-model-reflection-4658769/

Only One Earth

I walk upon your rugged valleys;
I dance upon your golden shores.
Your unwavering resplendence
is what compels me to explore.

You’re a spinning top of wonder,
a creation whose pleasing to the eye,
and during my many excursions,
I’ve often stood in awe and cried.

Words just can’t describe you;
the heart of you cannot be explained.
And those who notice your glory
tend to stop and rollick in your rain.

Some seek to protect your beauty,
and yet others see a never-ending chore,
but those who truly love you
would do anything to make you more.

The magnificence of your vastness,
the provisions you supply the world for free,
are never taken for granted
by those who consider all they see.

You are everyone’s big ball of brilliance,
your grandeur spills out over the land,
and you will always be protected
by those who are willing to take a stand.

Written by, Michelle Cook


Photo credit: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/earth-solar-sun-moon-universe-1281025/

*Written for World Environment Day in response to the campaign slogan for 2022, “Only One Earth.”