422. My Voice Has Left Me For a While

photo-1527137342181-19aab11a8ee8

My voice has left me for a while.

I know not where it goes.

I only know sometimes it leaves,

And I wait for it’s return,

With soft, restless heaves.

When the air is still and silent,

And ghosts at last have fled…

Away from the warm glow,

Of your eyes and countenance.

It’ll again return, I know.

For now, I sit and write the words,

My voice can not yet say.

Please, won’t you sit with me and wait?

As I rest upon your shoulder,

And pray it’s not too late?

That my voice will return to me,

As swiftly as it left,

Before the night’s too dark to see,

The path it travels,

And ne’er returns to me.

My voice has left me for a while.

I know not where it goes.

I only know sometimes it leaves;

And in my head I hear a song,

Which no one else perceives.

K. Aldaya, 1/5/18

Picture: By: Anthony Tran on Unsplash; https://unsplash.com/photos/vXymirxr5ac

421. Misunderstood

photo-1523178089986-5af0e97effb3

You’ll never understand. I know.

It’s just the way it is.

You’ll never understand how I feel,

And I’m glad. It is what it is.

You’ll never understand why I,

Am the way I am.

You’ll always see me as less than you;

And it’s okay. I am what I am.

You’ll never understand, yet still,

I wish you’d at least try;

Though I don’t blame you for not wanting to,

Life is short and too soon we die.

You’ll never understand, my dear,

How much I wish to be…

Free from the blueprints of memory.

Wave goodbye. What will be, will be.

K. Aldaya, 1/4/18

Picture: By: Zhu Liang on Unsplash; https://unsplash.com/photos/eoy0fuzH5ss

420. Mirror

Fingers pressed,

Firm and still,

Awaiting motion,…

From the brain wand’ring at will,

Beyond all tactile notion.

Eyes adrift,

Scan and see,

Sights too far from word;

Through glass they hide from mem’ry,

In corners undiscovered.

Tiptoeing.

Wandering.

Matter falls away.

In the mirror unblinking,

She silently floats away.

K. Aldaya, 12/7/17

Picture: Original Source Unknown; https://wallpaperscraft.com/download/girl_mirror_reflection_opinion_87457/1920×1080#

419. What Do You Call It?

photo-1604160804958-b59ad848c8aa

What do you call it when someone’s judged by their skin?

When they’re told, “You’re a certain way and don’t fit in”.

What do you call it when they’re picked on for their shade?

When they’re told they are wrong, just for how they were made?

What do you call it when they’re blamed for who they are?

“Your skin is the reason why you deserve a scar”.

What do you call it when they’re told: “Change your color!”.

Told: “It isn’t right” or “You should have another”?

I’ll tell you what it is called…It’s called racism, right?

Though I wonder what you’d say if I told you they were “white”.

K. Aldaya, 11/29/17

Picture: By: Jon Tyson on Unsplash; https://unsplash.com/photos/BQoNx5G6mEI

418. Mortal Paths

Another night ‘lone I lie,

And drift the vast path of thought.

Oh, how many years wasted?

Wandering endlessly…

Though, always onward led?

Led unto my own demise;

A maze of my own making.

What a waste of life…of time:

So precious…so finite…

Squandered in verse and rhyme.

I am nothing. Never was.

Mortality haunts my brain.

For I know not where to start,

Nor how to find the worth,

In the pleadings of heart.

Will anyone remember?

Or will everyone forget?

This mortal realm where I walked,…

On paths without ending;

Where all alone I talked…

To you.

“Hello”………………………………………………………….”Goodbye”.

K. Aldaya, 11/24/17

Picture: https://www.shutterstock.com/video/clip-9726293-stock-footage-handwriting-a-letter-by-candle-light.html