Creative expressions is a space for local poets and writers to share their work. Creative expressions is edited by Richard Schmidt and Diana Liebe. For information or to submit your original work, e-mail rvschmidt2@gmail.com.
Middle Aged Poem
By Cindy Chatham
I wait and wait, holding my horses, loitering, lingering,
pining, with perpetual longing; with bittersweet aching…..
It started as a small seed, grew 5 years
becoming a budding branch…. at 10 years, it began to dry,
burn and spark in protest….
My sap ran down and down
until my roots bled, deep and deeper into my history;
my leaves rattle and reach out…..
my heart sits on this branch of me….waiting to be plucked,
but my fruit is too old and bruised;
my flowers too withered and scentless to attract pollinators.
my fading perfumes never inhaled…….
Dry tears leak, brushing over hidden pockets
of untasted sugar-sap
Yet the dream still remembers the joy
Where canyons of my yearning heart echo & reverberate,
within this skeletal tree without buds….
I think I will die with Love on the tip of my longing….
Nocturne for Sam’s Club
By Cody Eden
When the time for work is over,
the employees drift across the parking lot
like moon-eyed prom dancers on parquet.
They smile the smile of the truly tired
with pizzas tucked under their arms.
There is no work left but to fall into cars
and drive home under the purpling sky.
They think about television as a place.
They think about beer as a kind of clothing,
like armor; like pajamas. Back
inside the store, the merchandise waits.
Big flannel for big men crouches in the dark
near the endless reams of Charmin.
