Poetry Blog by Vautaw

Time after time 
I give you another chance
to prove you still care.

You respond with 
the venomous bite
of a rattlesnake.

How much more 
poison can I take

before I am consumed 
by the same dark spirit
that possesses you?

I know I should run
far away

but I have convinced myself
of the old cliche...

better the devil you know 
than the devil you don't.

I know what to ex...

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Every time I think I have become enlightened and can handle anything, a new challenge shows up to test me. Whether it's toxicity in my body, family illness or death, rejection of a lover, friend, stranger, job, point of view, whatever... ego is the first to show up on the scene, like a paramedic giving CPR to revive my pride. Pride dies, only to come back a little weaker next round, like a cat wit...

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I wish you could 
see yourself 
as I see you. 

You see 
an outcast, 
rebel without a cause.

I see 
a tormented soul 
with so much potential. 

Silver-tongued sage, 
healing hearts 
with the flick of a pen 
on a tattered page. 
 

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In the blue-green meadow

of my silent soul, 

scorpion grass - 

dormant for decades,

now grows wild and free, 

sustaining me, 

spreading love

for the aching world

to behold its beauty.  

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Super Snow Moon tell us 

the secrets you keep 

when you orbit earth 

as we sleep.

Tell us it is 

an optical illusion 

adding to our mass confusion.
 

Tell us of war and peace,

famine and feast.

Tell us please... 

How are we so different 

when it's the same moon we see?

Oh Supermoon, how we hunger for 

your guiding light from above 

to fill us with w...

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One of my favorite games 
to play as a child 
was seeing shapes 
in the clouds: 

Dogs, cats, 
elephants, giraffes, 
airplanes, unicorns... 

It was one of the 
few pleasures 
of my childhood. 

As I grew up, 
I began to see 
scarier things:
 
Dragons, demons, 
torn hearts,
flaming arrows... 

Now in the archway 
of my golden years, 
I see beauty that 
brings me to tears:

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If you become 
what you think about 
most of the time... 

I am becoming 
poetry, a lyrical 
fantasy floating 
in rhyme. 

I am becoming 
love and light,

Doing my best
to do what's right.

I am becoming 
forgiveness 
and peace. 

Healing souls
like Wayne 
and Louise.  

I am becoming
who God intended
me to be.

Leaving a loving
legacy. 

I am becoming 
free.

###

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I see you lurking about
making him say 
sweet nothings
to lure me out.

This time 
I am being smart,
walling off 
my broken heart.

Using your 
flaming arrows
to paint the sky.

Let the world know
you are really 
not a nice guy.

You are a trickster
who makes girls cry
with your stupid lies.

My schooled soul 
knows the truth
betrayed.

Romantic love
is an illusion,
pas...

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What are the chances 

of two lost souls 

light-years apart

colliding twice in life?

Astronomical. Yes!

The dance is sweeter, 

with ego out of the way. 

All that remains is love

purified by the same rock-bottom

pressure that turns grains of sand into

pearls, coal into diamonds. 

Not lustful love, agape. 

Godly, unconditional love for humanity. 

Forgiving. Acce...

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Roses are dead,
violets are too.

Pen me a poem,
I will forever love you. 

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He ghosted me,

then I ghosted too.

Maybe ghosting 

spreads like the flu.

Leaves the ghosted

feeling sick and blue

when a loved one 

suddenly starts ignoring you. 

You haven't a clue 

what to do. 

So, you stay in bed, 

with the covers over your head

wishing you were dead

so you can get some relief 

from the ghosting disease.

Eventually, you get up

sal...

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Are you sure you want to know 
the story behind my sad eyes? 

Can you handle truth 
buried in lies?  

Abused, abandoned, 
left for dead. 

Still, I raise my 
weary head.

Hoping against all odds 
for love and a warm bed.

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You found your 

soul mate?

I’m genuinely 

happy for you!

Mermaids 

and unicorns 

are more common 

than soulmates. 

Please, do the lost 

and lonely among us 

a favor of great 

significance, 

Make her 

your muse

so we can 

feel love too.

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What a welcome relief

your tender words are

to my weathered soul. 

I get so busy in life

tending to other’s needs

that I often neglect my own. 

But when I come to the

oasis of serenity and

see a good heart reflected,

my faith in love is restored.

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I am sorry 
to see you go,
but know you 
will fare well.

You survived hell
and have a great 
story to tell.

I know our paths 
were meant to cross
and count your departure 
as a big loss.

Even though you may 
drift far away, 
your essence remains.

Our lives are 
forever changed
from your soul flames 
and star dust.  
 

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I inhale the tears 
welling up in my eyes.
Feeling like I don't have 
the right to cry for 

letting so much time go by
without saying hi,
how are you doing, 
what's new in your life?

I "kept in touch" 
watching your 
adventures
on social media, 

restoring 
power
after a 
hurricane, 

providing water 
and food for 
people who didn't 
know your name.

I was proud of you,
...

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How do you help
loved ones that
insist on 
tap dancing
with the demon 
of addiction?

I want to scold
them like a child
for their own good,

but I know it 
would fall
on deaf ears.

I want to hold them
tight, tell them
everything will
be alright, but
they aren't buying 
that lie.

Is my only option
to waltz around 
my candy-coated world 
and watch them
self-destruct?

I...

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How easy it is to judge 

from the throne of 

self-righteousness. 

How comforting to

cast off what 

doesn't fit our

moral code.

Perspective is 

colored by our own 

evolution and lingering 

insecurities.  

The soul of a scribe

cannot help but 

share truths

that set spirits

free, no matter 

the cost of their 

own liberty. 
 

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Standing your turf
wielding a giant pen.

Power serving words,
determined to win. 

Into the net,
foot-faulted
out of bounds,
disqualified.

Will you be the 
pinnacle of calm
or pull a McEnroe? 

Steady your pace
or steamroll every 
opponent you face?

Time tames 
the temper
as many 
professionals
know. 

Love,
match point,
grow. 
 

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We walk a 
fine line in 
our relationship
with others.

Words, powerful 
as they are,
miss the idiosyncrasies 
of body language 
that convey sincerity 
and good intention.

On the road 
to enlightenment,
our muse sometimes 
knicks old wounds 
that the ego 
rushes to protect. 

Our responsibility 
remains 
with freedom 
of expression,

to speak our truth 
knowing some will ...

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He loves me?
He loves me not?

Questions I have 
asked myself a lot 
since the day 
I said I do. 

Yes, he has a 
wandering eye,
avoids intimacy
like I am 
the blessed
Mother Mary.

Yes, he has a 
hair-trigger temper, 
can top Pinocho 
with his lies.

Our love is 
unconventional,
but I no longer
question why.

After four decades 
in the trenches,
I have learned 
to focu...

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I could fill a barren sea 
full of tears I've shed
for a moment with you.

I learned to focus only 
on the good it led to.
 
What purpose does it serve
to open old wounds

except to serve the 
greater good. 

So, I bellow not

unless it can be
a beacon 

for mermaids
coming ashore. 

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Hey there lonely girl,

what are you doing wandering around

these dark places?

Don’t you know that 

evil lurks about? 

The void is littered

with those who will use you,

abuse you,

scar your soul for eternity. 

Listen to my pleas,

I’m begging on bended knees,

move forward

towards the light,

no matter how tempting

the mysterious

shadows may be. 

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I use pseudonyms 
because I like to, 
because I want to, 
because I can! 

It’s one of the few things 
I feel in total control of 
in this chaotic world. 

I like the sound 
of my pseudonyms,

they fit in with famous  
pen names like 
Eliot, Bell,
Orwell, Wilder, 
Voltaire, Vautaw... 

See, besides the obvious
can you tell 
which ones are me?

Sometimes I write
anonymously...

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Too much reality 
can burn a hole
through your soul.

I prefer to temper it
with rose colored glasses,
as you know.

With my glasses on
I can see past the ego
to the wounds at
war within.

I can see that the
past, present, and
future are all 
an illusion...

created for one purpose

to tell the story
of how we want to 
show up in this world. 

I can see beyond 
resistance,...

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Passion consumed 
eventually fades.

Passion capped 
pursues us 

beyond the grave.

This revelation 
helps me understand,

our encounter was 
never about us.

It was about our muses
intertwined in the 

world of words.

We were denied 
the lasting passion
we searched for

so we could write 
our soul songs

for seekers 
to see

the ectasy 
and despair

that accompan...

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Our ultimate journey
in life brings us

to the place of
enoughness...

You are enough.
I am enough.

I see you
beyond the labels

You see the same 
spirit in me.

Your enoughness, 
my enoughness

melds together
to create 

the oneness
of love

and that is
enough. 

-----------
Poem inspired by Oprah's Super Soul Conversations with Elizabeth Lesser, author of The Marrow of...

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Why say I'm sorry
for something in which
you had no part?

Because, shallow as those 
two words may seem...

the gesture plays 
a pivotal role in 
healing a broken heart. 

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Forever ago may seem 
like 20 years of gray,
but I live forever every day.

There is no escape.

It's not the passion I miss,
I keep that memory sealed 
in a concrete kiss.

It's the lyrical 
soul connection
that went on months

before our egos
got in the way. 

In the forever between
tears and heartbreak, 

we managed 
to find ourselves 

and our destiny, here 
on this pag...

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Have I loved?
Yes, on the spectrum,
towards the sacrificial side.
Silencing my soul,
losing my identiy.
Endless nights
crying myself to sleep.
I sometimes think I would have
preferred an easy love
bouquets of rainbow colored daisies,
sparkling teeth,
a passionate love,
French kisses in Rome,
ruffled sheets,
a forever love,
hugs, holding hands, 
finishing each other's sentences...
...

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So it's cliche,
write anyway.

So it's not 
gramatically correct,
write anyway.

So it doesn't rhyme,
write anyway.

Don't let judgmental
"experts" distort
your perception 
of poetry 
or silence
the part of 
your soul that
longs to make
sense of life.

Just write 
any way! 

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Your words flow 
though my veins 
and light up my soul 
like nothing 
I've ever known.
Chemical alchemy.
Cosmic destiny.
Beyond comprehension.
From another dimension.
Steam. My dopamine. 
 

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There you are beaming 
at everyone you meet
posting highlights,
keeping it together. 

But, I see your soul scars...
loneliness, heartbreak,
disappointment, addiction,
depression, despair...

It's enough to turn
most souls to dust.

But not us.

Diamonds are made from 
coal under pressure.

Show your scars,
keep the faith,
and shine on.

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When you get writer's block
go for a walk

find a friend 
have a talk

blow bubbles
spin a top

count stars
watch birds flock

whatever you do 

don't stare 
at a blank page

as the clock
goes tick-tock. 
 

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The razor thin space between 
stimuli and response 
is decision. 

I decided to put a  
romcom relationship
where love never ends
and be, just friends. 

It was a defining decision.

He decided that without 
certain stimuli, there would be 
no response, just an end.

Tempting as it is to give in
to conditioned responses,
I'm riding the razor's edge
into a new frontier...

A pla...

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Poetry is a 
refuge for 
a lonely life

the antidote
for pain 
and strife

warm words 
blanketing
a frigid night

tonic for thirsty sailors 
drowning in an ocean 
from which we cannot drink

To our deserted island we go 

while the world 
casts us loners, 
introverts, quiet
weird, crazy...

Let them judge 
as they wine and dine 
in crowded rooms 
on cell patrol

while w...

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Those few seconds before the new year

when the countdown begins,

my soul soars with so much hope and joy.

When the ball drops at Times Square,

there is a momentary

return to innocence.

As the confetti flies and music fills the air,

I imagine we are a world at peace...

no worries, no violence, no division,

just a few beautiful seconds of clarity and simplicity

that dis...

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It's easier to believe
I am a child of the most high God
than to live a life of despair.

It's easier to believe
everything happens for a reason
than to question fate.

It's easier to believe
love is everywhere
than to give in to hate.

It's easier to believe
in forgiveness
than remain a victim.

It's easier to believe
in abundant blessings
than mounting problems.

It's easier ...

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I know you don't 
want to think of me.

I don't want to 
think of you either.

But the more I resist, 
the more your ghost 
persists. 

It makes no sense.

Hardly a day goes

by that you don’t  
cross my mind.

Some days 
it infuriates me
that someone who 
pushed me over the cliff 

of obscurity

has a choke hold 
on my soul.

Other days 
I accept
what I cannot 
compr...

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Publish your poems,

your stories,

your soul songs.

A world of lonely people

are waiting for you

with open arms. 

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You have come to visit me. 
Welcome. I have missed you. 
I often see you hiding behind the laundry, 
patiently waiting until the neverending chores are done. 
Then, when I finally sit down to talk, 
you disappear like an unwritten dream, 
leaving me speechless. 

Today, for the moment, 
you are here 
and I have so much to say. 
Won't you stay 
and be my friend?

My Muse Replies:
"Yo...

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