Online Open Mic – 2021
Kelli J. Gavin poetry, my favorite line in this set: “I catch fire more often than I care to admit.”
Now let her poetry set you ablaze.
The Road Home
By: Kelli J Gavin
I have walked one too many roads
A few stray paths have distracted me
Not always sure where I was going
Or why I was called away
Home should be where the heart is
But sometimes my heart would fail
A faulty human with a messy soul
At least I thought I should search
Maybe there was something more
Someplace where my mind could rest
Where I wouldn’t feel such constant flux
A place where sleep would come easily
But those roads lead to nothing I wanted
Everything I thought was for me- wasn’t
Joy couldn’t be found down any worn road
Happiness couldn’t be detected on a new path
Rest was absent from any trail my feet tread
Boldness was needed to turn back around
To return to where I had come from
I wasn’t going to accept how I had failed
I learned that acceptance was defeat
Finding the strength to make changes
Discovering new ways of loving life daily
The road home seemed to be a needed journey
I realized that I needed to be elsewhere
Only to find that road home
I needed to create a new life
This time I will stay the course and rediscover
That everything I need is already within reach
The road home is the only road for me
Fire Away
By: Kelli J Gavin
Those words
Every
Last
One
Hurt and scarred
Left me damaged
Bruised
Broken
Unable to function
I found my armor
Where it had been stored
For a time such as this
Knowing it would be needed
Knowing it was needed with you
Those words
Every
Last
One
You fire away
Each time
Words
Assailing
Hitting
Striking
My armor protects
It guards
It deflects
Enables me to move on
To walk away
To increase my speed
Away
From you
From words
That assail
And hit
Striking hot
I won’t return
Never again
Not this time
No
Fire away
Your words are not needed
Never were
Best wishes
You no longer have a target
Fire away
Me
By: Kelli J Gavin
Do you really see me?
The real me?
The one that loves.
The one who aches.
Who burns.
Who feels defeated.
Even depleted.
Do you?
Really see me?
The one that wants you.
The one who desires you.
Who smolders.
Who desires nothing other than you.
I think not.
If you did, that love would be returned.
It never has been reciprocated.
What if you were the one that loved?
That ached and burned.
I would see you.
I would really see you.
If you felt defeated and depleted.
I would help rebuild you.
I would love you so deeply.
You would always know you were wanted.
Absolutely know you were desired.
Please see me the way I would see you.
Burn
By: Kelli J Gavin
I catch fire more often than I care to admit
I catch feelings that fan the flame
I wonder if others burn the way I do
I wonder if they have pulled all the alarms
You can only fuel the fire for so long
You can’t watch from afar
I burn up rather quickly
My throat tightens
My hands wring
My eyes wince from the smoke
I wipe the soot from my skin
My feet tread carefully
Not sure where to turn
Not sure if the floor will hold
The beams crash around me
The flames shoot up each wall
Five alarm fire I am afraid
No one cares to respond
The flame is extinguished
Usually by me creating distance
The ruins are all I have left
The embers continue to smolder
Nothing will ever be the same
I don’t have anything to cling to
It must be obvious
I sweep up the remnants
Nothing left to piece back together
At least the walls have been scrubbed
New rugs have been laid
All prepared for the next time I burn
Artist:
Kelli J Gavin of Carver, Minnesota is a Writer, Editor, Blogger and Professional Organizer. Her work can be found with Clarendon House Publishing, Sweetycat Press, The Ugly Writers, Sweatpants & Coffee, Zombie Pirates Publishing, Setu, Cut 19, Passionate Chic, Otherwise Engaged, Flora Fiction, Love What Matters, Printed Words and Southwest Media among others. Kelli’s first two books were released in 2019 (“I Regret Nothing- A Collection of Poetry and Prose” and “My Name is Zach- A Teenage Perspective on Autism”). She has also co-authored 17 anthology books.
Follow:
Her blog can be found at www.kellijgavin.blogspot.com.
