Secret Garden

Four walls set up to protect
a heart as guarded as a secret garden,
slowly crumble under summer winds.
Whispered secrets like fragile butterflies
floating on the breeze
fly away to safer grounds.

You locked the door and threw away the key,
but the vines climbed the walls
and cracked the stone.
And even you could not brick up the door.
The lock is rusted, the bolt broken,
the latch free once again.

The rain falls gently
on sun-choked grasses,
on trees with parched bark.
You lie on your back
and stare at cloud shapes overhead,
patterns and designs
floating like daydreams.

You could put up the walls,
you could pray for winter
to kill your childhood Eden.
You could find safety in solitude,
in a life you left behind,
locked safely and forgotten.

But the wood is green beneath the bark,
and the rain will raise new life.
When you're ready to open the door,
I'll be waiting on the other side,
ready to help you tear the walls
of your heart's garden down,
brick by crumbling brick.

I liked your poem, it was quite different from a lot of things I read, and I like the way you worded things, such as
and
There's great imagery within your poem.
I also admired the line, That really caught my eye.

If this is your first attempt, then it is really good, in my opinion *applauds*.

Let Me Go

I wish I could close the door,
lock you out forever.
Fact is, you've been gone for years.
But you never quite go away.

This whole time,
I've covered the scars,
the marks of your lash
on my back.
Until someone ripped my shirt away.

Why do I think of you,
when my fight is with him?
Why do I compare you?
You're nothing alike.

Why do I see your cruel smile,
hear the agony of your threats?
Why, when he shuts the door,
do I see your retreating back?

I'm tired of feeling
like a bruised flower
with a broken stem,
when I've been strong
for so long.

You don't know me anymore.
You never really did.
I threw you out of my life.
Now I want you to quit
assaulting my mind.

Leave me in peace,
leave me with all I have.
Give me the life you never wanted.
Let me forget, give me ignorance,
let me at last have a chance at peace.

Gasoline and cigarettes,
vodka bottles
and empty packets
litter the ground.
I'm tired of being used.

So many times
you called me
and asked for favors.
So many times I gave in.

Nightmares of a past
I don't want to accept
flooding back to me now.
I don't want to give in.

I want to run away.
Maybe I will.
Maybe I won't come home tonight.
Maybe when he comes back
I won't be here.

Maybe I don't have anywhere else
to go.

Wow...I REALLY like what I've read of your work so far. Very emotional, and you use lots of cool language and metaphors. The first poem was my favorite...it kind of reminded me of a line from The Princess Bride (I don't know if you've ever read it) where Buttercup says that her heart is a secret garden and the walls are very high...anyway, that's just what it reminded me of. It was such a fresh perspective on a topic that so many people do but not well...the oh-i've-locked-my-heart-up-I-can't-love-anyone. Very original. Let Me Go was good too, I really liked that one as well. The second stanza was my favorite, very descriptive. The last one was good too...kind of like you're musing and thinking about the situation even as you're writing it. Awesome work, and I'd luv to read more!!

hey I really enjoyed reading your poetry. You use metaphors and descriptive words very well. i really felt like I was walking through a garden whle reading the first poem. I would love to see more!

I never meant to hurt you,
never meant to cause you pain.
Hated what I saw
reflected in your eyes.
Self-loathing fills me
with pure, tainted guilt.
Every fiber of me aches.
I can't be rid of it.

I never meant to cause this,
never meant to push or pull you
in a direction you didn't want to go.
My body cries out for relief,
but I have none to give.
I'm punishing myself,
or are you doing it for me
by your silence?

I never meant to do
what you think I mean to do.
Though I see you understand
that I was blind.
My eyes are opened
to what I've done,
and I curse the trail I've made,
straying from the road.
Help me find my way back to the path.
Take my hand.

Help me find my way out of the woods.
I never meant to go there
in the first place.

Hmmmm...not bad...though I like your other ones better so far. In this one you were kind of repeating yourself a lot throughout it.

those are all awesome songs are you a singer? you should recrd those tey are really good!!!! i like the last one best. it seems idk open. i just wanted to say great job. well ok bye

A single dark screen shields his face from mine,
he who can absolve all my sins.
My legs shake as I drop to my knees,
overpowered with the weight of my betrayal.

Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned,
but I cannot remember the rest.
I press my fingers together, uplift my eyes,
sign of The Last Judgement over my head.

Angels stare down on me,
faces placid between brightly-colored wings.
The statue of the Madonna smiles benevolently,
crowned with a faded wreath of dead roses,
symbol of a spring that died too soon,
a tiara of innocence, a diadem of wasted beauty.

His silence bids me speak,
but I cannot answer.
The list of trespasses is long,
but here, under the stone-faced gaze of saints,
I cannot regret or remember.

So many sins to recall,
so many impure thoughts
burn my face with shameful memory.
So many nights of pleasure,
forbidden by that which I hold to be true.
And I cannot regret a single one of them.

Is the only path to righteousness in self-denial?
Does one book hold the answers
to a thousand moral questions?
Can one race, one creed, one way of life,
be "the one"?
Is all that I hold dear to me tainted,
because it is unsanctified?

Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.
I clear my throat and find my voice.
I have sinned, forgive me, Father,
I cannot bring myself
to regret one forbidden moment.

I cross myself, and rise,
walking backwards, avoiding his gaze.
Unabsolved, I leave this sacred place.
Only that which hurts others
should be forbidden.
And only One can judge me.