Learning Curves: A Poetry Collection

Nature's Forces

The stroke of pen against paper; a magic that has always been known.
Words that get stuck in throats flow freely in written form. 
The easiest way to express feelings otherwise too embarrassing to speak.
When gifts fall short of appreciation and actions can't depict how you feel
The pen moves until fingers cramp and the brain aches from thinking too much.
Because words desired to speak will not escape.

Ocean breeze against jagged cliff sides, golden rays sparkling on the shore
Hints of greenery surviving sodium air, water stirring with hidden energy.
Powerful waves crashing, dark angry clouds above them. 
Calm ripples among the surface on sunny days. 
How wonderful it is to observe the sea.

Laughter carries on the wind, smiles whip through trees.
Nature smirks, it knows best, a force to be reckoned with. 
Wanting to chase the breeze, to have it tell its secrets
To feel its power pushing and pulling, messing up your hair
To sit at night and listen to bird song.
Desiring to know every dip and crevice of the planet

The earthquakes that created its tallest mountains
The erosion that carved its deepest basins.
Feeling the texture of every leaf, each piece of bark
The cool waters of nearby streams.
There's not enough time to know every part
That doesn't mean you won't try.

Overwhelmed with passion: love does that to a person.
A frightening four letter word. A word to hold close and give out sparingly.
The more you say the less it means.
You say it when bubbles up from your core, unable to be kept at bay.
A volcano erupting with lava: "I love you."
Risking heartbreak, giving the deepest parts of yourself to someone.
Giving them the power to destroy you.
They say it's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all
Perhaps that's true, All I know is that I love you. (March 2023)