Two Pieces by Sarah Loveland

Lies

Lies, lies, lies
Everything I say is lies
“I’m going to school”
“I’m going to work”
“I’m going to study with friends”
I look out through the thick steel bars
That embrace and smother me
And I wonder how this happened.
When did that teensy little lie
Turn into a string of lies
And then a web of lies
That entangles me
Even as I sit here behind thick steel bars?

The first time I am discovered
I say to my mother
“I only wanted to try it”
“It won’t happen again”
“I promise”
She believes me and doesn’t tell dad.
I wish now that I can take it back.
I want to take back that first lie
So that maybe all the others
Will cease to exist without it.
I feel like I’ve let down my family.
I can tell they’re disappointed in me
As they speak to me through thick steel bars.

Then I meet him.
He is perfect with his brown hair
His athletic physique
His medical school dreams
And his gorgeous eyes
Which serve merely to mask his deception.
Everyone loves him
And tells me “He’s a keeper”
So I listen to their blind advice
And I keep him.
My parents are proud of me
And I don’t want to lose it.
So I let him corrupt me
And lead me astray
Lead me right after him
Into this room with thick steel bars.

I want to stop these lies.
Stop. Stop. Stop.
But I fear it’s too late.
I fear that I am trapped
Destined to be a liar
Forever behind thick steel bars.


8 ways of looking at a rock

1
rock over scissors
paper over rock

2
dribble the rock
pass the rock
shoot the rock
score

3
a child’s diversion
walking along and kicking
a rock down the street

4
rock broken down
and combined again
to make the sidewalk
on which he drags his feet

5
carved and polished
a rock placed on her finger
a symbol of deepest love

6
he is my rock
my refuge from the storm

7
a rock thrown like a grenade
shows the defiance of a rebel
shattering a French window

8
“hot funk
cool punk
even if it’s old junk
it’s still rock & roll to me”=

{Poems by Sarah Loveland}