Beth+Knibbe

"Words written in verse may speak volumes when those spoken do not." ~Caressia Combs

I learned a lot while writing these poems. I found that writing poetry reminded me of drama class in 9th grade. We learned this thing called "sense memory". Our teacher would have us concentrate really hard on a memory, so hard that we could feel whatever emotion we felt when that happened. Then we would use that memory to be able to act out emotion in a scene. It was kind of like flipping a switch on and off. I found myself doing that while I was writing. Each of these poems has it's roots in my memories and experiences and I tried to put those emotions into words.

__Ode__

the sound fills the empty room it warms the cold air my fingers wake up my senses sharpen as the music runs through my blood

the light pours in the window and is transformed from its gray fatigue into colors, awake, alive, and dancing

and nothing is on my mind I feel a heavy weight lifted and replaced by an overwhelming feeling of peace because you are here, in this room and your love covers all.

__Praise Poem__

The fuzzy carpet on my toes I leaned against the wall and listened through the doorway to the whispered words I was not meant to hear My presence was discovered the situation was explained but no one could take back the realization my mind had made that no one was invincible not even him, my dad who scooped me up and held me tight and told me not to fear.

__Riff Poem__ link to original poem: []

I believe there is something else Something bigger than myself I believe there is something more Something of which I am sure I believe there is something fair Something they are trying to impair I believe there is something true Something that we must pursue I believe there is something else I believe there is something else.
 * "War Is The Opposite Direction From Peace"**

__Sonnet__ He sees her mask as it crumbles to dust She stands and watches as it blows away It swirls around the ground in gentle gusts Then up to the sky in disarray

She shivers as the air touches her skin The cold sting of the wind reaches within She drops down to the hard and frozen ground And all is lost until she hears that sound

His voice calls out to her and warms her heart She runs into his arms and they depart.

__Quilts by Nikki Giovanni__ Like a fading piece of cloth I am a failure

No longer do I cover tables filled with food and laughter My seams are frayed my hems falling my strength no longer able To hold the hot and cold

I wish for those first days When just woven I could keep water From seeping through Repelled stains with the tightness of my weave Dazzled the sunlight with my Reflection

I grow old though pleased with my memories The tasks I can no longer complete Are balanced by the love of the tasks gone past

I offer no apology only This plea:

When I am frayed and strained and drizzle at the end Please someone cut a square and put me in a quilt That I might keep some child warm

And some old person with no one else to talk to Will hear my whispers

And cuddle near

__Change by Nikki Giovanni__ If i can't have what i want. . . then my job is to want what i've got and be satisfied that at least there is something more to want

Since i can't go where i need to go. . . then i must. . . go where the signs point through always understanding parallel movement isn't lateral

When i can't express what i really feel i practice feeling what i can express and none of it is equal

I know but that's why mankind alone among the animals learns to cry

__Cotton Candy On A Rainy Day__ Don't look now I'm fading away Into the gray of my mornings Or the blues of every night

Is it that my nails keep breaking Or maybe the corn on my second little piggy Things keep popping out on my face or of my life

It seems no matter how I try I become more difficult to hold I am not an easy woman to want

They have asked the psychiatrists. . . psychologists. . . politicians and social workers What this decade will be known for

There is no doubt. . . it is loneliness