Poetry 101

Recently, I have been enrolled in a poetry class at my local community college.  Since I was a little girl I have used poetry as a way of expressing my feelings.  I even have two notebooks full of stuff I wrote clear back in my adolescence.  Some of it is quite good- if not only for a laugh.  The poems I have written here are works I have done through assignment in class.  Some of my work is drawn from life and personal experience, some is not and random.  Some is light, some is dark.  I find, however, writing poetry is a very cathartic.  Also, I have learned what exactly constitutes good poetry really depends on the person and their own perspective.  That being said, I have shared a couple of pieces here I wrote.   Please do not copy or repost in any form without my written permission.  I retain all rights to my own work.

Judgement Day

by Jennifer Johnston

I see her

She sees me

Recognition but rejection 

Angry, wicked, piercing me

I open my mouth 

She screams

I loathe what she has become

She hates me right back 

Robbed, broken, weak

I blame her

Her eyes accuse me of my own lies

Rage, I lash out

Her hand blocks mine 

I cannot touch her

She knows 

I can only change me

She 

is 

me

I 

am 

her

I am my own reflection.

Love's Overthrow
By Jennifer Johnston

One boy.  One girl.
Separate hearts searching,
meet one night.
The sun's hold is waning
as prism rays incise the sky
to die another day in color's splendor.
Perched upon a boulder precipice,
they watch
as wrapped in the blood of the horizon
the moon reaches to greet the evening.
While two hearts strain for courage's flight,
a timid hand finds a pounding pulse.
Two eyes find their match.
A chill
that matches the autumn air
streams through flesh's inferno.
And, a girl
in anticipation of love's first overthrow
falls even blinder.
Silhouetted trees painted on the night's canvas bend
as both bodies bow in surrender.
Two souls bind, as fated, by bound lips
and born is first love's fire.

Drowning

by Jennifer Johnston

Gripping, skin tearing, rough rock unyielding.

Hands waning, as seeping water slips, sloughing all strength.

Pushing where no foundation meets my feet, just rapids rolling.

Praying for salvation, rescue, redemption, relief.

Screaming...

And they watch...

Muscles burning, head plunging, acid water burning chocking its way back out.

Hungry current starving, devouring, ripping me away.

Gravity swallowing whole its prey.

Unrelenting force the master of all.

Screaming...

And they watch...

Tossing, turning, severing cold consuming.

Pushed down, accepting, helpless to resist.

Welcoming death as a friend from the pain 

I let go.

Silent...

And they watch...