Month: September 2020

An Inkless World – Poem by Me

BrookeLeave a comment 
Imagine us, unable to scribble out our mistakes
quietly living on old crinkled pages, 
with the choice to erase or forcibly remember
all that we previously could coat in ink 
and forget.

The blunt tips of charcoal and pencil lead
smudged beneath our oily fingers 
would have to do,
no mediums of the black and blue variety
at our fingertips anymore.

You would go into hiding, unable to face
the temporary permanence 
and all the other oxymorons in this world
we used to ignore.

In this world, we'll fade into the background
no matter what words are written down.

I hope you enjoyed this piece! I’ve had some major writer’s block and frustration with my work lately, so it was interesting to explore writing in the actual subject matter of this poem. Please feel free to leave feedback and writing challenges in the comments. I hope you guys are having a wonderful weekend. Stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke

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Soar to New Heights – Poem by Me

Brooke2 Comments 
Good things are coming
and you can feel it when you're
flying high, clothes billowing out
like a roll of silk unfurled
with the wind.

Sweetness settled on your teeth
and in your gum line, on a sugar
high and ready to fly

Keep flapping the wings taped
to your arms, stretch out to full 
wingspan or else you may fall

The air will carry you even 
if there's smoke as long as you
keep going.

I hope you enjoyed this piece! It’s some cautious positivity for those of you who need it– I know I do. Please feel free to leave feedback and writing challenges in the comments! Have a great rest of your Sunday. Stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke

Let’s Talk: Quality Over Quantity in Blog Posts

Brooke3 Comments

Hello everyone!

Today I’m going to give you all a quick update on where I’m at with this blog and changes for the future. I know I’ve talked several times about sticking to a stricter posting schedule, but I always kept trucking along with my daily posts and various topics covered. Junior year has been overwhelming thus far and I want to make it easier on myself while still providing content for you guys. If you’re interested in hearing more about my thoughts on this and where this blog is going, keep on reading!

First of all, I would rather underpromise and overdeliver content for you all than overpromise and underdeliver. That’s why I’m somewhat disappointed but still going to say that for now, I will only be posting once a week on Sundays. Of course I’ll throw in bonus posts sometimes, but I want to have quality poems/other types of posts to share with you all, and right now that’s just not possible if I’m trying to post every single day. I’m also hoping this will motivate me to come up with new ideas for you all.

I’m choosing quality over quantity for the time being as I want to be proud of the work I produce for this blog, and this will honestly make it so much easier to write good content (or at least I’m hoping). I hope you guys are okay with that.

Additionally, I know lots of bloggers don’t actually post every day. I’m not trying to use that as an excuse, but it just makes sense that I would eventually scale back the amount of posts per week after over a year of posting almost daily and finding my direction on this blog. I don’t want to write half-hearted content just to get a post up, and I think I’ve been doing that subconsciously lately since I’m so short on time.

I’m so thankful for anyone reading this post (or anyone who has read any of my blog posts) and I hope you stick around to see what’s to come! I’ll still be taking requests and writing challenges as always.

This blog has been such a wonderful creative outlet for the past 15 months, and I know it will continue to be. I want to keep the content fresh and make sure I’m not burning out, and I hope you all understand that. Thanks so much for being here if you’re still reading! I appreciate you all. Stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke

At The Desk – Poem by Me

BrookeLeave a comment 
The light streams in through the blinds,
but it can't kiss your skin from the window
when you're sitting inside, cooped up.
The work never ends if you don't cut it off,
and you'll end up waiting forever if
you're waiting for a time where you can 
sit outside in the sun without a care in 
the world.

I hope you enjoyed this super short piece! At the time of writing this, I felt pretty overworked so I made it a point to give myself a break and try to have a more balanced weekend. Make sure to do that– this piece is more of a mini-warning than anything else. Please feel free to leave feedback and writing challenges in the comments. Stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke

When Fall Doesn’t Come – Poem by Me

BrookeLeave a comment 
Here in California the chilling wind
doesn't come; autumn heat lingers

until after the Christmas lights are 
hung up. Leaves may turn shades

of golden and fall from the trees, 
but the sun continues to shine and 

you often can't wear a sweater or
hold a hot drink. You'll continue 

melting, waiting for the leaves to turn,
until you realize they already have.

Fall doesn't always come.

I hope you enjoyed this piece! I’m excited for winter, but here in California fall never really feels like anything. It just represents back to school and waiting for winter to actually come. I want to live somewhere where all four seasons actually happen 🙂 Please feel free to leave feedback and writing challenges in the comments. Stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke

Smoke Over the Fence – Poem by Me

BrookeLeave a comment 
Fences keep out many things, but 
smoke isn't one of them. Let it curl

in the air over the backyard walls, 
disappear into the night while the

scent lasts. The grey shapes against
the twilight could be beautiful if

we looked up and saw them.

I hope you enjoyed this super short piece! It was pretty much inspired by going in my backyard and smoke drifting over the wall from my neighbor’s house. Please feel free to leave feedback and writing challenges in the comments. Stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke

Yellowed Pages – Poem by Me

BrookeLeave a comment 
The one book on the shelf that is much
older than the rest-- yes, that one--how 
yellowed are its pages now? Crisp, clean
books fresh from the presses sometimes
already have that yellow coloring, but
there's no substitute to time and how
it crinkles paper. The dusty scent that
spreads through your nostrils and makes
you cough as you flip through the pages--
yes, that smell-- can only ripen with age,
old age.

I hope you enjoyed this short little poem! It was inspired by my bookshelf in my room, which has mostly new books on it, but a copy of The Catcher in the Rye from my mom’s high school days that is bent out of shape and very, very yellowed. Please feel free to leave feedback and writing challenges in the comments. Stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke

Missed Opportunities – Poem by Me

BrookeLeave a comment 
We look at missed opportunities in the form
of forks in the road and plane tickets never
booked, but what about the ones under our
noses? 

The meals never made with the 
ingredients in the fridge, the conversations
never had even though they were acted out
so many times in one's head, the outfits
never worn that remained on vision boards
and magazine spreads. 

We continue on, missing what is beside us,
in front of us, or passing by as we walk to
work and school and everything in between.
At least acknowledge what you're missing.

I hope you enjoyed this poem! I try to take advantage of all the opportunities granted to me, and although it can be overwhelming taking on larger opportunities such as activities and jobs and such, there are so many little ones that are just fun experiences waiting to be had. Please feel free to leave feedback and writing challenges in the comments. Stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke

Color-Coded Candy – Poem by Me

BrookeLeave a comment 
let's sit in the kitchen and organize all
the candy we've collected in the cupboards,

even if half of it's expired. we can unwrap
each chocolate bar so they'll all melt into

puddles, slightly different shades of brown.
we'll never want to eat sugar again, like

our half-baked version of Halloween when
we ate each piece and the bottoms of our

pillowcases-turned-trick-or-treating bags
were littered with the colorful wrappers,

not color-coded at all. 
let's keep it simple and make it harder on

ourselves, once more.

I hope you enjoyed this poem! It was kind of inspired by the fact that Halloween’s really not that faraway at this point. Before we know it, the holiday season will be upon us! Please feel free to leave feedback and writing challenges in the comments. Stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke

Seeing Through Glass – Poem by Me

BrookeLeave a comment 
I don't look in the glass to see you, 
but to see what's left behind. I'll
look at all the glass I can find:
chapstick marks on water bottles,
fingerprints on the bathroom 
mirror, and whatever else has 
been pressed into the glass by you.

This is super mini-poem, but it is what it is. I hope you enjoyed it regardless. I can’t believe we’re basically halfway through September already! Please feel free to leave feedback and writing challenges in the comments. Stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke