Weekly Short Stories Contest and Company! discussion

Hey everyone! I'm new to this group but I've decided to share some of my poetry, and seeing as I have lots of it already, I figure this is the best way to spread a little peace, love, joy, and also perhaps a different point of view. :) I've been a little wary of posting my writing online, as other people could claim it as their own, but I've decided that if that were to happen, I would be satisfied knowing that at least someone appreciates my writing. Although I hope that doesn't encourage taking my work as your own ;) . And as I say in my writing, everyone and everything has some good. So find that good whether it be helping others or helping yourself! Maybe that first step could just be deciding not to take someone's writing as your own! XD ;)

Leave It Behind/ Going Forward


Hate is a word
That I know.
I have feelings for that feeling,
And feelings for those too.

Sometimes we are drawn to hate,
Sometimes we avoid it,
Sometimes it is forced,
And sometimes, embraced.

Hate can be good,
And hate can be bad,
But what really matters
Are the morals it is based on.

Hate is a feeling,
Hate is a word,
But most of all,
Hate is the opposite
Of Love.

Sometimes I hate,
And sometimes I Love,
But I will be thoughtful,
So I embrace Love.

Clouds

Today, I saw a new world,
I looked up in the sky,
And saw where heaven and Earth
Connected.

I saw stories conveyed
Through a single stroke,
I saw the past
And I saw the future.


Then every tendril collided
And came again apart
And revealed to me a world
Too beautiful for words,
Complex,
Yet so simple.

The world is a thread
Being woven and unwoven,
It is constant,
It is not,
But most of all,
It makes sense.

It fits together
In a complicated mess
But when looked upon in detail,
Is twined together
In love
With patterns
Which seem to waver,
But which are unwaveringly consistent
Full of loopholes, twists, and turns,
And ever-changing to the end of time.

There are so many levels
In the world,
Each intertwined with the next,
One knot connecting with another.
The closer you look,
The more you will see
And the more you will know-
But also the less.
For the closer you look
The more your vision becomes ensnared
And will wander
No longer
Around other things.

So keep your mind open
And keep your eyes close,
And the more that you see,
The more you will know.

And you will see everything
If only you try,
So keep your mind open,
And eyes, to the sky.

Look at every detail
Every story in the clouds,
And you will see everything
As I have just now.

Don't stop at clouds, though,
No, don't stop at all;
Keep in mind....
Memory....
And knowledge aid all.

Share all your gifts then,
Show them to the world,
And ask yourself
Why never
Did I see the world
Before.

Thanks a lot!

For Us

You are my sun
When the sky is dark;
You put me together
When I fall apart.

You are the main act
In a play only I see;
I'm a part of you,
And you're a part of me.

I look into your eyes,
And see the love inside;
Then you look into mine,
My love is what you find.

There is more to us
Than meets the eye,
But listening closely,
You will find

We share a bond,
Uncommonly strong,
And staying long
Until we're gone.

We love each other,
Through and through,
Because to love is all
That we can do.

I really like For Us. Very nice.

:D thank you!

What I See

Looking down
Is how I see;
Looking up
Is how I know
What beauty
Truly is to me.

It's not about looks,
Or attraction.
It's about understanding
Where that beauty comes from.

Looking down
Is how I see;
Looking up
Is how I know
What beauty
Truly is to me.

I cannot hide it,
Nor can I define it.
Beauty is what it is,
And it is beautiful to me.

Looking down
Is how I see;
Looking up
Is how I know
What beauty
Truly is to me.

Beauty stirs the heart.
It is the seed
Of imagination,
And it has caught me
Unawares

Looking down
Is how I see;
Looking up
Is how
I familiarize myself
With the beauty all around me.

The beauty resonates in
My ears like a drumbeat
While still others
Are blind to it.

Looking down
Is how I see;
Looking back is
How I know
The beauty comes from me.

Looking forward
Now I see;
Looking at the
"Insignificant" things;
Beauty comes from you & me.
The little things show you
So much beauty
If only you regard them

Significantly.

There is a Difference


There is a difference
Between circumstance and fate-

There is a difference
Between love and hate-

There is a difference
Between you and me,

Not only what we will be,
But the way we see.


I see the world
Inside a lens

As do we all
Until the end.

But through one's lens
What might be shown

Is different from
What I have know,

From what I've seen
Through my own eyes

And from experience
And feelings inside.

And only time
Will be able to tell

Of all the change
Inside ourselves.


For when a change
Comes to abide

It isn't in the world
But is inside.

The differences between
What you and I see

Reflects the change in us,
Which time alone can touch.

Broken


It comes like a storm,
And she doesn't know why,
But she shakes,
And she quakes,
And she just starts to cry.

She's trembling
And wishing
That we won't realize,
But it is enough
When she can't meet my eyes.

We're damaged
And broken
And still we go on-
But these words I have spoken
Show the danger isn't gone.

We live through each day,
Each one much the same,
Until the storm comes,
And the hurricanes,
And the rain.

And when we are broken
And cannot go on,
Only then are we allowed to,
And as soon as we are,
We're gone.

But still it lies with us,
This storm that's inside,
Which has beaten
And broken us,
Still it resides

Inside our hearts,
Inside our souls,
The ripples going outward
The cracks spreading further,
Affecting our lives,
And all we do.

It doesn't affect me
The same way it affects her-
I'm beaten,
And battered,
But still I am whole.

I was broken before,
But I put the pieces back together
In a way that was different,
And stronger,
And better.

But she is still broken,
And ever will be,
Until she finds this isn't
The only reality.

You write beautiful poems, very insightful, very heartfelt. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for appreciating! :D

To succeed
By Kerry Blake


Sometimes, thinking you're wrong
Is what makes you wrong.

Sometimes, thinking you're not good enough
Is what makes you not good enough.

Sometimes, thinking you will fail
Is what makes you fail-

To succeed,
You must first try-

To try,
You must first be able to try-

To be able to try,
You must first think you can succeed.

Sometimes, thinking something is wrong
Is wrong.

Sometimes, thinking something is not good enough
Is not good enough.

Sometimes you have to try,
And believe you can succeed.

Final
By: Kerry Blake


Keep in mind, I tell myself,
Everything exists for goodness.
No more evil, no more sorrow,
No more worry, no more pain.

For, where evil exists,
Good will always outlast it.
It is just another test,
Meant to get you into Paradise.

When you reach this door, this gate,
You will finally understand
That the treacherous path you’ve taken
Was merely to lead you to this place.

If you reach this place,
You will have the eyes of an eagle;
Seeing, knowing all that was once concealed,
Like you've finally sewn together the thread of reality.

Reality stares you in the face,
And all the while you stare back;
It’s like you’ve finally opened your eyes,
Or a new pair of glasses are on your head.

This is key to all reality-
This path unto this door-
But this you only realize
When Death’s door has finally closed.

The Cracked Cornerstone
By: Kerry Blake


Do not say this-
That you wish it were not so-
For if it were not,
You would not be the you which I know.

Do not be angry-
This isn’t a game-
For if anything was different
Then you wouldn’t be the same.

Do not wish for difference,
Just because you’re scared-
For if a difference you wish for,
You’ll come to it unprepared.

And I know that it is hard for you,
But now you must be strong-
And listen well to what I say,
For we have not that long.

Some good things will go amiss,
The tires may yet be flat,
The strongest column may fall down,
The cornerstone can crack,
But when good things do go amiss
Inside yourself you’ll find
That though the flowing of events
May gnaw and gnash and grind,
And though the weathering of all things,
Wind and rain and time
May try to keep you far away
From what you find inside,
You’ll find inside yourself a place
That’s needed to get by,
And in that place you’ll find the tools
Which help to mend and bind-
And with these tools and memories
And strength that is inside,
You’ll see the past not as a tragedy,
But use it as a guide.

And now you see that memory,
Experience through life,
Gives all the guidance you could need-
And it comes from inside.

Words

I pick up my pencil
And I start to write-
The words are flowing
And flooding,
Filled with honor
And light.

But how can a scratch
Make a mark so deep,
The branding of fire,
The downfall so steep;
How can a mark
Give that much to inspire
That burning flame,
At the bending of a wire-

That burning flame
Which is now alight,
How did it come?
Has it passed through our sight?
This flame of ours
Is burning bright-
But is it ours,
Is it our right?
How did it come,
How will it go-
To leave or make
The raked leaves blow-
How will I know?
To me will it show?

And if it should stay,
What mark will it make
To inspire
The fire
In which all is at stake?

Or should it just be,
Just be reality,
Just beauty,
And love,
And equality?

But still we come back
To the question I hold-
How have these stories,
The stories I’ve told,
How have they come
To be such a deep mark,
A mark that burns bright
Although still in the dark-
How will they come
Into the light,
Into our sight,
Before the night
Would cover us now
With no respite-
How will it end,
This light that we send?
Or will it endure for an eternity,
In strength and surety,
Throughout all
Which we can and cannot see?

We Are One
By: Kerry Blake


Just like there is a difference between right and wrong,
Just like there is a difference between short and long,
Just like there is a difference between right and left,
Just like there is a difference between note and rest,
There is a difference
In what you see
In you and me,
And all in between.

But life isn't looked at
In black and white,
Or shouldn't be
But despite
All that I see
There is a difference
Between you and me.

A difference isn't
What you see
Inside or out
Of you and me.

A difference is all
That is in between,
The little things
Between you and me.

And all these things
That I have seen,
I show to you
As what they've been.

And everything
Now is the same-
In life,
And death,
And all that came
From love and hate
And from the pain
And from the things
That all have lain
Inside our hearts;
Inside our souls,
And in our goals.

Now what we've seen
May not be told,
But in our dreams,
And in our leave,
We wander,
And wonder
Of all the world,
And will
Our limits
To be filled
With knowledge
And wisdom,
And all of
Our memories
Inside our little trees;
Inside our little streets;
Inside the pathways,
The memories,
Of everyONE.
For we are ONE
In all we do,
And we have ONE thing that we all do-
We have ONE thing that we all do,
Because many are ONE
When ONE is two.

Many are ONE,
And all we are
Is something no ONE
Will see but from afar.

All we are
Is something I see,
But I see all
That I can see through me.

I see all
That I can see through me-
Because I am ONE,
And ONE is me.

We are ONE
In all we do,
We live,
We love,
And then,
We lose.

We lose the battle
That we have with death,
But in the end,
All we have left
Is the knowledge
That we have won
That battle that's become,
Because as ONE,
We all live on.

We live on
In all we are,
Because we are all
ONE in all.

There is something
You should know-
I know you,
Because in you,
There I show.

There is me
And I am inside
All I see
And in your life.

All I see
And all you know,
All we are
And all you show-

Al there is
And ever will be
Is love-
Inside of you
And me.

I am love,
And so are you-
Because love is ONE
In all we do.

Love is ONE
In all we are
And ever will be,
Here and afar.

Love is all
That I can see-
Because love is ONE,
But also many.

Love can be seen
In all that we can see:
Beauty, truth, freedom, equality, joy, care, and peace.
These are the things that we must be
And that we are
Inside our hearts.

This is a truth
That you may or may not see,
But I promise you will
Eventually.

There is a reason
That I can see-
I have seen the opposite,
What we are not meant to be.

What we are not meant to be
Is something I know well-
That is why I am here,
And all this I can tell.

There is something you must know
Before you leave this place.
You must love for all your life,
As only that will forever outlast you,
Not your fame or friends or face.

Because, the love you give isn't just remembered,
It is spread in the deeds you do-
And not just that, but the deeds of others
Whom you have loved and who've loved you.

There is something you should know-
You must know, before you go-
Love is more important than life,
And in our death, is all that shows.

Him
By: Kerry Blake

I sneak a glance at him.
He sneaks a glance at me.
I catch him, but don't let on.
I wonder if he catches me.

So many clues,
But to what?
Does he really love me back?
It's just me, after all.

There is an awkward silence.
Not the kind with tension,
Just the kind when you can't find what to say
To fill it.

But then, the next thing
That comes out of his mouth
Is the mumbled words,
"I'm just so shy..."

Wait, what?
He's the one that's shy?
I don't know what this means,
But it could be a breakthrough.

Then again, many things could be.
Like the time we casually talked
About love in general,
And how it affects people.

Or the time when he said,
Out of nowhere,
"We should hang out after school one day,"
So hesitant and hopeful.

That may or may not have been a breakthrough,
But I definitely hope this is.
I only have twenty-eight days
Before he graduates.

And after that,
The summer,
Which comes all too quickly
And ends with him leaving.

Cherish the time you have.
Meaningful advice,
But what if the time you have
Isn't enough?

What if the time you have
Is needed just to get that breakthrough
And the time ends,
Just when the cherishing starts?

But you, you make me smile
Just at every thought.
And that means I'm smiling
All throughout the day.

It's not like what they say,
'When I'm not with you
It hurts,'
But I still long for you.

Being with you,
I can ask for no more;
Nothing is better,
Nothing in the world.

Even if I had to choose
Between you and everything else that there is,
I wouldn't choose anything
But you.

Even if I could have the promise
That I'd live my life in prosperity
And wealth,
I would choose you.

After you hugged me today,
As I walked away,
I thought to myself,
'I wonder if he feels all that I feel'

And I looked back,
But a wall in the building
Had separated you from sight.
I pictured you in my mind instead.

And right now,
I can't even concentrate
On this addictive computer game
That's in the other tab.

I have to get it out,
Let something or someone know,
Even if it's just my computer screen.
But I hope it will be you someday.

And these words,
They wouldn't be the same
If I wrote them down
Another day.

Poetry freezes time,
Locks you in the moment.

And this is the one moment
Which I want saved
The most of all.

Hi, Kerry! My name's Martha.

I love your writing! Keep it up! :)

Martha wrote: "Hi, Kerry! My name's Martha.

I love your writing! Keep it up! :)"

Thanks so much!

The Day After _______________ Died.....
By: Kerry Blake
(written 1/15/16)


Just cuz my face doesn't show it,
Doesn't mean I'm not crying on the inside.

Just cuz I didn't talk to him,
Doesn't mean I didn't hear him.

Just cuz I didn't even know his name until today,
Doesn't mean that name doesn't mean anything to me now.

Just cuz I wasn't his friend or family,
Doesn't mean that their screams of anguish and grief don't echo in my head at every moment,
Reminding me always so I almost never need to be told
That connections between people are as strong as diamond.

Every other day I would pass him in the hall, and think,
I wish somehow that I could be a part of something greater like he is,
And feel that feeling of love that he must feel with that amazing group of friends of his.
But now I remember something that I'd realized before, when I've looked at myself-
Sometimes what we wish for,
Because we think it will be better,
Isn't what we really want.
And I guess there's something I could use as a quote-
"We all choose the love we think we deserve."

But- "The only way to shine a light is in the dark."

Don't accept the dark,
But accept the fact that it IS sometimes dark,
And shine your light for those who need it to keep going.

-------------------------------------------------------------------


Not only do I have every right,
But I have a responsibility to care
And to help,
And a reason to be sad.

Untitled
By: Kerry Blake
(written 1/15/16)


I will live my life
Up to its best extent-
And I will not
Regret the love I've spent.
And I will love
Until the end of time.
After God takes me
From this world of mine,
The love I've spread
Won't ever unwind.

Untitled
By: Kerry Blake
(written 3/16/16)


What is hopeless to one
May be certainty to another.

What one may know,
Another may not.

One who is enemy in your eyes
May be a father or a brother -

Think of this
Before you take your shot.

Great to see your posts Kerry. Hope to see many more.

As Garrison would say: Happy Writing!

I've got something to say,
If it's worth your while-
Reading your encouraging words
Has made me smile. :D

To Be
By: Kerry Blake

What is my dream,
What do I want-
What have I been through,
What have I not?

What is my privilege,
What do I deserve,
When all I can do,
Is show you these words?

I’ve been through a lot,
Lots that you’ll never see;
I’ve been beaten and tortured
Emotionally.

I’ve been physically wounded,
Inflicted with pain;
But should all of this mean
There’s no sun just the rain?

There is so much to live for,
Though all of us die,
There is time yet to spend here,
But we all have our time;

We can fight for tomorrow
Or live for today,
But the reason I’m here now
Is only to say

I do have a dream-
Just for you to live yours-
I want you to see,
But it’s a matter of course.

I've only the right
To help you along the way-
I don’t deserve much,
But on that note I’ll say:

To be, to be,
I just deserve to be.
To show everyone else
My kind of reality.

I don’t deserve fame,
I just want to be me-
I’ll be selfless and kind,
I’ll be happy and free.

I'll throw back to the world
A sort of anomaly-
What I give is the opposite
Of what’s been thrown at me-

I'll throw back all my love,
When I’ve been thrown only hate.
And the haters can know
That they’ve inspired my fate.

And my fate is to love,
To love as I know,
Cuz experience shows,
That to be loved is to love.

Think of Me
By: Kerry Blake
7/7/16

There is so much
I want to say;
So many words I need
To get out of the way.
But when I hear
A violin's song,
I will remember,
And for you I’ll long.
I’ll think of you,
And then I’ll smile,
And though it may
Have been a while,
I'll write down my thoughts
Where they can be seen,
And hope somehow
You’ll think of me.

Hello Kerry:

I'm new to your thread, and wanted to say that I am enjoying my time here. You have a really nice control on the rhythm of your poems; they all flow nicely, but each flows in its own distinct way.

Your musing poems (the first two you posted especially) convey the feeling of those moments when, in the middle of the day, you find your brain attempting a better understanding of the world - a subconscious contemplation rather than a daydream. I don't know if you meant for that specific feeling (or even if I conveyed what I mean clearly), but it's really nice.

Also, that awkward ranting uncertainty of having a crush was nicely portrayed in the first half of the poem Him; it made me laugh because it's true.

Daniel J. wrote: "Hello Kerry:

I'm new to your thread, and wanted to say that I am enjoying my time here. You have a really nice control on the rhythm of your poems; they all flow nicely, but each flows in its own ..."

Thanks so much! I'm really glad that you got something out of my poetry. I know, from being a singer, that only a third of any art is the talent- another third is the work you put in, but the last and most important third is the outcome- the way people receive the message, and the way you make them think or feel. It's not even always about making people feel happy- after all, feelings are what make us human. But I think that it's the job of a writer or artist to, metaphorically, blow those hot coals of feelings back into a flame, and increase the depth of whatever feeling the reader interprets in the work. So thank you very much, not only for taking the time to read, (which I find hard to do sometimes with authors who are new to me) but also for interpreting it in your own way and helping me to see new ways of thinking of my own words. It means a lot if I can move people to think, feel, or do things in the world.

The Shadow of a Life
By: Kerry Blake
(written in 2014)


As I walked down the streets
Of New York City,
Admiring the overpriced dresses
Through shop windows,
I saw something out of place.

I should have known,
I should have remembered,
That New York
Is a big city.
And with big cities
Come the pitiful sight
Of the homeless.

But what surprised me most
Wasn’t the fact
That he was homeless.
What surprised me
Was the worn, colorless sign
Propped against the building
That he was sitting back against,
Telling how he was
A war veteran.

It was the expression
On his face
Showing that he’d given up hope,
A man once so proud and high,
Brought low by circumstance.
That anyone could live
With the thought that they had failed,
That their existence was futile,
Is such a despicable fact
That many people ignore
And go on living their life
Without a second thought,
Not caring enough to remember
There is always someone who needs them.

And he needed me.
Or, my money, really, which, to my regret,
I had left at the house.
Instead, I wanted to comfort him,
To give him something
To fill his empty life.
But I would have been late
For the fashion camp
That I never wanted to go to
In the first place.

His camouflage uniform,
Though unstained,
Was worn and grey
With dirt and dust
And the mark of war,
And his face was young,
At the most in his thirties,
But it too was worn,
Weighed down by years of sorrow,
His eyes ashen.

I felt guilty, and I still do,
Because I did nothing for him.
That is why, whenever I think about him,
I pray for him too.
Hard.

And I will never forget
The face
That was devoid of any interest
In the world around him.
The face that had given up
Literally everything
For a country
Which didn’t care in the slightest
About the lives of those who served.

The Rhythm and Beat
By: Kerry Blake

Writing by day,
Writing by night,
Writing down everything
That’s in my sight,
I understand not
Why they drown out the beat-
The rhythm of life
In all things I meet.

For in all these things
A rhythm resides-
To represent these
Without beat is a lie,
A lie of the worst
That any could say-
Omission of truth-
But come not today!

Omission of things
Is all good and well
Until comes the time
When you know you must tell:
The essence of life,
This strong spoken beat
Is made in all things,
And all things will keep.

It's Technically a Journal
By: Kerry Blake


Have you ever wondered
What it would be like
To go back
And for the first time
Re-read that book,
Meet the love of your life again,
Re-live that precious first moment?

Have you ever wondered
If you could go through
That same experience,
With all the same amazing people,
But without the gap between you
That sometimes comes with time?

I've had that gap happen before,
So I've made sure that this time,
There is no gap, no chasm.
So that this time,
My second chance may come
Without the first one
Ever coming to an end.

And then I think,
Time may yet have spared us
Of that gap
Which sometimes comes through it.
Because I realize,
This isn't my second chance.
It's my third.

The first was just what it was-
The first.
The first time I met you,
Back when we were too young,
To understand
The bias and judgement happening around us.

The second was much later,
And our bias and judgement
Was nonexistent
Because of the memories we shared.
We were shy at first,
Not wanting to break through
The preservative of time,
But we did,
Realizing then
That our fears of what the other
Might have become
Could be allayed by proof
That we could still be friends.
So we got to know each other
For who we had become,
And realized that we were not so different
From what we had known each other to be.
It was almost like the way
That I recognized you, and you recognized me.
Our memories of each other
Were clear enough that we knew
Who the other was,
Even though time had changed us both.

My third chance, I now realize,
Has already happened.
Except this wasn't a chance
For evolving, but for preservation.
This chance was when our relationship,
Just beginning again to evolve
Into something new,
Was stalled.
Maybe even forever, it could be-
I was given a choice, a crossroads.
I could have chosen to ignore you,
To forget but not forgive-
I could have chosen to be angry,
To hurt you and give you guilt.
I could have chosen to be greedy,
To demand you for myself.
But instead I chose to trust you,
To be patient for your choice.

And as I realized before,
That this was my third chance,
Now I realize
I am at a crossroads again.
The funny thing is,
Usually, when at a crossroads,
You can't see which ways
Are available to you.
But I find that when you can,
That is the time when the correct one
Is most clear to you.

For some reason ,
I could never be angry at you-
Probably because I never have
And never will have any reason to be.
But what is more intriguing
Is that I could never be angry
At anyone else
When I so much as think of you.
You are the one person
With whom I can speak totally freely.
I am a better person when around you,
And you give me all the faith in God
Whenever I am lacking .
You bring out the best in me,
And I hope and think
That I may bring out the best in you,
If only because I've never seen you
Be anything less than kind and honest.
You don't make me want to say
Things that aren't true, just to blend in.
I am a different person
Than many people,
But only when I'm with you
Can I be myself.
I can use my knowledge and talent
Without seeming like I'm showing off.
I can speak my mind,
Share my emotions, compassion,
And my relentless need to help the world
Without seeming like I'm doing it
Just for praise,
And not be embarrassed
If I do receive praise-
Because I know
That you and I
Share the same wonder
At the beauties of the world,
And at all the goodness
That one can find,
If you look for it.
When I am with you,
I don't have to try and explain
How horrible some of the things
That I've been through are,
And how sad I sometimes get
When I think back on them.
I don't have to explain,
Because you already understand.
It saddens me that people
Can only understand bad things
After they've already happened,
And I wish this wasn't so,
Because it means that you have, too.
But we all have our share of trials,
Of fears and doubts.
We just have to realize
That these bad things will end,
If we push on.
I am glad
That there is at least one person
In the world
Who can understand me,
Or at least appreciate me.
And I understand
That if you fall in love
With someone else,
I will still love you,
And will have to settle
For just being friends .
But for the time being,
I will wait,
And see what might happen
Between you and her,
And between you and me.
I trust your judgement,
And I trust that whatever may happen,
We will remain friends, at least.
If you choose
To not be with me,
I will still love you
Just as much as I do now.
Maybe more, as time goes on.
I love you,
And not even time can change it.

New Love
By: Kerry Blake


Today and yesterday have been
The most rewarding days I've seen-
Just as a flower blooms with time
So too will this love of mine.
And even though a rose has thorns,
There is a certain depth you cannot ignore
When you see that for which you long
Has ever been there all along.
And now it aches my heart to know,
That you have always loved me so-
But it only aches in the good kind of way,
To know you care, to know you'll stay.
You'll stay with me forevermore,
In heart and spirit, that I'm sure,
But hopefully you'll keep me with you,
Always loving, always true.
And when there comes the ending
Of all our time together,
I know I will still love you so,
As I will do forever.

Your poems are so meaningful, I love them

Thanks Jenah!

No problem, just let your heart out, all the poems I read are nothing compared to yours

That means a lot to me :)

Inspiration
By: Kerry Blake

Inspiration is like the wind.
It comes, and goes,
And always flows,
Throughout the air
With vibrancy
Like music I can always hear.
Sometimes,
It hits you
And you can’t miss it
Its like a tide,
Like a wave.
And just today,
I heard it in the air,
The purest sound
With so much care
And all the purpose
Of a war,
A war we fight
With music in the air,
With spoken words,
Or written down,
Or drawn out scenes,
Or acted out.
This is us.
Here.
Now.
Why?
Because we have a war to win.

A war of expression against oppression,
A war of happiness against anger,
Of peace against violence,
Of hope against despair,

A war of love against hate.

Hey guys I haven't posted any of my recent poems, but that doesn't mean I haven't been writing them! Even though I've been busy, I'm gonna try to type up some within the month and post soon. Thanks as always for reading!

This I Believe Short Narrative
By: Kerry Blake

My name is Kerry Blake, sixteen. When I was in 8th grade, my good friend died from cancer. His name was Alex. We had met online in a game we both played, which may seem questionable, but we got to know each other better than we may have known ourselves, seeing as when you’re 12 or 13 years old, you’re just figuring out who you are. He was kind, optimistic, and full of hope, unlike myself back then- I was a pessimist, always ready for the worst. Maybe because that had been my lot in life up until then, and I knew it wouldn’t change easily.

What I didn’t know was that my friend had cancer. He hadn’t told me anything about it. I don’t know why to this day, but I have my guesses. Either way, I didn’t find out until two months after it happened. His brother contacted me and I asked him, where has Alex been? He hasn’t been online or contacted me for a while. And he told me.

I cried. A lot. Not only because it was sad, or because I couldn’t deal with him being gone. But mostly because yet another tragedy had occurred in my life, and it affirmed my prior belief that despair is all there is. There is no hope left for me, I thought. I contemplated suicide, but I never had the guts to even think about how or when or where, only that death might be easier. Still, I would stick with life if only because there were a few people I really cared about.

Here’s a little fact about me: I live off of music. I think in music, feel in music, I always have a few songs stuck in my head all at once. And I sing- I sing when I’m sad, happy, and when I feel the need to get something off my chest or express my emotions. Music is my main anchor in life that helps me know who I am. And it was no different during my time of despair.

One day, as I was listening to a rock band I loved (and still do love), I heard it. The words, the music that helped me find my way: “The only way to shine your light is in the dark.” (Crown the Empire- “The One You Feed”) This, and the support of a teacher who I dearly cared for, are what fanned the ashes of my soul to sprout a flame again. I regained hope in the world by seeing that I was not alone. There were, and always will be, others like me. Hope exists.

Hope is not just the belief that things will be okay. It is the belief that even if things are not okay, you will find a way to deal with them without harming yourself or others emotionally, mentally, or physically. It is the belief that the way we live our life is defined by how we choose to deal with hard times, and that we should do our very best to not give in to despair. Despair may come when your hopes are shattered, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t hope in the first place, because hope comes when your despair is shattered. That is my firm belief, and it will not waver, unlike my hopes back then. This I believe.

Musings
By: Kerry Blake

I think about death a lot.
Does that mean that I’m suicidal or depressed?
It most certainly does not.
See, the doctors and professionals have all got it wrong.
It’s when you CAN think of death
The way you think of life
That you know you are at peace.
It’s when you think of death without fear or need of it
That you know you are living your life well.
For if you live in fear of it,
Are you not subject to act and make decisions upon that fear?
And if you live in need of it,
Are you living at all?

Tears
By: Kerry Blake
3/1/17

To cry is a necessity of the living soul,
For, to cry is to express a feeling,
And what makes us human but to feel?

Tears are the embodiment of not just our sadness,
But of any and all feelings there are:
Joy, relief, terror, anger.
Love and Hate.

Tears are our emotions let loose-
Each one is a flood
Of changing and constant emotion:
Add all the tears together,
And the world would be drowned.

And it is.
Everyday, everyone, everywhere,
Feels this torrent of humanity;
The world is drowning in emotion,
In those living their lives,
Rather than simply existing,
And in this way,
The flood of our humanity
Has the potential
For much-needed change.

You are the flood of humanity,
For you feel, you feel, you feel;
You cry.

You are the change.

If you choose to live.

The Creation of Art
By: Kerry Blake
6/30/17

Creation.
Natural, or not.
Creation is something to be admired,
To be reflected,
To be made.
Creation is the most beautiful thing
In the world,
Because it is
What everything else
Comes from.
Beauty in nature is reflected in art,
Whether is be visual, vocal, performance,
Or something else.
And there will never be an end
To Beauty in the world
So there should never be an end
To art.

Inspirational
By: Kerry Blake
6/28/17

There is a person
Who makes me feel worth it,
There is a person
Who will make me smile.

There is a person
Who always is wonderful,
There is a person
Who always is kind.

It seems unbelievable,
But I know it’s true;
No one is more understanding,
Or inspires me like you do.

Sunlight
By: Kerry Blake
6/27/17

As I look up to the sky,
I hold a pocket of sunlight in my hand,
And think how great it is
To be alive.

Surrounded by my friends,
I sing of love,
And think how great it is
To be alive.

I sing a song
Of truth and hope,
And think how great it is
To be alive.

Fate
By: Kerry Blake
9/7/17

If you walk through the halls
With the knowledge that you’ll never see me,
Just pretend I’ve moved away;
It might be better like that.

I might have already been gone by now
If I wasn’t so afraid of pain.
I hate the fact that I’m afraid of anything,
Especially that which I’m so accustomed to by now.

See, I’m not afraid of death,
I honestly couldn’t care if I lived or died.
It’ll happen someday.
I only wonder what’s beyond the void.

And I wonder if I’ll actually be missed.
Yes, I might be fooling myself.
But I still wonder.
Will your grief wear off and memory fade after a month?

There’s so much pain and too much grief in the world.
People don’t understand, and never will,
Unless it’s their own experience.
Ignorance is unconscious bliss.

Sometimes I wish more people would understand me,
But then I remember that to do so requires the experience of pain.
I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
I admit, I wouldn’t even wish it on those who’ve inflicted it on me.

I am alone. No one to go to.
I’ve shoved my love for the world deep down inside.
I cannot reach it.
Not now, anyway.

Of course, I’ll probably be all “better” by tomorrow.
Who knows what events today will hold?
But it always comes back, this grim fate of mine.
I will have to forge onwards, as always.

Untitled
By: Kerry Blake
3/15/18

Measure the light
By the strength of the shadows,
For without the sun
There would be no shade.
The stronger the light,
The deeper the shadows,
Just as the shadow of a tree is darkest
When the clouds do not cover the sun.

200 Words
By: Kerry Blake

I am surrounded.
Surrounded by darkness, light,
People, loneliness;
Surrounded by envy and pride,
Hope and despair,
Love and hate.
People think a person can only be good or bad,
But even so, I am surrounded by people who are both.
Darkness, loneliness, despair, hate-
Do these things truly exist?
Or are they simply the bitter absence of something else?
For me, they exist-
They can be measured: they have a scale;
They surround me at times,
Switching on and off with their polar opposites-
And I feel that presence as strongly as the light.
There have been times I was surrounded only by darkness and despair,
Loneliness, envy, and hate.
That darkness was thick,
The loneliness and despair all-consuming.
But slowly the darkness dissipated,
The despair grew into weariness,
And after a time similar to dreamless sleep after exhaustion,
They were replaced with a steadily growing light
Which advanced and crept through the tempest of my mind
To reach the center where my senses lay in wait.
And with the light came a sense
That I was surrounded by other things as well.
All these things are what I am;
For I am surrounded by darkness,
Surrounded by light.

This poem, though untitled, is dedicated to my amazing director of All State Chorus this weekend, Dr. Nelson.


I will never forget each smiling face,
Nor the static energy that was in the air;
I will never forget each passionate voice,
Full of hope, and full of care.

The people that surrounded me
Were all amazing, fun, and kind.
That sort of atmosphere, I now realize,
Is not all that hard to find.

You only need know where to look
In order to find that swaying tune,
Woven through the vibrant air
Like colored threads on a loving loom.

And when you find that place
Where you know that you belong,
That place where you are called to,
Like the ocean: Free and calm....

The music swells like a wave,
Then recedes,
Intensifies,
Softens;
It carries you away.

I will never forget the steady pulse
When all our hearts would beat as one:
I will never forget that infinite moment,
Passing slowly,
But in an instant, gone.

I will always remember,
The blending of new faces and of old,
Of friends I had already met,
And of those I hadn't,
Whose stories had yet to be told.

I will always know,
That music is a mixing bowl of everything
Which has, does, or will ever exist,
And that it is eternal,
Like the stars above or the earth below.
All it can do
Is be made,
Exist,
Be admired,
Inspire,
And then,
Pass away,
Like a star whose light has faded;

But we all know that the light of a star
Carries on for millenia
Even after it goes out.

Alive
By: Kerry Blake


I feel it in my bones.
A wind that vibrates intensely,
Molecules thrumming in the air;
Lively; Free.

It resonates with me.
The wind tears through me with a strength that should be making my fingers numb but instead is making me feel all the more alive.

It is beautiful.
In a way I never thought that something which can't be seen could ever be.
My whole body is breathing in the crisp air,
Leaning into it,
Hair flying,
Eyes bright in a way that only one other thing could make them.

It incites in me the sudden need to sing one of the Irish songs I know,
Rallying the feeling that is etched in my blood.
I sing.
Because I must.
The wind blows on, freer than I ever will be but somehow making me crave that freedom all the more.
It gives a spark to the life around it;
Even the trees whisper in its wake.

This is not simply what I live FOR.
This is what MAKES me alive.