A Couple of New Poems

I adopt anxiety
as if it has no home
a lost and frightened puppy
with nowhere else to roam
and even though it chews me up
and leaves an awful mess
I fear I can't abandon it
I've protected my own stress

I try to teach obedience
restrain it with a muzzle
but binding it won't help me solve
this parasitic puzzle
it needs to understand it's place
and I need to take charge
since this anxious problem pup
isn't all that large

and someday soon this dog will be
sitting by my side
making just a little fuss
about dangers from outside
I will learn to heel it
and trust when it appears
my lost puppy will become
a guide to all my fears

ltv
5/3/07




my heart is a window
with panes of painted black
this ignorance of emotion
saves me from attack
but if I open up a bit
just when the weather's fair
the pressure forces everything in
both sweet and foul air
and since this muscle still is weak
having been dormant for so long
I shut the window down again
and pretend that I am strong

ltv
4/24/07