She Is

I have no eyes that can be seen.
I frame them Egyptian black,
but they are weak windows
the gods do not notice.

My soul blazes behind them,
but they remain so dim.
Where is my soul?

She speaks sometimes,
Suddenly my tongue.
You might hear her—
And she is divinely beautiful.

Why does my body hide her?
It’s not even a reflection.
Not even smoked glass.

Impossible Mirror

In you, I am only this face;
Are you all the others’ eyes, too?

Is this what they see?
What mine see of me in you?

And in you,
I am only this face.

When

I am not this face.
I am not this face.

Yet only it can be seen.
False, false.

Impossible mirror,
You don’t even show what you’ve done.

Quiet Beauty

Only whispers of eyelashes and eyebrows;
A perfect asymmetry of eyelids, nostrils and lips;
Skin as myriad as the earth.

Quiet Beauty.
Noticeable only in nearness.
And dark.

Quiet Beauty.
People say it is mine, but
It is silent to me.

Sassy Students

I am a collector of quotes. My classroom is decorated with them, including those witticisms of my students. This was the most recent, which I think is my favorite to date:

Ms. C: Why do I make you anxious?
Jess: Because you have my GPA in your hot little hands!

Ha!

Quiet Cage

Words the keys,
and the bars and locks.

My breath rattles the blackness.
Sometimes only sounds escape.

And who can understand?
And who even wants to?

The cage is quiet, so quiet,
It seems like silence.

Though I scream.

Me Not

Petal poems—gone! Gone!
He loves me not!
Wanton Time—a wind with my thoughts
Stole the buds before they could bloom.
And those that withstood—
Little flowers! Such pretty petals!
I tore them! I tore them! He leaves me not!
With my teeth I took each tender piece—
My fingers! My tongue! Such pale, helpless petals, and I—

He loves me not!