melissaahowells

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In The Sanctuary Of My Head

The Broken-Winged Birds and People (re-edited 4/5/2323 3:03PM PST) (re-edited 11:14am PST 2/23/2023)

The Hell Of Winter (re-edited 4:27pm PST 3/9/2023)

My Grey Haired Love...La La Lullaby , La La Lullaby My Love

THE HEART IS AN ORGAN ON FIRE



When Mr. Bemish Lost His Last Good Pair of Glasses

Kathy Brown Kathy Brown

Something Not Quite Right About Here (Vortex) re-edited 1/26/2023

THE COOL TILES BENEATH MY FEET REMIND ME

The Way Of The Crow

DO YOU TURN THE LIGHTS SO YOU CAN SLEEP?

The Springtime Shadows Play Games Upon The Wall

CHRONICLER OF DREAMS

YET ANOTHER ANTI-POETRY POEM ( re-edited 11/2/2022)

You Do As You Please 8/17/2005 found poem, readjusted 6/20/22

HERE WE SIT AT OUR TABLE 2/19/2022

Much Better Than This ( A Conversation With The Universe)

The Straight Story (What Happens When The Writer Inserts You Into Her Story)

THE TIDE CALLED LONELINESS

A Girl Always Leaning Forward Looking for A Breeze

Entanglements

Have You Ever... (DECEMBER 4/2021)

Appetites

How I Still Love You

The Smile Which Eludes @

He Says To Me, I Think Too Much (and hence dream too much as well)

When You Learn Who You Really Are And What Is...

Anti-Poem Number Three 8/2/2022 Or, A Poem Your Proper Mother Wouldn't Write

Breathing On My Own

A Girl Is More Than a Beautiful Box re-edited 10:15pm PST 1/31/22

I LOVE YOU ALWAYS ANYWAY AND INSTEAD

Talk To Me In The Dark 7/8/2022

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The Smile Which Eludes @


she wears smiles
which fade so fast to frowns
that
you wonder was there ever
a smile there

its not a test
its not  her depression
its that she's not a silly girl--
she wants to be heard
and truly loved
(as-is)

she does wear that smile
for some who've earned it
and sometimes she laughs with a snort
but only for a  very few

otherwise she watches
from the corners of her navy eyes
to make sure its safe
to be different

her smile is more than
a smile
it doesn't bend upwards
and stay pasted there

it doesn't painfully tweak
the corners of her bow-mouth
like an obligation
its a decision
and a choice
which she wears like her favorite dress

Elise
my French Teacher once said to me
where do your smiles go to....
she didn't know how they hide
in my bedroom closet at home
and refuse to come out
when my Father is drinking
or my Mother is bending me with her
many manipulations--
I am no one's battering ram
I am no one's vanity project

I am  MY own

so if my smile eludes
know that it was there
and it took practice
and faith
and I made weighed decisions
when it appeared/appears

I am non-compliant
and  more inner self-reliant
my smile may fade away
but know
I am a woman who proudly wears her frown.


LEGAL COPYRIGHT FOR THIS POEM 9/1/2022 3:33PM PST TIME AND DATE STAMPED
AND ALSO FOR THIS WRITER/POET/AUTHOR MELISSA A. HOWELLS
AND ALSO FOR THIS LEGALLY COPYRIGHTED AND REGISTERED SITE TITLE
MELOO STRAIGHT FROM HER TILT-A-WORLD@

WRITTEN DIRECTLY TO THE PAGE.......






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