Poem

Plume of the Poet Laureate

I'm filled with hope          and sorrow
Happiness                       and despair
This is life
I am living
So fragile                        and strong
Pain                                and pleasure
A weak kind of headstrong
A headstrong kind of weakness
It could end at any moment but
Still it goes on in
An unbroken line
Up     down     right     left     north     south
Veering but unbroken
This life
I see yesterday
             I breath in today
I envision tomorrow
I smile
          The kind that creeps up
From the middle left of your chest
It rises, warms and curls
I smile                          and I cry
The salty tears mount and blur
Slipping with a blink
                              Sliding down
the rounded curve of my face
I cry                           and I smile
I'm terrified               and ecstatic
Sad                            and happy
I'm alive
            In a classroom
Listening to
                A poem about
Atomic bombs