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Best Poems Written by Theodora Sterling

Below are the all-time best Theodora Sterling poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

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Circus Memories

Acrobats in the center ring
Ballerina bears on balls and bicycles
Cavalcades of clowns with calliopes 
Dancing damsels in glittery corsets and tulle skirts
Elephants parade in wrinkled suits
Fire eaters flourish flames
Giants on stilts wave ribbons and flags
High wire artists risk their necks to amuse us
Impressive strongmen pull rocks on sledges
Jugglers toss rings and pins and torches and make improbable catches
Knife throwers thrill us with speed and accuracy
Lion tamers in tights tease lions and tigers
Mimes in masks mimic monkeys
Nets cover the aviary of exotic birds
Ostriches with riders race in the far ring
Pink poodles in tutus ride on a tiny Ferris wheel
Quick stepping ponies prance through their paces
Ringmaster Robert in his red velvet frock coat and top hat looking debonair
Slack rope walkers dance and do splits on a swaying rope
Trapeze artists twirl in spangled leotards high above the crowds
Unicyclists on unicycles tall and short and zigzag form fancy formations 
Velvet vixen contortionists fit inside tiny trunks and magic boxes
Winged women do a wild dance in the air
Xylophones play for the circus parade
Yellow silks hang high above while leggy aerialists dangle and spin on the web
Zebras perform in unison; feathered headdresses bobbing on their heads

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Hanging By a Thread

My mind has wandered off the tracks again
Attempts to distract myself only succeed temporarily
I think he has this plan to end us as lovers by attrition
Withholding affection and slowly withering our connection
I’ve tried being more friendly
I’ve tried being a shoulder to cry on
I’ve tried blatantly saying, “If there is something wrong just tell me.”
I’ve tried ignoring him like he ignores me
So logic seems to say he is over me and so I must move on
But when I ask him he denies it
It is maddening when he says things like “I’d love to hear your voice too but there is no time.”
I am tired of twisting in the wind in this emotional entanglement
Keep me or let me go
The vagueness is killing me

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Old Time New Time

Oak grandfather clock
Offers no words of wisdom
To the new cell phone clock

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I Feel

I feel like I am bleeding on the inside.
I can’t drive down the highway without my thoughts replaying your words.
How dare you assume I would wander away,
So you wandered away in a preemptive strike.
You killed us
And dumped me into the ‘friend zone’.
“I miss you,” I say.
“There is nothing to miss,” you say.
I cannot battle indifference.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
More bleeding on the inside.
You were the one who first came to me
Begging me to take you into my life
Asking for my trust
Hanging out where I hang out.
Now I feel like I’m trying to hang on to a ghost.
And I bleed inside
Dying a little more each day
Bleeding in places no one can see
I’d rather have a drag out fight 
With yelling and swearing rather than this
This insipid ghosting of emotions
I say I should leave you alone and stop torturing you
You tell me I am only torturing myself
I see I cannot torture a heart that is already dead to me.

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Black Rose

A single petal falls
She turns her back on the grave
A single tear falls.

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Don'T Underestimate Me

Sometimes I have to reaffirm that I am both a masterpiece and a work in progress. 
I am in charge of soothing myself when no one else will.
I am in charge of holding it together even when those I thought had my back do not in the long run care anymore (if they ever did).
I am a force to be reckoned with; a bright and shining star.
I have the right to be confident, poised, self-assured and even intimidating even if some of those in my life try to repress me or tell me I'm not worthy of those feelings. 
I'm tired of being insecure and put in my place. 
I am the queen of all that I survey and if you are planning to take me out,
You may succeed but the battlefield will be bloody in the end.

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Dead Drop Romance

Poet's Notes: A dead drop is a USB port embedded in a wall in a public area.  In is not connected to the Internet. People can come by and leave files on it or read what others have uploaded. It is a subversive way to share poetry, local music, and messages. 

Strange way to find love
Subversively romantic
Dead drop file transfer

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'o'

Pink shiny lipstick
Mirrored compact in her hand
She stares into it

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Sudden Storm

Weeks of hot days endlessly parading across the desert
Lulled me into a coma believing the weather would stay that way forever
Mid afternoon I stepped outside to go to the post office
Something was different
Thunder boomed and over White Mountain was a giant thunderhead
Bolts flashed but no rain had fallen yet
The chickens vanished into hiding
The feral cats dashed from under my parked car to find a safer hiding spot
I ran to the clothesline and yanked down the red work shirts and old t-shirts
Into the sack I stuffed jeans and my boyfriend's socks and towels

A quick glance and I realized all the folding tables were still out
So I swooped those up and into the shed they went
Now rain was falling like a maiden's blush
I opened the gate and climbed into the car as harder rain started slashing the windows
I hopped out to close the gate and was tempted to stay home and watch the storm
The forked lightning changed my mind. 
Halfway down my dirt road I saw a thick bolt of lightning pummel the ground at the foot of the mountain
Wind whipped papers into the air and trash cans into the street
As the rain gained momentum

Hours later I drove back up the hill
Sand crisscrossing the road was evidence of flooding in a dozen places
Pools of water still stood off the roadway
Sections of the road were washed down into gullies
Part of my driveway looked like a giant had drawn a sharp knife through the sand
The power had been out
A neighbor said one bolt of lightning had hit the ground and out it went
Pretty sure it was the same bolt I saw

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Heatwave On Highway 18

Slammed by record heat
My brain melts like Dali's Clock
And runs out my nose.