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Best Poems Written by Kathy Camacho

Below are the all-time best Kathy Camacho poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

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Elusive Sleep

Elusive Sleep

The sun retired right on cue
and darkness set in - nothing new
but no thanks to that silent play
I couldn't let go of the day

While everyone was fast asleep
I lay there madly counting sheep
no fairies, sandman not in sight
just blasted whispers "not tonight"

no one to sing a lullaby
so yes, I had a real good cry
some solid zzz’s was all I asked
a bit of sanity to grasp 

Oh sleep, why did you fight me so?
the morning's come, just so you know
I'll not forget you in the light
the chase is on again tonight

Copyright © Kathy Camacho | Year Posted 2018



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The House I Grew Up In

The House I Grew Up In

had a hole 
in the hall closet door

father’s fist-size 
with jagged edges
punched 
at mother’s eye level 

unseeing relations hung
winter coats inside
innocents asked:
"what happened here"?

it was part of the decor
like the living room schefflera plant
and the wooden crucifix
above Patricia’s bed

I covered it with a cardboard Santa
for the holidays, still
at night 
I heard its screams

years later, in my garden
I unearthed that hole
and filled it with the roots
of a sedum

Copyright © Kathy Camacho | Year Posted 2017

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Walking With My Mother Past Ursuline Convent and Orphanage

Walking With My Mother Past Ursuline Convent and Orphanage (Camp Street)

she remembered
 
meals eaten in silence
agar jelly dessert, the bitterness of seaweed
washed down with milk

rounders with the girls –
the clack of the bat connecting with the ball
exhilaration running the bases 

later in the dorm Sister Mary Alphonse
called an early silence 
(to quell excitement ?)

daily chapel - once for mass, twice for prayers 
standing, kneeling behind
the black wall of nuns

praying for love
and sardine sandwiches 
her mother used to make
 
secrets with lovely Peggy
whose despair became unbearable -
surely God forgave her

longing for love, a husband,  children 
someone to need her
to start living

Copyright © Kathy Camacho | Year Posted 2017

Details | Kathy Camacho Poem

Knee Repair

Knee Repair

The joint’s as good as new -
two little screws in a shiny metal plate 
and she’s back in business.

It wasn’t as bad as all that.
He only meant to get her down
on her knees, down so she had
to look up at him, down so she 
knew her place.

Copyright © Kathy Camacho | Year Posted 2017


Book: Shattered Sighs