Madeline Wood Poet Free verse

Trepidation

Trepidation


One second I am watching
Typing.
            .
                 . . 
                      . . .
(blank)

Why did you               leave?
.
  . .
       . . .
(hello)
I feel      empty.
My keyboard is humming	
stop

Trepidation

I look forward to today
stop

Trepidation

I keep telling myself it’ll get
better.
Once I’m 
grown.
Insufferable silence
Leaves the mind derelict of all thoughts
Suspended in motion
Yet time cannot be caught
Reaching—
For              something,
For                            anything,
fingertips grasping at the warmth of a moment
already lost.


(Click. Click. Click.)

The keys whisper secrets I cannot decipher,
a language of absence.

A breath, a blink,
a flicker.
but this time, 	I catch it.
Hold it 
Steady.
stop
(swallow)
Let it settle

Trepidation

Minutes pass
Hours
I forgot to check your 
2 New Messages.
I felt, better.
Not whole, not fixed,
but lighter.
Settling in
            .
                 . . 
                      . . .
(say something)
(why do you do this?)
A deep breath.
A 	stretch		of fingers

The weight is still there,
but it shifts,
just enough.
        .
                 . . 
                      . . .
I was just thinking.

(gulp)
(exhale)

For the first time in days,
the air doesn’t feel heavy.

The world
       	softens.
The static
             		quiets.


This time,
I let the light in.

Trepidation

I push my chair back,
feet hitting the floor,
real, solid.

     	Step			 forward.

The hallway is warm,
bathed in a glow I didn’t notice before.

The clock keeps ticking,
but it no longer mocks me.

A sip of water.
A	 stretch.

The weight of the day does not crush me.

Not	 today.

For the first time in a while,
the silence is not so empty.

I take another breath.
And this time,
I don’t hold it in.

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Crystol Woods March 1, 2025 at 9:36 AM Sounds like the thoughts of someone battling depression. Woundsof the mind have always been the most difficult to heal. You've described it well, in a style that puts the reader inside your mind, struggling with you. We'll done! Congratulations! Xo

Susan Ashley March 1, 2025 at 8:05 AM Dear Madeline, your poem is striking in imagery and potent in its ability to completely captivate my heart and imagination where the "trepidation" is palpable, binding, and the release "I take another breath./And this time,/I don’t hold it in.", a sweet liberation. I especially adored "The clock keeps ticking,/but it no longer mocks me." -wow! Congratulations for your success in Kai's contest. Warmest wishes.. ~Susan

Beata Agustin February 21, 2025 at 4:04 AM Thanks for sharing this... exposing your thoughts through your unique poetic style. Welcome to Poetry Soup. I welcome you with the love of the Lord, expressed by John 3:16 of the Bible, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Be blessed.

Bias Fields February 18, 2025 at 3:56 PM Breath easy