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Best Poems Written by Lily Ravelo

Below are the all-time best Lily Ravelo poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

Details | Lily Ravelo Poem

A Gift That Keeps On Giving

I scream at the sky,
Waiting, anticipating an answer, 
Like you are Jesus and I am your disciple. 
Willing to do anything, just to get a sign that you are still out there. 

Some days my faith starts to wonder, 
Your face starts to get blurry-
And I wonder if it’s because you’re starting to forget me,
Or if I am starting to forget you. 

Other days, I can see your face in the clearest skies,
I feel your presence in the dullest of moments,
And I remember that:
You are a gift that keeps on giving, even though you are no longer here.


(Updated on 05/19/2024)

Details | Lily Ravelo Poem

Neural Pathways

Sometimes my brain deludes me into believing that I am utterly unlovable. 
Like a dog who has been in the shelter for far too long, being prepared for his final meal. 
My throat closes up,
My lungs shut down,
And there are no other thoughts to be had.

I often convince myself that I do not deserve good things,
Like I am destined to live and die in a world of hurt. 
As if something I have done in a past life created this monster of a brain, 
As if I earned it in a way.

I know my brain tricks me,
It is conditioned to make things harder than they have to be–
I, ultimately, made it that way.
It is kind of beautiful though, that self-hatred and trauma can actively alter your brain in a physical sense–constructing neural pathways. 
Sometimes it helps me to discover the trace of beauty within hideous things.

Details | Lily Ravelo Poem

Died For You

You took me out to the meadows to pick flowers,
How was I supposed to know about the thorns?
Every flower I picked,
Down went a drop of blood.
 -Your smile eased my pain.

You didn't get pricked once,
But I was only happy you're okay.
Your smile tended to my wounds as they could,
But I had already lost too much blood.

Now I live here, in the meadows,
Forever trapped in the time we spent here.
Eternally drowning in a pool of my own blood and foolishness.
 -Your smile no longer eases my pain.



(Updated on 05/19/2024)

Details | Lily Ravelo Poem

My World Is Pure Emotion

My world is pure emotion.
I spend my days crying to the people about things that are out of their control,
My nights crying to the universe as if it would listen and take any pity upon me,
And my dreams crying to the unknown, my own subconscious. 

I look in the mirror and see nothing but a girl,
Someone familiar though,
Almost like a childhood friend who moved away too soon and changed the way that they dress.

I try to reminisce--
But my memories feel more like books I have read,
And I am just another character that the author forgot to flesh out;
Unessential to the plot, forgettable in a sense.

I try to draw--
But what once was a beautiful face
Is now just another set of lifeless figures and forms that I wasted too much time on trying to make "perfect".
And yet the only thing I can see when I look at it are my mistakes--what I would change,
And how someone else would do a much better job at bringing my own concepts to life.

I try to write--
But my words have always felt more like vomit than poetry.
And even if I could, 
Who would care to read it anyway?
It's not like anything I write about holds significance to anyone but myself.
And when I have tried to write to be understood it just feels forced,
Like a baby, trying to fit a cylinder in a square hole over and over again--it was never bound to work in the first place.

Details | Lily Ravelo Poem

Flowers-A Poem About Death

You got me flowers last week,
The petals started to wilt and fall yesterday,
–So I carefully glued them back on.
Despite my best efforts, they continued to die. 
No amount of love and care can keep them alive, 
From the time they first sprout to the time they bloom,
Their fate is predetermined. 

You got me flowers last month,
I watched them shrivel away,
But I still can not bring myself to throw them out. 
Their petals cover the middle of the diner table; 
Like a sad circle reminding me that what once was is no longer, and will never be again. 

You got me flowers last year,
I had to get rid of them,
They decomposed completely by the ninth month and second day.
You asked me if I would like a new bouquet,
All I could think about was how that first petal fell,
How do we continue to get each other flowers knowing they are inescapably going to die after such a tragic short life?
Why do flowers still grow; 
In the face of death?

Details | Lily Ravelo Poem

I Think Too Much

I never wake up to silence,
It is as if my brain wakes up before I do–
I am already thinking before I can even comprehend it.
I automatically think of the ways in which I could have done things better yesterday,
All of the wrong things that I said–my word choices,
My facial expressions,
My demeanor as a whole. 
Like I have a paper to write on all the reasons why I do not like myself,
And it’s due by the end of the day.

I really do believe that I think too much and too deeply,
I remember situations from years ago–
“I should have kissed him”,
“I should have stood up for myself”,
“I should have cherished things more when they were still around”.
They plague my brain,
Terrorizing my decisions, 
What if this is yet another thing that will haunt me?

Details | Lily Ravelo Poem

A Poem: By Death

I promise you've got it all wrong.
You hate me, but you don't take the time to know me.
You're afraid of me, but you've never seen me.
You make me ashamed of who I am,
Like what I am doing is my choice and not just something I have to do.

I promise you've got it all wrong.
I hurt for you, 
And I care for the ones you've lost.

Yet all you do is try to forget about me,
Why?



(Updated 05/19/2024)

Details | Lily Ravelo Poem

Unfinished, Unloved

I never got to finish the poem I was writing for you–a pitiful ending in itself.
It lives on the shelf in the shadowy far right corner of my bedroom,
With an overflowing pile of other dusty junk that I will never look at
again but can’t bring myself to throw away.
Silently begging for a flood or fire to get rid of it for me.

I fall in love with the birds at my window; who end up taking flight
without warning,
Trying to find a better place to make their home.
They remind me of you,
And I finally unclench my cramping fists and let myself cry into the
palms of my hands.

How am I supposed to mourn something that I never quite held?
When does it stop?

Details | Lily Ravelo Poem

Would the World be a Better Place Without Pain?

I live life for myself, 
But I also live for those who did not get to. 
For those who have gone through the same struggles but didn’t see the silver lining, 
For those who couldn’t find the beauty in living, even in the hideous pain and hurt,
And for those who lost their lives from things out of their own control.

We had a debate in my English class once–I think about it from time to time,
The prompt: “Would the world be a better place without pain?”;
I was the only one who sided with “Yes”.
I thought that if pain could be erased the world would be happier, 
A place where people would actually want to live. 
I understand now that without pain, there would be no reason for joy,
That good moments wouldn’t feel as rewarding. 

Pain and hurt are not so much just a part of human life–as they are part of the universe,
Central to life and being as a whole.
But so is joy, contentment, and pleasure, 
You couldn’t have one without the other.

Details | Lily Ravelo Poem

I Find Her in Everything-A Poem About Change

I tend to mourn who I used to be,
To think of all the change I have endured–since birth, until now. 
I think about how happy I was as a child,
Rocks and sticks were my friends,
I talked to the birds in the trees, and they talked back,
The smell of my grandma's sourdough pancakes was the best thing in the world.
And the Earth was so small–I could hold it in my tiny fist.

I often feel like I let go of her,
Like she got lost while I grew up.
Other times I can see her smiling at me in the mirror, in awe of all in which she has become.
I can feel her when I cry about how beautiful the birds sound,
When I think about how deeply I love,
Or how I still sleep with her teddy bear every night.


I find her in everything.
I find me in everything.