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Katelyn Riccardi Poem
They call it a cliché
I even laugh with them, too
They say "it's just a Hallmark holiday"
But then I'm surprised by you
How do you explain to someone
that you've married your best friend?
That when you've find the right one
it feels like a sleepover that never ends
That feeling to them is just foreign
They simply don't understand
The kind of love I have for him
Our souls fit hand in hand
We can anticipate what the other will say
Before they finish their sentence
He holds me close and together we sway
During a kitchen floor slow dance
They say "There's no such thing as soulmates"
That it'll work "if you try hard enough"
For them, that makes my heart ache
They must still be combing through the rough
I really don't mean to boast
But then again, I do
As we say "I love you most"
I know I've found my forever with you.
I've married my best friend
and they'll tell me that's a cliché
But who else got a bouquet of red
for Halmark's silly "Sweetest Day?"
Copyright © Katelyn Riccardi | Year Posted 2025
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Katelyn Riccardi Poem
Shedding leaves
dropping old memories
Like cutting your hair
lessening your loads of care
The autumn rain
like a cool shower
washing away remains
of burdens that used to tower
The warm October sun
peeking through clouds of gray
lighten my step
with every touch of ray
Folks perceive Spring
as a season of renewal and change
as the birds sing
and buds from the ground raise
But the cleansing begins long before
in the Fall
before the white snow
has a chance to freeze it all
Like how one must fall
before they can rise
The trees demonstrate this
before our very eyes
Think of a butterfly
emerging from their cocoon
When the caterpillar first wrapped themselves
they didn't emerge so soon
That is why Autumn
affectionately known as Fall
is my very favorite season
of them all
Copyright © Katelyn Riccardi | Year Posted 2025
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Katelyn Riccardi Poem
Skin tanned olive
Hair streaked with gold
Green patches on the knees
of my ripped blue jeans
Purple soles of my bare feet
From the falling mulberries
Summer vacation
School's not in session
So we play all day
and smell of chlorine
We find ourselves at your house
for dinner with your family
you walk me home through the woods
after jumping on your trampoline
Dusk falls and the grass gets wet
The sky turns black and the stars reflect
the warm, orange bonfire glow
we wake in the morning
in sleeping bags, smelling of smoke
Car ride down the interstate
to your grandparents cottage
we spend all day at the lake
jumping off the dock's edge
Mint chocolate chip ice cream
woodchips under my toes
we play putt putt in our swimsuits
until it's time to go
damp towels on the hardwood floor
wet footprints follow us in
cold sandwiches my mom made
cartoons on the television
hanging upside down
from a branch of the tree in your front yard
I didn't realize it quite then, that looking back
I'd miss it all this hard
You dare me to kiss you
then take off in a sprint.
Twenty years later in my memory
I can catch only a glimpse
Of your blue eyes and freckled face
standing outside, asking me to come play
Nostalgic Michigan Summer Day
Copyright © Katelyn Riccardi | Year Posted 2025
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Katelyn Riccardi Poem
When I was younger
I thought you were so cool
So much so that I
wrote a paper about you in school
You are much older
and that's neither of our fault
But you aren't involved
not like I would have thought
Maybe I was annoying
and you were a teen
But now that I'm an adult
it's painful to see
Maybe you don't like my mom
or you have feelings toward dad
You've chosen to estrange yourself
You're the sister I've never had
And while it hurts and I've cried
when I think about you not wanting me
I've come to accept it
as my lonely reality
I've had some hardships
when having you would have been nice
But you aren't here
to share any advice
I've learned that blood
doesn't mean family
I've got myself a great one
though they're not related to me
And there is this girl
Nine years my younger
She lights up the world
like lightning and thunder
She's brave and she's fierce
she's smart and she's clever
and I've realized with time
she's the sister you were never
So I'm learning this role
with no help from you
I hope I can be to her
what she is to me, too
Birthdays and Christmas
her first tattoo
I'd be lying if I said
it didn't make me think of you
What I wish you would have been
what we could have been together
I never knew then
I'd find something much better
She's wonderful and kind
my sister I was so lucky to find
Perhaps thanks are in order
you've inspired me to always support her
I won't leave or betray her
and truly I'm glad
to be the cycle-breaker
I've found the sister I never had
Copyright © Katelyn Riccardi | Year Posted 2025
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Katelyn Riccardi Poem
They say that after the storm
there always comes a rainbow
but to the one who mourns
that's an insincere blow
Perhaps instead of a silver lining
You can look back later and see
the benefit of the timing
and gain peace and clarity
Had it not happened a certain way
or taken a hard left from my plan
I wouldn't be where I am today
and my current reality is truly grand
It was never easy
I was broken and emotional
A few years wiser, now I see
It had to be intentional
When joy was all but forgotten
Through the pain and long hard days
the good thing about rock bottom,
is nobody ever stays
It feels forced for a while
exhausting to get up
then you catch yourself smile
healing's one not to interrupt
So my friend, if you are low
please accept this bit of advice
I won't try to sell you some rainbow
but your efforts will suffice
Copyright © Katelyn Riccardi | Year Posted 2025
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Katelyn Riccardi Poem
"That's my name, don't wear it out!" She sings
I can almost hear her voice echo
as I put on her earrings
Lily of the valley
carved next to your name
The tattoo on my back
is an image quite the same
Curled up next to you
on the arm of your favorite chair
I ask you to read me a story over again
It's the fourth time, but you don't care
Sleepovers at your apartment
fried chicken and Chinese checkers
I remember how hard you laughed
when I put in your dentures
I remember the car ride there
Sunshine peeking through your hair
You said it was the best you felt in a while
That made my mom smile
Suddenly across the room
Your face flushed
To your side, everyone rushed
You reached up
Hands near your neck
Everyone in the room a nervous wreck
I run outside
I'm told you'll be fine
I go back in through the back door
They have you laid out on the floor
Circle of people surround you
my mom on the phone
The ambulance comes and gets you
Mom and Dad take me home
I remember you on the gurney
You had a blanket that was white
Dad said "don't you worry
Grandma will fight"
Small hospital room
The family all near
The kind nurse tells me to talk to you
she says you can still hear
I went home that evening
and I guess so did you
but not to your same apartment
You had a new home with a view
In the front of the room
My aunt told me not to be scared
I finally get to see you
I run my fingers through your hair
Six angel statues line your casket
each a piece to remember you
I slip a note in your drawer
Hoping you'll read it an remember me, too
I feel guilty I don't visit your grave very often
But I know you aren't really in that coffin
You're saying this is the best you've felt in a while
And that makes me smile
Copyright © Katelyn Riccardi | Year Posted 2025
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