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The poetry that follows is taken from each one of my newsletters – enjoy!
After reading them, check out my Current Newsletter and Past Newsletters tabs. Each poem below is tied to their individual newsletter, filled with interesting and thought-provoking reading content I know you’ll appreciate 🙂
I Heard You
I heard you call my name last night
Felt your hands
Run down
My body
Gentle caresses
I heard you call my name last night
Felt your kisses
Enshrine
A succulent reminder
That I was safe
Content
For you would never
Attempt
To destroy
Me
I heard you call my name last night
Allowed each word
You spoke
To cling to my ears
Embellish me
Delicious
I heard you call my name last night
And I drank you in
And I languished
For as long
As you permitted me to
Before your
Hands’
Gentle pressure
Let me go
I heard you call my name
Last night
And today
I am
Forever
Thankful
© Kim Friesen
Gentle kisses you drop upon my eyelids
As the smell of your rosemary shampoo
Lingers
I breathe you in, deep
Captivated by your delicious scent
Sheltered
In the serenity of our love
I am exalted and empowered
Free to be in this moment
Ignited
By a well of ideas
That spill forth now
As I close my eyes
Energized
By thoughts of where
This next chapter of my life
Will take me
Empowered
I stare in amazement
At this beautiful non-judgmental soul
Before me
You were placed into my life
And for this I am honored
Sounds of a raven’s cry
The rustle of discarded petals
And the resonance of ducks swimming nearby
Sprinkle down upon us
And your eyes focus
On
Each
Word
Imparted
From my lips
Steadfast you listen
Until we are besieged
By the thunder of cars moving fast in the distance
A dog’s bark
And children’s gleeful laughter
We pause now
As you pass a blade of grass over my face
And I look up to you
And we once again
Are scooped
In our private moment
Of gratitude
Fingertips
Caress each other’s bodies
Arms entwine
Protective
Immovable
Captivated
In this snippet
We were gifted
Before the real world
Will
Engage
and
Occupy
Our bodies and minds once more
© Kim Friesen
“This poem I wrote less than a year after my stroke. The poetry I wrote during this period I admit is a bit despondent. What I wish to impart when I share it though is that no matter what road you are on in life, it can be pulled out from you in a heartbeat. I don’t recognize the person speaking here. My advice is that if this happens to someone you know or love, lean in a little closer. My life changed on June 9, 2003 – some have been good changes and others have been ones that really made me pause.”
<span style=”visibility: hidden;”>+++</span>I look at you
And no longer see
The light
That used to shine out from inside of you
Luminous
The flicker
I once thought
I could ignite
Has disintegrated and now lays in embers
Lifeless
I don’t think
I can ignore
The feeling
That fills me now
With the knowledge
That no matter how hard I try today
The book of matches I once used to use
Lays
Staring
I can no longer pick it up
For I am paralyzed
© Kim Friesen
“This poem I wrote in the last few days. It’s raw, may need work in your mind, but every time I try, it won’t let me change it. It’s like my computer has a mind of its own. This is a challenge to show me and you that sometimes enough is enough. Sometimes you just have to let it fly . . .”
I The Voyeur
The baby’s chubby, pink fingered hand
Extends upward
Grabs onto the bright silver chain that dangles
Off the ruddy neck of his Daddy
Both faces are lit up like Christmas trees
Both their eyes sparkle
Baby’s toothless grin spreads wide and full
As Daddy drops love filled kisses
Across his baby’s delicious, plump cheeks
Momma’s brown eyes shine back at Daddy
From his baby’s face
And he is ever thankful
I the voyeur feel my insides quell
I can’t help but stare . . .
Momma’s sits in the kitchen
Holds her breath
A stifled cry
She stares straight ahead at the stack of mail
To where her husband’s orders lay
Her soldier’s been requested
She doesn’t want to let her husband go
She can’t express a word right now
As an ache in her hearts overtakes
Slow tears begin to trickle
The sound of laughter from the room next door
Ironic
To the emotions that she feels
Daddy hears his wife’s soft whimpers
Holds his baby to his chest, solid
Takes this last second to pretend
That no one else needs him
Breathes in deep and seals his child’s scent
Into every cell of his body
While his baby giggles with no comprehension
Hopes are dashed
The white picket fence grayed
Dreams are squashed
Echoes of memories
Will replace this scene tomorrow
As the large flag in the front yard blows
In no permanent direction
I the voyeur feel my insides quell
I can’t help but stare . . .
Speed forward a few months
Where somewhere in another country
Beside a landmine
Daddy’s dog tags lay
The glint of the silver chain is no longer present
Just a heap of a body remains
Once a man, once a daddy, once a husband
Trodden
A single boot turned on its side
And a few yards away
Beside a gun
Unfired
Lays the helmet still intact
The face, unrecognizable
Another voice has been silenced
I the voyeur feel my insides quell
I wish I could’ve saved him . . .
At home the mood is festive
Until the precision of the knock
Two large soldiers encompass the door well
Sharp and non-emotional
Their visit is one that no wants
Momma’s hand now on the door
Legs give way
And she collapses
As the torsion in her heart strangles
She cannot breath, she cannot speak
Her body shakes
A wife she is no longer
Infernal descent
A cloudless sky
Dark and disheartened
A child’s bike
Lies on the ground
The squeak of the wheel as it turns
Deafens
A wife’s sorrow
A child’s innocence
A flag now flies at half-mast
Shattered hearts
Shattered dreams
Shattered pictures lay on the floor
With faces that continue to smile
I the voyeur feel my insides quell
I can’t help but stare . . .
“Baby, you’ll know soon enough”
Momma whispers into her baby’s ear
Her eyes turned inward
Her soul’s on fire
She hugs him even tighter
A life sparse in pureness
Daddy left with no last goodbye
Soon the questions will haunt them
I the voyeur feel my insides quell
I can’t help but stare . . .
A funeral procession
A flag draped across the casket
The scrunch of Momma’s eyebrows
Dressed in black
Head to toe
A hat and veil to hide her
Her teeth are clenched
As a guttural moan escapes
She tries to hold it back
But it takes on a life of its own
Her emotions rob her of wisdom
She shudders though she is not cold
Like a fish
She feels gutted
People stare
Shake their heads
Her face is pale
Her smile is pasted
Her eyes are distant
No doubt lost in another time
She needs to escape what she couldn’t foresee
How can she live without him?
I the voyeur feel my insides quell
I can’t help but stare. . .
Fast forward now, a few months more
A cesspool of madness
Enclaves
The flag that was flying is now in shreds
A shell of her former self
Momma’s shadows of strife defines her
The stench of their house
Unmade beds
Red rimmed eyelids
Emotions run rampant
Like the glasses and dishes that lay discarded
She stares ahead
As her baby’s fingers on his perfect hand
Plump and pink
Reach upward
I the voyeur feel my insides quell
I can’t help but stare . . .
Soon days are years
Yet the song of sorrow still sings, destructive
Despite its staleness
The wreckage of love
Branded on Momma’s heart
Leaves questions for her baby boy
Now a child
Lines have emerged on Momma’s face
Too early, she is haggard
Filled with misery touched by torment
Projections of that horrid day
Are constant
Trapped is how her baby child feels
Inside he boils in anger
I the voyeur feel my insides quell
I can’t help but stare . . .
The baby child grows fast and strong
A teenager he becomes
Piercings and tattoos of destruction
Cuts on wrists
Posters of pure hatred that decorate his wall
The crucifixion of his life has flourished
I the voyeur feel my insides quell
I can’t help but stare . . .
Seasons change and that day arrives
That Momma has long since dreaded
Realization and vocalization
From her child caught in hell
Daddy doesn’t live here
Why did he fight a war
That left a war within his family’s heart
Forever?
Her child stares bewildered
Asks questions she can’t answer
I the voyeur feel my insides quell
I can’t help but stare . . .
Years they pass
Time can’t stand still
Momma’s little child now a man
Reaches for his Momma’s hand
As her feeble arms reach out to squeeze
What little strength she musters
He looks at her
And shakes his head
His voice surrounds like velvet
Promises he’ll stay with her
That he will not desert her
In the silence
Deep into the night
They talk and cry and listen
The faded picture
Of her one true love
Momma pulls from her chest
Her baby boy stares wounded
Blindsided
Ancient tears
So
Long
Buried
Like a tap he drips
He never thought he’d still feel the love
For someone long since departed
So Momma’s boy
Does what he’s yearned to do
And let’s his arm surround her
He holds her tight
Won’t let her go
He is her world
She is his too
They promise each other
Protection
I the voyeur feel my insides quell
I can’t help but stare . . .
So fast forward now
To one fine day
When Momma’s little boy comes to say
I’m now a dad
And from this you’ll see
That from my little girl’s eyes
Daddy stares at me
I the voyeur feel my insides quell
I can’t help but stare . . .
© Kim Friesen
I will always find
My way back to
You
No matter if others
Try to take me from
You
With words of conflict and lies
Or if I appear to stray
You need never worry
Know I am here
Always in the back of my mind
Will be the goal
To find my way back to
You
For your
Patience
Care
Concern
Pride
And love
For me
Is steadfast
As is mine for
You
Forever I am tied to you
Indebted
For eternity
I will look for
And I will find
You
Soul mates
Wherever you are
Your belief in me
Strong
Faithful
True
Words of wisdom
Kindness
I hear
You
That person
Who has never tried to make believe
A world that does not exist for me
I adore you
And for this
I am thankful
You
Are a gift I will not let go of
For
You
Will forever humble me
For
You
I will always fight for
As I know you will always fight for me
For no matter
What
Or
If
Anyone
Tries to take
Me
Away from
You
In physical or emotional form
You
Resolute
Will be there
Just as
I
Resolute
Will be there for
You
© Kim Friesen
From September 2014 Newsletter
My Heart and Yours
Child of the desert
No mother, no father
You stand there
Encircled in other children
Smiling
Distended bellies
Bodies of bones that protrude
Beneath a mere sheath of skin
Shock my eyes
I breathe inward
Flies upon your face
Feast upon starvation
My heart anguishes
Who tucks you in at night
Under that tree
Or in that decrepit mud hut?
Whose arms keep you warm
And offer you
The reminder that you
Are loved
No matter?
Who tells you it’s okay to smile
When devastation surrounds you?
I stare openly, dumbfounded
My heart stumbles
Unimaginable violence
The Genocide
Penetrates your life
Desperate
To eradicate you
So many lives will be
Stolen
Before yours
My heart convulses
Eternal displacement
Not only from your family
But from mere existence
Despondent
My heart fractures
No one seems to acknowledge you
Encircled in a sea of sand
Stillness surrounds you
My heart yearns to understand
As a flash in the distance
Lights you up
As though fireworks were set off
The sand explodes
And rushes upwards
Catapults to the ground
You stand helpless
As shell casings
Land so close to you
I see your hair blow
Silent
As river of blood slithers
My heart beats faster
Your world
Intense
You grow up too fast
Your body frail
Yet your wisdom boundless
You crouch behind a tree
Forgotten
As the pain in my chest deepens
I so want to change your future
Yet sit here helpless
Or thoughtless or something in between that I try to comprehend
From one human to another
I love you
For
Tomorrow this could be your heart
And in this moment
I cry with you
My western world may appear bleak
To my sometimes repressed Western world
We
Independent
Humans
Yet both fragile
To either
Bombs
Guns
Torture
Or
Cancer
Strokes
Heart attacks
ALS
Cystic Fibrosis
The list is endless
My heart
Beats
With your heart
Interwoven
Yet forgotten
© Kim Friesen
Hold onto my heart
As it all
But disappears
Into the depth of hell
The cavernous retreat deep inside of myself
As I stare face-to-face with lies and heartache
Twisted moments I can never reinvent
Stagnate yet cyclic as they churn hurt upon me
I feel my breath sucked out of me
My life derailed from passion and hope
Hollow
Let me heal
Hold onto my heart
As all I have come to know
In the outside world falls away
As I try to release my struggles
And receive your love and kindness
Cautious
Stand with me now, encase me in your strong arms
The wane
Disperses aches that seem endless
Hold onto my heart
As silence
Encapsulates me
Damage surrounds and tries to overpower, repugnant
Despair tries to eradicate my emotions
Distressed
Hold even tighter to me, please
Pull me towards you now
Hold onto your surfer riding this wave of discovery
Wipe the tears that flow
Take heed that the venomous words I speak
Are not yours to own
Let my healing begin
Seek comfort as now grasp you tighter
Know that this is
All I ever wanted
You beside me, strong
Stand with me and witness to my transformation
Joyous
Share in the good will
Stand with me in this moment
And let the deep love I feel but have never expressed
Surround us both
Remember that
I have always been
And will forever remain
Thankful.
© Kim Friesen
Your love trickles down upon me
Bridled with the exquisite scent
Of flowers
Reminiscent of a Hawaiian rain
Moist
Your invitation
Signals a promise
To eradicate my fears
And possess me in ways
That no one else has ever touched me
Your movement provides comfort
Fills my soul with sights and sounds
An overflow of ecstasy
As I am encompassed
In a halo of light
Strong and passionate
You grasp me
As my body collapses
In a dazed and confused
Yet comfortable
State of mind
I am left helpless
A mere wave in your ocean of delight
Expert hands paint a canvass
Of what my life looks like while I lie in your arms
Drizzled in excitement
You dress me
With feelings
Of compassion and completeness
Your willingness
To unlock me
Both
Enraptures
And delights me
Forever in this moment
I choose to remain
Grounded
© Kim Friesen
Remember to check out my Current Newsletter and Past Newsletters tabs for more thought provoking and life changing reading!