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Singing loud resilience 

Through trees

Echoing up

If a tree falls in the woods

And no one is around

Does anyone hear it?

Does anyone hear me?

Would anyone hear me?

My laughing bounce back

Pick me up

Not away 

Sooner or later it'll all fall back

4/27/15

Riley Welch

Like a Library

Fast repeated overlaps
Covering up pages
One over another over another
Until you can't see a thing
And you are totally buried
And the pages are like a sea
Waves crashing
Piers outstretching
Boats letting down anchors
And islands uprooting themselves
For people to get stuck on
And you remain buried
The only one who remembers
A single sheet
Of paper.

4/6/2015
Riley Welch

Bubbling Bubbles

I don't know how to explain
How happy I am.
How I wake up
In the morning
And when I leave my house
The cool air hits the back of my neck
Or tickles the backs of my knees
And I am happy

I have few complaints
I'm busy
And exhausted
And so light
A gust of wind could take me away.
Because there aren't
Heavy thoughts
Weighing me down.

My belly is full of
Laughter.

And people probably think I'm a fool
Or insane

Because some days
I have an un-wipe-able grin
I can't stop wearing.

4/16/2015
Riley Welch

Favorite Fridays

This weeks poem comes from my good friend, Ian Rictor. While to me, his talents have always fallen in the musical realm, it seems he is also has a serious skill for writing. This poem has a really unique and interesting structure, I hope you all enjoy it!

BY: IAN RICTOR

Subway Poems

i.

see the subway

stretch of shrieky sheen

stretching wretch of sheeky slink

slinking freakish speed

prestine-ish cleaning gleam

gleaning people passeng-ing

leaning clinging relieving

release resume repeat

see the subway

wringing, flinging from its spleen

freeing people passeng-ing

ii.

When I took the 3:06 from Jersey

and I always took the 3:06 from Jersey

I ate my lunch in my seat

and as I ate my lunch

I could never really get over

how expensive it all was

iii.

Groceries

Grōs(ə)rēz (singular, grocery)

1. (n.) Objects strewn across the floor in the rear of the subway train.

ex. There were groceries on the floor on the subway.

2. (v.) To become angry at one’s human condition so much to the point of

strewing groceries (n. form) across the floor in the rear of the 3:06 to New York.

ex. Maria boarded the 3:06 crying and groceriesed everywhere.

3. (adj.) Inexpressibly numb and hopeless, having feelings of abandoned

smallness and of being trapped in a cluttered box.

ex. Sometimes, when the dampness of the terminal was just right, New York made Maria feel groceries.

ZZZ

Falling asleep
Never felt like a chore
I never had trouble
Letting my head hit the pillow
Even clouded in worry
I could wait out exhaustion
And sleep like a baby
It helps to be thankful
For some things
And easy rest
Is one of them.

4/20/2015
Riley Welch

Dim Fires

His bloodied fist smacked the pavement

Harder than the first time -

But still tender enough to let him feel the pain

Any harder

And he would have gone numb.

It was a balance.

Staying on the edge of pain.

Of hurt.

Of knocking one more person down

Collecting pieces of people like it was the only thing refilling his power bar.

Past lives didn’t matter now

Careless, all that mattered was the time on the clock in the beginning

And end.

Skin on skin

Equal,

But not at all.

3/26/2015

Riley Welch

Empty Day

Foggy windows

Finger printed foot steps

An hour can last a second. 

Or a day

Moving onto the next level

Up and out of normal stuff

Of daily life. 

4/7/2015

Riley Welch

Favorite Fridays

This week's Favorite Friday is by a friend I mentor with in a lab on campus. Part of the reason I love running this blog is finding other writers and getting the opportunity to read their work. Barrett's piece is really excellent, and I hope y'all enjoy it as much as I did!

A Shot in the Dark

BY: BARRETT MORROW

A shot in the dark

Have we hit the target

Or nearly missed the mark.

It’s too soon to tell, but that’s not the point

A many hours I’ve pondered, is she the one?

My answer uncertain, my feelings confused

You came with a tough shell

Unrelenting in your defenses

But I’ve been widdling away at your pretenses

Often deterred by actions left unspoken

You’ve finally cracked and your heart broke open

Open too mine, to deserving eyes

Immediately a connection I felt,

You’re not just another notch on my belt.

You were worth the fight, in every regard

We’ve both been stricken by the world, left scarred

Afraid to be open, afraid to grow close, in overcoming those walls I often lost hope

In the end we’ve won, too be able to call you mine, each other’s own

I discovered the beautiful girl dwarfed by her actions and words spoken

A stronger personality than I could have ever imagined,

A bruised heart that’s never quit beating

Fight the good fight, and live the good life

These are my words for you and I to live by

Don’t let the words of others deter you

From your hopes and dreams

Follow your heart, wherever it may lead you

Too me I’d hope, as it’s done thus far

Let our relationship be eternal, not merely ephemeral

For a life without you is one I can’t imagine

One I can’t fathom

One I couldn’t bear to live for more than a moment

When the sun sets and the midnight sky rises,

Don’t let your emotions hide in disguises

But keep a leash upon your tongue, and your walls raised high

Many of this world are here to draw you aside

You never know who will impact your life

As I had no clue the effect you’d have on mine,

From that first moment upon the couch, in a sleepy stupor

Snow white was it? As I headed for the door

I made sure I had your number before

I decided then and there you were the one I wanted to adore.

Here’s to those whom we’ve let go,

Figures of our past that we no longer know

Having learned our lessons we’ve progressed

Upon life’s path until we reach eternal rest

Just know that now,

Those in the past are there for a reason

I don’t plan those in my life according to the season,

I met you in the cold but want to make it through to the sun

Until the wind and the waves make us crash into one

You are my world, my whole universe

I hope this poem wasn’t too cheesy, verse for verse

Stand by my side, endure with me

For in the end you will clearly see

The sun setting in the distance,

Nothing more powerful in all of existence

Your hand in mine upon the shore,

I hope you’re the one, you make me crave more

Crave more from life, too live to the fullest

I’ve got quite the journey planned out, and I need your assistance

So take my hand, jump into the sea

Swallow your fear

Trust in me

At The Corner Of

I like that the morning sky
Is still too cool
To evaporate all the tiny pockets
Of lovely mist.

And the low fog blocks
Out the sun,

For a few morning hours

The white dust is calming
And not as harsh as the bright blue
That sometimes comes at this time of day

And if I could sit here
And ignore all my chores

I surely would

Before the red sun burns it away
The blanket-y mist
That I enjoy

More than a fresh blue sky.

4/1/2015
Riley Welch

Five Tired Five Line April Fools Day Thoughts

1. 10:05 am
I forgot it was April Fools Day
But I wish these three tests were a joke
Good one professor
You really got
me.

2. 12:28 pm
I'm sure glad I don't have lab
Today
But I wore
Pants
Anyway

3. 3:52 pm
I really need to wash my hair
Tonight
Not tomorrow
Stay clean
And curious
My friends.

4. 5:00 pm
Clinking gold bracelets
Remind me I should have dressed better
Chatting with you is fun
But this test stress
Outweighs it.

5. 10:58 pm
I agree with everything
Spilling into conversation
But I can't help but be angry
That you have so many
Words now.

4/1/2015
Riley Welch

Favorite Fridays

This weeks poem is by my good friend Patrick Campbell. Having this blog has given me so many opportunities to get get to know my friends better through reading their beautiful poetry. Patrick's lovely words are no exception.

Infinite Dancers

By: Patrick Campbell

There exists no greater love than that of

Sol and Luna,

The Sun and The Moon.

Their love has been

Talked about in hushed whispers

Amongst Gods and mortals,

And written about by poets and scribes

Throughout all of Time as they slowly and endlessly

Waltz among the stars.

Their love paints the skies

As they dance around the Earth,

Like a painter’s brush gently glides across

The blank white canvas,

Coloring the world.

It burns passionately, turning  

Vibrant, golden-yellow to

Fiery hot crimson as the day ends

And becoming shrouded in dark, purple mystery

When nighttime arrives.

They bathe the world in their ever changing aurora,  

Casting dancing lights and playful shadows as they

Spin and pirouette, stepping in rhythm

To their crescendoing heartbeats,

Becoming the muses for countless other love stories.

Forbidden is their love, however.

The two never meet with one another,
Never in the right place at the right time.

The Moon only rises when the Sun sets

And the Sun only wakes when the Moon is laid to rest.

The dancing doesn’t die, not even for a moment

And the two continue their ceaseless tango.

Always longing, always apart

Always flirting, Always in Love.

Forever trapped in a never ending cycle

Never fully entrenched in eternal light

Nor completely submerged in perpetual darkness.

So they laugh and they weep,

For what there is

For what there was

And for what there never will be.

The true star-crossed lovers

Forever dancing in the Cosmos

Until the needle is lifted and

The music stops.

12/21/11

When it rains
It pours
And when it rains
It pours.

And it just rains and rains and rains,

And the whole thing comes down in a splatter,
With one thing after another after another after another,

The roof can only hold so much water
Before its' collapse.


I know the more common metaphor
Is the straw breaking the camels back -

But water seems so much more powerful than straw.

I'm sure a house of ice
Would stand up to a house of straw
At least on a cold day.

But rain water isn't a solid.
But it is harsh.
And pushes and pushes and pushes.

Until even the larger
Pieces of Earth
Are smooth and tossed into dust.

3/30/2015
Riley Welch

Favorite Fridays

This week's post is the seventh and final in a series of seven poems, the rest of which can be seen in the last few weeks of Favorite Friday posts. I hope you have all enjoyed this series as much as I have, poetry can work like an insight into someones life, and I think not only the writing, but the unique organization of this series is really what makes it memorable. 

The author has asked to remain anonymous.

Sunday came in a storm of flashing lights and repetitive dance music. Sunday was not your type at all, but you always kind of had a thing for Sunday. Maybe it was because he would piss off your parents, or maybe it was because he was a good friend and you got to see the sides of him that others didn't. But when you and Sunday kissed, you felt wrong. You felt wrong because you were friends and it was a drunken mistake that could never happen again. You thought you lost Sunday forever but in fact it only made you closer. Close enough that losing him will be heartbreaking. But you would never work as a couple and deep down you both know that. So in the meantime you stay friends and help each other through life, one more that the other, and pretend that the end isn't coming and that the path won't be catastrophic.