My Choice

The opportunity has always been there,

Tantalizingly close to my fingertips. 

The time has come 

To climb the ladder  

And grasp my guiding star.

I have the ability to choose my direction,

To make a course correction if necessary, 

And I choose to move on.

I will never be content 

To live in the shadows of life. 

I want my opportunity to blossom, 

To stand in the sun and have my day, 

To seek the applause 

I so desperately want to hear,

If only for just one moment.  

I am tired of suffering in silence. 

Let me sing once again with the breaking morn.  

I cannot continue the way things have been.  

I know that staying the course 

Is a sure path to suicide 

And I will not surrender anymore.

I will not cede my power 

To some bullying tyrant 

Holding me hostage in my own life.

This is my life.

This is my choice.

I choose me.

~~~ This poem was written in response to a prompt from Poetry Jam asking us to write about choices.

The Secret Keeper

For the sake of self-preservation
I became the secret keeper,
Hiding the warts on my soul,
Denying access to anyone
Who would use my weaknesses
As ammunition for their next volley of bitterness,
But that which remains hidden
From the healing light of the sun
Putrefies and festers.
These secrets metastasized,
A cancer growing in my soul,
Oozing a poison that infected my life.

Now, for the sake of self-preservation,
I must find a cure,
A way to remove
This tumor of isolation,
Give someone access to my soul,
Warts and all,
And trust them to keep my secrets.



~~~~~~~~~~  This prompt was inspired by a prompt from Poetry Jam asking for poems about questionable choices and their consequences.