Consumed; Watching Leaves Fall; Inner Peace by Karolina Bednarek

Consumed

Something hot to eat with

something cold to drink.

I see you lick an ice cream

cone, and now I want one

too. I check my phone for a

text, an update, a sign, I sigh.

I’ll take anything to distract

me from the void inside.

Screens allow me to unwind,

but then I forget what it’s like not

to hide. Hours slug until they fly.

I’m afraid of my emptiness and

disgusted by my waste. Why am

I compelled to spend to feel ok?

For now, I’ll fill this page, dump

my pain, feel mistakes. The antidote

to consume is to create.

Watching Leaves Fall

releasing a sigh

in an elegant dive,

they flutter like fish

with paper thin wings

sprinkling the ground

with a delicate sound,

wisely and slowly

returning below me

one taps my shoulder

after grazing the sky,

it lasts just a moment

and then it’s goodbye

Inner Peace

A light dimmed

so that I may

see just enough

to appreciate

A beat shushed

so that I may

hear just enough

to discern

A blow cushioned

so that I may

feel just enough

to love

An idea slowed

so that I may

know just enough

to understand

An aroma dispersed

so that I may

smell just enough

to salivate

A flavor balanced

so that I may

taste just enough

to satisfy

An ache dulled

so that I may

suffer just enough

to heal