Kelly Severseike

Learning Lessons

Dreams from the night before
linger in the background
for the remainder of the day.
We pray for what we cannot control
to have a positive outcome.
Sending wishes out into the universe
to be on our side, for everything
bad to turn out alright.
Luck teaches us lessons, we don't
always know we've been dealt
a bad hand when we're drowning
in the consequences of years
filled with poor decisions.
Leading with your heart
lends poorly to logistics.
Learning lessons only flourish
once you grow out of cycles
then proactively choose
to make different choices.

As a Kid

Adults tell you as a kid
time moves faster for them.
Which you don't believe
because time moves at a
glacially slow pace.
Days feel like weeks,
weeks feel like months,
and so on and so forth.
Shifting into new decades
do you begin to comprehend
what you were told as a kid.

Peace

My thoughts float above my being,
I drift through days,
watch the moon rise,
listening to the waves,
drifting through the dreams
I will surely forget in the morning.

Reflection

Over the bridge, there's a river
reflecting the trees
on a cold summer day
laughs linger through
the quiet of nature
reminders of seasons
as the heat finally breaks
the possibilities of
what could be await
in the mirrored water
only if you choose to see.

Get By

The season blooms as the leaves
continue to vibrate through
the late afternoon.
My skin warms in the salt air,
the streets filled with people
who don't understand a one-way. 
Children cry, adults yell,
seagulls try to steal food.
I continue to wander beneath
the cloudless skies
just trying my best
to get by.

Nonlinear

I miss your smile these days.
I trace my steps through the summer season
searching through memories I thought I lost
only to reappear in instances where smells
remind me of my childhood.
I avoid driving by your house
in the winter, I hate seeing someone
who isn't you celebrating in the house
I called home in the warmer months.
Christmas lights glistening don't feel right
when the grass isn't green, all the times
my feet got dirty running barefoot up
your long driveway.

Dreamy

In the days of summer, time slips into
the vast puddle of shallow memories.
I sit in search of honesty, making sense
of what I will never fully understand.
Patiently, I listen and take in information
that's not mine, assessing the gravity of
situations I only can lend empathy to.

Sliver

The air is hot after the sun sets
summer evenings pull me in.
Nightlife, for once, is fun.
Joys in conversations,
magic in poetry,
and unexpected shocks,
reminders of loved ones.
The sliver of the moon
towards the east
lights the drive home,
daylight lingers softy,
peace is welcomed.

boating season

Summer has settled in the air
along the shore I watch the boats
go by on the coast
'tis the season for observation
I watch closely as the haze
comes then fades in the distance
of the day.

Dance

Patience is a delicate dance, one in which
the steps are mapped out but only so far.
One in which it can slip out of grasp
causing damage to commence in its wake.
Choosing peace and quiet to sit
as I watch the dancers grasp
the concept of change
as I try to understand
my own.