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Poetry

I've been writing poetry, on and off, since high school.  The early ones are lost. Some of the more recent ones are worth sharing....

Momentary Love

 

You didn’t call.

I can live with that; we’d just barely met.

We live 1000 miles apart;

What sense does that make?

You’re beautiful and smart and the kind of girl 

That drives boys and girls crazy with desire.

I’m just one of many.

 

So, darling, why do I care?

 

In the middle of talking about your past and my past

And finding amazing parallels, 

You looked at me and said,

“I’ve passed for so long, you know, 

That sometimes,

I begin to believe it myself.”

Your words were tender.

There was flicker of pain in your eyes

And I saw that you knew, 

In having lived the dream

Your life still held sadness.

Then, just for a moment

We weren’t strangers talking about our pasts.

We were present with each other:

A heart that was raw and a heart

That held your tenderness....

 

Erika Anne Laurentz

March 7, 2015

                                                                       

Cupcakes and coffee

They close at 5:00, just when we’d planned to arrive.

I ordered your coffee as they stacked chairs

And you weren’t flustered by the chaos.

You marveled at the beauty of the pattern

She’d created in the foam on your latte.

You bought us cupcakes at the shop next door

And we laughed and talked at a table outside.

We ate our cupcakes with the reverence

Of wine tasters practicing Zen.

Oh, what fun to be 5-years-old again!

Erika Anne Laurentz

March 13, 2015

At the Hilton

 

The elevator doors opened

The moment you walked by...

You and your friend,

So finely dressed,

So very handsome.

 

Just for a moment,

Our eyes met

And you recognized me.

"Oh my," escaped your lips,

An involuntary whisper

In your sweet Southern drawl.

You averted your eyes.

 

Flying to meet you,

The stranger beside me

Apologized for bringing her child.

I thanked her for not changing seats.

“I’m transgender,” I said,

“We’re contagious, you know.”

We laughed and talked

The hours away.

 

But, you, my dear, were shocked to see

That someone had let me in.

 

Erika Anne Laurentz

March 30, 2017

Trusting my life to Kevlar

​

Trusting my life to Kevlar, 

To wits and weapons and brothers-in-arms.... 

Small things  

Compared to removing the armor, 

Trusting my heart to you.... 

 

No longer naïve. 

 

And, you, my darling, 

Naked without armor, 

Trusting your heart to me. 

 

Erika Anne Laurentz 

November 29, 2015 

Pre-surgical Eve 

 

I love my body. 

Not that I'm overly fond of it, 

But it gets me around  

And heals well enough 

And it brings delight  

In all kinds of ways.  

 

Removing the bits  

That once brought such pain, 

Trusting it to survive.  

 

I'll never be whole  

The way most people are. 

Maybe it's better this way... 

In not having the privilege  

Of casual belonging, 

Every connection is dear.  

 

 

Erika Anne Laurentz  

December 1, 2015 

Your Gift 

 

My darling, 

How many poems will begin with “your gift?” 

I think, maybe, every one.... 

Not that I’ll use the words again. 

But, words will be irrelevant  

When meaning remains. 

 

Sprinkling vulnerabilities into our stories, 

Liking you more than I know how to say, 

Beginning to fall in love with you,  

No longer knowing what that even means. 

 

You talked about “compassion without regret,” 

Not bargaining for returns. 

Knowing no guarantees.... 

Offering only my heart  

In the wild fall rains,

Under the blessing of crows.  

 

Erika Anne Laurentz 

October 10, 2015 

Anna’s Gift

(in clearing your plate too soon) 

 

It’s not just that we’d just met 

And shared dessert. 

It’s not just that we shared 

The same plate and fork; 

Something usually reserved 

For those we love. 

 

Listening to your stories, 

Noticing you hadn’t eaten, 

Holding the plate out to you in offering, 

You took another bite. 

 

Listening to my stories, 

Noticing I hadn’t eaten, 

You held the plate out for me. 

 

Erika Anne Laurentz 

September 8, 2015 

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