Five Poems by Tyler Letkeman

Dragons

 

Once upon a time

I thought dragons didn't exist

But then Bilbo Baggins showed me

A powerful creature

Who hoarded immeasurable wealth

And thought

It made him invincible

Who would not part

With a single piece

Though he could never use it

Who crushes the weak

And burns anything in his way

 

It is these

That stalk our halls of power and,

To preserve their indolence and indulgence,

Keep the rest of us afraid

They may not have

Scales or wings

But the smoke of their burning

Covers our world

 

The day is coming

When we must confront

Our dragons

And we do not have

A ring of power

Will we have Bilbo's courage?

 

Imladris

 

Come, walk across the singing water

Rest where laughter rides the breeze

Come, sit under the gentle stars

And live among calm trees

Come, down into the river valley

And set your heart at ease

 

Climbing

 

Oh, I am aweary

Life has been an arduous climb

Up past thistles and briars

And many a fragile limb

I've had my scrapes,

Slips and bruises,

But I've kept climbing on

 

Oh, I am aweary

And here I am, now, at the top

Even with all I can see

There's no place for me

To rest my scrapes,

Bumps and bruises

My oh-so-tired limbs

 

I've reached the peak

Yet now I must seek

My bed

Back on the ground

 

Open Door

 

What beckons more

Than an open door?

 

To the cautious

It is danger

They dash

To lock it fast

 

To the curious

It is adventure

They pass

Into the unknown

 

To the social

It is welcome

They meet

Their fellows there

 

No one can ignore

An open door

 

Hold On

 

We all swim

Down life's river

We all find places

Where we wish

We didn't have to

Carry on

 

It may be floods

It may be rapids

It may be the current's

Much too strong

 

We all want

To say we've mastered

Our rivers

We all want

To reach the sea

All on our own

 

But, in truth,

We all find

Some flotsam

To buoy us

When otherwise

We'd drown

 

There's no shame

In your floods or rapids

Or when your current's

Much too strong

To grab a barrel

To float through

To just hold on

 

We all need help

To carry on

So grab a barrel

And just hold on

Tyler Letkeman is a parent, teacher and poet who lives, works and writes in Brandon, Manitoba. He has poems published on Global Poemic, forthcoming in the fall issue of PulpMAG, and is the creator, webmaster and editor of 4lines.art, a social media poetry magazine. He’s a little bit of a paradox, teaching English and Physics and stanning for Jane Austen and Star Wars, but aren’t we all in one way or another?