Five Poems by Lyris D. Wallace

 

Moments

 

Moments happen

Brief and fragile

       Time moving

       Time standing still

Not realizing until it’s gone

If only we could go back.

If we could capture it in our hands,

       Holding it like a cherished treasure.

In a moment, we are changed

In a moment life is given and taken away

We gather our moments in our minds,

       picking and choosing,

       sorting and collecting,

       reliving, time and again,

We, ourselves, are but moments;

       A collection of moments

       Defining who we are.

In a moment, we love and are loved.

And in a moment, we are memories in

Someone else’s collection.

 

All Poems Submitted were previously Published in Different Sides of the Same Coin 2019

 

Motionless Feet

 

Life,

       an energy of massive proportions

       fuelling the earth with

                   movement and sound,

leading to the fulfilment of song.

       A musical of instruments

       reaching life’s crescendo,

       crashing to the depths

                   of silence.

I’ve heard the melodies

       of hope.

I’ve read the lyrics

       of possibilities,

and I have snapped my fingers

       to the rhythms of yesterday.

The songs were sweeter then,

the voices much more in harmony.

I danced to the joy of the music.

I hummed its familiar tune.

I’ve played the instruments of love

       and gazed into the brightness

                   of sorrow.

I’ve breathed its clarity

       and I’ve mourned its bitter notes.

The piano

       is now out of tune.

The pitch is not quite right.

What used to be music

       is now the crackling sounds

                   of an old phonograph,

       and my feet remain

                               Motionless.

 

Keep Running

 

My best laid plans

Were interrupted by life

As I walked down the street of possibilities.

I took the detour of uncertainty.

I looked up

And I was standing at the door of

I never would have believed.

What do you do when you’re running

to catch up to your own life?

YOU KEEP RUNNING.

 

A Beginning

 

A look

A smile

A sweet “Hello”

A touch

A shift

A nod

A blush

A frown

A stutter

A mis-spoken word

A correction

A nervous laugh

A compliment

A flutter

Licked lips

An awkward silence

A turn

A stop

An exchange

An exit

       A Beginning.

 

 

Still We Move

 

We move in this world

       circling,

                   weaving,

                               never touching.

Seeing

       and being seen,

                   but not knowing.

Speaking politely.

                               “Hello.”

Smiling.

       “How are you?”

Joking and laughing,

       but we pass one another

                   not knowing.

We look back.

       A pause.

                   We think.

                               We move on.

A thought lingers;

       We stop.

                   We move on,

                               familiar

                                           but strange.

And still, we move on

 without knowing.

 

 

Lyris D. Wallace is a Literary visionary and #1 Ranked Best Selling Amazon Author. Reared and raised in the South Suburbs outside Chicago. African American Literature influenced her writing and is one of her favourite genres. Lyris Wallace writes in the spirit of her past great Literary ancestors. 2023 garnered Lyris her very first literary nomination, Pushcart Nominee-Poem No Justice for Breonna, Published in Social Justice Inks Anthology. The Summer of 2022 Lyris was a contributing writer in the #1 Best Seller ranked Anthology “Not Just Anybody Can Be Dad.”

Along with her sister, Chyrel J. Jackson, they published Mirrored Images and Different Sides of the Same Coin. This edgy writing duo appears in multiple published poetry Anthologies. You will find them always writing. Creating written legacies one book at a time.

Lyris D. Wallace is one writer that has found her poetic voice. You can find her on Sistersrocnrhyme.com

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