inspiration – Page 10 – Serotonin with a side of fries, please

Driving to the edge of water – part of 10 & 2 – poems about drive

February 16, 2020February 19, 2020 Tara A. Lesko - Writer

He called me a fucking idiot that night,

And I didn’t start screaming like the day

I told my father I hated him after calling me brain dead

for locking him out of the house.

I vowed that anyone who insulted my intelligence

would be pierced with arrows tipped with a venomous glaze,

never forgiven,

and I didn’t want to forgive my father back then.

I wanted to forgive the man I was about to marry.

And I did.

But not before I drove to nowhere,

debating whether to stay at a hotel

or sit in a bar until anything with a pulse

agreed to take me to more nowheres.

I left my wallet at home.

Could have gone to a friends’ house

and let them see what I refused to look for.

Instead I ended up parking in front of an abandoned pool

on the opposite side of my complex.

Staring at the tufts of grass and weeds breaking through

the concrete, and the chipped, pale blue of the pool’s floor,

I saw a child run then fall and skin her knee.

I saw her dive as if she glided into a life

where algae only grows where you can’t see it,

The water is the right temperature

for the hot or cold of the day,

the concrete leaves your face unscathed

when you swim too far down with eyes closed.

Her eyes closed mine and I wondered

why I stopped diving the way I did.

Why now do I leap head first

into empty pools of shit I’ll never change?

Why do I swan

right into what compassionately turns me

into flayed skin and ashes?

I should have kept driving until I hit the beach,

let the weeds of my mind entwine

with clouds of seafoam freedom.

I’m now on the Gram ;) and there’s a bunch of new handmade journals, postcards, and necklaces in my shop!

February 8, 2020February 8, 2020 Tara A. Lesko - Writer

#taraannwatt -Instagram name

My Shop – http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheForgottenWord My book

I feel like I say I’m going to keep all of my stuff up-to-date, but then I don’t, or I’m doing something else on another platform. It’s nuts, and I can’t keep up between teaching and being back in grad school. But here I am, a college-lifer, workaholic, writer/artist in between doing the best I can to stay committed to my creative pursuits. Thank you WordPress and all the WordPressers who try to follow me. You’ve all been very good to me. Love & light ❤️🍟🙏🏻 My shop😊 #creativity #art #writing #writerslife #time #books #etsy #instagram

January 16, 2020 Tara A. Lesko - Writer

Kinda liking this digital artwork thing 🙂

Long Time-No Post. New Poem. I need to get better at this ;) Here is what’s up.

April 19, 2019February 8, 2020 Tara A. Lesko - Writer

I’m now working on a fantasy/paranormal novel along side my teacher novel. I have pieces on my FB page, but they can also be found in Wattpad – https://www.wattpad.com/user/TaraLesko

Still plugging away at poetry, artwork, photography, and other musings. www.facebook.com/TaraAnnLesko and www.etsy.com/shop/TheForgottenWord

So for now, here is a more recent poem I hope you’ll enjoy…

This girl

I’m the girl you wanted to be, Tara

but never could be. You were too busy throwing stones

like one of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” children,

carrying on as long as you weren’t the one getting hit.

I’m the girl who didn’t walk sidewalks barefoot

in egg-frying summers or wet autumns.

I’m the girl who didn’t scream

when the rosebush beetles landed in her hair.

I didn’t kill the mantis crawling up my leg

nor am I the one who welcomed hands

up my baby-doll T-shirts and swallowed whiskey

to burn clean the early blooming.

I am the girl who wrote poems

on the days she skipped school.

This girl folded the pages into tight triangles

and threw them at his heart.

She said, “Excuse me, but love me.”

instead of, “Excuse me, I’m sorry I’m here.”

This girl in front of you insisted

she stay the night instead of driving home at 2 am

after 30 seconds of tongue to folds

prior to his 5 minute crescendo.

This girl waited for him to mention this idea of love first.

I knew when to stop writing about food and divorce.

I knew when to say when

to the men in the bars

to the Cherry Coke and Moonshine

to the pictures on the hard drive

of women he thought would cushion the fall.

This girl knew how to break the chains faster & cleaner

with bolt-cutter words. She remembered

to toss each link

by link

into the acid baths of forgetting. ~TAL

One more thing! I just wanted to share some NJ vendor shows I will be participating in – for all of these I will be selling my jewelry, artwork, journals, photography, books, journal pages and much more. I’m also throwing in my DS products with Endless Xpressions and Sweet Minerals makeup. I’m trying to get into a regular routine of attending shows and getting these businesses rolling into something sustainable. Not to mention it’s all my pride and joy. Hope you can come on out if you’re near by and support so many excellent small businesses. It really is a great culture filled with people who want to make some sort of income off their passions.

www.endlessxpressions.com/#TALesko – this is truly a DS one-stop-shop at much lower prices, and if you want to try light, natural, long-lasting, sweat-resistant, complexion changing make up, check this out – www.sweetminerals.com/TALesko

1. Semi-annual Vendor/Craft Fundraiser by Jefferson Twp. FD Ladies Auxiliary – May 5th from 10am – 3pm – 736 Rt. 15 S Lake Hopatcong, NJ

2. Pequannock Street Fair – Downtown Pompton Plains – June 2nd – 11am – 5pm

3. Rancocas Woods Craft & Antique Show – June 22nd – 10am-4pm – 208 Creek Road Mount Laurel, NJ
4. TENTATIVE – The Shoppes at Lafyette Village Pop Up Shop – July 13th – 10:00am – 4pm
5. The New York City Poetry Festival – Governers Island, New York, NY – July 27th & 28th – 11am – 6pm