When... by T. Alisha Rogers

When I think of how life has unfolded

Tears fill my eyes

When I think of the dreams I once had

Tears fill my eyes

When I think of the hope I had

Tears fill my eyes

When it becomes overwhelming

The tears fall, I, I cry.

When I think of what I could be..

A musician,

A poet, 

A novelist,

I say maybe

When I see the blessings around me 

I say... could be

When I wonder if love will find me

Hold me,

Embrace me

I say, we'll see

"When" sometimes never comes...

"When"? may never be

Who Am I? Who I Am. by T. Alisha Rogers

Who am I, who I am

Calm as the sea on a breezeless day

Warm as the sun in a cloudless sky

I move

I flow

Softly,

Easily

Let me go, grow

See who I am

Who I am

Believe

Let be, free

Flourishing me

Stop, Stop.

Stop me?

Suppress me?

Arrest me?

Reject me?

What pleasure is that?

Feel me

Be in me

Live me

Taste of me

Ahhh,

Intoxicate on this palate

Who am I, who I am

Like no other

This treasure is real

Fee, feel, feel

Who I am,

This woman is real

A Lie by T. Alisha Rogers

When I say I am fine, 

I lie. 

The inner voice compels secrecy.
When I speak of moments
To assure contentment, 
I lie 

Turmoil ensues, hurt holds true.
As external events occur, I arise 
Meet the challenge, 
Exceed the challenge, 
I lie. 

When I give in to hope, 
I lie 

Sensing the need to be loved
The desire to offer all I am, 
All I have, to be, 
I lie. 

Deserving all I dream,
Is a lie.

Wanting all I dream 
Is a lie 

My comfort 
Is a lie 

The peace of my spirit 
Is a lie.

Broken by T. Alisha Rogers

In eyes, that peer, that see,

They swell with water, tears.

They do not plead, not any longer,

They gaze in the face of defeat.

Struggling,

Struggling,

The soul is weary,

Pulling the mind forward,

For the spirit lies beneath the feet.

Confronting all the barrage of acts,

Here,

Now,

Genuflected once more.

Salat all sincere,

Heart bleeding,

Yet still,

Brought to bear no more than one can handle.

I lean,

Prone,

I lean,

Not in gesture,

In mind.

I rise everyday, it is not my time.

The grand design is not known to me.

The fallen must comprehend,

Accept what must be will be.

Rebuild, undo cataclysmic destruction,

Remove the ash, the dust,

Before the hardness forms,

Barricaded within oneself,

Numb to the world,

Losing the sense

... to be.

Say It by T. Alisha Rogers

Here is a time 

A place to express

Things that bother 

Things that cause duress

Say you pain out loud to yourself

Hear it from your mouth

Through your ears

Shed tears from your eyes

Say to yourself I am okay is a pure simple lie

Say your pain out loud to another

A person you trust

To hear from your lips the pain that you suffer

Break the silence

Be heard