National Poetry Day

Holocene Extinction

We stand on the brink
A billion burning suns
An endless void of midnight

We don’t even stop to think
We are the only ones
When nothing will be alright

Melting ice shelves sink
I can taste your tongue
As the oil wells burn bright

We are the architects of our demise
The snow of ash descends
Our skeletons, embracing, face night

Gabriel White - 10/04/12, 4:24pm

Heart Strings

Heart Strings

Gabriel White 

16, June 2012 - 12am

They were an item. She was his girl, and he knew that their hearts were linked forever. He didn't feel that he owned her, of course it wasn't proprietary, she was as much her own person as he was his. But to any outsiders, the relationship must have seemed ludicrous. They were never apart. She was his new religion his love for her came so close to worship that once he prayed to God that he wouldn't be judged harshly for his idolatry. He loved the smell of her hair, the texture and color and the way it felt on his face. He loved her eyes, they never ceased to amaze him. They would go from blue to gold to green with wonderful flecks of brilliant light. Most nights they would stay out as late as they could get away with, then fall asleep at opposite ends of the phone line. He knew she was the one. When he held her hand, it was like having his lungs deflated by the vacuum of space. His heart beat so loudly it hurt. 

They were both virgins. 

No one believed them, after all, they were often caught making out in various places around town. If they were that comfortable with each other in public, they must have been pushing it together when they were on their own, right? No. That's not to say that they didn't have moments of weakness late at night, they probably shouldn't have spent so much time alone. But they remained unconsummated until their wedding night. They felt they owed it to each other, that they owed it to God. They didn't even mind so much when people assumed the worst. They knew the truth. 

Her mom thought that they wanted to get married so quickly so that they could get it on as much as they wanted, and he knew that she probably wasn't the only one who felt that way. But she was wrong. He wanted to marry her because when they were apart his heart felt like a rope being stretched to the breaking point. His eyes burned with tears and his stomach clenched. All he wanted to do was fall asleep with her in his arms. She was everything to him. 

He was shaking when he asked her to marry him,in the backseat of his honda accord under the stars. Later, he would re-propose with a ring after the traditional way. But that first time was when his heart spoke through his lips and asked her to be his forever. He couldn't stop his voice from cracking like a thirteen year old boy. His palms were thick with sweat. He knew she was probably going to say yes, but there was always that small dark corner in the back of his mind where he had doubts. She said yeah, and smiled. 

The most beautiful thing he ever saw in his life was her coming down the aisle. She made angels look like homeless people. He wanted to sweep her off of her feet right there. The ceremony was a blur because it took too long. Now, he wishes they could get married again every day. 

Seventeen months later, their daughter was born. She was the second most beautiful thing that he had ever seen. Yet, he stayed with his wife in the recovery room to make sure that she was safe. He would die if she left him. 

Now, they both work and she goes to school. Their daughter gets juggled from one babysitter to the next. Most days are pretty crazy  Some days, it's not happily ever after. 

But when she falls asleep in his arms every night, he is the happiest man alive. 

When the Last Note Fell Quiet

When the Last Note Fell Quiet

Gabriel White

The guitarists fingers danced upon the steal strings

And the air was filled with a sweet sorrowful Symphony

His fingers were quick, they soon turned to a blur

With the picking and plucking the melody began to stir

A feeling deep inside my heart

As the dust in the sunlight began to whirl

In the music filled air they danced to a rhythm unknown

And faster and louder the music strummed on

Sweat began to dribble down

The passion-furrowed musician's face

Then just as quickly as he'd begun

His angelic music was over and done

Without a word he stood and pulled out

His case which he shut with the clicking of clasps

Yet the sweet stirring song strummed on

In the deepest regions of my mind, till at last

He had disappeared over the cloud shrouded horizon

And my eyelids, struggling, fluttered open

Realizing, too late, it was a dream

And forever the melody was gone