Pacing Poetry

by Nichole Nettleton
Ithaca Meeting

To the ghostly midnight rambler

Pacing poetry

Into the lines you’ve worn on your heart’s floor,

Walking the beat of a dryer’s reverberating metallic tone

While others sleep.

While they wait for the sun

You stride patience down an emotional street,

Graffitiing your story on history’s canvas.

Or, the journal kept hidden beneath your socks.

Any surface capable of holding reflections will do.

Good deeds shine through a cracked mirror of violence and mistrust.

You forget there is ink in your pen.

Green is in the corner under the dust.

I know some people drift away.

Some are wrenched from your broken grasp.

And we keen as others disappear as though they never were

Brilliant minds struggling to toe the line.

Stride patience. 

What I am today, tomorrow I will never be.

Today I sit in sorrow, but that sorrow isn’t me.

Who are you?

Winter eventually returns to summer.

Remember there is green

And that happiness may stalk in the shadows of night 

As frequently as it hitchhikes on sun rays, easily seen.

Remember ink is in your pen and a voice within.

Be at rest midnight ramblers. Sleep.

Tomorrow is a big day. You’ll pace your poetry

Into the lines of the world

Walking to your own beat.

Others will join you as they wake 

To a new day no one has known...

Just as soon as they wake,

as soon as the sun has shone.

Hi, I’m Nichole Nettleton. I hope you enjoyed the poem. I’m currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing at Southern New Hampshire University online. At NYYM, I run the Differently Abled Friends and Allies group (DAFA). You may have seen the QuakerSpeak interview on it. If you haven’t yet, I encourage you to check it out. While the group is centered on disabilities, the purpose is connection. People are welcome to participate whether or not they have a “disability.” I feel it’s important for individuals to know they have this regular weekly meeting as a safe space. Unfortunately, the group has been on pause for far too long. I can’t run DAFA alone. I am searching for volunteer facilitators. If interested in helping, please contact me at [email protected].