Thursday, May 30, 2024

Poem: Words Unseen

I fill an empty page 
With words from the heart
Only to have them be invisible 
To those that scroll through their feed
My words unseen
They may as well not exist 

Written May 28, 2024

© 2024 by Lena Kovadlo. Use with permission only.

Monday, December 19, 2022

Poem: Tired

I am tired of this place
And my mere existence
I'm tired of pretending
Like things will be different
I don't have it in me
To change what is happening
There is no more spark
Or the drive to do anything
So here I find myself
Inside these four walls again
Letting the days go by
Not really living life
What is the point then
When all the hope is gone
Maybe the time has come
For me to say so long
To the one that doesn't try
To spread her wings and fly

Written December 19, 2022

© 2022 by Lena Kovadlo. Use with permission only.

Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Poem: My Eyes Deceive Me

I look toward the bar
And see you standing there
With short gray hair and glasses
Shocked at the sight of you 

I quickly look away
Thinking I've imagined you
But when I turn back around
You are still there
Not moving an inch 

How can this be
You are supposed to be down below
With your beloved parents
And yet here you are
Gracing me with your presence

I have the sudden urge to approach you
To say hello
To give you a hug I've been yearning for
But then you turn your face toward me
And that's when I realize that it isn't you
But a stranger that resembled you in the distance

Oh how my eyes deceive me
Into thinking you are still here
When you are nowhere to be found

Perhaps this is a sign
But I wonder what it means
To think you are standing there
When it's not really you

Written November 15, 2022

© 2022 by Lena Kovadlo. Use with permission only.


Monday, November 7, 2022

Poems: Memories Reborn

Memories that fade with time
Can be reborn 
Just like the seasons
Each season sparking visuals
Of what once was

Bit by bit the details spring forth
Revealing the passing of time
Forming a complete painting
Of all that unfolded long ago

Drops of rain against the windowpane
Snowflakes falling from the sky
The rustling of the leaves
Their crunch under your feet
The booming thunder overhead

All these things and more
Can bring back memories
That seemed to have faded 

All you need to do 
Is be one with nature
And you will find the past
Coming alive before your very eyes

Written November 7, 2022

© 2022 by Lena Kovadlo. Use with permission only.


Monday, October 17, 2022

Poem: Picture in the Frame

I see your picture in the frame
And as I near you
There you are 
Staring at me 
Gazing right through me 
Right into my soul

You have left us behind
And yet you are still here
Watching my every move
Listening to every thought
That escapes me 
Or remains hidden within

Perhaps that is just 
A figment of my imagination
But there is an eerie feeling 
In the room as I near you
To say hello
To utter a few words

And I feel as if you are judging me
As if you are disappointed with who I am
Or the way I live my life
Or that I am not moving forward

And I find myself weeping
My face streaked with tears
Wondering about your last thoughts of me
Before you went away

Wondering about your last words to me
In that hospital room
Words that you screamed out
But were muted
By a tube in your throat
As you looked at me with fear in your eyes

Written October 17, 2022

© 2022 by Lena Kovadlo. Use with permission only.

Monday, September 19, 2022

Poem: Tick-Tock

The clock on the wall
Goes tick-tock, tick-tock
Am I going to fall
Down below on the rock

It's a slippery slope
Up ahead on this trail
But today is my hope
That somehow I'll prevail

Do I have it inside me
To conquer and win
Or is my fate to be
To be dormant within

The clock on the wall
Goes tick-tock, tick tock
I need to stand tall 
So I won't get stuck

It seemed I'm still young 
But now I'm almost forty
A third of life gone 
But where is my glory

What have I achieved
That's worthy of praise
The things I have grieved
The things yet to chase

Don't yet know my story
Don't yet know my ending
Don't want to be sorry
Or be left pretending

As if everything's fine
When in fact I am lost
On this journey of mine
With uncertainty's cost 

Do I even belong here
And what is my worth
In this world so unclear
In my life on this earth

Written September 19, 2022

© 2022 by Lena Kovadlo. Use with permission only.

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Poem: I Remain a Mute

You silence my words
They remain inside
Can't say how I feel
Can't voice what I hide

They need to escape
But buried they are
And what's on mind
Can't get very far

I fear your reaction
And what you will say
That you'll shut me out
Or ruin my day

Protecting myself
From the heart and the pain
I remain a mute
With nothing to gain

So when will I say
That enough is enough
Your reactions won't hurt me
Because I am tough

And let them escape
These words of my heart
These thoughts that are yearning
To not fall apart

Perhaps I can do it 
Perhaps I can soar
Once this crippling fear
Is here no more

But how can this fear
Be gone from within
When it's always there
Not letting me win

Guess I should accept it
Embrace my own fear
And that's when these words
Won't be silenced my dear

Written February 9, 2022

© 2022 Lena Kovadlo. Use with permission only.