Tonight I am empty like
a clean cup open and unfilled on purpose
paused and waiting for something
I am still like
a seed that slumbers in the soil
awaiting spring and the chance to grow
I am quiet like
an unstrung guitar
full of potential sound and
the echoes of past vibrations
I am guarded like
a newborn child, precious and
so very in need of nurturing
while existing in such a helpless state
I am new like
the first line of your favorite children’s book
ten years after the last time
you bothered to crack the spine and
allowed that sense of wonder flow over you
I am strong like
a spider’s silk where
technicalities and reality disagree
in their measure of what it takes to
break the thread holding my web together
tonight I am [poem]
Larissa Lee 