PICK UP THE PEN (POEM) By Lesley Chimezie Nwankwo

Pick up the pen, put it to paper. 

Do it now, why wait until later?

I’m void 

Searching for words to fill empty thoughts.

Silence

I listen to the moon, waiting for answers. 

Maybe sometime soon. 

I listen to my heart beat in inconsonant rhythm. 

I listen to the wind, searching for what is missing.

It blows me off track

I ignore the dirt on the path, as I trace my way back.

Pick up the pen, put it to paper

Do it now. Why wait until later?

Looking for inspiration to string together these words and letters.

I hear the rain but I sit and complain 

Rather than listen to the music it makes. 

I ignore the flowers and the stories they tell

Hoping my story somehow will complete itself.

If only I listened closer to my heart beat

And appreciate the rhythms and melody.

If I could breathe again, I could hear my thoughts speak.

And it would make sense.

Now I listen to the flowers, the dirt, the sky and the rocks

And hear them speak volumes through their silence.

Then once again I pick up my pen

For in the beauty of nature, stories know no end.