by Carmen Mason
When you start everybody and everything
is there with you past present friends family
xxxxxcritics strangers and all the greats
the empty brain-washed canvas
xxxxxbrushes oily rags
xxxxxpaintswirls on the palette
xxxxxwaiting
or the empty pages in your head
xxxxxwords flit like
xxxxxhummingbirds
xxxxxthen finally
xxxxxall leave one by one
xxxxxyou’re all alone
xxxxxand then
xxxxxif you’re lucky
xxxxxreally lucky on this day
xxxxxyou leave too
I’ve been writing prose and poetry since I was six. Won the Ist prize in Seventeen Magazine’s short story contest at 17 and several poetry prizes through the years. I write because I cannot help myself. I write to empty out the thoughts I cannot hold inside a day or hour more.