Poetry

Its okay

Advertisements

To not be okay

As I wake up, I can feel the tiredness calling every bone in my body

And the day just started

And I already want to go back to sleep even though I know I should get up.

Start my day and hope not to stare off into space aimlessly

I’m tired, but I want to be productive. The battle begins, and I guess I will see who wins.

Probably tiredness because I will probably fall asleep mid-sometime today and miss out on something, and have to rewire, but in reality, that time will be gone.

And just like yesterday, I will have missed out on time well spent because I was just too tired to stay up and enjoy it.

Written By: Deirdre Stokes Copyrighted ©️ 2026 By Deirdre Stokes

Poetry

Where do I

Advertisements
Photo by RF._.studio _: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-woman-painting-on-white-illustration-board-3817533/

Begin

And where do I end?

Do I even want to start

And if I do, will I ever finish?

Will it look good

Or will no one get it.

Should I begin?

Written By: Deirdre Stokes Copyrighted ©️ 2026 By Deirdre Stokes

Poetry

As the holidays end

Advertisements
Photo by Jill Wellington: https://www.pexels.com/photo/chocolate-drink-in-a-cup-3309658/

At the end of the year and the beginning of the new year, the desire for sweets is still strong.

But not for long, as the new resolutions to eat better and get fit start their countdown.

The desire to not look at sweets or drink too much hot chocolate.

It’s hard, as the chill of the cold winter blows outside, with no care of warming up anytime soon.

Makes the winter blues seem to stay longer than you desire.

Written By: Deirdre Stokes Copyrighted ©️ 2026 By Deirdre Stokes

Poetry

October can

Advertisements
Photo by cottonbro studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/illuminated-jack-o-lantern-5435188/

Be spooky this time of year

As the once innocent pumpkins take on new faces

Becoming something scary as you light them up.

Sometimes the jack-o-lantern takes on a creepy vibe.

It makes you wish you hadn’t craved his face that way, as he scares you every night you walk by it.

And you swear it’s moved a little each day, and you can’t wait to smash him the day after Halloween.

So you can finally get some peace again.

Written By: Deirdre Stokes Copyrighted ©️ 2025 By Deirdre Stokes

Poetry

Am I ready

Advertisements
Photo by Johannes Plenio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photography-of-maple-trees-1114896/

To walk down the path to fall

And all its colorful leaves and welcome in the sight of beautiful change.

To feel the little chill of an autumn day blow through me.

A cold morning and then a warm afternoon

Then it all fades back to a chill night all around.

And I wonder if fall will ever stop amazing me.

The colors seem brighter each year.

Even though my fall walk this year will be different, I hope to take it as changing the leaves is my favorite sight to see.

As I snap photos after photo of the trees showing off their red, yellow, or a mix of both.

The colorful leaves on the ground you step on as you look all around, taking it in like a child again, and the excitement is still there as you smile again.

Written By: Deirdre Stokes Copyrighted ©️ 2025 By Deirdre Stokes

Poetry

Just let me be

Advertisements
Photo by Almada Studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-in-red-black-and-white-dress-594693/

Like a butterfly

Free to fly

And brighten up ones day

To bring so much beauty into the world

To be small but still take your breath away

To do the unexpected

When I land on your shoulder, I will bring calm to your day.

To inspire you to want to be still and enjoy your day.

This moment, as you smile just from being surrounded by me and my friends.

Showing you butterflies know how to celebrate, too.

Written By: Deirdre Stokes Copyrighted ©️ 2025 By Deirdre Stokes

Poetry

Its getting

Advertisements

Photo by Ánh Đặng: https://www.pexels.com/photo/young-woman-reading-outdoors-in-sunlight-28907975/

A little chilly out

And so today could be my last day of sitting out with the sun on my face, reading my favorite book.

Allowing the warmth to shine down on me on such a nice day.

Oh, how as the weather changes, I wish I could bottle this day and carry it with me when life gets too cold, and a little warmth would go a long way.

Written By: Deirdre Stokes Copyrighted ©️ 2025 By Deirdre Stokes

Poetry

Fading in

Advertisements
Photo by YI REN: https://www.pexels.com/photo/artistic-portrait-with-red-light-effects-33448028/

And out of this place

I feel like I’m losing my mind

As I vibrate from mood to mood

And I wonder will I be the same when the week ends

Because these last few days have been rough, I only want to sleep and not worry.

I don’t care; all I want is time to be mine again, with no clocks set as I relax and my mind clears from work mode.

Will time stop before the best part of me fades away?

Will anyone notice that part is missing when I float back into the space I fill up every other week?

Or will the look and smile on my face fool them too well that they won’t see my emptiness?

Written By: Deirdre Stokes Copyrighted ©️ 2025 By Deirdre Stokes

Poetry

Can you

Advertisements

Photo by Olivia Fernández Sosa: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-black-and-white-photo-of-a-ballerina-27509167/

Capture my movement in its most beautiful form

Or do you, by chance, get caught in the movement, creating something even more breathtaking?

The movement of my body captured you, and your desire to capture it on the camera, creating something dark and smoky.

Like the sun, my body’s movement plays with light, creating something you never captured before.

I still feel like a piece of you got lost in that picture that day, as the smoke settled over you.

I tried to tell you something about that stage that felt off.

The light in your eyes has never shone as brightly since that day, and I wish you hadn’t taken that picture.

That haunted moment stays with you and changes how you capture movement.

Written By: Deirdre Stokes Copyrighted ©️ 2025 By Deirdre Stokes

Poetry, Quotes

Sail away

Advertisements
https://unsplash.com/photos/a-sailboat-sails-on-calm-waters-at-sunset-d50Z0a-oXmo?utm_content=creditShareLink&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash photo: By Rafael Garcin

With me because being stuck in this place

Of uncertain or hesitation isn’t getting me anywhere.

Lets risk it all into the beautiful sunset and just know the day is ending but we are just beginning.

For a fresh start right before the day ends feels so good.

As you settle down and think of all you’ve been through and now some amazing is about to start.

And you go to bed in such a good mood that the day’s negativity sails away, as you leave all those feelings at sea.

Written By: Deirdre Stokes Copyrighted ©️ 2025 By Deirdre Stokes

Poetry

I am me

Advertisements

A little bit more broken

Sad, but over time, I

Will heal and like

Kintsugi the cuts

From my wounded heart

Will be sealed up with gold and

What was once broken will be repaired. A piece of art, full of beauty and alive within me.

Written By: Deirdre Stokes Copyrighted ©️ 2025 By Deirdre Stokes

Poetry

I release

Advertisements
pexels.com/photo/artisan-creating-traditional-javanese-masks-32211382 Photo By: Andreas Suwardy

You for feeling guilty for staying comfortable

It’s okay, it was all you knew

Feeling stuck, you have to move and let the music guide you away.

And yes it’s going to be awkward and weird at first but once you get into the groove its going to change again and again.

Until you don’t know what comfort is, you won’t mind.

Standing out used to be something to fear, but now it’s worth showing up for.

So, as I blow away the many pieces of the old me, I finally embrace the new me.

Written By: Deirdre Stokes Copyrighted ©️ 2025 By Deirdre Stokes

Poetry

Oh how

Advertisements
Photo by Vlada Karpovich: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-girl-standing-at-the-table-7031623/

It was easy to create so freely as a child.

Now, so many emotions and things get in the way that art becomes complex.

Making it easier to come up with excuses like why you don’t have the time or I’m too tired to get the supplies out to create.

And so the canva sits empty and uninspired waiting for you to get up and create an imperfect piece of art.

To lose yourself as your fingers go this way and that way, creating something abstract but still art.

To listen to the very thing calling you to create, and you taking the time to do it.

Creating art for you sometimes feels like taking a breath and genuinely allowing yourself to be alive, free, and in your most authentic form.

Written By: Deirdre Stokes Copyrighted ©️ 2025 By Deirdre Stokes

Poetry

Do I

Advertisements

Believe this is genuinely what I want

The truth I don’t know anymore

And even though I still light up everytime I think of it.

Still I sit here doing nothing about it

So drained you think I was a statue

If only I didn’t have to blink and pee

Would you even know I got up and moved at all.

What have I become

Not the women I had hoped to be

But the truth I had no hopes this year and well maybe that explains why everything is up in the air.

So what do I want now

And will I do something about it.

Or will I sit here and embrace what my new normal is?

And will this be who I become, or will I wake up tomorrow and see that what im feeling is okay.

But I must finish this, for timing won’t always be on my side.

Maybe this time next week I could have accomplished something and for once not look at the blank canva in front of me as if the artwork will appear on its own.

Written By: Deirdre Stokes Copyrighted ©️ 2025 By Deirdre Stokes

Poetry

Music

Advertisements
Photo by cottonbro studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-in-a-gray-sweater-wearing-earphones-lying-down-6594307/

Get me away from the noises of this place

It’s too loud today, and as I lie down and put the music on.

The peace flows around me like a blanket of protection.

And I can finally feel the tension on my shoulders release, and I slowly relax for the first time today.

If only the song didn’t have to end. As I fall asleep, I hope the loud parts won’t scare me awake.

Soon, I knew I had drifted off when music became a part of my dreams.

Written By: Deirdre Stokes Copyrighted ©️ 2025 By Deirdre Stokes