Dear Shirley:

Thank you for these special treats, two poems! This is exciting!

The first poem, Looking into the Mirror: I like how you return to base, “looking into the mirror” again and again and look at yourself anew each time.

“Looking at the mirror…Is this the true me, the me I want to be?
Or is it the me that’s been shaped by the world?”

“…Looking through the mirror, I see myself growing up
The illusions of childhood breaking into pieces”

“…Looking into the mirror… How is it that I can be my worst critic and also my best cheerleader?”
** I wish you had empathy for yourself all the time, so be a kind critic to yourself, always gentle and kind to yourself!

“Looking into the mirror, I think about the shattered illusions of childhood, how the broken pieces…Will I be strong enough to pick up all the pieces, put them together and build a strong future?”

* The old childhood puzzle, the pieces and the way they fit in that puzzle, that was shaped by the world, by your parents. When you re do the puzzle, pick pieces and put them together yourself, as an adult, that is you… shaping you the way you want to be!

“…Sometimes my mind cries ‘I’m still a child! I can’t handle an adult’s responsibilities! I need freedom!’
* The shattered pieces of childhood, that is the loss of that freedom, of being care free, is it?

“…Looking at the mirror, I’m uncertain if I’m perfect the way I am or need to change”
** both, you are perfect and you will change. Everything changes and so are you. Only with awareness, you choose what and how you change.

“Looking at myself, I wonder if I’m ready for the future
Looking in the mirror, I wonder if I’m really me and if this is who I want to be.”
* The angst of an adolescent, in between childhood and adulthood, excellent poem, so much in it!

About the second poem, Living in My Dreams:

“…I feel lost without you; not sure if I am on solid ground
Imagining in my dreams and memories when we were once together
Back then it was us supporting each other in the world; I felt safe with you living in a dream of love”

* I like your association of Love and Safety, the two are indeed one. Can’t have love without safety.

“…With the angers and sorrows, the pressures of the world, you taught me how to swim when the currents of responsibility threatened to pull me under”
* The responsibilities of school work, the responsibilities of adulthood (and the pressures in it, that you observe in the restaurant…)

“Now we are drifting away on our separate paths in life
I’ve got to let you go”
* I wonder if this poem is about your special friend…

“Haunted by the memories of our lost love…I can’t keep living in a dream…
I will learn and grow on my own…Sometimes I slip back to living in my dreams with you
I’ve got to believe in myself and walk this path on my own
The illusions of my childhood are shattered
Afraid to try take the weight of the world on my shoulders
I wonder if I can learn all the life skills I need to survive
I wonder if I will be guided on my way

…I’ve got to accept reality and learn to live, not in a dream world.
…I will make myself into the person I want to be

I will continue this journey alone on my spiritual path and face the reality of the world, breaking free from the illusions and my dreams of what was past.”

Your fears of adulthood are very well expressed here, the transition from childhood to adulthood, from past to future, from care free living to the heavy weight of responsibilities… how well articulated!

The above are only a few quotes of your works or art! Than you for sharing these!

And I get the A,B,C grading…

Back to your poems, so much life in you, Shirley, so many thoughts, so many emotions, fears and hopes and a whole world in this one wonder full young person, You !

anita