Green buds of hope unfurled from seasoned branches in the radiant glare.
Their tender fingers opening with naive certainty,
Oblivious the clear, cloudless sky would bring a view of sparkling infinity in hours.
The insulating security blanket had rolled back to reveal
The infant leaves’ first glimpse of the starry night sky.
A marvel of hypnotic celestial clarity
And the gnawing bite of bitter frost.
Sophie Harrington 2018
In a world of distractions
Of virtual interactions
It’s easy to squander the now.
To fret of the future
Of how life will treat you
Wastes the precious now.
Reliving past blunders
Distracts today’s wonders
And takes the focus off now.
So savour the present
Ignore petty discontent
Live in the moment – now.
Copyright © Sophie Harrington
Haiku seems pointless
You’re just getting to the point
When it comes to an…
Sentimentality
Keeps messing with my head,
It takes a pleasing moment
And makes it magnificent instead.
Nostalgia paints it golden
Makes it altogether pure:
A rose-tinted yearning
Is what I wistfully endure.
I long for a future
Where I’m not dissatisfied.
I want to find a place
Dreams and reality can collide.
Copyright © Sophie Harrington (2017)
This is it.
There’s no practice run
No waiting game
For anyone.
This is it.
Make it good
Live for now
As you said you would.
This is it.
Enjoy this day
Make memories
And time to play.
This is it.
You can’t restart
Learn from mistakes
Be true to your heart.
Copyright © Sophie Harrington (2017)
I saw the world in black and white
And everything seemed clear
Assured of what was right and wrong
Of all that was loved and dear.
But as I grew, the grey seeped in
And with it my uncertainty.
I saw that decisions made
Were not fuelled by perversity.
Life is much too complicated
To always get things right.
You can’t judge someone’s choices
Unless you truly know their plight.
To utterly understand decisions
To see the world’s vast views
You have to do the impossible:
You’d have to walk in their shoes.
Copyright © Sophie Harrington (2017)
Like unmined diamonds
Their feelings lay buried.
Their dazzling beauty, concealed.
Suppressed but perfectly preserved.
Unchartered, undisturbed.
Unexplored.
And it would take an explosion
To erupt their true exquisiteness,
The enchantment of these jewels
Would be unsurpassed, unparalleled;
But neither held the catalyst.
Neither would light the touch paper.
So there the rough diamonds lay.
Pure and magnificent.
Unhandled by human touch.
Unscrutinised, they held their enduring beauty.
Unfathomable enigma.
For all eternity.
Copyright © Sophie Harrington
A poem from an old teenage years notebook.
Cherish every opportunity
And tell them how you feel
Regrets are such bitter torment
Punishment if you don’t make
Each chance count.
Don’t let another day go by
Impermanency demands you live
Every day as if it’s your last.
Mortality is our reality.
Copyright © Sophie Harrington (2017)
Need to savour life? Also read Slow Down.
Bombing down the leafy snicket
Clinging to my brother’s back.
He was late back from cricket
Now he’s cycling like a maniac.
Mum asked him to take me
To the Brownie hut.
He quickly gulped down tea
And a jammy doughnut.
I’m balanced on the BMX stunt pegs
He saved up for his back wheels.
My dress bunched between my legs
So it won’t catch sending me head over heels.
The sun is winking through the trees
As we zoom down the alley.
I can feel the spring breeze
While he pedals madly.
My calves keep catching on the tyre
But I don’t make a noise.
Even though it feels like fire
I want to be one of the boys.
I won’t be a cry-baby
I ignore the no cycling sign.
As we whizz past a lady
I’m on cloud nine.
I love having a big brother
Who can do this.
He’s not like any other
And I’m his little sis.
Copyright © Sophie Harrington (2017)
Essentially Love Poems 