Poetry

Beauty in the Mirror

By: Istana Castillo

It is of the saddest nights true beauty is reflected,

for when she feels most dejected,

and her eyes are free from modern infection.

Elegance glimmers back, a twinkle in her eye.

Without a smile, the camera witnesses a sigh.

Her defiled appearance deceives reality in frame.

The camera hasn't seen beauty or fame.

A hand glances chin, tears glide down cheeks.

Her sightliness will scatter by morning's peek,

to be reflected again when her days are bleak.

Trees 1 (Others)

By: Istana Castillo

I love all the family 

Friends and everyone around me

But why do I want to see

Myself slammed into a tree

Trees 2 (Partner)

By: Istana Castillo

I found a flowering tree in a rocky field.

I climbed up its trunk, and I hung from a branch. 

I was lifted away from the ground while the tree grew taller and produced fruit.

I imbibed in its bounty before winter came.

I saw the field begin to sprout with life in the spring.

I clung to the tree's branch and begged it to let me play in the field, but it refused.

I grew frustrated and angry being restricted to the branch, away from all the grass and flowers.

I cut at the branch to release me from its clutches.

I fell to the ground and felt relief being able to roam away.

I turned my back to the tree and felt free in the fields.

I played and pranced, but I looked back.

A new girl was in the tree, enjoying the next fruits.

I felt all the regret and jealousy rush into me.

I missed the fruit, and even the tree, but down here I am free.

Trees 3 (Autumn)

By: Istana Castillo

In the flowers

In the trees

I can finally breathe

Where there is no power

And no sprawl of towers

The world is really free

Nature calls

Leaves fall

It’s where I want to be

Clarity

By: Istana Castillo

In the flame of desire,

and on the funeral pyre,

truth really lies.

Ideals are congealed

and bonds are concealed

when pain ruins lives.

Intentions are exact

with how one must act

but take away the disguise.

Agriculture

By: Istana Castillo

I saw the sheeps and the cows

The horses and the sows

Bountiful harvests 

In the rich gardens

High and low

All through the hills

Out past the landfill

Conversations

By: Istana Castillo

I called to the void

and the void called back.

The conversation lasted for hours

and I left fulfilled.

The next day I returned distraught,

for no one had answered my calls.

So I called to the voice

and the voice called back.

Alone in Society

By: Istana Castillo

Once covered in gloss,

& now for a cost

companionship is lost.

For your neighbor

No longer shares his labor

So when night falls

& the stars come out

I am alone.

Overgrowth

By: Istana Castillo

I feel lost.

I feel overgrown.

There is a cost to being alone.

I rot at home

To atone.

For it’s hard to live with my mistakes.

(What do I have left?)