This one is a favorite as well–haunting and sweet. I was told at this time (a decade and some ago!) to start submitting my work. And I was too scared to do so. Perhaps it wasn’t the right time. But now? The kid is shopping for an agent. This one is found in the Love Songs Of The Unrequited, Volume 2. Click here to pick it up on Amazon and Kindle. -JBHarris

Try as I have to
forget the love that
I no longer possess
it seems that I never
will be able to
such ambitions drive
me to thoughts of what
was, and what the future
may hold
when I think that I have
found solace and the
nuance of and old love
remenants of what my
heart holds dear appear
wishing this suffering
were to end, and it will
only end when I am
in your arms, safe with
you once more
the core of me stirs
at the mentions of
you and my spirit
embraces every new
moment I am fortunate
to have with you
who is before me
is not what my heart
enjoys, I have drowned
in these familar oceans
before…the torrents were
enveloping and unstable,
and the more passionate
the strokes were to free
myself…the more I was
swept away into beckoniing
waves
now that I have felt
firm shore, and the
gentle waves that
have carried me to it,
I have no desire to return
to the treacherous waters
that I know all too well
I have felt the warmth
of the sun after it being
hidden from me in murky
depths
I have embraced this
fledgling stablily as well
as the one that led me
to these healing waters
my mind has not grown
weary, but sharper as
I wonder in this new land
with renewed strength and
vision
I want the one
that has given me
such vigor and
passion, and desire
again, and I will
not settle for less.
-Jennifer Bush (now Harris) age 22–June 20, 2004