By Shelly Lyons

It’s amazing how much 
the writing of a poem
is like throwing-up

it catches me by surprise almost every time,
this building of turmoil,
words churning and rolling about my head
the threat of release grows stronger each moment

I try to ignore it, 
can’t let it happen now,
this isn’t the time 
or place,
but
the string of words refuses to leave,
building and boiling
till the urge finally overtakes me,

I run for a pen,
search frantically for a piece of paper
just like the desperate run 
for the toilet bowl,
the cold porcelain – the cold pen,
brings relief to my spirit,

and if I’m lucky
I can stay 
and get it all out
in one great purge.

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Shelly Lyons is a writer and teacher from North Carolina. She has been a life-long writer who’s especially partial to poetry and short stories but is now working on her first novel. She’s had a variety of poems and articles published both online and in print through the years.