DILEMMA: A Collection of Poems

By Raven Shelby

DILEMMA takes the reader on a journey through the heart and mind of a young woman sorting through her experiences of love, loss, and identity. The poems in this collection are raw revelations of truth, desire, pain, and triumph and flow seamlessly together to form a symphony of emotions that sing from the pages.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Dec 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9781667841939

Book preview

Part I

Untitled I

Why do we hold the people we love to a different standard than we hold ourselves?

Query

Is going home to someone

better than

Going home to no one?

Even if that someone is

Nobody

at all?

Even if that nobody means

Nothing, are they

Better than

Being alone?

If my heart doesn’t walk

Through the door with

My feet

Is this house

A home?

Imposter Syndrome

I knew that I’d forget

I remember that, at least.

I should’ve just written it down

When it all occurred to me.

Autopilot

Sometimes, I feel so alone.

In a room full of people, I make myself the center.

Working the crowd, loud.

Navigating the world with ease, conquering silent anxieties.

I am surrounded and empty and all by myself.

I’ve never truly understood how more people don’t feel Alone.

How so many have fallen victim to the illusion of being Whole.

Storage

Funny how we don’t all remember the same things.

Two people experiencing a shared moment will

Walk away with

Two very different accounts.

Why?

What determines what matters to us?

How?

When do we decide to tuck something—a moment, a memory—away

For safe keeping?

Untitled V

The concept of not taking things personally is

Very odd and oxymoronic.

How else am I to take it?

Part II

Remorse