ANDREW SCOTT

 

See Me Now

The thoughts running through me. 

So much has changed in my life. 

How will others see me now?

Life was starting to crash around me.

Years of fighting issues that were in me

with pills and alcohol. 

Started missing deadlines and bills.

Money was there for my habits

but not for anything else I needed. 

People I was close to

stopped talking and visiting me.

Invitations stopped for gatherings.

Cannot say what triggered the start

of changed I desired.

Walking into a therapy session

was and is so different.

Revealing all the traumas

and emotions that I had buried.

The tears and shaking. 

When I go out, it is water

in my drinking cup.

Such a struggle to keep it clear. 

The sarcastic, tipsy person

is in the midst of change

and I am quiet now.

Not the center of attention. 

Not sure who will notice

or even like the slow steps

to change me. 

People will remember the old me

however I am always thinking

will they see the changes?

How will they see me now?

©Andrew Scott 

The Demon Inside (Villanelle)

We see the person you hide

the secret under your true skin

The fiery demon inside

the smile is where you lied

an insincere grin

We see the person you hide.

angelic eyed

gateways to the underneath sin

The fiery demon inside

presenting the delicate side

there is fire within

We see the person you hide

respect for others is set aside

makes your thoughts thin

The fiery demon inside

the true you can be a blindside

seeping though the skin

We see the person you hide

The fiery demon inside

©Andrew Scott 

Head Down

Dawn’s head is down, goal in sight.

She has been working on this assignment

for what seems like long years.

It is due in two days and she is refining it

before Dawn passes it in. 

In Dawn’s twenty-one years

there have been obstacles to this moment.

Some were self-inflicted, some were not.

Everything has taken an emotional toll. 

Dawn’s eyes are staring

at a blurry, donated laptop screen

hoping a midnight cup of tea

will clear her eyes. 

Dawn became a mom at seventeen

to a beautiful, hyper boy

with a man that she thought was special.

No partying, no drugs lead to their moment.

Two kids giving each other something special

until it was time to be responsible.

Then Dawn was left alone. 

Dawn quit high school when balancing

became too much for one person.

Work, school, new child

were influencing everything.

Sleep was a luxury.

Dawn started this course a year ago,

taking and completing assignments

under a midnight sun.

Determined to get everything right.

All the hours start to hit Dawn

as she remembers the late nights.

Head down, fighting distractions,

staying on the mission,

typing, reading on lunch breaks

in a loud workplace. 

As Dawn sends in the last assignment

to wait to see if she receives a high school diploma.

Head down, Dawn breathes. 

©Andrew Scott 

Devil’s Town

From the outside of town, looking in,

I guess you could call this place, Devil’s Town. 

Every person here knows our reputation.

There are a few that have lived it hard

and embraced the thoughts and rumours

that others have made up, to use and abuse.

Worn it on their creased faces as honourable badges. 

Every weekend, the reputation is earned.

You can hear the party’s savage screams.

The honking of horns at all hours

from miles down the wooded roads. 

The amateur fireworks light our sky red.

Seems to work as a signal

for outside strangers to join us

in our hedonism for their first time. 

Husbands and wives from other towns

come to visit us alone or together

to only get lost from each other. 

Teenagers enter, all for experience.

The venom water or addictive drugs

are on endless supply here.

Special blends from basements or garages.

Community folk competing for the true elixir.

It has been this way

for as long as my memory starts.

to others outside the lines

it is called Devil’s Town. 

To me, it is home. 

©Andrew Scott 

ANDREW SCOTT 

ANDREW SCOTT is a native of Fredericton, NB. During his time as an active poet, Andrew Scott has taken the time to speak in front of classrooms, judge poetry competitions, and have over 200 hundred writings published worldwide in such publications as The Art of Being Human, Battered Shadows and The Broken Ones. Andrew Scott has published multiple poetry books, Snake with A Flower, The Phoenix Has Risen, The Path, The Storm Is Coming, Whispers of the Calm, Searching and Letter To You, a novella, Redemption Avenue and a two books of photography, Through My Eyes and Walk Through Time. The Road Unknown is Andrew Scott’s newest collection of poetry and prose.