In the Cemetery at St. John's

People gather, whispering,
the rain drops fall,
someone's cellphone ringing,
isn't natural at all,
I'm not surprised,
so many familiar faces here,
the dead and the alive,
not a scowl not a tear,
you forced me to be sincere,
sincerity at its best,
I try to appear,
I mirror the rest,
the memories I carry,
in my slightly affected heart,
linger over me as they bury,
the dead, forced to depart,
the names, the dates,
the lonely prayers, the stones,
we are summoned to wait,
in the meadow of bones.

Music in the City

The night falls.
A baby awakes.
Down two flights.
A mother sings.

The blinds are uneven.
You're just the same.
Your favorite song is playing,
With the roar of the subway train.

And he's all alone,
in a beat-up hotel room,
He's given his money,
to the sirens of the night.

The man in the lobby,
Floats up to the 2nd floor.
His eyes remain empty.
His heart remains torn.

You cannot ignore
the face in the mirror.
Someday you'll say
It wasn't you at all.

Come to my place.
I'll tell you the truth.
Life moves on slowly,
But you stay just the same.

Spanish Moss

Here beneath the spanish moss,

in the shade of cypress trees,

the ship I made out of popsicle sticks,

is ready to claim the high seas.

There's a boat cruising along,

somewhere out on the misty lake,

the storm has come and gone,

and calm has taken it's place.

I fear I may sink my boat,

How many popsicle sticks does it take,

to keep her afloat,

upon the purple lake?

The night grows near,

the sun sets with ease,

the scent of mixed drinks and beer,

dances on the breeze.

Finally the twilight hush,

the people get off their feet,

forgetting the work week rush,

and enjoy their company and eat.

This is all we can afford,

but we love this place,

all the boats are moored,

the water becomes still on the lake.

Faintly music floats,

in on the summer wind,

and laughter along with the notes,

come from another pier.

We happily sit on the dock,

and admire the stars,

that reflect in the lake water,

and feel so small, and yet so glad.

I'm working on setting this to music....

Speechless

I cannot speak for fear
you in your highest place can
with the sway of your hand
pass me by without a glance
as if you hadn't for years
been so kind and so warm
perhaps you were only leading me on
I do not know what strength
it would require to speak freely,
as my heart begs, my mind warns
if you were to deny me
I would retreat to my own place
and would later emerge the same girl
but one who guards her heart
more carefully than before
I'd rather remain speechless
and dream and dream, the perfect
scenes belonging to the realm of
slumber; a place where everything
goes my way, and nightmares only
occur by day,
I shall never know, but it is better
not to know; perhaps knowing
will crack the mirror and rip the seams
You are perfect in your
unattainable state,
as I continue to love you from afar.

-Theresa Mattiello

Lately

I've been complaining a lot about my job and I probably need to shut up because there are plenty of people who would love to have my job. I think that I just have low tolerance for stupid and angry people. Although I would generally prefer to transfer to another store, I'm still going to run into stupid, angry people...And the hours thing is an issue at almost every store, so anyway I look at it, things will be equally bad...or equally good...but nevermind the silly squabble about my job...
What I am most excited about right now is starting school at UNCG. I know that classes just ended and I should be enjoying the time I have off right now, but its going to be exciting to start up at a new school with new faces.
I also have sort of a plan for when I am finished with college in a few years. I really want to try to look into the Peace Corps. I was at Katie's house the other day and she was showing me a booklet that had all of the PC programs that I could get into depending on my major and experience. I could do something within all sectors, but I am mostly interested in either Education, Agriculture, or Environmental Awareness...Then after the Peace Corps I was thinking maybe look into working for cruise lines??? My plan of course isn't definite (nothing ever is at my age) but I think these are good options since the economy might still be struggling when I graduate, not to mention I want to do a lot of traveling, A LOT of traveling, when I get out of college. The Peace Corps will allow me to connect to people in another country. It's an amazing experience to submerge yourself into an entirely different culture, I know...I went to the Philippines when I was 16 and had the biggest culture shock of my life, but I also did a lot of maturing in that period of time. It's definately worth it...you don't look at the US or yourself or the life you had ever again. Things change dramatically, but in a good way. You become more humble and understanding of others, especially in third world and developing countries, where people do not have the things we take for granted everyday!
At any rate, I just need to breathe and take every day at a time, and not try to get so worked up over trivial incidents at work or at home, because that stuff doesn't matter in the long run!