in a family with a history I was born to the mom that shed her family's past and fought for a better life. I'm the lucky one. ​ in a small house in a small town I was raised without need and with a love from a father who sacrificed so we could have extra. I'm the lucky one. ​ with a varied history over my years and a troubled past full of troubled people making troubling decisions and fearful nights but here I am now as I look around. I'm the lucky one. ​ with a body that doe

I sat on a wooden bench that someone had attempted to create for lounging comfortably. At least for ten minutes at a time. Stuffed in between two of the wood pieces next to me was a cigarette butt. I looked a little closer and shook my head. No. There wasn’t enough left to get anything good out of it, so I left it stranded; a reminder of the smoker who sat here before me. I looked up at the green leaves that sprawled over my head hiding the bench from the hot sunlight that wa

March 26th - This is 2020 part two - will be available at Amazon, B&N, local bookstores and more!!! Until then - we still have the pre-order going. Now available to find in more places than just on my website. The links will continue to be updated as it's available in more and more places. Find the links here: https://www.kassiejrunyan.com/this-is-2020-part-two

So excited to announce that This is 2020 part two is available for PRE-ORDER! On top of that - as a Thank You and to celebrate the Global Poetry Month - I am providing a discount on all books and cards in my shop for the full month of APRIL as well as larger discounts for ordering more than one book! Shop today at: https://www.kassiejrunyan.com/shop Find more information about my current poetry collections here: https://www.kassiejrunyan.com/books And see what people said a

Eyes were shut to the world, but I was awake. Trying to delay the start of the day. I heard a slight scratch and opened my eyes to see Dog sitting by the door scratching the wood frame and watching me expectantly. “Yeah yeah, I’m awake Dog”. I pushed down on the footrest of the faded recliner with my legs; pushing the orange blanket off to the side to fall in a messy pile on the floor. I stood and grabbed a shirt that had been tossed carelessly over the back of the recliner a

I opened my eyes to see the tall grass swaying above me; the orange sky above it. How many times have I been here now? I was so exhausted that I didn’t jump to my feet to try to desperately to make it to the town I could never reach. Instead I continued to lay there gazing at the sky and allowing myself to enjoy the lack of physical pain in my prematurely aging body. This dream allowed all of the body aches of the previous weeks to drift away. Or was it months? This time was

HER NAME She haunts me. Daily. When I wake up, she hides under the bed for only a moment. Teasing that she went away. I blink and she’s back tapping on my shoulder with her manicured nail, painted in blood red and sharpened to a tip. Interrupting my thoughts; my hopes; reminding me that she Is always there. Waiting. Stalking. I plan a future but she frays the corners of my mind, teasing me about flights and storms and the dangers of them all. She reminds me of the future that

A groan fell out of my mouth as I thudded to a seating position on the hot gravel and waited hopefully for a wind to cool the sweat that ran down the side of my face and into the rough hair that grew around my chin. No wind came. I sighed audibly to no one and watched the trucks speeding past my resting spot. I could almost see the thoughts behind the wondering eyes of the drivers as they thought, who is this idiot sitting on the side of the road . I tugged at the sleeve of m

There was nothing but a hollow feeling as I walked down the clean paved road and away from the home of the man who died. If I was waiting for an immediate change or shift in myself, some kind of revelation, that would turn my feet and send me running back towards the empty house behind me, none would come. I was still a shell. An empty host who was still waiting to feel something remotely human. My body slowed and I stopped moving; standing in the middle of the empty road. An

I died today. I found myself slowly falling back to the earth, feeling weightless as I floated down and down, stopping with a light thud

Sneak peak from "This is 2020: a poetry collection" - available for sale on KassieJRuyan.com, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble: Check it out HERE $1 from each purchase goes to "Color of Change" $1 from each purchase goes to "Coalition for The Homeless" I wrote this poem - in the summer of 2020 when again we see this cycle continuing. We have been here before. We have had the same arguments over and over and over with the same side of people that are convinced that racism is no l

Dots In The Land where people used to stand now dots in the land one for each soul moved on perhaps to a great beyond voices silenced for good life ending before it should now dots in the land as we reach out our hand trying to hold on to the breath that left you with your death never to come again it’s over before it began they said it wasn’t their fault as they killed you without an assault refusing to give a shit or even to really admit that they were a hypocrite or quite

Sneak peak from "This is 2020: a poetry collection" - available for sale on KassieJRuyan.com, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble: Check it out HERE $1 from each purchase goes to "Color of Change" $1 from each purchase goes to "Coalition for The Homeless" The Cycle Continues The year is 1919. Tensions are high already. The country angry and ready. A young man dives into the lake enjoying an afternoon break when he entered an area soon to cause hysteria. How was he to know they woul

the song they sit around the fire as it burns to ash the light dimming now shining in the the eyes of the people sitting around the fading warmth strangers before tonight a finger strums a guitar and they began to sing in a rhythm they all seem to know as they croon into the deepening night the last light falls to sleep behind the turning globe and the strangers... or used to be strangers... at least before tonight watch the stars start to shine as they sing as one to the bea

Article from our November Issue of OpenDoor Magazine. Subscribe to our free, monthly, digital magazine for articles, interviews, author/artists features, and theme poetry from around the world- opendoorpoetrymagazine.com Autumn Leaves and Missed Moments “Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall” – F. Scott Fitzgerald We are entering my favorite time of year. And I mean my FAVORITE time of year, especially living in the Northern part of the United States – wh

Sneak peak from "This is 2020: a poetry collection" - available for sale on KassieJRuyan.com, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble: Check it out HERE $1 from each purchase goes to "Color of Change" $1 from each purchase goes to "Coalition for The Homeless" BANG Bang. She hit the ground. Metal coursing through her body warmed by blood as it flows onto the wood floor. Justified by a badge. A color. A uniform. A belief. A judgment. An ego. Blind fear without cause. And a life gone. Los