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Alleigh Peterson Aug 2020
these days i notice the way my limbs
sway gently as i walk
the rough catching of my thighs
has become unfamiliar
the space left between
left for someone to fill
love cuts through the hickory bark of my heart
your hatchet cracking me open
i spill
dinner dates on the rooftop overlooking the city
we both want to escape
with every mouthful i swallow your tender caresses
across my stomach i have hated for so long
how is it possible to feel alive around such a stranger
if you knew me would you love me
since you know me do you love me
teardrops from the sky hit my balcony
you held me as i wept that night
current joys
nostalgic nights
a hickory tree splintered open
bark cracking down the sides
raw and exposed
the lightning ripped open the truth and self
the soft white underbelly of hickory exposed.
my first poem for you.
Alleigh Peterson Oct 2019
I remember when we were
sickly brains and visible bones
and there was something so romantic
in dying.
The night you told me I was beautiful
and I laughed.
And I laughed.
And I laughed, because
who knew those words would mean so much
until you left me.
We would watch the clouds and talk about
how they were meant to be on the ground
but they
hung
themselves instead.
You joked that you were jealous, and you’d be a cloud one day.
If i’m honest, i didn’t really understand what you meant
i didn’t really know, and i still don’t know but
i do know
that when i look at the clouds
all i see
is
you
.
Alleigh Peterson Nov 2018
he makes me feel more dead than alive
and i thought it was the opposite
until i realised
i have craved being empty for so long
i count calories on my phone
because habits are hard to break.
i swear every time that
this pack of cigarettes will be the last
and then i find myself
lost again
and crawling up the stairs when i'm too drunk
is a tradition i never missed
because it never left to begin with

feb. 25.
Alleigh Peterson Nov 2018
(i can't write good poetry when i'm tired
so i'm sorry if this isn't to your liking)

giving myself a **** TED talk every time i want to get out of bed is
exhausting
to say the least
and it's cloudy -- i could make some metaphor
about how the sun doesn't shine
but i know you like metaphors
and cloudy days
so i don't.
i wrote a song today.

march 14.
Alleigh Peterson Nov 2018
i swear to god if i write one more ****
love poem
i am going to lose it
Alleigh Peterson Nov 2018
i was nine years old
when my body decided it could no longer
follow the marbled features of inspirations before myself
my slender, sculpted legs gave rise to thick
thighs
resisted against me
exposed me
and by then i thought
i would never
walk on the runways in high rise new york city buildings
bright city lights to highlight my flaws
my hips just as expansive as the judgment
they give way to scrutiny--

i pity the paintings trapped inside the louvre
i too despise the cold gaze of unwanted audiences
who complain of travel
who complain of coming such a long way
for a disappointment.
Alleigh Peterson Oct 2018
the day you died
i carefully
wrapped the delicate parts of myself up
in old blankets i had last used
with you

seeing your mother for the first time after wasn't
easy
searching her eyes for the memories of you
(the baby pictures were my favourite)
you had such little hands.
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