I'm too young to be tired,
Tired of life;
How can I be,
When I've barely lived?
Sep 29, 2021
Sep 29, 2021 at 10:25 AM UTC
The walls of my throat are scratched,
By all the fishbones I've swallowed,
Forced down by gulps of rice and vinegar.
But sometimes,
The bones refuse to move.
Sometimes,
They remain stuck.
Jan 5, 2021
Jan 5, 2021 at 8:13 AM UTC
The old terrace house,
My childhood home.
Sometimes I still dream of its beige concrete walls,
The cornflower tiles that lined the kitchen floor,
The tall bronze gate,
With its red wrought iron flowers.
Two cars parked by the front door,
One was mom's,
The other was yours.
In that house,
You always sat in the living room,
With the TV playing in the background,
The morning newspaper in hand.
You would buy us our favorite snacks,
While mom nagged about our calorie intake.
You loved taking us to the movies,
While mom always stayed home.
The city center condo,
The one I never dream of.
Its sleek gray walls,
Cold blank windows,
Offering a view of other monotonous condos,
Lights blinking with a sense of urgency,
Like a fatalistic warning.
In this house,
Well...
You were never really here.
Even when you were,
You sat in the living room,
With the TV playing in the background,
Your eyes glued to your pocket-sized screen.
Months later,
I left for a faraway land,
And you left for the warmth of someone else's bed.
When I came home,
You were no longer here.
But your clothes still hung in the closet,
Your deodorant sat by the dresser,
Your belongings untouched,
Collecting dust,
Waiting to be reclaimed.
But you never returned for them,
Instead,
You had them replaced.
New shirts,
Made from Chinese silk and linen,
New musk cologne,
Reeking of toxic masculinity,
And not to mention,
A new wife who cooks and cleans,
And excels in the bedroom.
A new home,
With clean white walls,
And quiet empty rooms.
So I bought you a housewarming gift,
Something I know you would like,
A coir doormat that says,
"Welcome Home."
Dec 28, 2019
Dec 28, 2019 at 12:35 AM UTC
Why hold on to something,
That will eventually slip through,
The spaces between our fingers?
Like the sands of time.
Pointless.
Futile.
Dec 13, 2019
Dec 13, 2019 at 10:15 PM UTC
Silence cuts like a slow knife,
Its blade,
Ice cold,
Ruptures my bowel,
Eats up my yearning,
Swallows my defiant screams.
I'd rather rage,
I'd rather have a storm,
Than cruel silence.
I'd choose a song of thunder,
Over a minute of soundlessness.
I'd rather slam doors,
Smash our dinner plates,
Hurl books from their shelves,
I'd rather break things,
Than have the silence break me.
Can I have a moment of silence?
No.
Why can't we just talk it out?
No.
You need to calm down.
No!
Nov 22, 2019
Nov 22, 2019 at 10:39 PM UTC
When he leaves,
What he leaves behind,
She knows.
When love is gone,
Where does it go?
She wonders.
Sep 14, 2019
Sep 14, 2019 at 5:19 AM UTC
She dreamt of him last night,
His arm around her waist,
Her skirt rippling in starlight,
As they danced with a feverish haste.
She whispered "I miss you,"
And placed her hand on his cheek,
His skin was a midnight blue,
A shade from the sun which she seeks.
His warmth kept her alive,
As she blissfully gasped for air,
He took her for a long drive,
Ran his fingers through her hair.
She felt more awake than ever,
As she drifted further into her dream,
Insomnia a wasted endeavor,
Swallowed by a river of moonbeam.
"Please stay here forever," he implored,
But hours could not stretch into days,
So she left through the backdoor,
Eyes wide open and head in a haze.
Sep 14, 2019
Sep 14, 2019 at 5:07 AM UTC
I saw you,
In the bustling pantry,
Among the office lunch crowd,
Your eyes met mine,
For the first time.
Send help.
I soon forgot,
All about you,
Didn't know your name,
Didn't think twice of you,
Till I saw you again.
Send help.
Your voice was warm,
And so was your gaze,
My smile was wide like a child's,
Till I caught a glimpse,
Of a ring around your finger.
Send help.
Sep 2, 2019
Sep 2, 2019 at 1:39 AM UTC
Our forever is built on,
A temporary palace,
With paper-thin walls,
Our bed a foam mattress.
Our forever is sprawled across,
The stained carpeted floor,
Beneath our ***** laundry,
Messes we choose to ignore.
Our forever is cracked into,
Every omelet and French toast,
Served with a glass of cold juice,
And kisses on the nose.
Our forever is written on,
Every inch of your midnight skin,
Each stubble and razor bump like Braille,
A love language I've never seen.
Our forever is tested,
By time zones and distance,
Will our palace walls crumble,
Or stand in defiance?
Our forever is put on trial,
By people who shouldn't bother,
A xenophobic aunt,
And an uncle who's a pastor.
Our forever is cursed,
By a father's daily prayer,
Wrapped in his own infidelity,
The quiet naysayer.
Our forever is assembled,
From sticks and stones hurled at us,
Will it endure hurricanes and haters,
Or is it just a temporary palace?
Sep 2, 2019
Sep 2, 2019 at 12:05 AM UTC
Rain sprinkling on our glasses.
Wind rattling our coats.
We were walking down an unfamiliar street,
Gravel crunching beneath our feet.
You smiled but then you stopped,
A curve that wasn't fully stretched.
You pulled out your hand from your coat pocket,
Began counting on your fingers.
Counting the days we have left.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Stop.
Maybe if you stopped counting,
Numbers would cease to exist.
If numbers ceased to exist,
Whatever we have left,
Could only be measured by moments,
Not days,
Hours,
Or minutes.
But moments.
In each moment,
A baby is born into this mess of a world,
But is readily embraced by it.
In each moment,
A schoolgirl is crying alone in a bathroom stall,
Waiting to be saved from isolation.
In each moment,
A couple shares their first kiss.
In each moment,
Beer bottles are smashed,
Wives are beaten,
Children threatened.
In each moment,
A dreamer stops dreaming,
A poet stops writing.
In each moment,
Hellos are idly uttered,
Goodbyes are not said.
How does one count every moment,
On fingers that are numbered?
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
Stop.
You didn't understand.
How could you?
So in that moment,
I grabbed your hand,
Held it in mine.
Our fingers intertwined.
Five.
Ten.
Mar 8, 2019
Mar 8, 2019 at 12:30 PM UTC