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Amanda Kay Burke Oct 2024
I feel akin to a monster
You should be proud
I am everything
I'm scared to say aloud

Frankenstein's design
Spectacle grotesque to behold
You are responsible
Making flesh cold

You should have caught this coming
Mold I tried to fit
I got angry when I couldn't
Destroyed it bit by bit

You attempted to shape my emotions
Arrange me a little more like you
It backfired and I mutated
Into a monstrosity mimicking your every move

I transformed in front of eyes
Metamorphosis we both took hard
What was pure and picturesque
Hideous and scarred

I now am an abomination
Too horrendous for sight to see
Patchwork quilt of faulty components
Sewn with insecurity

I was supposed to be built in your image
Your perfection I hardly resemble
Lost the sweetness of my youth
Silhouette alone reason to tremble

In your efforts to change me
Into creature of similar disposition
Pushed me far enough to snap
Past point of recognition

I look into mirror and gasp
Not comprehending reflection
Asking how someone could diverge
So drastically the wrong direction?

I've grown talons
Tentacles
Tusks
Replacing my human parts
I don't know how to undo the progression
Revert this revolting reprobate to how it was at the start

I once was a beauty
But became the thing I liked the least
Experiment got out of hand
Now all I will ever be is a beast
Written 1-18-19
Amanda Kay Burke Oct 2024
Every morning I wake up next to you
Afraid our time is running out
Wondering when you'll stop loving me
All day long I'm plagued by doubt

Havoc wreaked on my insecure brain
I am unable to process why
You could give your heart to anyone
Yet drop it in hands that hardly try

Don't you realize I am not strong enough
Are you blind to my numerous flaws?
Reliant on you to stand on own feet
I just can't comprehend the cause

I worry I am a storm sent to disrupt
Your peace in a second or two
Yet even after months of tolerating my rain
You hold me down through and through

Across the spectrum of devotion
I fear we reside on opposite ends
Strive to continue making progress
So every cut inside you mends

I am aware you look and see no apparent results
Your disappointment affects me more than you know
Lost in the fog of dependency
Glimmer of hope to you I owe

Playing your voice over and over in my mind
Making sky seem blue when it's grey
I have given you the key to my heart
Promise me you won't throw it away

I caved and let you peer into my soul
When I hear your breath it makes me feel alive
Connecting with the invisible tethers tugging
Your encouragement fuels my once waning drive

Stress melts away when you hold me in your arms
Within my body a fire is lit
Trying to evolve into the image you desire
There are times I'm convinced it'd be easier to quit

I stopped counting my apologies
Sure you hate the way "sorry" sounds
Forgiveness hanging from strings hung high
Echoing through darkness that surrounds

Spoken words simply empty air
They still hit harder than a stone
Their meaning beats me black and blue
You might leave me behind here
All alone
"I fear that one day you will wake up and discover that I am not as great as you once thought I was"
Amanda Kay Burke Oct 2024
Don't tell me to get out
If you do not want me to leave
Sad the day I actually do
Goodbyes worn on our sleeves

Necessary walls put between us
They cause stress to strike
Can never meet in the middle
Different views but so alike

When will I declare defeat?
Be the first to grow up?
Time to realize you never will
Stop counting seconds you interrupt

Animosity steadily building
Stone expressions swapped with pride
Oblivious to own ignorance
All the insecurity inside

Too stubborn to see truth
Is no way to change your opinion
Will forever be correct in this kingdom
Over which you hold dominion

There's nothing adequate to dethrone you
Don't acknowledge words I say
Wish we could live in harmony
Spoken sentences of spite stuck in the way

You do not make me feel welcome
Gravity of your rage makes me small
We're often overlooked in our haste
Broken heels pressed against wall

I never desire to leave the premises
With you memories were fondly made here
Living in endless frustration
A tender touch so insincere

Leaves me feeling captive
Instinct exclaiming
"Fight or flight?!"
How can I escape your wrath
Except running to him and proving you right?

I'm happier sleeping in car with him
Than my warm bed with a heart full of fear
Maybe if house felt like a home
I would actually want to live here
This makes me tear up because it was dn when my mom was still alive. I wish I had tried harder to get along with her instead of being stubborn like she is and fighting all the time. Now it's time I will never get back that I wasted arguing trying to prove who was right. Now I realize that it doesn't matter all that matters is cherishing the precious time you have with loved ones because you never know how long that time will last.
Amanda Kay Burke Oct 2024
They tell us we won't make it
We've wasted too much time
Was so much love between us
There's only walls to climb

You call me your babe
Call phone
Parents just call me dumb
They won't ever listen
A stranger I've become

I've heard it a million times
Each warning in the book
Analyzed situation for hours
You won't take a second look

I don't blame friends for being concerned
If it was me I'd do the identical thing
They should know I need belief in me
Not a phone I just let ring

The more I am smothered by my mom
More I want to defy
Given them answers for my reasons
They continue asking
"Why?"

Now I don't bother
Just tune their voices out
What is the point in talking?
All we do is shout

They're trying to protect skin
Heart from being broken
What they aren't seeing is in doing so
Lose me with each cruel word spoken

And I pull further from your reach
Don't know how to make you realize
I seem to be getting nowhere like this
Open up with honesty
Simply say my words are lies

"Be patient"
Beg you silently
Need time to get my life on track
True independence discovered through own decisions
Once free I'll be able to fully love you back
Written 12-16-18
To live a good life that’s effective
You have to be somewhat selective
Your mind isn’t frozen
Your thoughts can be chosen
The truth after all is subjective
This month only, all proceeds from custom limericks ($60 each) will go directly to victims of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina
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