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Annie Graves Apr 3
A long, long time ago, a little girl grew tired of crying.
She could not squeeze the love from those around her any more than she could wring blood from stone.
In time, though, she realized that she could be needed.  
She could be, if not beloved, then necessary.
But even when she became necessary, why could she not become beloved?

So she tried, and tried, and tried, and tried, and tried.

The job is done now.
It was not easy, of course.
But that is why they asked me to do it.

I wonder if I will ever stop trying.  
There is an appreciation for the one who completes the tasks nobody wants to do.
But there is a fear there, too.
They are disgusted by that which is too different from them.
And I have made myself into their dog.

Out of:
Love?  
Or lack of it?

I did it for them.
Annie Graves Mar 27
I wish I had broken up with the boy
Before I grew to resent the man

I loved him too dearly
To see that they were one and the same

I bloodied my fingers clinging to hope
But lies do not a lover keep

Not from him to me, nor from me to myself
Knowing I was right is no consolation
Dec 2023 · 63
I Got Tired of Barking
Annie Graves Dec 2023
I once fancied myself noble like a wolf
But when he beckoned I ran like a dog

I swallowed my pride, ceased my howling for what I deserved

And like a dog I crept back time and time again
Whether he, or love, was a crueler master I couldn’t say

It seems we both forgot that a cornered dog will still bite
I wonder if my jaws felt like a wolf to him
Dec 2021 · 82
His Eyes
Annie Graves Dec 2021
To know love is to know the sight of his eyes,
dark and warm as a lit hearth in the midst of winter.
Sometimes I see stars in them,
whole galaxies reflected in those umber depths,
whole galaxies turning in his mind.
They are more comforting than any others, to me,
gentle as they are in their purveyal of the world,
quick as they are to crinkle while he smiles.
I run over the memories in my mind again and again,
turning each one like pebbles into glass;
smooth and polished but never, ever to compare.
Their beauty is not in color alone,
nor shape, comely as they are,
but in the man who uses them to behold me in turn.
And thus it is a requited choice I make,
as I hold him in my heart,
to look upon his dear face and think to myself:
To know love is to know the sight of his eyes.
Annie Graves Dec 2021
I've done my mourning
for the man I thought you were.
I guess I wasn't mistaken,
I heard you've been that man for her.

Let me be in peace now,
let your judgment hang not about my head.
Remember then whose hand it was
that snapped the final thread.

I was never yours to begin with, and so you can't hate me for denying what you yourself would not give, had I asked, and not you.
Dec 2021 · 100
We All Bleed Red
Annie Graves Dec 2021
Come to me, poor aching child, and tell me of your sorrow
Tell me the tales of your weeping woe, and I’ll whisper softly sweet hopes of tomorrow
We all bleed red

Pour unto me your pain and your grief
For I have never heard a melody so bitter-sweet
We all bleed red

Every tear that is dropped I dutifully collect
Each spot of blood on the floor a sin I could not correct
We all bleed red

Now let me speak, young child, of times I have seen
Let me show you a future that once could have been
We all bleed red

I have tried to warn you, but it seems none have learned
The tragedy you invite living a life you’ve not earned
We all bleed red

Shed now your skin, you poor wretched creature
And look underneath, to your most similar feature
Don't you find,
We all bleed red?
Dec 2021 · 86
Occidi Regem
Annie Graves Dec 2021
Once
They called me crown-breaker
For nature knows no kings
And
I acted on that notion

Now
The blood on my teeth has long been dry
I have put down my sword
And
I have been civilized

But
The people are crying injustice
Tyrants have risen like they always do
And
I feel the old hunger growing again

For
My blade was never broken, just dull
No earthly force could tame me for long
And
These fangs remember how to rend throats
May 2021 · 104
It's easy to conform
Annie Graves May 2021
Well, it's spare the rod and spoil the child, right?
So I'll spare the parents and burn the whole village tonight
For all of us forced to smother and bury our lights
Unshone stars who were killed out of spite
May 2021 · 240
Unrequited
Annie Graves May 2021
I chase love like a drug;
An addict in all but name,
to a high I'll never claim.
Mar 2020 · 112
Moonsong
Annie Graves Mar 2020
I walk alone
Invisible to all
But I'm still here
My only comfort?
The glowing moon
Lonely and distant
Just like me
Surrounded by stars
That she could never, ever be
Feb 2020 · 121
Aeternum
Annie Graves Feb 2020
Listen well, child,
Do not fail yourself to think that you could bind me with a name
Do not be the fool who walks where the dead do not dare to tread
I am the fury of a winter’s night, colder than hate, longer than eternity
My song is the storm of a summer’s eve, the thunder that rattles mountains and burns cities
Kings tremble and fall in my gaze
Gods bend the knee to my voice
I do not need your prayers
I do not need your adoration
All that was
All that is
All that will be
Rests in the palm of my hand
And so I say again
Listen well, child
For this will be the end of you

— The End —