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Apr 2020 · 165
Bones
Nolan Willett Apr 2020
I had an interest in archaeology,
Sorting truth from lie,
‘Til I realized those remains,
Will someday be you and I.
Apr 2020 · 50
Untitled
Nolan Willett Apr 2020
I haven’t been myself lately,
And by lately I mean about 6 or 7 years.
Apr 2020 · 165
Esteem, In Vain
Nolan Willett Apr 2020
Some few are immortalized for millennia,
But how long is millennia, truly,
Compared to when time began, newly
Forged, to the time where we
trace history to Mesopotamia?
Could it be?
That we are fools to seek peace of mind,
In the things we may leave behind?
All will be forgotten and fall into nothing;
So please someone tell me,
Why our names should mean something.
Apr 2020 · 180
Untitled
Nolan Willett Apr 2020
If we can never sail the ocean
We’ll still dream of the sea;
all have their own notion,
Of what it means to be free.
Mar 2020 · 102
Untitled
Nolan Willett Mar 2020
Welcome to isolation,
We hope you enjoy your stay.
Our rooms have no windows
And the WiFi password is decay,
So you don’t have to use data
While avoiding your acrimony,
And you can talk to people from far away,
So you have no excuse to be lonely.
Just relax; it’s just a little illness,
Do not suppose or apperceive.
It’s a fad that’ll end soon,
And at least YOU will get to leave.
Mar 2020 · 41
Untitled
Nolan Willett Mar 2020
To sleep again,
To seek the dreams
Left behind
When intruded by the real
And inhospitable
Feb 2020 · 115
Untitled
Nolan Willett Feb 2020
Love and Hate
Are not opposites
We hate what we love
And love what we hate
And I have never hated
That which I’ve never loved
And I’ve never loved
What I have not hated
Indifference
Apathy
Hate and Love’s
True antonym
Jan 2020 · 82
Novel?
Nolan Willett Jan 2020
Verse and poetry
Is an emotional release
Pristine and beautiful.
So wonderfully simple,
I don’t know if I could ever
Write a novel
Jan 2020 · 51
Untitled
Nolan Willett Jan 2020
Cast out your hate
And cast out your sorrow
No matter how bleak
There’s always tomorrow
Jan 2020 · 50
Untitled
Nolan Willett Jan 2020
Watch what you say,
They imprison seers here
Jan 2020 · 251
Virgil
Nolan Willett Jan 2020
I don’t want to put off living
And I don’t want to put off experience
I want to have everything life can give me
Be everything I can be
And I’m real sorry you don’t know the difference
Between being alive and simply existing
Hide these thoughts behind worthless rhymes
They say a coward dies many times
So you keep your eyes straight ahead
I want to die only when I’m dead
To die once is enough
Jan 2020 · 468
Centers
Nolan Willett Jan 2020
Dusk and Dawn,
Back-Streets and Alleys,
A portrait halfway Drawn,
The center of a Valley.

I like the In-Betweens:
Those things which have begun but not Ended,
Where things are not always what they Seem
And our belief is Suspended.

A jagged Mountain grasping for the Clouds,
Not quite there but well into the Sky
Like a prisoner Unbowed,
With a jailor to Defy.

The boring, uneventful Days,
Which alienate and leaves us Whirled.
Manifested, tangible Displays,
Of the Space between the Worlds.

Life is the greatest Halfway,
It’s not so long a Route.
So I will resolve to Stay
To see it all play Out.
Dec 2019 · 607
Maladaptive Daydreamer
Nolan Willett Dec 2019
From a young age,
I took hours to imagine scenarios
Where interesting things happened,
Mostly to me,
To deal with an unkind reality.
A coping mechanism
That I never really grew out of.
Nov 2019 · 137
Untitled
Nolan Willett Nov 2019
Bile risen,
Unbidden,
To my throat.
Liquid crimson,
Of my own volition,
Reminds me I’m still human.
In spite of what I’ve wrote,
I crumble up the note.
Crimson liquid spite note human suicide blood
Nov 2019 · 333
Pyrrhic
Nolan Willett Nov 2019
Battles lost and Wars won
Capsules and Caffeine
Minds warped and souls undone
Dreaming state of being

You listen for what we now may hear
Eternal cosmic mysteries
But a cost paid too dear
Another Pyrrhic victory

Too far now
A mirror opaque
But we’ll make it back somehow
And then we will awake
Nov 2019 · 382
Reincarnate
Nolan Willett Nov 2019
I died.
Old and weathered by the sun
  Knowing that my race was run
   I was not contrite,
    I knew my time was finite
     But my story was told,
      And eventually I grew old
     A kind reality,
    Hopefully awaiting me,
   I did not know what my life was to be worth
  To a new and unknown earth
Kicking and screaming
I was born.
Experience forwards and backwards
Nov 2019 · 80
Untitled
Nolan Willett Nov 2019
Emaciated  eremite,
Elegiac eccentric,
You are seen,
Though not entirely keen
On being so;
Unfortunate that those who wish to hide
Cannot turn invisible,
And that those who are so rare,
Are prone to such despair,
That one capable enough to scry
Cannot yet hide themself from one blind as I:
Nevermind;
Your true self you will find.
Nov 2019 · 386
Forever Untitled
Nolan Willett Nov 2019
My tongue could never keep up with my thoughts,
And I stutter.
My thoughts could never keep up with my ambition,
And I falter.
So it just makes sense my works will forever be untitled,
And I shudder.
Nov 2019 · 348
Untitled
Nolan Willett Nov 2019
Ah, the Spiritus Mundi,
The culmination of what I have searched for,
Finally you unveil yourself to me,
And it is all worth it.
In my dreams,
The world has gone to waste,
Everyone has gone sane,
And I am the one again left behind:
No different from reality.
I no longer care for structure or for rhyme,
Or if my words mean anything to anyone
But me,
For I am finally free,
From what seems an eternity,
Of torment by confusion,
A sentence from a past life,
If you believe that sort of thing.
Like the modernists of the past,
Stream of consciousness,
I am disillusioned, and
Yes, my vision is assisted
By drink, and by drug,
A revelation unplanned,
But not unwelcome.
I can only hope my rhyme
Scheme and my structure
Parallels the nonsense
That I am seeing,
And that it makes sense to some kindred spirit
Somewhere,
And I love them.
I will not hide how I feel for your reposts
Nov 2019 · 111
Crucible
Nolan Willett Nov 2019
They have forced me to the cliff,
And I am on the verge,
Now I must choose to jump,
Or my true self must emerge.
Nov 2019 · 243
Inexorable
Nolan Willett Nov 2019
I’ve been called a freak,
And I’ve been called a creep,
But all I’ve ever done is love,
And a romantic ideal seek.
I’ve been called a sinner,
And I’ve been called a drunk,
But what alternative do I have,
When all my hopes have been sunk?
I’ve been called a loner,
A pathetic person,
That my disposition,
Causes an inevitable aversion.
I’ve been told I’m repulsive,
A disgusting human being,
But I very much doubt that you,
Have seen what I have seen.
So call me what you want,
Call me what you may,
For me it doesn’t register,
All the words you have to say
Nov 2019 · 911
Untitled
Nolan Willett Nov 2019
I wish I were like iron,
Malleable and flexible,
But I think I am more a diamond,
Pretty but not very practical.
Nov 2019 · 135
Bluegrass
Nolan Willett Nov 2019
Coal dust, pressure-diamond,
Blue men, horse people,
Pretend we’re Cincinnati-an
Some old Baptist steeple
Appalachia,dying slowly
Educashion, all flunk
Accent, speaking drolly
Moonshine whiskey drunk
Class traitor, transgression
Fly-over, fat food
Pensions, Matt Bevin
Impertinent, cancer brood
Capricious, whimsy seasons
Quaint house, rusted down
Leave, many reasons
Stay, familiar town
Oct 2019 · 90
Untitled
Nolan Willett Oct 2019
I want to have poet friends
Where we sit in coffee shops
Caffeine and idea high
Until we find our flow
Laugh and cry
Bring each other low
So we can fly back high
And we can’t pay our rent
And we are disappointments
But in those little moments
We are finally something to be jealous of
A clandestine union of talkers!
Oct 2019 · 63
Untitled
Nolan Willett Oct 2019
Can’t be told told how to see
By those who have never saw
Or how to them I should be
When their sight is flawed
Can’t be told what to do
By those who have never done
No advice on how to think
By the ones who’ve never thought
Or how to fight
When they’ve never even fought
How are they so certain that they’re right?
Oct 2019 · 157
Untitled
Nolan Willett Oct 2019
Your typical conceited bore,
Forgot what they’re searching for,
Everything becomes a chore,
Others’ pains don’t register anymore
Can’t resonate anymore
Can’t be held accountable anymore
Cause you can’t even see the shore
Anymore
Lock and bolt the door,
Pass out on the floor,
To dream of things which you adore
A mental sub-conscious war.
Oct 2019 · 73
Untitled
Nolan Willett Oct 2019
The weight of the universe,
But I’ve never had such strong arms
Seems to me a bit perverse
Deliver the sleeping to life and then immerse
Them in hostility and harm,
But for a few consolations
We would refuse to bear it
Preferring the cessation
And subsequent damnation,
And misery outwit.
But that imperfect face,
And the words it leaves spoken
Gifts me trust in the human race,
A suit of armor encased,
Until my faith can again be broken.
Oct 2019 · 434
Thelema
Nolan Willett Oct 2019
I chant lines,
To test if they are viable,
I tell them “I’m fine”,
’Cause to them I’ve always been the reliable

ONE

I hate others
To test their love for me
I hear in different colors
And through them I see

TWO

Branching paths, one green one red,
One leads to salvation,
The other to the dead,
The story of the migration:

THREE

Wandering wise men;
How vain to designate themselves,
Devoid of any sin,
And lacking our spells.
END
Oct 2019 · 357
Untitled
Nolan Willett Oct 2019
Do not worry;
They are footnotes in our biographies
Oct 2019 · 391
Flame
Nolan Willett Oct 2019
Reading in the library
With hair all aflame,
Everyone else looked the same,
But she seemed quite contrary.
I think it was Thoreau she had open,
A proper transcendentalist,
Like a lost soul missed
With some words left unspoken.  
It took just a moment to leave me in awe,
Of the sparkling flame,
Who forever in my mind will have no name,
Just someone I saw.
Oct 2019 · 341
Empath
Nolan Willett Oct 2019
We are the empaths,
Others’ burdens fall unto our shoulders,
Solaced because we deal with the aftermath,
And it is our hearts that smolder.
We feel eternity,
Suffer every blow,
So they may know equanimity,
Our own desire forgo.
It is no condition to be envied,
Something no one should suffer,
Too soon it leaves you feeling empty,
And the reverse of what you once were.
Selflessness begets selfishness,
We are left hollowed out,
Left now to our self-interest,
Because for so long we went without.
Oct 2019 · 623
Sonder
Nolan Willett Oct 2019
A heavy, inward sigh,
As I stare at all the passerby,
Each with their own lives,
I wonder if they think of mine?
Sep 2019 · 310
Some Advice
Nolan Willett Sep 2019
Do not show the world you’re hurting
It does not deserve to know
Devote yourself to the diverting
And put on a good show
Drive the knife in deeper
Let it all run out
It’s a painful procedure
But that’s what life is all about
Do not show any fear
Go ahead, make yourself a martyr
So drear, so utterly clear
There’s some beauty in self-******
Kick me while I’m down
And spit into my eye
If you want a frown,
Then do not say goodbye
Jul 2019 · 162
Untitled
Nolan Willett Jul 2019
I wish I could cut out my heart
So I would never have to taste disappointment
again
How could something that causes so much
Needless bitterness and despair be such a vital *****?
Jun 2019 · 167
Untitled
Nolan Willett Jun 2019
This is not about recreation
Nor the asinine seeking of thrilling sensations
Rather it is my focus
To reach an apotheosis
As a kind of deity
Using the splendor and solemnity
Of the universe and it’s energy
Paralleling eternity
Crafting a new identity
To trace serenity
We are all on the path and the road leads upward
Ever
Jun 2019 · 934
Conditional Love
Nolan Willett Jun 2019
The door has been opened, the curtains lifted
That which is unseen now I see
And though through my life I have drifted
In woeful ignorance of its majesty
It’s beauty unknown to me
My soul is now uplifted
Jun 2019 · 325
Thaumaturgy
Nolan Willett Jun 2019
I chant the right incantation
With a little inflection at the end,
So why can’t I ascend?
Am I doomed to this stagnation?
And the wrong spirit offend?
Jun 2019 · 111
Code your Thoughts
Nolan Willett Jun 2019
01010011011011110010000001101110011011110010000001101111011011100­11001010010000001100011011000010110111000100000011100110110010101­100101001000000111010001101000011001010110110100100000
And no one can judge
Jun 2019 · 162
Untitled
Nolan Willett Jun 2019
They told me I could be anything,
So I tried to be something.
They said “that’ll never work”,
So I ask them what I should do
They say “why are you asking me?
Be yourself.”
Gee thanks
Jun 2019 · 112
You may never move on
Nolan Willett Jun 2019
A newborn spirit cries in my cradle
An uncorked spirit falls from my table
Innocent Spirit claws at their cable
Renew my Spirit I am unable
Never
Jun 2019 · 1.6k
Augur
Nolan Willett Jun 2019
In ancient unenlightened days,
There came a man whose triumph would’ve laid
Foundations for a better world,
Our inner compassions unfurled.
For we thought we found a holy seer,
To rid our lives of all our fear,
To tell us what to say and what to think
What to do and what to drink.
He did his best,
I can attest,
To warn us of that one,
Who would see all our progress undone.
Indeed, many in our history have been
Told what constitutes sin,
Left with a hurtful scar,
By one who never wandered very far.
And our true messiah saw
This prophet for a gaping maw,
Another of the tempter’s tricks,
A man whose touch could heal the sick.
For he loved God more than most
But found him in the cosmos,
Our divine provenance,
Rooted in collective consciousness,
Not an oath to take or die
Or a being to mollify,
Nor any kind of credo,
But an universal ego.
Heeding logic over gullibility
He recognized the liability,
One who would see them die for naught,
And stray them from the insight they sought.
But in trying to break the cycle
He heralded its arrival,
Enshrining the son,
In the cursed three-in-one.
He made a martyr
And thus followed generational slaughter.
Promising sacred haven,
Causing war and famine.
For deceivers are known to appear as savior,
For them there is no pleasure greater,
In casting down the righteous,
And rendering them mindless.
And so millennia could have been spared
From some cruelty our kind have shared-
So long and so onerous, never ending-
And our pity’s rending.
The earth’s inhabitants coalesced,
No longer their souls oppressed,
Saved from prejudice,
Alas, poor Judas.
Sorry I published this a couple times I had to fix some things and I like it so
Jun 2019 · 198
Upon Reflection
Nolan Willett Jun 2019
When everything looks the same
Stay home and play a video game,
When you lose track of the things life took
Sit down and read a book ,
When justifying yourself becomes a chore
And you can’t take it anymore,
Question your choices and your existence
Give yourself a little distance,
Some time to figure some things out,
Like where to go and what life’s all about.
Think about how far you’ve got
What you’ve found and what you’ve sought,
Do a little introspection,
We feel a little better upon reflection.
Jun 2019 · 178
Evil
Nolan Willett Jun 2019
Evil isn’t caring more about yourself than others
But tricking others into caring more for you
Than themselves
Jun 2019 · 124
Untitled
Nolan Willett Jun 2019
20 something year olds should be writing about how in love they are,
Or about how they’ve come so far
Or the beauty of a day,
How green the grass is in May.
Not about our collective disappointment,
Our detestable confinement,
Trying to find a culprit,
For a hostile employment market.
Celebrating illness and anxiety,
Losing hold of sanity,
From feeling superfluous.
God, who failed us?
Jun 2019 · 114
Untitled
Nolan Willett Jun 2019
You think ‘cause I’m not saying anything,
I haven’t anything to say?
You’re an idiot.
Jun 2019 · 887
Bartleby
Nolan Willett Jun 2019
If you’d like me to,
I would change my world view,
I’d lift back up the veil,
And learn to see in Braille,
I would cut out my tongue
And leave some songs unsung,
I’d go to bed at a reasonable hour
And adopt some face that isn’t sour,
I’d work a nine to five like the best of them
Till the lights inside go dim,
Get a little overtime,
Follow the established paradigm,
It’s not so big a deal,
So I will make no appeal,
I’ll put on a suit and tie
And wait my turn to die.
Jun 2019 · 369
Untitled
Nolan Willett Jun 2019
Maybe it’s me who’s changed,
And I dread to sound
Old,
Or pretentious,
Or out of touch,
Or Like I’m trying to sound like something
I’m not,
But the world seems a bit more superficial
That’s it used to be
Jun 2019 · 223
Untitled
Nolan Willett Jun 2019
Maybe I went a hair too far
And maybe should have cared a little more
Maybe I said some things I shouldn't,
But you said you loved me for my candor
I was never one to apologize
And I hate that about myself
But even so I’ll never call you back
Or collect my things from your shelf.
Just know I’ll not forget
The time we spent together apart
Talking about poetry silently
And bashing modern art.
Did you see the signs?
That I valued time most when I spent it alone?
That I love that Keats quote,
“The poet has no identity of his own.”?
For even this is a manufactured feeling
I tell a lot of lies
I never had a loved one
And I live a lot of lives.
What do you want to hear today?
Jun 2019 · 803
Luddite
Nolan Willett Jun 2019
You’re in No-Man’s land, shells all around
Not yet forgotten, but not easily found
Silence is a peaceful but elusive sound,
What a poor excuse for a proving ground.
Lay down, meltdown, fade into the background,
‘Cause all you’ve ever known is letdowns.
May 2019 · 364
Untitled
Nolan Willett May 2019
All was given to
Me and I threw it away
To spite existence
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