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 Feb 2013 Lael Kafsky
BDelaware
The in between's, middle's,
Nor here nor there’s boggle my
Mind.
Indigo, Mauve, Maroon are just
Blue, Purple and Red in my
Eyes.
Why anyone would ever want
To complicate such easy ways is beyond
Me.

Maybe’s, undecided’s.
Why not just yes’ and no’s?
Big city, small town.
Why suburbs?
Black and white.
No grey's.
That’s how I wish you would
See.

But you are you and I am me.
And maybe there’s just too much
In between,
For us
to Be.
I put all my secrets on a scrap of paper
I fold it up as tight as I can
And toss it into the flames
I watch as it turns from white to black,
Slowly curling up by the lick of the flames
The remains turn to ash
And the smoke rises into the night sky
I smile because I know my secrets are safe
With the stars
The distance between what we say and what we mean
The difference between what I need you to hear
And what you hear when I speak
Between what you need and what you say

That's the place where it hurts
That's the place where love turns into poison
And weapons

It should be so simple because I'm your little girl and you're my Dad
Who took me for walks on railroad tracks
And let me bring home every rock that I thought was special
You filled your pockets with them, you never told me they were just quartz
You read me stories and had a pickup truck named Betsy
Who couldn't drive past an ice cream shop without stopping because she was special too
You took me camping and swimming and hiking
(I canoe, canoe canoe?)
And played the Grateful Dead
You were so good at being a Dad

I remember you sitting me down and telling me that I'd always be your number one
That you would love me no matter what I did
I was just a kid
And I believed

But I grew up
And you got older and scareder and sadder
Things got a lot harder

I stopped being little, stopped being a piece of you
That must have hurt
Because you forgot your promise
You built a world of expectations and as it grew
So did the distance between you, and the good in you
You can be so mean
And the worst part is that I feel guilty for being mad at you
Because I know that you're just scared
Really really scared
I understand
I do

It's terrifying to love things that are not you
What if they leave?
What if they hurt you?
What if they don't love you enough?
Or the way that you want them to?
It's hard to have faith
Especially if you're not used to faith being had in you
But can't you see how much weight your fears put on me?

I wish you had faith in me
I wish you saw my good intentions
And respected me for my strengths
I wish I could be who I am around you
I am smart and opinionated and unafraid
I think critically and see the best in people
But those are the things in me that you seem to hate
I never thought it could hurt so much to feel disliked

It brings out the worst in me

So I hide
Because it is impossible to take care of both of us at the same time
If I take care of myself, it hurts you
If I take care of you, it hurts me

When we talk you ask me about money
And school
And money
And my future plans
And money
Have I called the dentist?
Done my taxes?
Applied for scholarships?

None of those things have any bearing on me

We haven't talked for months
I'm not going to call you and say that I'm sorry
I'm so sorry, but not for the reasons you think I should be
I'm sorry we can't just talk
I'm sorry it's hard for us to be around each other
I'm sorry we resent each other
I'm sorry that I miss you so much, but am so afraid to talk to you
I don't want to be scared of you
I'm sorry that there is a room in my head that holds memories of you lashing out at me
I just want you to remember that you love me
If you could remember that and let go of everything else
I would call

That's a promise
This is a lot more therapy than poetry. It doesn't feel like a poem to me, just a thing that I needed to put somewhere outside of me for a minute or two.
 Feb 2013 Lael Kafsky
Michael Gao
Oh, the old favorite
Boy meets girl.
Just like the movies
without the glitz and glam,
No hollywood magic here.

Fairytales, and love stories
Have always been her favorite.
And he, is just looking
looking for another notch on his belt
One more heart to break, one more soul to steal

Words sweet like honey,
and a serpentine tongue, he works his magic.
Alas Her guard is dropped.
All sense is lost.

Just like Houdini he performs his trick
And vanishes, into Thin. Air.

Oh poor Juliet.
Life is no fairytale and yet
There are monsters everywhere.
 Feb 2013 Lael Kafsky
Ashley
I have been used
I have been abused
But you wouldn’t know that

You say you see me
You say you know me
But you don’t
You just want
To see what you want
To hear what you want
But you wouldn’t know that

I was mistreated
Misunderstood
And hurt
People looked down on me
And treated me like
I was nothing
But you wouldn’t know that

You look through me
Not at me
You hear me
But don’t listen
You ignore my words
And ignore me
But you wouldn’t know that

I have been talked at
Not with
I have been told to
Not asked
I have been laughed at
Not with
But you wouldn’t know that

I’ve been treated
For so many different
Problems
Your head would spin
I’ve tried so many
Medications
You would go insane
But you wouldn’t know that

I’ve tried to work past
All the beatings
The darkness
The bullying
The abuse
It hurts
But you wouldn’t know that

I’ve told my story
To few others
Because the few I’ve told
Don’t believe my story
Because I’m me
Because I’m happy
As happy as can be
But you would believe that
Wouldn’t you?

And as you sit there
reading
You don’t know who I am
Where I’m from
What I do
What I want
What I wish
What I need
Because you simply
Don’t
Know
That
Nor
Do you care.
 Feb 2013 Lael Kafsky
Tim Knight
A leer leapt across his face,
it was not a surf smirk
that rolls up from coral cheeks,
but a snide smile that
surprised everyone there.

Coffee shop stopped and halted,
for this man fell to his knees
and asked to wed,
a girlfriend of small brunette proportions,
whom sat next to him
basking in good fortune.

Golden orbit
of metal bound
and knit,
graced her finger, slipped
down the knuckle,
fused to the skin
as every buckle ever worn.

For these two would make it,
sworn to mourn when the other fell.
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I made this path my own
I laid these stories out like bricks upon the ground...
As i walked they rose up behind me to create a wall.
An archaic brick by brick, blow by blow, defense.
At the moment i learnt to write, my name,
and to the fists that grabbed my hair, made my breakfast and told me,
'I find it hard to love you';
there began, the foundations of my wall.
Stories about the loving punches of a lover,
the cheating of a best friend, who took my trust to town,
and the loss of my father's approval.
Lines were dug, and the stones laid, down.
Subconsciously i forgot to feel love.
I forgot what it was like to feel another's voice in my ear,
whispering sweet nothings,
of my beauty and the whole entirety of sweet rapture i exulted.
And my path stacked up behind me.
I forgot what it was like,
the thrill of a hand slipping into mine, a kiss on the neck,
it made me blush.
And my wall rose up proud and fierce.
I got scared, adrenalin coursed through my veins,
as i wondered what this new sensation was
and i questioned the very nature of the action.
And my wall rose to the occasion and flung off the feeling of security.
I forgot the thrill of the chase,
compliments rebounded from my ears,
and i laughed at the words 'i love you'.
And my walls closed in.
I forgot the feeling,
of being safe.
Of lying in someone's arms and feeling it was just o.k,
to be like this.
And my walls became an alleyway.
I walked and walked,
sometimes i ran,
but i never, ever, ever looked back.
I stuffed these compliments, hand holding and back-to-chest memories
in the bricks
and scribbled on them
'love is not real', 'you are unworthy', 'love is just a word'
in black marker pen, bold and thick in line,
so i could one day i could find them,
maybe take them down and find my way out.
But these bricks had become 2ft, 3ft, 4ft deep.
I searched for new lovers, new friends, new beings,
to show me what love was,
but each time i made the same mistake;
I believed in the beauty i thought love was,
because i had forgotten,
but my lesson wasn't learnt.
I scribbled my insecurities on those bricks.
And how i miss those days of those **** infernal butterflies,
those **** feelings,
those feelings, i tried so hard to lose so long ago.
My feelings, set in mortar and concrete.
I understand my path is not set,
my past is behind me,
but i am lost,
i am lost,
I. Am. Lost.
Love is not logical.
Love is not set in stone.
Love is not to be captured, or held over by dominion.
I cannot understand love, or to be loved; it's written somewhere in my past.
Someone once held my face and called me beautiful,
and i lost the will to believe it,
and i made this path my own.
And now i subconsciously walk alone.
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