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  Jul 7 Kalliope
Barker
It's a wonderful thing to love,
And to be loved,

But how terrible it can be,
To love,
And to be loved.
(c)barker
Kalliope Jul 7
A talk with my sister, and something feels right,
She listens so calmly, she softens my night.
She saw all the bruises that covered my skin,
And says she won’t watch me go through that again.

She tells me I’m worthy of peace
and of rest,
That being myself doesn't make me a jest.
No more pretending, stop shrinking to fit-
It's not worth losing love to please others, is it?

And those who don’t like it? Well, let them all go,
She’ll stand right beside me through my highs and lows.
She says I am loved without mask or disguise,
And I realize I could've just been me this whole time.
I don't have to carry, I can ask for assistance without fear of being mocked or met with resistance.
I thought myself alone
She was here the whole time
Kalliope Jul 7
It’s small things that mean nothing
But say everything to me,
Because everything has a reason-
A meaning I just have to see.

I can’t let things be as they are,
No, nothing’s a simple coincidence.
You linger in my atmosphere;
Surely, that’s not an accident.

But why?
And what does it mean?
I’m presented with puzzles
But not all pieces are seen.

I wish I had never looked,
My thoughts no longer free,
Now my conscience is booked,
Chained to what it perceives.

I just can’t help myself,
I just had to know,
Now I’m drowning in questions-
When I should be letting it go.
I saw something I shouldn't have while looking where I wasn't supposed to be
There is a house with no windows,
built of hours no one counted where the moon keeps its shoes by the door –
always ready, never resting.

Inside, a lantern burns without wick, kept alive by the hands of someone who forgot what their own name feels like when spoken aloud.

They move like wind in a locked room,
making space where none was offered,
balancing skies on their shoulders
like it’s just weather,
not weight.

Their footsteps don’t echo.
They’ve trained even the floorboards not to cry out.

Somewhere, outside the locked hush, another figure stands – also barefoot, also flickering – writing prayers in the form of poems into the dark with nothing but breath and hope
and the ache of recognition.

Not asking to be let in.
Just standing close enough
that the cold doesn’t win.

Because some people don’t knock.
They just stay.
In silence.
Like light does when no one’s watching.
Someday, somewhere, you’ll meet me standing at a crossroads. Not to lead you anywhere, but to walk beside you when you forget where you were going. No maps, no promises. Just presence. Just light that stays.

I’ll stay there – if only for a moment, that forgets how to end…
Kalliope Jul 6
Heat waves rush my body,
Warming my skin,
Threatening to blind me,
But I just breathe it all in.

Sunglasses on,
Two hands on the wheel,
We’ve got somewhere to go,
And I want something to feel.

She plays in the park,
Discovering more every day,
And I watch her quietly,
Realizing I’m the same way.

I thank the moon
For all the guidance she’s given,
But I want to live now
That the sun has risen.

So I’ll play the monster,
And swing on the swings,
Chase my daughter around
For the joy that it brings.

It feels so good,
Being free in the sun-
I can assess my thoughts later,
Right now, I’m having fun.
Sometimes moments not centered around healing can heal too
  Jul 6 Kalliope
RJ
I waited for silence to speak,
for an apology wrapped in truth,
for the echo of her voice to say,
“You were right to love me — I was wrong to leave.”

But closure never comes in words we don’t hear.
It comes in accepting what was never said.
It lives in the quiet decision to
stop bleeding for someone who’s already healed.

I thought closure meant answers.
Now I know
it means no longer needing them.

It’s standing at the edge of a memory
and choosing not to fall in.
It’s hearing her name and
feeling nothing sharp.
Only space.
Only breath.

Closure isn’t the door she locked behind her.
It’s the one I just opened for myself.
No key.
No goodbye.
Just me
and peace
finally making eye contact.
Kalliope Jul 6
Skin on skin,
Fingers interlocked,
Hair cascades down,
My stomach tied in knots.

Breathing grows heavy,
Anticipation runs high,
When I caress you,
The most rewarding sigh.

Your eyelashes flutter,
Brushing against my cheek,
Eyes closed in surrender,
No words we need to speak.

I trace constellations
Across your beating chest,
Each quiet inhalation
Sings my worries to rest.

You pull me closer still,
Hands settled at my waist,
Time slows to a hush
In this sacred, silent place.

Locked within this embrace,
I fear making the wrong move-
A connection so unexpected,
This beautiful moment with you.
The warmth in this silence,
melting down my freeze
Maybe I should slow down
it's okay to enjoy quiet peace
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