Once upon a time,

Isn't that how fairy tales are supposed to start?

A man and a woman.

Fall in love.

And live happily ever after.

Isn't that how they all end?

Oh, not anymore?

There's too many dragons getting in the way.

Sleep is growing harder
Always the forest
Spirt tell me what you need to
I want to sleep again
It's been years since it happened for the first time
The dream had replayed ever night
The stables were on fire
They pounded after me
I was scared
Running from the snarls
And snapping of teeth
I ran into the flame swallowed stall
But I wasn't afraid
They engulfed me
And the sad eyes of a wolf
Looked at me from the other side of
The stable
Why child? Do you **** yourself?
It always
Ended in those words
I was scared to understand those words
But now years later
I run the forest through
Searching
Always searching
Until I can find them
The trees all bow to the ground
I was home
I could run freely with them
Why child? Do you **** yourself?
These words haunt me
As the wolves eyes burn me
I decide I will name the him spirt wolf
Sprit wolf take me home

Was your voice an illusion,
That haunted me, like a ghost?
Was your touch just the morning breeze,
That tickled my eyelashes and woke me up?
And were your eyes just puddles,
Left over from the rain,
That dried out from the summer sun?
Because it was like one second you were there,
And you were anything and everything,
And all that was in between.
I could see you, and you were the moon.
And now it looks as if you’ve disappeared,
But I’m still here,
Clinging to the ragged ends you’ve left behind.
So were you ever there at all?
Or, maybe,
You were just a fragment of my mind,
That shattered when you left.

long long ago
your verses did decline
an invitation to ******
to merge with mine
no loss was made no profit forgone
except the one that stayed unborn

your verse became a voice unbound
testing waters deep within
blowing hot blowing warm
underwater treasure newly found
in the collective it went for a swim
I wait at the shore lamp in hand

verse and voice are not enough
the fire within needs a touch
gathering words on the beach
unbidden within seashells hidden
mindful the hunters crouch
i the gladly hunted am so much

- Vijayalakshmi Harish
  19.11.2012

Copyright © Vijayalakshmi Harish

Show me all the scars you have,
and the stories behind them

I want to see the scars on your fingers.
And hear about all the demons you had to fight off with your bare hands.
did you win?

I want to see the scars on your back.
From all the people who have ever hurt you.
And how I vow to not add to that collecetion.

I want to see the scars on your heart.
well i can't see them, but i can assure you i feel them.
those are the scars that hurt the most and im  sure some of those wounds are still open.

And i want to see the scars on your face.
those distinct markings that give you your features.
those marking that say you were not afraid to get up close and get hurt
for a reason you saw fit.

Will you show me all your scars?
I wont try to fix them, i promise.
because i know some of them you hold dear.
you can give me any scar you want though. i want a reminder of you.
i wont flinch, it won't even hurt.
Im used to it, so cut as deep as you want.

Darling, show me all your scars.

I lied when I told you
that I was okay, that
colors were still colors
and that my thoughts
were still pure.

you should've known better,
dear, that I am the dirtiest
form of clean, gritty smile
and the inescapable nature
of a poet.

don't look so surprised
at the words that bounce
off the roof of my mouth.
I know you shudder at
my carelessness, at my
inclination to destruction,
but don't look at me that way,
darling.

don't come around,
if you can't thrive on decay.
don't think twice about leaving,
I never promised you a martyr.