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Sep 2020 · 281
the smell of the air
Emily Sep 2020
An evening in November
Spent trodding over flattened grass
Between trees of a whispering orchard.
When the air is cold and sharp in your nose
And the sky’s aglow with gold,
When the night tastes sweet against your tongue
And the sun is pulled below,
Take a breath and make a wish
On the fading sunbeams between the orchard rows.
Jul 2020 · 407
the lonely astronaut
Emily Jul 2020
The lonely astronaut adrift in space made friends with the stars
Who gave him something to think about besides the chill in his arms
Who twinkled in tandem to the beat of his heart

“I have no one but these lights and they have no one but me
But because I cannot burn like they do,
I’ll drown in this infinite cavity”

The lonely astronaut surrendered himself to the void with a sigh
Who let him exist as a bystander to time
Who saw him as space debris and brushed him aside
May 2020 · 227
A Letter to: Me
Emily May 2020
So, you're sitting all alone feeling sorry for yourself,
Thinking you could do it if you were anybody else,
Like you stepped into the wrong vessel that you don't know how to steer,
When in reality, what stops you is your own pestering fear.

You're scared of tomorrow and ashamed of yesterday,
But time isn't on anyone's side anyway??
Hiding in your head will only repeat your vicious cycle,
And you know the things you need to finish are vital-

So stop fighting with yourself over when you'll get work done!
Because every night you say, "I haven't done enough."
It seems your most productive hours run from sunset to sunrise.
You went to sleep knowing that in half an hour, the birds will be awake outside.

Fix it, because you can't continue like this.
This isn't the sort of normalcy you miss.
Meant to be spoken kind of fast, kind of aggressive, very accusatory.
May 2020 · 445
Meteor Shower
Emily May 2020
If the galaxy came down in a tempest
And all the stars fell in the rain
I’d bottle up a supernova
And send it off your way.
Every morning during breakfast
I’d drink the Milky Way
And if ever the galaxy falls anew
We can barricade the storm drains.
An old piece
Jan 2020 · 201
Summer Reverie
Emily Jan 2020
Summer leaves so quickly. Wait! Come back. Give me more time, I meant to ask my friends to go on an adventure with me.
 
I was going to ask, "Can we make breakfast together? I'll wash the dishes afterward, then we can dress like the smiles we'll wear for the rest of the day.
“Let's go to the park, because I brought my camera and our eyes are still shedding the last of bits sleep, the morning sun keeps trying to kiss our noses through the treetops, and we look like tired angels.
“Then we can go to the elementary school playground and swing on the same sets like we used to, kicking higher and higher until we let the momentum die and our feet are back on the ground. The same slides will burn us, and the monkey bars will not accept our hands for the calluses they've lost.
“For lunch, can we bike down to the river and eat whatever we've packed in the shade under the bridge? It's rocky, but I know a flat stone where we can sit and count the ducks.
“When evening falls, let's go back home and throw blankets and pillows in the back of my car, drive under the yellow streetlights with the windows rolled down like some scene from a coming-of-age Sundance film."
I was going to ask, "Can we park under the stars and laugh until daybreak?"
 
Summer came and went and I watched it go.
Summer is past, and all I can do is try to imagine it all, then hit rewind.
Nov 2019 · 306
Fascination
Emily Nov 2019
Fascinate me
Gift me with a facsimile
Of a long-forgotten melody

Sing it to me
Play my heart's strings
In the ray of a full moon's beam

Epiphany
Of love in low lighting
Which ****** my mind with reverie

Cacophony
Fill my lungs with noise
Underneath a violent symphony
Oct 2019 · 277
Drowning in Silence
Emily Oct 2019
The silence in your head is drowning you
The waves of trivial regret crash into your senses, and everything snaps at once
Leaving you to sink in a muffled quiet
The white sting behind your eyelids is quickly replaced by a humming in your chest and a pounding in your throat
The feeling is weightless, but this feeling is also an anchor that hasn't yet touched the sand

The worst part is, you can stop the waves
You said, just this once, I'll let the suffocating emptiness in my head swallow me
But you said that last time
And you'll say it next time, too

(Because this feels as good as it feels crushing, and as right as it feels wrong.)
Aug 2019 · 1.5k
Candlelight
Emily Aug 2019
Flicker, little candlelight
While you still can
Until you're the last wick still lit on the candle stand
Aug 2019 · 287
Up or Down
Emily Aug 2019
Up or down
Breathe or drown
Turn your back and face the deep
Scare yourself and spin around

Watch me fly
Watch me cry
The blue calls me closer
I won't turn my back tonight
May 2019 · 293
Press and Keep
Emily May 2019
I wish I could press and keep your love
Like you press and keep your flowers
Apr 2019 · 194
Shopping
Emily Apr 2019
It was prettier on the hanger.
Apr 2019 · 377
Ex-familiars
Emily Apr 2019
Those old friends and faces
Eyes, tears, and places
Figures I have never forgotten
Forever laughing in forgotten spaces

Those friends and enemies
Are etched in my memory
They're who I am
They're part of my history

I wish I could forget those faces.

But those ex-familiars leave a mark
In my mind like a scar
How dare I try and forget them?
How dare I try to forget my heart?
Mar 2019 · 413
Painful Drunk
Emily Mar 2019
Breathe in, breathe out.
Drink your sorrows, ***** doubt.
Tip the bottle, spill the wine.
Inhale love to lose your mind.
Mar 2019 · 533
Time
Emily Mar 2019
I've never been productive with my time-
I've written poetry and cried
Watched lovers love and die
Acted like I hadn't lied
Asked no one why, why, why-
But I have thought about things,
Things worthy of time.
Mar 2019 · 212
Adventures
Emily Mar 2019
To all the adventures I'll never go on:

If there was a way become someone else, believe me, I'd make the change.
I'd happily enter a different world where I can watch magic shape a mountain range,
If I could leave this life of paper and pencils and meaningless words behind,
I could be important, meet heroes and uncover how our fates intertwine.
I'd collect stories to exchange
Over bottles of royal wine.

No one has adventures in this world, everyone lives the same as their neighbors.
No one and everyone are in no one and everyone's favors.
We go to school and gain knowledge that's sat still for so long it's stale.
Isn't it wrong that everyone is excited to stop learning for a day when it hails?
The stories we tell are of government traitors
And explosives sent through the mail.

If only there was a way to be more than myself.
To be rich with life instead of with wealth.
To know love exists not just between pages
But also through the pulsing hearts in rib cages.

From: someone who wants to want to go on.
Feb 2019 · 199
Sunflowers
Emily Feb 2019
A flower for you to keep you in good spirits
Because we don't really want to live life like we're misfits
For you, a bouquet tied with a thousand threads
Because even sunflowers droop under the weight of their heads

This isn't appraisal, and I'm not one to condemn
But if things don't go our way we'll pretend

That the flowers are wilting
And our mothers are weeping
And hopefully someone is willing
To lend us a hand
Feb 2019 · 277
Gentle Darkness
Emily Feb 2019
It was before time
And it will be after time.
These days we'd rather it be never (present)
Because these days it is always (present)

Do we fear it?
Yes, we do.

Have we reason to fear it?
No, we don't.

It does not rage
Or obstruct
Or consume
Or destroy.
It accepts what it is given.
It envelops, and it kisses, and it hugs,
And it wipes away the tears it's caused.
We'd be wise to let it do so
Because if all we ever knew was darkness
What would we ever have to fear?

What tears would we cry
What hugs would we receive
We'd see no troubles from the outside
So What Would We Need?
Jan 2019 · 199
Suns
Emily Jan 2019
There is more than one sun.

The hot sun
The summer sun that beats down on our shoulders and paints our cheeks
The no school sun that brings life to our eyes and asks what we seek

The cold sun
The winter sun that hides behind the sky and blankets her light
The snow tracked sun that shows us our breath and lengthens the night

There is more than one sun.
Jan 2019 · 368
Only Words
Emily Jan 2019
The passion of two young lovers is enough to ignite a star.

They trust,
despite the uncertainty of their world.

They care,
despite the apathy of their world.

They love,
despite the fact that they are only words.
Jan 2019 · 251
King
Emily Jan 2019
I crown you king
So long live thee
Rule with pride
And hold the key

Be wise and bold
Don't lose your court
Heed your people
And don't fall short

Raise well your heir
Invite the lords
Joust to marry
So sharpen the swords

Battle to live
Number the lost
Be sure the war
Was worth the cost

Now it is time
To say goodbye
Join the stars
Above the skies
Jan 2019 · 17.4k
Sea
Emily Jan 2019
Sea
I am the deep, the sky in reverse
I have what you seek, for better or worse

I am the blue of infinite depth
I've swallowed the crews and cleared the decks

You are afraid or maybe intrigued
Of the place where you played and also was freed

Kiss me now like you did before
Give me your vow and the ocean is yours.

— The End —