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Abigail Card Jul 2018
i weave among the corpses
some return to dust
others (those a'cursed with wealth)
remain in steadfast boxes
left to rot without the help of worms

i pause in front of tomb
that appears to my young eyes, ancient
balancing the rickety frame against my thighs
i attempt to pull my phone from
the recesses of my backpack

"No," He croons. "Let the dead sleep."

i walk back to the main road
all the while wondering
if festered flesh may dream.
Abigail Card Jul 2017
a poet is someone who
pulls their pain
out from underneath their skin
and sings it
into ink

a poet is someone who
shares their pain
without
spreading it
Abigail Card Aug 2018
I visited the beach today
the sun was warm
then hot
then scorching

the sun left his mark on me
the way many men have

I visited the beach today
the water was frigid
then cold
then cool

she is the kinder of the two
allowing herself to change around me

we have applied these gendered pronouns to nonhuman forces
through gender we have shaped our understanding of these forces that are truly beyond our understanding.

the sea goes on
the sun lives on
and I am burned and cooled
all in a day
Abigail Card Dec 2017
when my poetry became bitter
i knew i would leave you
Abigail Card Jun 2017
california is as dry as my *****.


you could no more fill the reservoirs


than me.
Abigail Card Nov 2017
You were sitting there
denying.

While I laid on our bed
slowly drying.

And you wouldn't have been able to tell
from looking,

which                                      
one                                
of                          
us                    
was            
dying.
Abigail Card Jun 2017
each time you said
   "they cannot take this away"
each time they did
   and you were quiet
until your silence
   became my death
Abigail Card Jun 2017
every time we kissed,
   I wanted to spit out your tongue.
every time you held my hand,
   I wanted to crush your bones.

I should have
   I should have
      I should have

I should have told you about the way you made me feel so small, everyday.

now you will apologize,
until I forget that I hate you.

But. Oh. My. Love.

I will never forget.
Abigail Card Jan 2018
a tornado flew around my room,
     leaving a trail of dust clouds
billowing in its wake

the dust is getting in my eyes,
     and underneath my contacts.
will you be my eyes, for a time?  
     and tell me what you see,
          
the tornado didn't touch you,
          but it blinded me.
Abigail Card Jul 2017
I don't hold on to those I love
  very tight.
sometimes they hold me close
  and I begin to choke.

I may love you
  but stay away
  for a time.

give me room
  to breathe
  to run
  to grow.
Abigail Card Aug 2018
Gold painted letters
are beyond my reading,
beyond my age.

Instead I'll pray to someday read
such truth as may be
written before me.
Abigail Card Oct 2017
I would like to live in the trees
making highways of the branches
leaping, spruce to maple
finding homes in the crooks of magnolias
the sun shining through green stained glass
washing me with soft light.
Abigail Card Aug 2017
growing up means understanding
your behavior
in light of your life
in light of your people

growing up means looking in the mirror
and seeing a patchwork quilt
seeing the harmony of fabrics
the stitches
and the hands that sewed them

and loving it all.
Abigail Card Jul 2018
hearing the word
         nails iron spikes
                          through hope's chest

                                                         - CANCER
HEY
Abigail Card Mar 2018
HEY
Hey Hot Stuff,

          give me back my patience.
Abigail Card Jul 2017
i am so tired

drained from the way
you have been bleeding me out
collecting what you think
you need

i have begun placing spines on my skin

it is the only way to keep you away
Abigail Card Jun 2017
sometimes I think
I am only capable
of melancholy thoughts

but then I remember
that in my garden

there are purple flowers growing.
Abigail Card Feb 2018
I waited for the words
but they are dragging their feet,
leaving my tongue hollow
and the air around me
filled with biting emptiness.
Abigail Card Jul 2017
i would like to grow myself
a thick skin

but i am afraid
of what i might lose to the hardness.
Abigail Card Feb 2018
breaking up with you
felt like
silence had become jello
in the space between our bodies
Abigail Card Apr 2018
linger
linger here with me
and look into my eyes
ask me questions 'bout my heart
and listen to my guise
as moon and stars gaze down on us
and every treetop sighs
while I pretend that I don't love you
linger
linger in my eyes
Abigail Card Aug 2017
loneliness
                 is
                    yellow
pale
       and acrid
                       yellow
missing
             what
                      makes it
                                     yellow
Abigail Card Oct 2017
i was not born to die
i cannot speak for you
but i was not born to die
Abigail Card Jul 2017
they are my emotions
and should do as they are told

they swing
metal pendulum
extreme to extreme
and back again

no thank you,
i don't need any midol
ok
Abigail Card Aug 2018
ok
ok

imma be honest

i really miss him
Abigail Card Aug 2018
i'm leaving home soon-
i've blinked-
and our trees-
grew leaves
Abigail Card Feb 2018
sweating, all is damp
muggy air fills wall to wall
they begin to drip
Abigail Card Aug 2017
she owns you
her voice lives deep within your throat
her talons are plunged into your back
determining the movement of your arms

you may try to reach me
but she will tear your lips
until you cannot kiss me without bleeding

she has forbidden you
and you let her
thinking that she cares for

but she owns you
you cannot love something you own
Abigail Card Jul 2017
silence holds a mirror to my face.
Abigail Card Jun 2017
slow down

take a minute to hear
my breaths against your chest
and listen for their quickening

slow down

learn how to read my faces
and watch for their souring

slow down

think about your words
before you spit them at me

slow down

remember the way I looked at you
and think about why
I do not look at you any more
Abigail Card Sep 2017
there are
some words
i can only hear
in your voice.
Abigail Card Jul 2017
You gave me time to heal, but I did not
You sent Your love my way, but I dismay
You gave us all Your true love Son begot
He entered hearts and walked among the fray

They stole my cords and swallowed all my words
and reconciliation came in vain
Our love turned tail and flew away like birds
Our strife turned kiss to spit, turned boon to bane

But each and every prayer to You is love
and gentle leaves sing hymns to You in praise
His grace burns bright and pours on me from high
I grew through wind and underneath His gaze

The wind combs hair in calm and brief embrace
The wind, the waves, my hope and love encase
Abigail Card Aug 2017
My whole day spent with hair in grass, eyes up
to see green light reflect and beat my heart
My mind stops short to drink His holy cup
But still my soul cries loud, "How great Thou art!"

The yellow leaves beyond His beauty make
They crumble in my hands to yellow dust
Their veins turn dark and glory make to break
and steadfast death, it takes us all, it must

One branch unmoved blocked light and fought the sun
My troubles aren't like waves to pass away
My mind and thoughts remain poised like a gun
And so I spend my days in hope for May

When all sing hymns and I will end my reign
We will draw near, back in Your arms again.
Abigail Card Oct 2017
My knees will buck, eyes fill with worms and dirt,
While people weep, I will go down to dust,
My life was brief, a day so filled with hurt,
But Christ's great love will save my soul from rust.

And so we die, and we all fear that day,
Although I fear the pain, none else is dread,
For I do know my day will come in May,
When spring arrives, my skin decay, then dead.

My own body will not remain for long,
Put in the ground, yes that will be my fate,
For I am destined for a world of song,
Singing loud and long, for our God is great.

My soul will live beyond this failing age.
I'm soon to see my righteous Father's face.
Abigail Card Aug 2017
my tongue has never been able
to speak words of substance

because i do not have the courage
to keep from swallowing it.
Abigail Card Jun 2017
teach me how to stay tender
i do not know how to keep from
cutting off the parts of me
that are charred
Abigail Card Sep 2017
the day after the end of the world
was disappointing

i expected something to be different

i am sick of you false prophets
you interrupt our prose
and spread your anxiety

when the world ends (and it will)
you will not know
because you look for signs near the ground
when the signs are up
in air
in clouds
Abigail Card Jul 2017
i am young
the place of my birth is still my home
it holds my heart in a gentle way
wrapping up its wounds
i think it may always be my home
but I am told it will not
i thought I had grown up
but these walls are still warms for me
Abigail Card Jul 2017
until you place your keys
between your knuckles
until you square your shoulders
and stare straight ahead
unblinking
you will never know me
and there will be a river between us.
Abigail Card Jun 2017
warning.

her voice will bite the air around you
until you are surrounded by cold.
Abigail Card Aug 2017
there are people
who make my cheeks hurt
with smiling

there are people
who carve the smiles
out of my cheeks
and eat them
with a side of salad
Abigail Card Aug 2017
I have begun to lose patience with love songs,
not because i am a cynic.

Because i don't want to be swept away.
Can't I be in love with you,
with my feet remaining firmly on the ground?

I don't want to be swept away.
I want to walk beside you,
until it is natural,
to reach for your hand.
Abigail Card Sep 2017
I always wanted to write poetry
to God.
about Him.

But I did not have the courage
to be wrong in front of Him.

And I forgot that I am always
before my God.

That I am always answering
to my Creator.
Abigail Card Aug 2018
you don't know me
     how can you know someone
     when you spend all your time
     telling them how well you connect
     telling them how 'unique' they are

do you even know what you mean
when you say I am "not like most girls"

because all I hear is confusion
It's what you say when you think
you want to know me
but cannot find it in yourself
to be silent for 10 seconds
to let me talk.
Abigail Card Aug 2017
you saw what i showed you
and did not think to look
for more

— The End —