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Chrissy Cosgrove Jan 2017
an abundance of words is just as easily a void, and
i am dangerously close to forgetting how to speak.
there are jagged lines, meticulously spaced--
hues of lavender, rose, and pearl.
they tell a story of silence that has gone on too long.
look closer, or look away; silence.
when it was convenient, she would wipe up spilt blood--
but what about the knife? left sharp as ever
in my vulnerable hands, controlled by an even weaker mind.
so try to tell me you helped.
the brain is fragile: handle with care; vulnerable; easily shifted, moulded, changed, altered; the brain is the world and my world was in a state of collapse because in there
i killed my father (but sometimes he left me)
and i could trust my mother no matter how many reasons
she gave me not to.
but what's really ****** is that i'm not writing about what i was
trying to write. i am silenced. in my own writing,
in my own thoughts, i still struggle to put into words
how exactly it feels to question an entire reality,
to not even know who i am,
because my sense of the world around me is constricted,
restricted, and warped for a reason i couldn't understand
as a child and still don't understand now.
it feels like the middle of the ocean.
you can drown or pray for decent weather.
Chrissy Cosgrove Jan 2017
if the subconscious is an ocean,
then the thoughts and feelings and memories and ideas are waves;
waves change with the tides and the weather;
what's my weather, what's a mood?
where's my moon, who's my moon,
who shifts the sea? is the ocean a part of me,
am i part of the ocean, or am i merely floating--
sometimes swimming, sometimes dog-paddling, sometimes surfing, sometimes drowning--
within or upon it?
who is 'me', 'i'?
ego, soul, a mysterious entity, nameless?
how does this flesh vessel interact with the deeper within?
how does the deeper within interact with the world?
Chrissy Cosgrove Jan 2017
do you know everything about me?
would i be familiar if we spoke,
or would you see me as half a mystery--
some warped girl of six who grew up wrong

could i talk to you anyway?
could i tell you and would you understand
the deja vu type feeling of the same
way other people break my heart
for good as well as bad?

anyway, i would tell you that no one
is gentle enough.
i've been listening to bob dylan all day
and maybe i'd like to talk to him too.
Chrissy Cosgrove Jan 2017
"are you okay?"
no!
i don't even know this album and you're
not even
here.
i've been alone with your skinny legs
and ugly green t-shirt all day.
i guess i miss your stupid rehab clothes

i didn't look for the scars between
your legs
i didn't know if i could really see that
you're hiding, you're hiding so much
i love your eyes but they're hard to look at
sometimes

"are you okay?"
sure, why not
you know the feeling of saying goodbye?
i always feel that when i'm with you
Chrissy Cosgrove Dec 2016
this is how to place your hand on someone’s chest “
and feel their heart beating against your palm
we take this for granted–
blood coursing through veins and thoughts powering movement
sometimes there isn’t anything to say
and sometimes the only thing that can be said is,
"i’m glad you exist.”
embrace existence selflessly,
leave personal gain behind and see something beautiful
recognize productions and facades and everything that will fade with time:
leave those and find meaning
fill in the unknowns with answers to question that matter–
first notice
        the mornings where the shadows underneath their eyes are darker,
then wonder
         what it is that kept them up.
ask when it is they feel most alive,
find out if they keep all of their kings in the back row,
when a storm brings deep grey skies and wind and rain
do they stand outside to feel small?
this is how to place your hand on someone’s chest
and feel memories and thoughts and pain and love
beating against your palm
Chrissy Cosgrove Dec 2016
this is a poem about being sorry
because sometimes when you fall
you’re not the only one who ends up with skinned knees
i’m sorry for lies and hesitation
and an unwillingness to do what is right
i’m sorry that sometimes you still have the look in your eyes
that says you’re hurt and stupid words can’t fix that
and i’m sorry that “sorry” is just a stupid word
sometimes it is hard for me to look in the mirror
because i can only see that fictional character that i sculpted for myself:
a person created out of a selfish ache for the past, a person
with distorted priorities who would ignore every red flag and gut feeling
because it was easy
sometimes it is harder for me to look at you
because i don’t want you to see that person anymore:
she was destroyed with perspective, terminated with compunction
one day we can make new words that aren’t stupid at all
one day we can erase the question mark after we say
that things are better now
Chrissy Cosgrove Dec 2016
this is a poem about being sorry
because sometimes when you fall
you’re not the only one who ends up with skinned knees
i’m sorry for lies and hesitation
and an unwillingness to do what is right
i’m sorry that sometimes you still have the look in your eyes
that says you’re hurt and stupid words can’t fix that
and i’m sorry that “sorry” is just a stupid word
sometimes it is hard for me to look in the mirror
because i can only see that fictional character that i sculpted for myself:
a person created out of a selfish ache for the past, a person
with distorted priorities who would ignore every red flag and gut feeling
because it was easy
sometimes it is harder for me to look at you
because i don’t want you to see that person anymore:
she was destroyed with perspective, terminated with compunction
one day we can make new words that aren’t stupid at all
one day we can erase the question mark after we say
that things are better now
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