In every American state
county and town

women walk barefoot
on broken glass

looking for an
open door.

31 | 31 Poems for August

(Written with Naledi Tshikota)

Write me a sonnet, point dozens of Cupid’s arrows to my heart if you dare to awaken it.
Tune into your inner Shakespeare, fantasize us as Bonnie and Clyde if you care to spend time in it.
Recreate the Titanic, recreate it with the ending of The Notebook if you can bear to believe in it.
And if that doesn’t work, cast me to sleep like the Romeo you are and let me awake next to your lifeless flesh and dagger as I pierce my soul with it.

Write me a sonnet, let every single one of those fourteen lines bleed with emotion.
Leave The Notebook next to my notebook and become the protagonist of my dreams.
Think like the wind and attain the kind of power that’ll allow you to ******* away on any given day.
Your presence keeps transforming our thoughts into beautiful poetic paintings, Basquiat and Picasso would’ve been proud.

Write me a sonnet, silence every impurity that does awaken my love.
Summon the essence of my soul for the taking of your unforsaken hands and make Mona Lisa cry sacred tears of joy.
Create simplistic glimpses that only our superior beings can understand, only then can I unleash my undying emotion towards your uncontested universe.

Write me a sonnet, the kind that will make me realise that your heart isn’t filled with any doubt.
The day I realised that words could touch you, I wanted to become a poem.
The kind of poem that Maya Angelou’s ink always dreamt about.
The taste of your smile still lingers on the edges of my lips.
I see galaxies in your eyes, it must be in the way I love you like I do.
I could’ve settled for less but I don’t want anyone else but you.

Write me a sonnet that speaks to the heart of my mind.
Because I always hear your heartbeat when I think about you.
Write me a sonnet that intertwines our inner intuitions.
A sonnet that makes you believe in shooting stars if you’re into wishing.
And finally that captures the very essence of the unknown soul that’s unspoken of.
Because it’s within your golden silence that I hear the loudest cry.

I sleep too much
But when I sleep
I dream
Oh, such dreams

I dream too much
But when I dream
I feel
Oh, how I feel

I feel as if everything
That I need, that I yearn for
That I so desperately crave
Is in my dreams

So I sleep
And I dream
And when I dream
I am happy

i.

Tommorrow might not cometh
The night might not showeth;
The reaper might taketh me.

ii.

The star's mayest fail
Mine heart might be impaled;
Clotted crimson mayest cover me.

iii.

The cumulus might bring hail
Mine eye's shalt closeth;
This spirit to be renewed.

iv.

Though in all this pain
Next to me, mine sweetest Jane;
Mine angel of God, mine cherub moon.

v.

So if I do goeth
Dearest amour', alway's knoweth;
Forever I shalt, loveth thou to.


©Brandon nagley
©Lonesome poet's poetry
©Earl Jane nagley dedication

It was 4am when I started writing about you
I still remember how the last “I love you” sounds like.
Every minute that passes the pain grows
But It wouldn’t even compare to the pain I’ve caused you

Baby you have limits. I’m sorry I’ve forgotten how I made you feel that night
When I started destroying the last piece of trust you have in me.
I can hear the sorrow in your voice. Oh the disappointment.
My eyes are drenched with tears flowing like rain.

You told me how much it hurts that you couldn’t even cry.
Your face is pale and your arms is shaking.
I wanted you to hurt me so that you could get even
But you loved me so much you couldn’t.

Regrets. Those ******* regrets. Is it too late to say I’m sorry?
You told me you wanted some time to think.
I was too scared to give you that space.
I was too scared you’ll learn to live without me and eventually you’ll leave me.

I’ve asked you everyday “Do I make you happy?” And you said yes too many ******* times. That was my goal since day 1 because I knew you deserved it all. All your life you have been putting other people’s sake before yours.
I wanted to be that man for you but I was the one who destroyed you.

I was supposed to be the one who’ll help you rise from the ashes
But I was the one who started the wildfire in your heart.
I was supposed to protect you from harm but I was the one who put you to it.
Baby you loved me so much you didn’t care.

I got so ******* wasted
I couldn’t recognise the taste of water anymore
My mouth is drenched in alcohol and my lungs is filled with smoke.
You’re not supposed to feel that way. I was supposed to be your ******* saviour but I’ve killed what’s left in you.

I taught you why hurricanes are named after people.
I brought the storm in your life.
Darling, I’ve wasted your young years.
You said you didn’t care. You said you still loved despite of what happened. But your eyes told a different story.

I knew from the start that it would be you.
My mind was like “oh hello, there you are. I’ve been looking for you my whole life.” I was filled with familiarity with the passion you have shown me. I drowned in your ocean of melancholia.

I’m sorry. Please forgive me. I want you. I ******* want you.
I don’t want you to be another failure in my already ****** up life.
You weren’t scared of my monsters but they ate you whole.
I’m sorry. Love me. I beg you.

We talked about the universe under the roof of my room.
You calmed me when I was too ******* frightened of the heartbreaks that other people has caused me before. Love me again and I’ll show you that during that moment, you were the only person I’ve cared about.

Let me go back to the start. Take another path.
I’ll bring back the galaxies in your eyes. Until I met you I have never known the word addiction. Forgive me I craved the the canvass that is your body that I forgot you were protecting it. I was just too mesmerised with you. I ******* adored you.

You took my heart, I will never ask for it back. Carry it as if it’s yours.
Feel how every beat of it screams your name. I don’t want to smoke cigarettes anymore just to **** the butterflies in my ribs. I ******* miss your smile it hurts my whole body. I’m sorry for the coward I am. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.

I followed the light
At the end of the tunnel.
He led me here,
To this place.

I followed the light
At the end of the tunnel.
He promised to show me
God's grace.

I followed the light
At the end of the tunnel
Not knowing just what
I would find.

I followed the light
At the end of the tunnel
To leave all the
Dark days behind.

I followed the light
At the end of the tunnel
And now I'm here
With you.

I followed the light
At the end of the tunnel
But I'm not sure
What to do.

You followed the light
At the end of the tunnel.
He led you here,
To this place.

You followed the light
At the end of the tunnel.
Did you ever receive
God's grace?

We followed the light
At the end of the tunnel
But he didn't lead
Us astray.

We followed the light
At the end of the tunnel.
So at the end of the tunnel
We'll stay.

Dear Amanda,

Your 14 years old now. Your at that age where you're starting to get the hang of teenage life. It's confusing I know but it gets better. In five years you will be 18 years old. In the next five years you're going to go through things and feel things you never thought possible. You're different. The way you dress, the way you act and the way you interpret things are very different than everyone else. So different that your parents will think there is something wrong with you. Your parents might tell you to change or try to make you change into something you don't want to be. They might even think you're possessed by the devil. DON'T CHANGE! No matter what do not change. Your step dad will be really mean to you. Your going to do things to yourself as a way to release stress. The person you are, your the way you are because you'll make a difference in this world. You're unique. Don't do what others want you to do. Others will try to bring you down but just shrug it off. Half of those people don't know you. Why should you impress them? Be happy to be you. If others don't like you too bad then they don't have to hang out with you.
  Secondly, don't worry about the friends you lose. When you lose a friend due to some 24 hour drama someone else always comes along and if that person is meant to stay in your life then they won't ever go anywhere.
  Third, when your sixteen you'll be engaged for a year. He'll break your heart when your seventeen but you'll get over it soon. Enjoy every minute you have with him but don't be too obsessed with him because then you'll push him away. When he breaks your heart it won't be your fault. You'll cry, you'll feel alone and broken but lean on friends. True friends will help you get over him. Once you lose him let him go. Eventually someone else will come along who is so much better and who knows, he might be the one but don't get engaged until your 25 this time. You'll be better off. Trust me.


This was an English assignment I had to do when I was a sophomore in High School. I had to write a letter to my 14 year old self from my 17 year old self talking about things that were going to happen in the next five years all the while giving advice to my past self. Advice I wish I had at the time I was going through these things.

They call her fat
but she's really not
She's actually really pretty
in fact she's hot
They make her feel stupid
and embarrassed to show her skin
Because of their words
her weight is growing thin
She's so unhappy
you should see her face
She wants to breathe
and get away from this place
There's no one else she can talk to
nobody cares
So she keeps losing weight
because nobody cares
You have no idea how this girl feels
when she has problems
Starving and cutting is how she deals
She just wants to die
she's suffocating anyways
and they still call her fat
every single day.

Make good choices
                            
                           ­                  *Tell me how with all these voices?

                 Can you be my saving grace?

                                                        ­  To wipe my mascara- stained face.

                             Blissful and melancholic, I've had my days

           To get through this, you say there are many ways

                                                 But the storm is here to stay.

                         You say, "You'll get through this, come what may."

                I appreciate how much you believe in me,

                                      *But these chains aren't here to set me free.

I feel like every time I talk about him,
I use the wrong word.
When I say "******",
I feel like I'm giving him a paper bag,
Under which he can hide,
And distance himself from what he's done.
It feels like a type of absolution.

His name is Bryan.
He is a six foot and two inches tall monster,
That I wish lived only in my dreams.
He rides a motorcycle,
Has a dog named Gilbert,
And smokes unfiltered camels.

And I was wrong.
He is not a monster,
He is a person.
And he is not just a stupid boy,
He is a man.
And he is not just the generic term "******".

He is a human being who is seriously ****** up and I'm not going to give him the privilege of having his name withheld from my story.