Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
 
derelictmemory Dec 2023
I'm trying to swim
In the endless ocean
I'm trying to breathe
As the waves engulf me

Everytime I think I can catch my breath
When I reach out to break the surface
I'm pulled down deeper and deeper

Its like I've got shackles at my feet
Pulling, tugging, calling
I'm fighting I promise I'm trying

Every gulp of air
Met by the pressure of the sea
Every grasp for light
Only a little more out of reach

So many words yet to be said
Let me shout them, let me speak
Hear me, see me...

I think I'm in way too deep
Kicking, thrashing, flailing
Please I'm trying

I told you once, I had a dream
The breeze was light
And I was at peace
derelictmemory Jun 2023
-
We were in a moving car
And I was thrown out mid journey
Unsuspectingly
Probably deservedly

We built it from nothing
We put love in it
We made a plan for the trip
But it changed

It changed so fast
I can barely catch my breath
It changed so fast
I can feel every broken part of me

The wind knocked the breath from my lungs
The impact...
The impact never ends
When one pain ends another starts

A life I planned to have
A life I wished and dreamed
A split second
It was all gone

Gone
It doesn't exist anymore
We built this car with love
So much love

So much pain
So much grief
We were on a journey
And I was thrown out

Nights and days blend
The pain doesn't end.
The pain doesn't end.
I was left

Broken. Alone.
Only indifference
Trying to walk home
In the dead of night

A risk.
So much faith.
It was so beautiful.
It was so... breathtaking.

In that moment between night and day
I almost forget.
Almost.
Then the pain settles in my bones again

But I can't make you love me.
I can't make you love me if you don't.
I hope your journey goes well
Maybe I'll meet you half way

I hope I live to see the day
I hope I can breathe again
I hope... I hope you're at peace
derelictmemory Feb 2023
I thought I had it
For a moment I thought
This is how I want to be loved
This is the kind of love I want

I overlooked so many things.
I ignored so many flags.
I glazed over so many wrongs.

I thought I had it
For a moment, just for a moment,
I was loved.
I was cared for.
I had... someone

But I'm laying in the dark
Questioning my reality
Flipping through my memories
Dissecting my words
Reviewing my actions
Over and over and over

I'm sitting up at 3:16am
Asking myself if I even deserve to be loved
Wondering if I deserve to be cared for
Do I deserve... someone?

Is this love?
No. No, it isn't.
But this is familiar
The doubt, the hurt, the emptiness
The overexplanations, the silence

I dont want to fight
I dont want to argue
I dont want to yell

I want laughs under the stars
I want kindness and softness
I want balance, firm ground

I thought this was supposed to be love
But no,
No, it isn't.
derelictmemory Nov 2022
I hold my breath
Because it creeps in
The loss
The grief
The sorrow

I can barely breathe
I feel the weight on me
You
The lack of
You

The days blur
Time moves slowly at first
So slow it could've moved backwards
And I'm still out of breath

I fell to my knees
I heard the words and didn't understand them
I felt the words but couldn't believe them
You were gone too fast

It's like I'm wandering
Through the aftermath of a battlefield
I can hear the screams
They could be mine
derelictmemory Nov 2022
It was all in that span of 90 seconds

The first was a smile -
It wasn't special or expected
  It was just a second
Fleeting but true
Yet it was a lie

The second was a crinkle by your eye -
A small movement
  Usually overlooked
But it meant the world
To more than just you

The third was a touch -
Just a brush
  Enough to enrapture
Almost crackling
Like there was more to it
Jan 13
derelictmemory Nov 2022
day 1 - I was looking for your handprint in the leaves so I could have something to hold on to when I'm drowning in the sea.

day 7 - you kept your hand an inch away but along ē same phase as her breathing in hopes that one day you'd have her whispers in your chest.

day 13 - you huddle in the corner so the walls can hold you the way he used to. It's cold again and your fingertips are blue.

day 27 - they say that all ē walls look the same no matter how many times you blink & that stories are lies but you know better, don't you?

day 32 - his voice never leaves and every step you take is another reminder of him whispering to you that he never loved you.

day 46 - you're tripping over the roots of your fears and, darling, at this rate you'll never be able to outrun yourself or him or them.

day 54 - we sit across from each other without even noticing the oceans that crash into us and the ripped fabric between our eyes.

day 61 - I've caught the dreams of you and of almosts. Of reaching and barely touching fingertips. Of longing and denial. Of stepping stones and emotions that ricochet.

day 79 - they were your eyes & the natural order of things. Of us orbiting in a Higgs-Bosson type of way & we're still waiting for when we inevitably collide.

day 85 - I was staring at my hands wondering how long it was going to take me to get used to the lack of yours holding them

day 98 - hearing voices overlap the wallpaper and I haven't stopped inhaling smoke and choking on my own tears since you walked away

day 103 - they didn't see it but it's always been there,

day 108 - there are flames in our hands we can't extinguish alone

day 119 - I thought you would cherish my heart in your hands

day 127 - the walls are covered in ash and so are my lungs

day 132 - the whispered promises are on the surface of my skin

day 136 - I feel a breath of life every time you look me in the eyes and nothing could ever replace that feeling

day 144 - its like no matter how far I wander I end up back in your arms

day 159 - happiness, bliss and repeat

day 167 - you had both feet planted to grow roots for our future, this time it's forever

day 182 - the reflections in your eyes were always warm, but on this summer day they were quite far away

day 217 - our laughter doesn't echo anymore, it's always a silence

day 235 - even when you hold my hand, I barely feel your heartbeat, what is happening, my love? Where did you go?

day 270 - it's like the ocean wants to swallow me whole, will you pull me out? how far did you go?

day 302 - I can barely speak, we've been yelling for hours. I'm sorry, my love. What did I do?

day 327 - our picture frames fell in slow motion, there was a glass bottle in your hand. What do you need, my love? How can we mend?

day 344 - I looked into your eyes today, but you weren't there. There was no warmth in your touch today, I feel bare.

day 365 - you walked out the door today, a suitcase in hand. Was my love not enough? Was I the one who let us fade?
Series of the Days we never had
(Oct 14 2014 - Nov 2 2022)
derelictmemory Nov 2022
I haven't breathed easy in awhile
I keep my words hidden
My voice soft
I keep my thoughts silent
My smiles strong

Conversations were on the surface
Touch was only superficial
Never go in too deep, I told myself
Never let yourself drown

I haven't felt relaxed in awhile
They call it hypervigilance
I told him I was just observant
Guessing and second guessing
You and me and them

Closeness was artificial
Connection kept at a distance
Never get too close, I said
Broken and unbroken never again

I haven't breathed easy in awhile
The breaths I take are deep and heavy
Each step laden with weights
but light and soft and quiet
This is how I survive, this is how I survive

No, no it was never easy
The ease you see is curated
The ease you observe is practiced
Keep it light, I remind myself
Keep it muted

Oh, but I want to live
I want to breathe
I want to relax
And I wish it were that easy
I truly wish it was easy
Someone reminded me that I matter. And I wish I could help him understand why it was so hard. But I wouldn't wish this on anyone.
Next page