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...
Emma Katka Jul 2016
...
doesn't matter what my mouth says
my face has a reputation of its own
from syndromes induced
by the pressures of small town living
faces i've never seen
or haven't seen in years
people who don't know me at all
speak of me through someone else's teeth
they wear a self-placed title of unity
pinned over a flesh embroidered title
that reads
L I A R
you're not genuine enough to be my friend
but not strong enough to be my enemy
1
Emma Katka Feb 2014
1
you wanna move on
i will too
watch you walk away
hold my breath til i turn blue
i don't wanna feel alive
until you cross behind the moon
i told you i loved to you the stars
told you we were two hearts in tune
you held my hand and agreed
you said being with me felt free
so i'll hold my breath
i don't wanna feel alive
not until you're out of sight
i don't wanna feel alive
not until you see the wrong
in what you think is right
2
Emma Katka Feb 2014
2
you can't touch what burns
from the inside out
you'll only blister and bleed
i'm not what you need
Emma Katka Jan 2017
And just like that.
Your heart's resident stops paying rent and moves on.
And yet they remain there still,
kick up their feet,
and get comfortable.
Lock themselves
in the farthest room away
that you can't reach the handle of.
I wish you'd show yourself the door
now that I know
you're not going to come back knocking.
Emma Katka Jun 2016
bond over alcohol
why can't we bond over our breathes
and the steps
we take
that go in the same direction
the steps we take
that may not make sense
because i want to bond
over what makes my heart soar
not what kind of alcohol will get me more *****
because i'm not that kind of girl
you can't take me on a whirl
i'd get too dizzy anyway
projectile ***** on your already ***** sheets
because i don't want to be a puzzle
i'm not something you need to figure out
to fix and put together, i'm not getting better
i'm me and that's what you need to see
but you see my big hair
short dresses with long legs
and you wonder
what they would feel like wrapped around yours
so you want to bond over alcohol
yeah, i'll take your free shot
but then i'm gone to look at the stars
cause unless they're in your eyes
that's the only thing i what i want to make love to
Emma Katka Dec 2020
I've been patient since day one
I let you in on my **** since the first run
I was on my knees
I confessed I had to leave
I left claw marks on your back
that bleed through and showed
how hard it was to let you ******* go
Emma Katka Jan 2022
I like listening to albums
when the artist was at their saddest
cut me open again
I glisten in it too
I just wish I could stop being so angry all the time
and see the art in it all like I did back then
I already know the direction you're going
I don't think there's room for my growing there
but I want to be anywhere but here
I feel like I'm thousands of miles away from you
even in the same room
I'm the distant lover you've never wanted
and here you are
wanting me
I like your attitude
***** grips
**** talking past *******
retro vibes echoing under bridges
frost bite on my eyelids
**** I'm tired of feeling so ******* cold
you're gonna blister and burn if you kiss me again
combine my passion with a lack of attention
I'm gonna confuse you and let you down
everything that's ever been
has only been broken
fragments seen again in the small moments
where it all reminds me of everything all over again
nostalgia is a drug and my hibernation den
and I've been trying to write all ******* night
I keep trailing off
thinking about smeared eyeliner and chapped lips
your hands gripping my hips
it's a good time until you can't get me there
I want you here
I just like to feel you inside
I'll take myself on the ride
if you're there to drive
just don't ask me where we're going
I see your soul showing
mine's still hiding
and I'm a sucker for your charms
I like how I feel when I'm in your arms
but I wanna feel that way in my own first
hard to do when I'm dying of thirst
for a little heat in my chest again
or at the least some ******* condensation
melt me down a little more
see what all the old heartbreaks were for
what else do I have to lose
3
Emma Katka Feb 2014
3
pull from my spine all the grudges i can't get rid of
i wish for your memories of me
to remain only with gold ties along their edges
but there's damage in your lips and mine
but once there was love instead
where tears drip over and strangers meet
please pull from my heart all the memories i can't forget
my toes are attached with weights
at the bottom of the ocean of your bloodstream
and i can't find a way to cut the strings
pull from my eyes all the intangible images i can't burn
the images i can't rip in half and set flying into the night sky
pull your skin's memory from my fingerprints
erase erase erase erase erase erase erase
Emma Katka Apr 2017
"this is not about you"
she said
through her fingertips
dipped in deceit---to you, at least...

we relate and turn it into reflections,
reflections only faced towards ourselves,
constantly needing protection...
opening every book in our mind's shelves
to find the source of someone else's truth...
the light isn't bouncing between other thoughts,
it's absorbing into your darkness looking for proof.
being fed & torn from your ego without crosses
unholy wars with insecurities from all losses...
laying out on golden thrones made of pride
find any excuse and picking a side.

your tactics aren't working
this is not about you.
Emma Katka Mar 2019
talking ****
about who's the most authentic
overly obsessed
with aesthetics
only interested
in what someone can offer them
only interested
in what they can gain
it's all the **** same
and I'm so ******* bored
been here so many times before
give me the honest ****
make me almost afraid of it
do no harm but take no ****
that's my aesthetic
but my ego gets in the way too
my shame gets me in trouble
gives me these moody ******* blues
can't help but bring it out on you sometimes
and I say **** I don't mean
I'm a hypocrite cause I just wanna feel seen
and heard
like everyone else
imposter syndrome makes me feel pathetic
what the **** even is aesthetic
just roll with it
get the **** over it
Emma Katka Apr 2018
For the past two years, my depression has been slithering across my brain like a snake in the grass. Like a bug I can't squish. Like a smudge I can't clean off completely, no matter how much I scratch, scrub, or scrape. I'm a realist with an imagination. I know what's happening in my brain. I recognize my triggers, my bad influences, and the surroundings in which I exist that contribute directly to my unhappiness. But what good does knowing do me? The snake started slithering again. I can know the chemical imbalances... but what good does knowing them do me? I have the chemical symbols tattooed on my forearms to remind me, since I was 20. I'm tired of these tattoos, too, if I'm being honest. They don't help like they used to. I want to cover them up. I've always loved butterflies. Maybe I'll do that. I wish I cared enough, to be able to hate them enough, to then have the drive necessary to save the money, make the appointment, and get them covered up. I keep feeling my desires to once again reinvent myself bubbling up from the very depths of me, but when it comes up, I stare at my desire in the face, and I turn & run away from it and curl up inside of the shell of myself.

The snake started slithering again.
I feel it across my brain...
I know it so well,
I've given it a name.
I want to forget it,
but it all stays the same.
Emma Katka Aug 2020
misguided intentions
prevent a moment to pause & think
are you really that interested
or is it an artsy girl kink

because I want to be (and am) more
than a bucket list ****
I've got plenty of loose stitching
and strings of bad luck

intimidating to most,
while intimidated the least
I want my own ******* cake
with a five course feast

easy to romanticize
even harder to shake off
but the easiest to leave
when I've always been a mirage

I want plenty,
and nothing .
I need no one,
and loving.
Emma Katka Oct 2022
The house was white, paint chipping away, of course, with a wrap-around front porch with moss lining the edges. It can be seen from the road distantly... but to get to it is a little complicated... needed to park on a side road about a mile away.... only way to get to it was by hiking 1/2 a mile to a creek where there is a broken "once was" bridge that is broken in half that you have to jump across to cross the creek, and once you cross the creek, around the corner moving right, or west in this case, up the hill.... is where it sat surrounded by trees. It was beautiful approaching the home.... I have nostalgia about the smell of the air and the walk through the grass up the hill to get to it. I also remember my first step on the moss. I can't explain it rationally, but almost immediately upon my foot touching the moss on the porch, anxiety flooded through me, like a sudden panic... you know, as if you've fallen off your bike or bed, or tripped on a rug that was curled slightly from someone else tripping over it before you were there... I brushed it off and considered it to be the adrenaline I seek by exploring these houses and continued through the front door. I entered the kitchen first. There was a mirror on the far wall with a small sink under it. There was a very old razor with a bottle of shaving cream next to it. They were both rusty. I kept walking. I entered the living room. The walls were salmon. The sun shining through the windows and bouncing off of the salmon colored walls and floor and ceiling made horrible lighting in my photographs. I tried for a couple self portraits and wasn't satisfied and couldn't focus. I was anxious. I kept exploring. I found the staircase to go upstairs. More anxiety. My chest hurt at this point. But I continued up the stairs slowly and with shaky legs. My friend behind me was whispering that she didn't want to go upstairs. I can barely hear her. I feel like I'm underwater. She's still afraid. I'm still anxious. The walk up the stairs feels like it's taking me an hour to complete. Everything is in slow motion. She is gripping on my sweater and I'm still shaking. I make it to the top step. I'm facing a window immediately. Everything outside looks black and white but I know in my mind it's green. I keep telling myself "that's green" as I stared at the grass out the warped window and it wasn't changing color. I feel like I am walking through mud as I turn around to face the upstairs room. My friend is walking back downstairs. I'm hearing her in slow motion screaming "**** this, something is ******* weird here i'm going outside". As she is leaving I'm seeing what I'm seeing.... the far wall of the room is covered in black mold... beyond reason it is covered from corner to corner seeping to the connecting walls like they were hundreds of outstretched dark arms waiting to pull me into an abyss. Everything is still black and white. I feel the warmth of someone breathing heavily on my ear. Distinctly, I hear a growl. I feel the vibrations of an angry, sinister, evil growl, and I can't explain it. I can't explain a **** thing. But it was there. It was felt. It was real. And it was ******* crazy. I ran down the stairs and fell on my way down and scraped my knee up pretty bad. After that, all I remember is that the very moment I put my foot on the grass, and was off the mossy front porch, I was seeing color again.
Emma Katka Sep 2017
if one more A-cup
tells me to let my **** be free
I'm gonna scream
bad
Emma Katka Sep 2017
bad
it feels like it was all synthetic
honesty doesn't exist without substance
or substances in my reality
grind it up and smoke it to settle my anxiety
back then I was more of a ******* party
sky dancing with mary and lucy
absolutely
how could I not be
not sure if I learned what it means to be a friend at that party
or the one after that
it's as if I want to hit rock bottom
give this misery I'm feeling a little more meaning
communicating it to the people around me isn't happening
why am I so afraid to say it clearly...
that I'm not happy
I can't concentrate on ****
they call it attention deficit
and I just wanna get it
but I'm chasing butterflies
and forgetting about it
I'm tired of being so cynical,
thinking everything is a cliche
I've made myself this way
spending too much time alone
same ****
do ****
remember why you came here
pick up your broom *****
be a bad witch
Emma Katka Aug 2023
Celebrate the bare minimum
still always end up begging
Always playing catch up
whether it's sleep or money
Crosses don't resemble sanctuary
not every space is safe for me
And when sadness and anger
register in my brain just the same
I don't feel safe anywhere I go
I've got both on speed dial
and I'm always pocket dialing
I wanna feel the sky screaming back at me
throwing my head back and belting
swallowing clouds whole from breathing
You were talking and I wasn't listening
I'm in my own head again, dreaming
of dimly lit streets, sticky skin, slowly pedaling
biking towards something,
but mostly wandering, wondering.
Emma Katka Apr 2022
I've got a lot more to say
about you lately
instead of angry ****
to say about him
you've got me forgetting about the bad ****
got me tapping to a different rhythm
And I'm enjoying learning the beat
you got comfortable
in my brain
and took a seat
And maybe
you're used to people not caring
about the things you have to say
but I like to know what's on your mind
and I know you like to know what's on mine
I'm not everyone's cup of tea
but you say
you like what you're sipping
and I believe you  
You've shown
me a few different sides of your coins
and easily a few
of my new favorite songs
it isn't easy to capture my attention
and hold on
but here it is your hands
I hope you're delicate
Emma Katka Jun 2023
How can anyone love you
if you don't love yourself?
That's the **** they say
when someone's self hatred is getting in the way
of everyone else having a good time
I'm sorry I'm feeling so down
I wanna love myself more
but I don't think I gotta do that first to be deserving
so I stopped showing, I stopped going
and now I'm a little too used to isolating
I'm trying to find small steps towards changing
it's marathon not a race
but I still feel like all I can do is sprint
if it isn't happening over night, I'm not in it
and that's a cop out from reality
good things take time, but I'm hungry
I want to taste the change instantly
just blame it on my ADHD
Emma Katka Feb 13
I want to unravel my brain’s threads
that collectively weigh me down like lead
Turn the strings into blankets,
and make a fort in my living room to shelter inside of.
Every day rituals with intention to gift me peace,
are slowly becoming chores to avoid guilt and grief.
I thought life would be so different.
I never thought it would be this hard;
and while b0mbs fall on children,
I’m feeling sorry for myself and my deck of cards.
I'm daydreaming in dystopia.
Emma Katka Aug 2017
I wonder how you see it
six going on seven
I don't need you to understand
I never did
I was always me
and of course I've got my regrets
I leave them in my memory box
covered in sepia illustrations of butterflies
Emma Katka Apr 2018
we've all got something,
an old feeling we're chasing...
vivid memories cling to me
persons, places, and things
I know they only matter to me
like crisp night bike rides down dimly lit residential streets
but I want to share them.
remember them.
make someone feel something
like I did
all those nights ago...
feels like re-watching my favorite show...
or I don't know
it's nostalgia baby
I'm the nostalgia lady
the overwhelming abstract familiarity
of something you once knew...
when I get those nostalgic scents
I feel it, doesn't matter what it is
bus engine exhaust reminds me of when my heart was still his.
condensation on coke bottles remind me of the cold floor
the cracked door
the drunk 20-somethings, such a bore...
when I was in middle school
I used to write the hockey player's jersey numbers
on my hands and notebooks when I thought they were cute
some people would catch on, they got real rude
back the ******* dude  
why are you looking
I'd pretend it was my lucky number
that it was only coincidence
I'd say, you better not tell him
they always did
fourteen years old, I couldn't tell you what love was
don't know if even I could now
some days I think I just might hate you
being wrapped up in your delusions is gonna break you
think you're too far gone for them to make you better
and I just keep thinking about other ****...
why do I think life would be easier if I was skinnier?
what a ******* trainwreck...
nostalgia for lighter days,
I'm high for days on end...
I can't pretend I'm on the mend to make you feel better
anxiety says the old me feels best, but I want to forget her
I'm tripping on expectations of future lovers
as if I've already met them
I'd like to call them my future canker sores
after the crash and burn we'll be gargling salt water
turn and spit
repeat and pick up where we left off when we get bored
scars are scores
I'll just get high to Lana
act like I don't give a **** about your new lover
in some new poem about how you ****** me up for good
Emma Katka Nov 2023
Last vehicle in the carpool
and I'm in the back seat
thousands of people deep
for front seats to the next season of life
all waiting to move out and on
not even sure where we are going
just gotta keep moving...
and I may not be not religious
but I'm always praying
perhaps not to anything godly
but I'd like to think
there's something listening
Emma Katka Aug 2017
I'm as trendy as I'll ever be
I'm learning that trying too hard just gets me cranky
and I'm tired of being so ******* angry
caught up in **** that doesn't matter lately
wondering when I'll fall into more crazy
old flames never leave my mind
cbw
Emma Katka Sep 2017
cbw
almost started to chase after you
glad that moment found the exit turn
just like a flash
kind of like how you entered
and ****, I was was so well sheltered
I sometimes wish
you would have kept walking the day we fell in
creeping across my brain
you can't be touched by asprin
you're a headache wrapped in a heartache
and I'm ******* tired of laying awake
you're way ahead of me and I'm tripping
I've got broken toenails from all your breaks in the concrete
in cement sealed secrets we left between the sheets
in between a smoke break and a beer
hot sauce dripping on black leather
you had books but no bookshelf
said you'd rather build one for cheaper
and that was ******* ****
sawdust coated
steal toed footing
tobacco dipping
still ******* tripping
losing my footing
where was I going...
shut the ******* door behind you as you go
better yet
I'll hold it open for you while telling myself "I told you so!"
you're always ******* with me
I see it and it remains unseen
I'm country boy weak
Emma Katka Apr 2020
When I was young, my bedroom was butterfly themed. My mom painted white butterflies on my lilac colored walls. The color matched so well with my mesh butterfly lamp, butterfly picture frames, and butterfly bedspread full of colors of greens, yellow, purples & pinks. My dad has always said it's like I'm chasing butterflies in my head. Having been diagnosed ADD some time ago, this makes a little bit of comical sense. And although I have grown out of, or into, many things from my childhood, I'm definitely still chasing butterflies, same as always.
Emma Katka Dec 2016
can't tell you openly
it's so isolating
to intimidate what intimidates you
but i power through
i'll either inspire you
or poison you
but that's up to you, too
and how you see my vibe
i can't care either way
or you'll break my stride
...again
like it always does
because either way
i actually care quite a bit
and then i'm tripping again
Emma Katka Feb 2018
so many women say
they wish they could shave their heads completely
I think it's cause we feel it'd be freeing
there's gotta be a deeper meaning
but I won't get into it
I'm running from the reality I'm being smacked with
I don't feel free, like me, at all
wish I had someone to ******* talk to
or just someone at all
someone new, someone not as toxic as you
I wish I had a different door to walk through
or smash through
look in the mirror... do I even know you?
time is ticking and you've gotta pull through...
do you ever feel pieces of your personality being taken from you?
I find myself hating people the most
when they remind me of myself
or, at least the dark parts
the parts that hurt other people blindly
the same parts of others that have hurt me
I'm tired of co-dependency
I don't think I'm as lonely as I claim to be
I think I'm thirsty for being alone with me
Emma Katka May 2022
I blame it on my traits, my conditions
but it's really got me wishing
I didn't gotta deal with it all some days
plenty of people with good talent & good taste
getting washed up, burnt out, & put to waste
depression that stay for days
always feeling like I'm running out of time
and taking up too much space
in the land of the free
land of me, me, me
everyone's hearing
but no one's really listening
the land
of demanding
consideration
from those who consider no one
land of the free, but only for some
doesn't feel like one
self aware sinkholes
getting angry from internet trolls
easy to spark passion in me
easy for me to **** it up & do something embarrassing
I'm feeling burnt out
pushing through, that's what it's all about
resilience is a compliment only when I'm in the thick of it
when I catch my breath, I don't wanna hear it
gimme some deeper validation
I've been riding off of fumes of my passion
I wanna feel a little less intense
but I blame it on my traits, my conditions  
they make things such a mess
but
shifting the way I see it
always makes it easier to live with
I'm not a mess from another perspective
I think I'm different
just like you
Emma Katka Oct 2016
those days that you're stuck in your skull
thoughts so full
horns of a bull
skin peeling and I still can't get that feeling
that high isn't worth everything it seems
a couple years have passed
still haven't been filled up
why would I want to be
and hey
everyone who goes downtown gets lost anyway
if I feel like my heart is bleeding
doesn't that make the alcohol sting me more
what a ****** cold press on every **** emotional sore
good rhyme, girl
you've got flow now
can't stop ******* picking
peeling and screaming
but i've got a smile on my face and you think i'm fine
i've got a smile on my face and i'm drowning in this **** wine
more whine
angry and divine
****** and bored
what am i talking about to you and you and you
and him
what about him
leave him out of this
keep him in on this
i'm stuck cracking knuckles
addicted to making my knees buckle
gimme that fear and loathing
i'm drowning in it
i'm drowning in it
Emma Katka Sep 2017
Small memories that make my chest ache.
I'm still working to identify why some of them do.
Maybe they don't need to be defined or recognized.
That's okay, too.
I imagine them being insignificant from an outside perspective... seen as mere moments passing, sights only slightly seen in between other *******.
Queue flashback.
Burn cruising down residential streets, Lana Del Rey's song "Ride" and everything else on that **** mix cd, late autumn, my "old but new" golden SUV making the first tracks in freshly fallen snow... foggy eyes... ******... alone... but it's okay, I enjoy my company.
Desperate for something bigger than myself... beyond myself.
Queue flashback.
My old bedroom.
My parent's driveway, sneakily smoking a midnight bowl and coming back inside with frosty fingers ready to make more art.
A little buffer, you know?
A lot more simple of a life among all the drama, the past lovers, the drugs, the adventures.
Queue flashback.
The sunlight on my skin on a country road looking for abandoned houses with my friends.
Passing around a joint and screaming along to the same songs over and over again.
Finding magic within decaying walls and gravels roads.
Being set free when I'm creating for me.
I see my art as something beyond a hobby, because it's a deep part of me.
It's nostalgia wrapped up in between the sheets of my empathy, apathy, and curiosity.
Nostalgia is my addiction... it's dancing with some ******* friction.
My partners are the past and my reality in a surreal scene.
I create my lovers and they create me.
Emma Katka Mar 2020
there's solace from everything
in blasting nostalgic melodies on a solo drive
these endless connecting grids have helped me survive
time and time again
I continue to run away...
and I always picture the same road whenever I hear this song
I wonder what you're doing
I still wonder what really went wrong
turn up the volume, this road is long...
to no surprise
you were right ******* there
and you always ******* are
nostalgia floods me of that same road in my old car
and I don't even remember the sound of your voice anymore
sometimes I really wish I did
sometimes I really miss it when you were my friend
sometimes I really miss you as my lover too
but things will continue on to their death to re-bloom
and I will too.
because time has passed & I've forgotten the feel of you  
and that's more than okay
what the **** does missing do anyway?
cuts me open again
and with my spills I finger paint
a little dark and ***** is how I still play
waiting for lightning in the pouring rain
gotta stay entertained through the misery someway...
it feels like ecstasy on my skin
purge, pour out, and soak in
Emma Katka Mar 2023
Sold my soul for a warm body to lay next to
some call that codependence
I call it no direction
after a season of depression
falling head straight in to the dirt
and into the arms of whoever grabs you first
cuffing season is definitely a thrill
where we're all out for the ****
we want it all to stay the same
we can't accept everything's changed
on the other side of the darkness
why did I think anyone would be there waiting
I'm not the only one who's changing
Emma Katka Jul 2017
self-medicating
they say not to believe everything you think
go for a walk, they say
your depression can't make you sink too deep
you're stronger than you think
and I ******* know it
but my legs broken
and stuck in drying cement
I lost sight long ago
of where my happiness went
and it's damaging
it's not rewarding
self-medicating
another beer, another bowl
another tear, another stroke
wearing the same thing every day
and people wanna talk about it like it's funny
emma doesn't wanna change her clothes
must be because she likes to smoke
don't ask me if I'm okay
I won't answer honestly anyway
and you don't wanna know
so just tell me a joke
you've got an easy yolk
full gas tank, but I'm broke
I'd drive myself away from me forever if it was easier
only taking pit stops to touch the sky to please her
I know what I want
I've got dreams & ideas,
I could take that shot...
but it's easier to lay here
wondering when it's gonna get better
when I'm gonna free the inner me & meet her
wasting time in this darkness
losing my drive to channel it out
writing about it to water it down
stings less when it's drowning in something weaker
still wasting time begging to myself to free her
talking in third person doesn't seem crazy
with your third eye open ...
glands and spirituality ...
why it's seen as magical
is beyond me
but I dig the vibe still
whether or not it's real
keep it that way, is what they always say
keep it real, & that's how you'll feel
tell me what they say
about when it's gonna heal
because this **** is getting old
I'm catching up & losing time
with a bruising soul
I need the darkness
to give me back my self-control
Emma Katka Jun 2023
You're drawing with sharpies all over your arms
cause you ran out of paper
I'm sitting in the passenger seat
my seatbelt making my necklace press into my sternum
listening to you screaming
about something that holds no meaning
but you think if you're loud enough
maybe it'd start to give you clarity
I can't remember the details of all the fights
I just remember the never ending nights
the scribbles on your walls, the overhead lights  
a portrait of Bob Ross ripping from its corners
covering the hole you punched through your closet door
the bathroom with college boy's hair all over the floor
Happy accidents?
I didn't know back then
how much you'd **** up my head
when we finally parted ways
you practically wished me dead
and that's still got me angry
that's still got me defensively thinking
It's so easy to blame you for everything
but I'm here still wanting to show you things
and it's a gut punch like I've never felt
knowing the cards I was dealt
and that I kept playing
all that I kept allowing
But shame is the killer of everything that is good
I can't blame myself for not doing what I should
there's been enough time that's passed now
I know it now better than I ever could
that you were a chapter
I never should have entered
but I'll take the lessons with me
as I walk through the hallways of former miseries
whenever something is triggering
I wanna open new doors
or leave this building completely
but my heart is the foundation under all the creaking
I wanna feel like I'm being listened to when I'm speaking
but men keep putting me in these boxes
and there's no doors for me to open freely
so I carve out my own window and run wildly
I don't have time for late night confessions
that you won't remember in the morning
I want the sun shining when we meet
so I can be under the moon dancing
maybe you'll join me
Until then, I'll continue my wandering
and my exiting
Dry
Emma Katka Apr 2022
Dry
You don't want a partner,
you want to punish your mother.
Go ahead big guy,
bring it out on your lover!
Then wail afterwards that's its just another
crazy ex-girlfriend that you couldn't control...
You threw at me videos, podcasts, and quotes,
and claimed you knew so much more, so woke!
The anxious attachment dogma fit you like a glove,
but only to mesh with excuses that you love...
And you dropped them everywhere constantly,
every bad treatment towards me
was because of something once traumatizing
while telling me I need to keep
all of my trauma in the ring
because you didn't have time for a ******* thing.
I couldn't afford any more parts of myself to give.
So you chewed me up, spit me out
mixed in with your pride & half-assed will to live
Expecting others to rise to a level
that you're drowning under in your own *******
the same **** you're waist deep and wading in
all while thinking you're on dry land
condemning everyone to move from the spot in which you stand.
Because you didn't want a partner
you wanted a mother figure, turned into a lover
that you could smother, then suddenly leave.
Someone you could trigger, then bereave.
Never holding yourself accountable
for a ******* ******* thing
adding insult to injury
as long as you're living
Emma Katka Jul 2021
easy to see
who wanted me to stay unhappy
easier to now be exiting
all the boxes I've been put in by others my entire life
it gets so exhausting
codependency lost in a void
any move I make dictated by eggshells I avoid
but I know
it won't break my skin to step down
because even if I step lightly
new fires start after one burns out...
...and they did...
my wounds are still blistering,
but I'm not guilty
and I'm not apologizing.
if you wanted what's best for me, you'd be calling
but it was a connection made in vain
now drown in your own selfish rage
I'm not staying miserable so you stay comfortable
I'm burning this bridge, turning this page
of the chapter that's never closed
with the secrets no one knows
and I don't want to remember
I can't be pulled down a moment longer
I feel so much strong than ever before
I always knew I needed more
so I took it and ran
I'm standing in open land
with shadows and stars
bottomless bowls and dusty bars
I've got sunshine kissing my skin clean
it's easy to see
Emma Katka Dec 2021
Holding on to the embers from the pit that became our home
Even while they burn me I can't seem to let go
The foundation we built was sand and not stone
I loved you more than you'll ever know
Emma Katka Apr 2014
i've got paper cuts from every passing chapter
i belong to no one
and no one belongs to me
i see it as feeling free
with something still missing
and with what do we fill these painful voids?
we fill our emptiness with the presently absent soul of another
both moving through the different passing energies with one another
while sharing secrets and our softest skin
sharing feelings and inspirations and visions within
and then when the void finally overflows and heals
why do so many people then walk away?
Emma Katka Nov 2022
Feeling disconnected from my sense of self
struggling with my mental health
the symmetry of the struggle
mirroring itself in all of our faces
all while feeling out of place
not wanting to take up too much space
or waste any more time
because it keeps passing by faster
and my eyes keep fluttering
looking out the window trying to catch a sight
but all I've got are these headlights
tunnel visioning on a destination
that I don't have the directions to
I'd ask, but I don't think I should
hell, I don't even know who would
so I'll keep driving
high beams on empty streets
just waiting for the next exit
Emma Katka May 2022
left my baggage at the door
but blocked my only exit
when someone knows their importance in your life
they know the impact they'll make if they leave it
and who wants to give anyone that power?
I'm always telling myself "not me",
but that's me lying
because I've got loving meant for giving
but I'm not into forgiving
especially myself
I'm living in poverty with incredible wealth
I've got so many in my corner I don't feel deserving
connections more than worthy of preserving
but sometimes I fall off, the queen of isolating
and lately I'm just ******* stressing
but I know I gotta be learning something
cause lessons don't come without some scabbing
some lessons even require scarring
that's why growing is so jarring
turning into a phoenix
only after running into a burning building
self growth comes only if you're willing
Emma Katka Mar 2017
there's high expectations
I feel rather tragic
may I join you in space?
a synonym for magic
is fascination
I want that curiosity
I want that passion...
(I like my rhyming
slightly off beat,
interrupted,
...gives it heat)
but you'd probably have to hear me say it
(& that's a feat that takes a vision)
I need more inspiration...
I've got high expectations...
for you,
for me,
for everyone I meet,
constantly let down is no way to think
& I'm tired of me...
drowning in curiosity...
of illusions, mainly...
Emma Katka Jul 2017
I want to know
what's on your mind...
because I like to pretend
that you were once mine...
I know
it's probably untrue
and I know
I probably mean less to you
I wanna be ******* over it
loving you feels like ****
I didn't ask for this
get a grip
you're on a trip
if you're moving on that quick
and I'm not trying to get too poetic
I want to express this ****
and ******* forget it
I'm a little extra
and you're dramatic
F
Emma Katka Feb 2018
F
must be pure bliss in your world
no regard for anyone while you twirl
I wish I could throw you off your axis
wish I could throw you wider than your mouth is
smiling while you're *******
about something new that's annoying
while you leech on to the naive and what they're giving
you've got the knife for my back on a clip in your boot
you're ready to strike and I'm ready to lose
fighting you isn't worth it
bullheaded beyond reason and it makes me sick
you make me ******* sick
you're the worst type of person to know
you're the worst person I know
Emma Katka Dec 2017
fake girls
that fake friend it
I'd rather you treat me like ****
call me out on it
at least I know you're an honest *****
I'm okay with it
I've got my faults,
a lot of them
I'd rather you call me out
than keep faking it
you're making it
hard to make friends
hard to keep friends
hard to be a friend
what's next then?
forget we don't speak anymore
until we have mutual friends
then try to explain
we just lost touch
plastic beginnings
silent ends
the start and finish
of more fake friends
Emma Katka Jun 2020
toxic fumes exuding neater
chapped lips and sterling silver
my love is a broken heater
frosted tips on a heart breaker
balancing ledges over trenches on a gold digger
lighting the match but not pulling the trigger
so get into the depths of it if you're thirsty
I'm on the opposite end of the first me
but lessons aren't always learned pretty...
then in comes symmetry, deja vu city
the mirror glass keeps getting *****
golden hour rear window views are blinding
lost in nostalgic melodies while crying
it's all so overwhelming sometimes...
but I love the melancholy;
if I could, I'd mix it right in to my coffee
I want to re-learn a little vulnerability,
but that always tastes bittersweet
Emma Katka Dec 2017
this poem isn't about you
but everything always starts with you
I ******* hate that, too
I remember harmonizing on your balcony
you were amazed by me, I felt like a queen
the cold reminds me of being in your jacket, bundling
that old, ripping leather on your couch
the comfort of my lips on your mouth
but the cold reminds me of you leaving
and that I didn't even realize it at first
talk about embarrassing
I don't want to do this forever
I want to inspire people to do something bigger
I want to inspire myself to be better...
I want to to be able to live off my art
to be able to de-ice my heart
I need to get warm
I'm too afraid of the potential harm
now is where I start spiraling
seeing your names give me anxiety
wish I could get over everything
still not over the ***** that betrayed me
still not over the boy that abandoned me
still not over the monster that ***** me
still not over the leaches that changed me
still not over the bullies that attacked me
still mad it took me having to learn to forgive me
to forgive you all ******* first
as if I did something to deserve it
******* all for forgetting about it
******* all for not feeling sorry for it
I remember feeling the wind on my face when I was still innocent
I remember feeling the wind on my face when the innocence left
I remember the pillowcases I soaked wet with my tears
I remember the poetry in my mascara bleeding
I remember the poetry in everyone I've ever loved, leaving
I remember learning what it means to be loving
to be sweet, tender and caring
I remember what it means to be soft
I want to know what it's like to be soft
definitions create distractions
curling up inside the shell of myself is easier than turning around
I'm too far into the destructive phase to stop now
my wrecking ball is my bad habits
my inability to move past ****
I want to know what it's like to let go of something that hurts me
I want to know what it's like to light it all on fire without any burning
I guess I'm wondering
if I can hate you for what you've taken,
I can thank you for what you've given
thank you
for giving me
a pathway to forgiving me
relearning and reliving me
again and again
relinquishing and repenting
all that was confusing
and all that you once were
because of you, there was more to learn
because of you, I know what I deserve
Emma Katka Dec 2021
And they say, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned".
You knew who I was going into this, you didn't need to be warned.
Emma Katka Nov 2017
powerful needs powerful
not a mouthful
plant me with a kiss
make it something I'll actually miss
because I'm not looking for bliss
you can't miss that, you dream that
maybe I want something aggressive
you know, that I can handle
can you handle that?
I'm always gritting my teeth
I'm tired of playing make believe
gotta do more than dream
and try to be something
and I hate it
I can't focus my thoughts
maybe I've got it all wrong
I don't write poetry for advice
but people still drop in
and I wonder if you even get it
how anyone even could
get me
and I wonder
if this season is really gonna change me
or if it's just rearranging me
until I start cumbling back into the shell of me
like I always do
I prefer running away from people like you
and you don't wanna see me the way I need to see you
in places other than my head
in my bed
in everything backwards and ahead
in nostalgia soaked car rides
to back home where it doesn't feel like home
going back to where I'm known
for a few different reasons
maybe for being a *****
maybe for old self seasons
it wasn't me
could have been the ectasy
little dolphin pill
castaway thrill
sights that **** and pierce me with a new type of sound
that you feel in your thighbones
the feeling of your tongue going down
on me
similar to ecstasy
coming down now
I've got ideas pouring out all around
and my hands only work so fast
my reality demands my most valuable time
I could be spending trying to make a dime from this ****
creating and destroying it
the minute I set it free for you to read
this **** isn't to impress you
it's to cleanse me
and to scream
because my head is getting cramped
revamped
every day
Emma Katka Nov 2018
there's blood on my hands
but blood on yours too
I wonder what would have happened if I never left
I wonder what would have happened we finished those riffs
those bolts of love like musical notes
bursting into flames right after they're wrote
passion only gets you so far
it doesn't always coexist with love
passion for lust
you were someone I thought I could trust
I have to move on, or combust
what choice do I have here anymore?
no passion left to settle the scores
the notes faded the minute we made the music
I just want someone to call me baby all the time
I'm relieved I'm not yours, while being sad you're not mine
that's gotta be some sort of sign of my state of mind
what reality do I exist in?
I just call it mine...
if I could
I would crush up nostalgia and snort a line
******* wired into me like muscle memory
like when my fingers touch piano keys
I remember the music
I remember your hands
I remember your apathy
I remember our plans
I remember the golden morning light
I remember the texture of your couch
I remember the smell of the air
I remember the taste of your mouth
I want to move on
I want to let go
I want to remember the potential of my glow
this is music only I'm writing now
and I'm the star of the ******* show
Emma Katka Jul 2017
windows down
summer air moistening my skin
relieving my daily sins
or reliving...
I love driving past golden lit windows
& imagine strangers comfortably inside
soaking in what is sacred
(to them)
but at the same time...
I also imagine their demons
as I'm sure ours could dance together
under any weather
unless we sever the tether
that connects the heart to the mind
to do that I'd need more time
lessons aren't learned in a day
I'm too curious for my own good
and you know what they say
it could **** me
but it's tasty and thrills me
curiousities are my being...
curious about how the world sees me
while simultaneously
telling myself I live entirely carefree
(but that's untrue)
you're a stranger to me
and you're a stranger to you
I'm not interested enough
to be interested in loving you
learning you
I've gotta trust you...
but
I'll first trust the golden light of a stranger's home,
and until that changes,
my demons dance alone.
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