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486 · Apr 2015
Disillusioned
Evan Backward Apr 2015
I am not a charity case.
I will not be liked or loved
Because I am so weak.
So weak, that I make you,
The martyr who bears me,
Feel strong.  That I give you purpose.
I refuse, to let my table be supported
By you and your makeshift table leg.

If anything, I pride myself as an individual.
I am strong.
I am independent.
My happiness, not unlike
The spinning center of a gyroscope,
Is existent entirely independent
Of your influence.
I don't need you.

I want you.
I want you because you are kind.
You are genuine, you understand.
I want you because you are comforting,
You give me that which no other can.

I wouldn't want you,
If the motives for what you do,
Were different than what I'd hoped.
Altogether disillusioned.
Written back in the day
452 · Aug 2013
Tonight
Evan Backward Aug 2013
Knees against my chest
This is no way to go on
Hands through my hair
If you push hard enough
The hole in my lungs
Just sit still
Nails at my skin
That's not about to change
Pulse in my temples
Move slow, keep it tight
Jaw clenches hard
Breathe, come on
The dreams on the edge
Come back, stay grounded
Fear comes in tides
She's talking to you, focus
Drained, collapse, ache
Just a little farther, another step
Ripped, tossed, tense
Let's sleep now, please
A gasp for air
It's morning. I made it.
434 · Dec 2014
Can't Be Helped
Evan Backward Dec 2014
I'm not funny, she says,
The twinkle in her eye
Sparks laughter throughout the room.
I'm really not, turning in frustration
The corners of her lips reach high.
Forcing them down, she swallows a sigh.
Sometimes she doesn't want to be happy,
But sometimes it can't be helped.
430 · Feb 2013
I'm Sorry
Evan Backward Feb 2013
For what I've never said.

The words left unread
The pages of a story book.
One I never felt I should take a look
Through, all the thick and all the thin
I think that we have been
Fine, and rough, but good.
And all but good.

And I know it's not but gibberish
The days gone by
But I think if we just held on
They'd just keep going on.
Holding on by tooth and nail
But I've never really had to.
Never really had to try or bargain for
As I've gotten all I could ever ask, and sure,
I've never had to try.

But it couldn't hurt to do once more.
428 · Apr 2015
Premonition
Evan Backward Apr 2015
Heaven whispers peace in my
Ears, it rings so
Loudly, so all encompassing, too
Long has it been since its toll.

Ice freezes balefully on the borders,
Smooth lines drawn on the edge.

Careful grace,
Omits and voids any fears, any
Malicious shadows of a doubt.
I walk among these clouds,
Not seeing that it is all
Going so well.
409 · Jun 2013
It's Time for Me
Evan Backward Jun 2013
Sometimes it's good to be me,
Good to be me and not you,
Not us.

I'm not us,
And I need me.  To smile and go on
My leap for joy is founded in me,
Not you.

So maybe it isn't you,
Because I'm not us.
And maybe I need to be me with you,
not us.

To feel my heat,
My smile, I stretch your legs
And stiffness holds me
As I hold your legs,
and I keep still, and heavy.

For I know where I sleep,
But not you.
Here in winter coats to brace for storm,
I hold myself, not you,
And speak of my frostbite,
run my bath.

So here I am,
Me in all my self.
And I think that's alright
That's just fine,
To not be you.

And maybe the sky is softer
But the ceilings are lower,
So I'll just be me and I'll try for joy.
Not because I'm not us,
But because I'm me.
385 · Jun 2013
Looking Up
Evan Backward Jun 2013
I see you,

sitting there saying "it's going to be okay"

And I

know that's a lie, because sometimes to me, "okay" means that I won't

Wake up tomorrow morning,

with four gray walls, a house, and the ocean

Looking at

the island off the coast thinking about

Yesterday's forever

because sometimes it isn't going to be okay but this
battle of wits
is futile, so I clasp my hands

And I sigh
372 · Apr 2015
I ramble
Evan Backward Apr 2015
Sometimes I send really long messages
Sometimes I ramble on until I've reached a character cap
Sometimes I hope you'll forgive my enthusiasm
371 · Dec 2014
An Apology
Evan Backward Dec 2014
Sometimes I wish you could just be real,
When really, it has always been my responsibility
To see you.

Sometimes I just want,
And want, it's uncomfortable
And that's okay.
It's okay to be uncomfortable
To notice that there's more to me,
That there's more to do,
Work to be done.

Sometimes you tell me phrases,
And I reject them,
Throw them deep into your throat.
I'd rather that they burn
Than for them to reach my ears,
That I be responsible for your happiness.
For that, I'm sorry

Sometimes I couldn't see,
Past the haze of anger,
Of angst that I didn't understand.
The guilt I hadn't learned to accept,
The responsibility I needed to avoid.

Sometimes I'm glad,
I had you to hold us up,
To hold me above you
While I threw stones at your head.

Sometimes I wish,
You could see me now,
To know that I'm more
Than what I was.
That I'm capable of choosing
To never be the tower
By your side.

Sometimes I'm happy,
And sometimes I'm grateful.
Written after reading my old poem Translucent about my ex-boyfriend.
303 · Jul 2014
To What I've Chosen
Evan Backward Jul 2014
I am beautiful, and wonderful, and amazing.
I am strong, and loving, and worthy.
I am learning, and sometimes I won't be nice,
I won't please the people around me, or myself.
That's okay.

I know I won't always be satisfied.
I know that means I am capable of more.
That I am not perfect but,
I will strive for mastery.
That I will be known not for perfection,
But for drive and persistence
The focus on improvement.

I know that I choose to be alone.
Because I know what it is I am looking for,
I wish to grow to love a rock.
Not to fall fast and stop hard,
But to grow like ivy over barren walls
To become proud of those I choose to be around.

I choose to wait patiently,
To work toward my long term goal.
I choose, to put myself in the line of fire,
To challenge myself, that I will learn and become more powerful,
More loving than I've ever been before.
179 · Sep 2019
Passing
Evan Backward Sep 2019
She walks in
Passing through the kitchen
She grabs a glass and the bottle of wine
She sits down at the table
The white walls reflect the light bouncing in from outside
It shows off the people walking in pairs
This was getting old
She lifts the glass toward her mouth
Pausing, she reels it back and throws it at the opposite wall
The merlot runs down the wall
And the glass sparkles through the air
She stands up and pulls herself into the shower
She stands under the water for awhile
Then without drying herself
Falls into bed
There was a poem on here "Loneliness Repetitive" I think?  This is me trying to emulate that one

— The End —