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May 2016 · 531
intravenous
Nora May 2016
highs **** pain
from lows and
gains will gamble
death, russian
roulette from
morphine shots
will always take
you gently
May 2016 · 822
How Are You?
Nora May 2016
a courtesy conditioned,
disingenuous inquisition
societal reflexes true and
queued because they don't
******* care
May 2016 · 628
ruminations @ 2AM
Nora May 2016
pitch black night light
screen taps, too bright
eyes squint blink tears
swallow, sigh, hold fears
one sob empty throat
alone, aloof, alone, alive
May 2016 · 562
halley's comet
Nora May 2016
Eons ephemeral
have come and
gone yet you've
stayed the same

I don't want to be
a ghost any
longer but I don't
know how to
materialize
Apr 2016 · 354
slumber
Nora Apr 2016
I’m committed to the grave,
Giving away bits and pieces
Every day, crinkling them like
Paper and ripping shreds into
Ribbons that shower down
Upon me

I sleep at high noon, peak
Hour prime time, dozing
Into dark absences, void
Of light and being without
Commitment, a kiss, a fling,
A long nap

I’m afraid to surrender myself,
To face defamation and be
Deflowered by cold fingers
And a choking fist, but I long
To be teased, to taste and try
The eternal without ever having
To say goodnight.
Apr 2016 · 387
insomnia, part 2
Nora Apr 2016
Shallow and afraid you lay
Still, supine, seventy miles
Away in thought even though
You’re here in physicality --
Not quite ready to surrender
Your conscience to the darker
Realms, eyes glazed over guards
That are fading off
Away, into unknown depths
Apr 2016 · 334
insomnia, part 1
Nora Apr 2016
2:03AM, you know the number
like you know the area code,
fairfield county and your mind
is galloping off again - at least
this time it’s pleasant but
you can’t comprehend why
it’s the night you fight when
at any point during the day
you’d capitulate and say
“take me”
Apr 2016 · 313
charcoal baby
Nora Apr 2016
Pull me into your lips
Like a cigarette,
Inhale my smoky spirals
Harsh and ashy on your
******* lungs and
Let me sit there for a while,
Charcoal fire and nicotine
Poison, I’m killing you slowly
But you want it
Apr 2016 · 490
Tipsy
Nora Apr 2016
Inhibitions exhaled
With each sip of the
Rose blush crawling
Across my cheeks, it’s
A blossoming flower that
Roots itself in my
Torso and spreads
Throughout blushing
hands and feet

Soft sweet kisses
On the tip of my
Tongue, sweet burn
Churns my stomach
Heat rises gently and
Encases me in a
Fuzzy aura of warmth
Apr 2016 · 701
Quiet On the Quabbin
Nora Apr 2016
The hills peek
Their heads out above
Still clear waters,
Tombstones tall and
Tremendous enough
To stand for the loss
Of five whole towns

Beneath the calm lies
Rusted railroads,
Crumbling foundations,
Fading blueprints of a
History long forgotten

It’s quiet on the Quabbin,
Silent front and stark divide,
Monument in mourning
Flooded, forlorn, fated
To be forgotten
Apr 2016 · 508
equinox
Nora Apr 2016
our worlds collide,
synchronized,
day and night
you think i’d be
able to hide in a
blurry crowd

does it dawn on you,
too? you’re there and
the sunset’s hot on
my cheeks, red mess
of a masterpiece burning
and i shut my eyes
to pitch black,
praying you can’t
see me.

you’re so pretty
in the sparking
sun, cascading gentle
rays like embraces
From soft laughter.
you rise, I fall
head over heels
from the hill in
the distance
a revision of "Ray"
Apr 2016 · 380
ill
Nora Apr 2016
ill
Live or die,
That’s the way
That’s the choice
It’s your say
Mental illness,
Fragile health,
Life’s a ***** -
So tough it out.

When sorrow hits,
Drink it up, let it
Sit, soak it in,
Feel it rob you
Of your mind and
Swipe the breath
Out of your
Chest, let it
Steal your cherished
Rest

Therein lies the
Choice, the split,
The time to die,
Or put up with ****
Accept it now,
Accept it all,
Take in your fate
And deal with it.

Exhausting it
Is to be so down,
So put it out
And douse your
Thoughts for
Now, because
You’ll have to
Pretend to be
O.K. to get
On through
the year, the
Day.
Apr 2016 · 292
rosy
Nora Apr 2016
If i could romanticize
The present like i do
The past, and let my
Worries tumble gently
Down and off my back,
I’d be free of it all,
Clean and chaste
Apr 2016 · 399
cellophane
Nora Apr 2016
Struggling not to suffocate
In the tight cellophane tent
That encases my mattress,
Gasping, reaching out but
Hand can’t break the barrier

I’m surrounded by cheap
Reflections of myself, this
Bed is their shrine -- i pay
Homage to the demons
By listening to each one
And giving them a piece
Of my mind

There’s a world out there
That i don't know, outside
This drear and bleary *****
Room that keeps me captive
Apr 2016 · 561
slow clock
Nora Apr 2016
i dream of the day
where i’ll be able to say
i know how to enjoy
Free Time, Me Time, Time
Alone with no crimes,
instead of yearning for
hours at a job i deplore
because i can’t bear myself
anymore
Apr 2016 · 318
maniacal
Nora Apr 2016
If i could write as fast as i think
I’d be drowning in pages,
Choking on ink,
****** and beaten, a
Prolific cesspool sink
Apr 2016 · 567
lobotomize
Nora Apr 2016
maybe if i chilled my mind
with an icepick drill
the world would sit icy still
Apr 2016 · 278
habitual
Nora Apr 2016
search and destroy
stalk and avoid
sulk and deploy
empty and void
Mar 2016 · 564
Karuna
Nora Mar 2016
Venus with her curved nose
And cherry lips breathing halos of
Cigarette sighs, strong hands and
Ample thighs, pulchritudinous
Perfect prize, far too pretty
For mortal eyes

Limber legs and golden tresses,
Goddess sent to Earth clad in
Flowing dresses, rich laughter and
Warm caresses, generous heart
Full and swell, bright warm aura
Casts and blesses
Uma Thurman is an excellent muse.
Mar 2016 · 863
La Padrona
Nora Mar 2016
My lady is a marble statue, standing tall and aloof in the doorway as she gazes upon me. Her skin is cool porcelain, smooth and pale against painted cherry lips. She’s straight out of Pulp Fiction -- Mia Wallace brought to life with blunt, dark bangs and piercing blue eyes. And though she is a woman of glaciers and not embers, her presence radiates just enough warmth for me to feed off of. I come back to her – she is home.
I can feel her watching as I sit on the couch, legs curled beneath me. A slight turn of my head and our gazes meet -- mine eager, longing, like a child, and hers a latent affection veiled beneath sly satisfaction. My heart swells with desire as I look her over. She is lovely, and she knows it. I am the chosen one, and she tells me through a ghost of a toothless smile that lasts for but a second. One slender hand brushes against the frame of the door, and elegant fingers beckon me forth. I rise.
There’s a seemingly perpetual distance between us until nightfall, where she takes me up into her arms and sweeps me to the bedroom. It is only then that she is affectionate – but it is more than enough to make me happy. For she is an exquisite treasure, a rare delicacy that is sweeter when kept out of reach.
Cruel and cold as she may seem, she’s different when we’re lying together beneath the covers. I am hers. She tells me through soft caresses and occasional kisses, slender arms pulling me in as we rest in silence. It is a simple life and carefree existence, and I relish it greatly.
Mar 2016 · 275
fair weather
Nora Mar 2016
You aren’t real, I know it to be true
I’ve seen you vanish in a hot second

When the clouds come rumbling
You’re gone with the vapor
Mar 2016 · 323
cheers
Nora Mar 2016
I’m two parts a ****** up mess
And one part bitterness,
Shake me up and let me settle
In the pit of your empty stomach
(but i’ll probably make you ******* sick)
happy st. patrick's day
Mar 2016 · 516
mustard gas
Nora Mar 2016
Suffocated by my own self doubt
And your disapproval,
Struggling to keep my head up
But you plunge it under

I want to believe in you
But I’m too old for lies and
I realize that it’s been this
Way all along
Mar 2016 · 1.3k
You/Me
Nora Mar 2016
you make me hate me
reject me, dejected me,
a piece of you that is
sadly me, i am me and
you hate me
Mar 2016 · 903
extension
Nora Mar 2016
You think you never
Cut the ******
Umbilical cord,
That i’m one hundred
And fifty pounds of
Walking baggage
That belongs to you.

I’m just your grown-up,
Beat up barbie doll,
With the limbs loose
And skin scarred:
A breathing toy.

You invalidate me
So you can have a
Perpetual platform,
A pedestal tarnished
By the scuffs of your
Dagger heels.
Mar 2016 · 1.2k
Green Light
Nora Mar 2016
Fame seemed just out of reach --
Across the bay, mere miles away
Her senses privy to the charm,
Head brimming with alarm
For she knew she’d never
Make it through
(But why stop dreaming?)
Mar 2016 · 1.2k
Falling Rain
Nora Mar 2016
Rainy days make
your joints
And my heart
ache
Grisly greys, dampened dirt,
The scent of earth
Rich with grief and
consternation

I taste the mist and
Feel amiss, shivering in
Showers, a wilted
Flower,
Salty tears and fears
Masked by downpours
That drip and drown my
Burning humiliation
Mar 2016 · 754
Visitation
Nora Mar 2016
You’ve landed in my mind,
Meteor crashing into plain
Sight without any given
Warning - little did I expect
To find a crater in my heart
And a drive to fill the aching
Void

Your voice soft and dreamy,
Immortalized by memory:
The way words and truths
Roll off your tongue,
Cryptic creature, where
Are you from?

Where is your world,
What’s it like? I
Want to know,
But cannot go -
Why’s it that you
Captivate me so?
Same subject as Star Child. I am so captivated by you.
Mar 2016 · 398
Ray
Nora Mar 2016
Ray
Every day and night
Our worlds collide
Two lit faces in a blurry crowd
Of passing faces, pacing
People and you’d think
I’d be able to hide

Do you see me, too?
I’ll never go to ask
remaining silent, moving past,
Heart and mind racing
Against one another as I
Try to find the means to
breathe

You’re so pretty in the sun
When it rises gently in the
Morning, and cascades light
Down your smiling face.
Sitting still by the windowsill,
I’d be dead if looks could ****
Mar 2016 · 593
essence
Nora Mar 2016
i want to sit amongst the stars
silent, dissolving into space, a
still nothingness, a pair of eyes
and no more.

i want LA to absorb me like a sponge,
soaking my essence, throwing it
into the sink with all the other lost
young souls: we’re soapy watercolor
film.

i want to be an extra on a movie set,
watching in wonder as personality
after personality passes me by,
perfect and poised.

i want to dissipate into the foam
of johnny depp’s coffee, or drift
like the smoke from uma thurman’s
cigarette against her lips.

i want to be a fleeting ghost, a jane
doe in an undated photo by the
paparazzi, nameless and noir
in the grainy polaroid.

i want to be a shadow, the fragments
cast off of a shooting star - i want to
trail along until i fade.
Mar 2016 · 371
in the dust
Nora Mar 2016
i feel like i’m playing catchup
you’re so far ahead
i try to reach out
but you’re out of touch
and i’m sinking in
quicksand

you sprouted and blossomed
i withered and died
i want to be happy,,
but you’ve left me behind
Mar 2016 · 1.7k
tiny
Nora Mar 2016
bone against skin
jutting out, thin --
i want a gaunt glow
where my cheekbones show
without contour

if running from my issues
keeps me trim,
and tiny meals
make me slim
i’ll keep grinding until
my hip bones pop --
and when i’m dead is when i’ll stop
Mar 2016 · 579
Flutter
Nora Mar 2016
I wear the nest now.
It’s an ill-fitting tutu-
Itchy, scratchy,
constricting, and I’m
Stuck. My wings would
Not withstand the weight
If I ever tried to fly to
Freedom, far away from
the
Flock.
Mar 2016 · 508
20
Nora Mar 2016
20
Everybody has somebody
And I have nobody
Welcome to twenty -
It’s awfully lonely.
“Friends first” has fallen
To lovers, and Friday
nights are spent working,
wondering, and wrestling
Self-doubt and pity.
Welcome to twenty -
It’s especially ******.
Mar 2016 · 3.2k
Cinema of Sales
Nora Mar 2016
Is it acting
or adapting?
smiling for the show
of customers:
bright, dapper,
cheery and proud -
pushing product
with a knowing smile,
words animated,
confident and collected.
once they leave i sit and
ponder, I see the stars
in their films and admire
from afar, lamenting that I
cannot act - but can I?
written on a receipt at work
Mar 2016 · 586
Star Child
Nora Mar 2016
Waved bangs frame
Your fair young face,
And flowing clothes hang
Like drying laundry
From your gangly limbs

We met for lunch once:
You, daughter of
the stars and I the curious
Traveler. My words did
Not flow as I’d hoped,
But hung limp in
The air vulnerably--
For your guarded heart
Ignored their pleas.

I see you daily, star child,
With your hooped earrings
And painted lips, eyes
twinkling like distant suns.
I will continue to admire
you from afar,
Even if our worlds are
Not in orbit and our
galaxies sit light years apart.
For the dear friend who decided I wasn't worth her time anymore (but I still see her everywhere)
Mar 2016 · 943
Sixth Sense
Nora Mar 2016
Open your eye to the
Misty dark sea,
Brimming with unexplored
Mystery and washing ashore
dead carcasses, sometimes
crab shells sometimes corpses.
Still the people flow in,
Out, in, out, until one day
they’re swallowed and all
that’s left is the
spitting sea foam.
Mar 2016 · 667
Syracuse
Nora Mar 2016
Industrial rust
dusted over and
hardened, tarnished
towers and the solitary
echo of the wind -
perhaps once there
was a presence to
this Plateau, if anything
it’s buried in the woods
of the cemetery with the
legacy. A dead tree in
a dying field, engulfed
by emptiness and a monument
to the past: but how much
longer will it last?
Mar 2016 · 1.2k
Powder Room Princess
Nora Mar 2016
Crowd’s a buzzin’
But it’s just you and me
Nobody knows us,
It’s easy to be

A name to a face,
You’re still just a 'who'
But put us together,
And see? That makes two

Powder room princess,
In veils of smoke
Rugged old gangster,
We’re sharing a ****

Onto the floor,
A dance and a sway
Silly and sultry,
We’re flying away

Made it back home,
To finish the night
Music is playing,
You slip out of sight

Hand grazes powder
A most wonderful find
Nose-deep in snow -- Help!
I think I’m going blind.
Mar 2016 · 760
Benzo Beauty
Nora Mar 2016
Dying dreams exchanged for
Fairy dust and a doting Daddy,
Dollars, drive-bys, euphoric highs:
Glassy eyes and a hazy mind
Just hellos - no goodbyes

No lies of stardom and
Starving on the street for a
Script or a role that never *******
Followed through, none of that,
No work, only play.

Days wasted are over
And sitting pretty is easy
When there’s coke and
Crime and corruption
But you’re still the rose

Growing in the play-pen,
It’s lonely when they go
The house is all to know,
Porcelain doll with her
Nose so white: do you ever
dream of flight?
Guess the muse.
Mar 2016 · 357
For a Friend:
Nora Mar 2016
My eyes are never dry
My head never clear
My stomach churns daily
My mind’s numbed by fears

I’m sorry I’m distant, disturbed
And distracted
I’m sorry I’m silent, saddened
And secluded

I want to be better
I want to be well
I want to go one day
Without facing Hell

I want to make memories
Not dwell in my mind
I want to escape this
I want out of this bind

I keep saying sorry
When I know I should stop
I mean to say thank you
For sticking, for staying,
Not letting me drop.
Mar 2016 · 1.3k
Kill Bill
Nora Mar 2016
Violent clangs echo
From the TV,
And the Bride is a
Vengeful gazelle,
Galloping forth and
eviscerating the
ones who stand in
her path to---

        “**** Bill again?
                 Is that all you do when I’m gone? Snort
         Coke, get high, lounge back
         And watch this ******* ****?”

The cigarette burns hot in her fingers,
Smoke sighing from her lungs and
She smiles silently. Plum lips pucker
And one hand beckons him forth,
the other raising a silent finger.

Skin tight yellow and black
Hugs her curves and she
triumphs, golden goddess
Reclaiming herself in a
Blazen trail of ******
Revenge.

      “Come on, I’ve been gone and now
        I’m here. I’ve missed ******* you
       And hearing your pretty little moans.”

Ashes on her pant leg, feet flex and
She rises up, eyes fixed on the screen.
Cat eyes smirk and she takes his hand,
Dark bob razor sharp as she dreams
About the day she’ll wield the katana.
Note: If you guessed inception, you're probably right :)
Feb 2016 · 473
West Stockbridge
Nora Feb 2016
Supple peaks
Where the Earth swells,
Shapely curves straddling
Land, soft and rounded yet
Mighty and tall.
I’m breathless;
I want the mountains
To swallow me whole.
Feb 2016 · 4.0k
Stretchmarks
Nora Feb 2016
My bottom blossoms
When I sit atop the
Bed and fine red lines
Run down its sides.
If this is the marking
Of a budding woman,
Then let me proudly
Display my vines.
Feb 2016 · 2.5k
Yellow Wallpaper
Nora Feb 2016
How distasteful you are,
With your sundry splotches
and jarring imperfections.
Oh, you taunt me so!
Whether your anathemas
are reflected through the mirror or my own eyes.
Oh horrible, hateful, heinous thing!
I cannot bear to stare any longer.
How sickly your color is--
A pallid yellow, like one giant bruise
That has budded and blossomed
In some unnaturally grotesque fashion.
My blood boils, my pulse races
And I raise my weapons to fight--
Two talons--claws honed to perfection.
Be gone, you wretched scab!
And so I tear, scratching furiously,
Until no more of you is left.
The blood is stuck beneath my fingertips,
Or what is left of them.
My sinews tremble, ****** and bare,
As the last of my wallpaper
Is ripped from my bones.
A small tribute to Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Concept is mine, story and inspiration are not.
Feb 2016 · 492
Smoke Across the Divide
Nora Feb 2016
They inhale the herb
Breathing out love
Lost in a peace-filled haze
For smoke is where
They find their shelter
A battle cry
A new war
Against the one that’s going on
Where smoke parades about
The flaming forest
And the people
Are coughing and dying
In this cloud of destruction
Though smoky still
They can discern
The promise of victory.
Commentary on the Vietnam War.
Feb 2016 · 1.6k
mermaid
Nora Feb 2016
I am a mermaid but you can’t see it
I have no fins but I gleam and glisten
Under streams and showerheads
My skin glows, it’s soft to the touch
Caressed by the water
Oh so shiny and slippery
against the light
I’m usually granted no such embrace
For only water kisses the skin and holds the soul --
Air, so light and plentiful, is but the touch of a finger
I am greater than what I seem
I traverse rough seas
I captivate, I navigate
In the porcelain tub
And I am a mermaid -- but you can’t see it
Feb 2016 · 1.9k
TV Dinner
Nora Feb 2016
Children, gather round
Your second parent calls
A simple box
Wooden and metal
A face of glass
Adorned with two knobs
Take your seats
And take off your shoes--naughty!
Elbows off the table
Legs crossed, hands clasped
Black and white
Levittown
Like your mary janes and stockings
Your president birthed
And mourned
Mother’s in the kitchen
The window outside your little world
Is black and red but not white
Malcolm X, and all the rest
Standing up for their territory
Little girl, the country’s changing
Pick your daisy
We’re not crazy
The bombs come closer every day
Haven’t you seen Castro
And our fiascos by the bay?
Great Society
Social Security
Aid for the old and poor
Dinner’s ready
Mother’s specialty
Credibility on a plate
Crudely disguised
Plastic, fantastic, and uniform
Yet your mind is so hungry
That you eat it all the same
And give it no thought
The window’s widening
Its light reflected
On that glowing omniscient face
Color! Color!
Bright and vivid
Dancing at your fingertips
Brother’s gone off to Nam
Off with your skirts, your stockings,
Your mary janes,
And that awful ribbon in your hair
Burning dope
The rainbow bathes you
In its splendid glory
The birds in the sky
Like rolling thunder
Hawks tearing at the doves
****** falling to the trees
Agent Orange
Fire, death, destruction
Where’s your meal now?
Johnson stumbled,
Faith has crumbled
And so have the foundations
Of your enclosed walls
Bobby’s groovy--
No--he’s gone
And King’s dream
Escaped with his last breath
White rabbit,
Gentle rabbit
Sing your peace
The country’s ablaze
At home and away
Stand your ground
Chicago, Ohio
Each one’s a battlefield
Time for dessert--
Licking lollipops
LSD
Clear your plates
For a second course
50s/60s zeitgeist.
Feb 2016 · 374
Extinguish, Exhume
Nora Feb 2016
You struck the match
You birthed the fire
The room was dark
Our bodies brighter
I was breathless
I was high
From hello,
Until goodbye.

You called me nightly
You let me in
Awakened a sense
Of fun and new
A comfortable
Abode for two.

I didn’t know love
Could be defined
By chinese buffet
And ripened peaches
I didn’t realize love
Was at the door,
In the pool, down
the road at the farm
Or even the dusty
Old piano where we’d
Play the music from
Our favorite games.

You, I,
We never saw it coming
Even though it was
Achingly inevitable.
We were never
Conscious of the bigger
Thing - just good friends,
Great friends, best friends.
I didn’t know our time
Would run short.
You talked of the future
You made me smile
I’d sit beside you
Talking life, sad because
School was coming up
And you lived far away.

I didn’t know I loved you,
Even up until the end
Dragging our feet in the sand
Ocean’s breath on our backs
cold, because the sun
Was setting and so was summer.

I didn’t know matches
Could die and fade.
I always thought they
Led to magnificent flames.
It hurt too much,
The pain, the loss,
The start and end -
I miss you, friend.

You broke the match
You killed the fire
My heart is dark
My outlook darker
I was breathless,
I was high
From hello,
Until goodbye.
Feb 2016 · 555
Art & Allure
Nora Feb 2016
I’ve always been drawn
To the artists,
The new greats,
The aesthetes,
The painters,
The writers and the
Ones who dress
Like they’re out of
A low budget
Film from the 90s -
Chic, noir, vintage,
And just so strikingly
Unique. But I am not
Like them, and they
Do not like me - I
Am weird and aloof,
Sloppy and silly,
Withdrawn and witty,
Sporadic in art and
Thought. A nomad
Of culture and crowds,
Too deviant for them:
Au revoir.
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