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1.4k · Jan 2012
Catching Butterflies
Isobel G Jan 2012
Did I ever tell you,
Roses are my favorite,
In all colours,
With cherry blossoms round the edges,
And mint leaves on the side,

It was forget-me-nots,
When I was five,
But I still love their violet-blue,
And yellow freckles of pollen,
That melt with your eyes,

I liked sugar cubes then,
And honey in my tea,
With petals on my cake,
And I never screamed about bees,
When I played with the lavender,

I used to believe more,
Thinking everything was beautiful,
Like I could just lie on the grass,
Drinking lemonade forever,
And catching butterflies
©Nicola-Isobel H.        26.01.2012
1.4k · Jan 2012
Masochistic
Isobel G Jan 2012
I can't get enough,
Why should I control it,
When there's no barrier,

I don't feel enough,
Why should I stop myself,
You know I'm masochistic
©Nicola-Isobel H.         23.01.2011
1.4k · Feb 2011
Brightness
Isobel G Feb 2011
Breathing,
Living, floating, dreaming,
Drenched,
In brightness
©Nicola-Isobel H.      12.02.2011
1.3k · Feb 2012
Drones
Isobel G Feb 2012
Maybe I'll just shoot aeroplanes,
And let your cloud eyes wander,
Falling on bomb-dropping drones,
While I sleep underwater
©Nicola-Isobel H.         05.02.2012
1.3k · Dec 2011
Infection
Isobel G Dec 2011
I must have one of those crazy infections:
Bitten on the jugular,
With silent jaws,
And within an instance,
All the sounds,
All the colours disappear,
Leaving you to die,
In static and white
©Nicola-Isobel H.         26.12.2011
1.3k · Oct 2011
Shame
Isobel G Oct 2011
It's a shame,
We're still falling,
I should have just let go
©Nicola-Isobel H.        04.09.2011
1.3k · May 2016
I'm melting.
Isobel G May 2016
I feel my whole body soften
like wax when you hold me.
Your kisses set my skin on fire
and your eyes defibrillate my heart.
© Nicola-Isobel H.          24.05.2016
1.3k · Mar 2011
There Is No Hope
Isobel G Mar 2011
The word seems,
So gentle,
Full of naive hope,
That stabs at the hollowness,
Innocence in belief,
That I destroy,
There is no hope
©Nicola-Isobel H.       18.03.2011
1.3k · Feb 2011
Until Nightfall Approached
Isobel G Feb 2011
I love you,
Used to mean,
So much,
When naivety,
Was all we had,
Until nightfall,
Approached,
And the fire,
Died inside you
©Nicola-Isobel H.      18.02.2011
1.2k · Apr 2011
We Used To Be Something
Isobel G Apr 2011
When we waste away,
What's left of our lives,
Will you turn back,
And remember,
We used to be something,
There wasn't always emptiness,
The blood never showed before,
But we could never run from this forever
©Nicola-Isobel H.       10.04.2011
1.2k · Dec 2010
The Journey
Isobel G Dec 2010
Life was a struggle,
Confusion and misunderstanding,
An unanswered question,

Life was safe,
Cautious and quiet,
An unopened book,

Flowers did not bloom,
They remained withdrawn and hidden,
Rivers never met oceans,
Never explored the sea,

There was fear;
Fear of knowing,
Fear of seeking,
Fear of finding,

It was unexplored,
Left as is,
Unchanging,
Undoubted,
Unquestioned,

But then there came a change,
A question,
A challenge,
A desire for knowledge,

And then life changed,

The flowers flourished,
One by one,
The rivers reached oceans;
Discovered new seas,

Fear began to fade,
There was nothing to fear,
Once there was knowledge,
Once life sought and found,

It was searching,
Learning,
Growing,
Changing,
Questioned,
Challenged,

­Now life can grow,
Change,
Live without fear,
Face the challenges,

In this new world,
There is exploration,
There is knowledge,
There is a new sun,

The birds can fly,
They can spread their wings,
Take to the sky
*And be free . . .
©Nicola-Isobel Hanlon      15.12.2009

You may have noticed the distinct contrast between this poem and my others. This poem was originally written as a speech for the graduation of one of my leadership courses. Of course, it doesn't capture the true essence of my feelings or outlook on life but it certainly produced the required effect: the illusion of hope and change amongst my audience, people who did not require the honest answer.

I hope you like it, despite its falseness in regards to my true emotional state.
1.2k · Mar 2011
Guilt
Isobel G Mar 2011
The guilt,
That twists itself,
Through the darkness,
Burning red,
Only makes it harder,
To hold on
©Nicola-Isobel H.       26.03.2011
1.2k · Nov 2011
Haunted
Isobel G Nov 2011
Fingerprints on my skin,
Smudged, blue, black,
Shadows in my irises,
Dancing on my lids,
Webs between my fingers,
All tangled with dust,
Rust decomposing on my lips,
Sleeping on bitter veins,
I'm haunted
©Nicola-Isobel H.       02.11.2011
1.2k · Jan 2011
Wasting Time
Isobel G Jan 2011
I'm wasting time,
Time I never had,
Tim that's not mine
©Nicola-Isobel H.      24.01.2011
1.2k · Sep 2014
Sniper
Isobel G Sep 2014
His voice trails off like
a soft caress.
I can almost hear
the tremble on his lips
at the close;
the vibrations reverberating
through my ears.

I can't escape the darkness
of his terrible stare,
the determination burned into
the black stars of his eyes.

It makes me want to fall apart,
that gravitational pull
like a hook through my ribs,
caught on my lungs.
©Nicola-Isobel H.        10.09.2014
1.2k · Jan 2011
Insomnia
Isobel G Jan 2011
Yet another restless night,
Has passed me by,
My tired eyes barely open,
However, I find myself,
Incapable of unconsciousness,
My mind,
Aching with sleeplessness,
Tired of thought,
Longing to give in,
To dreams, to sleep,
But something within,
Rejects such simple necessities,
And gives me over,
To insomnia
©Nicola-Isobel H.     08.01.2011
1.2k · Apr 2011
Street-light Stars
Isobel G Apr 2011
A rainbow sky,
From violet,
And marigold,
To tourmaline hues,
A golden moon,
With streetlight stars
©Nicola-Isobel H.      06.04.2011
1.1k · Jan 2011
Blue Sky
Isobel G Jan 2011
Waist deep in waves,
Crashing, white ocean,
Deep blue for miles,
Nothing for miles,
But blue horizon,
And heavenly, cloudless,
Blue sky
©Nicola-Isobel H.      28.o1.2011
1.1k · Jan 2011
Purple Is The Sky
Isobel G Jan 2011
Purple is the sky,
Cloudless perfection,
An image painted so meticulously,
Black silhouettes,
Of leafy trees,
Green only for the light of day,
Mounted over indigo highlights,
Orange streams from street lights,
Interrupting and completing simultaneously,
No stars shine,
This sky is moonless,
Yet the sun doesn't dare disturb,
The perfect violet sky
©Nicola-Isobel H.     30.12.2010
1.1k · Apr 2011
I'm Not Fighting Anymore
Isobel G Apr 2011
It's not my perception,
I still see everything,
Through the same black haze,
It's everything else,
The things I cannot change,
That pull me deeper,
Into suffocation,

I'm not giving up,
But I'm not fighting,
Anymore
©Nicola-Isobel H.     06.04.2011
1.1k · Jan 2011
Simplicity Is Not A Choice
Isobel G Jan 2011
You say simplicity is a choice,
Always, constantly,
But not for me,
Whose bruised and broken limbs,
Are tightly bound,
In chains of obligation and promises,
In ropes of rules and restrictions,
Unbreakable bonds,
Keeping me from freedom,
Simplicity is not a choice,
It was, long ago,
Before I realised the path I was headed,
But now my options few,
Simplicity far away,
Death is my only hope
©Nicola-Isobel H.     02.01.2011
1.1k · Apr 2012
Adieu, good-night.
Isobel G Apr 2012
Descend upon the clouds,
moth-eaten words,
withered and frail
and at once, form the dust
that is the star of our mourning
and choke within the grasp
of the pale night.

And so, adieu.
©Nicola-Isobel H.          30.04.2012
1.1k · Jan 2011
Just Another Flashback
Isobel G Jan 2011
I'm losing control,
Watching his body go limp,
In my mind,
Imagining his eyes rolling back,
And gradually closing,
Feeling his heart,
Halt to a sudden stop,
And visuallising his unmoving chest,
His head lolling and heavy,
The image unhinges me,
Heart too fast,
Eyes wide open,
Body shaking,
*Just another flashback
©Nicola-Isobel H.     16.01.2011
1.1k · Feb 2012
Unsettling
Isobel G Feb 2012
Stop counting stars,
Look me in the eye,
It's unsettling,
Too innocent,
The way you gaze at my shoulders,
Like they should collapse,

Stop watching the grass grow,
It's dead in my fingers,
I want you to stop me,
Don't let me speak
©Nicola-Isobel H.       28.02.2012
1.1k · Sep 2016
Bang, bang.
Isobel G Sep 2016
Black Chrysler.

White Ferrari.

Loaded barrel.

Dark corner.

Back seat.

Trigger, trigger.

Streetlight.

Unmade bed.

Bathroom floor.

Bang, bang.
©Nicola-Isobel H.         04.09.2016
1.1k · Jun 2016
Starburst
Isobel G Jun 2016
When I meet your eyes
Wagner's thundering drums
fill my ears in a burst;
the symphonic waves
wash over my whole body
as I trace your skin
and the strings soften
into a delicate prelude,
simmering in my chest
as I breathe you in.
It's almost unbearable,
but the building sensation
of the sweeping harmonies
is intoxicating, all-consuming,
just as the feeling of you against
my skin and the warmth of you
on my tongue; the vision of you
from above, utterly devours my senses.
©Isobel G
H.        06.06.2016

This poem was inspired by Wagner's Prelude and Liebestod from the opera Tristan und Isolde.
1.1k · Jan 2011
Betrayal
Isobel G Jan 2011
It's that same,
Nauseating feeling,
Stuck in my throat,
I could almost throw up,
That feeling of betrayal,
Poisoning my thoughts,
I lean over the sink,
I can't win,
Never,
I want to run away,
Because I can never seem,
To understand,
Why me?

I change my mind,
I want to die.
©Nicola-Isobel H.      25.01.2011
1.1k · Feb 2012
Lilacs
Isobel G Feb 2012
I want to  starve myself
and   watch   the   bones
push  through  my  skin
until   it  breaks.  I  want
my  veins   to   settle  on
the    surface    and    the
muscles    to     protrude.
I   can   feel   the   *****
rising    in    my    mouth
when  I  swallow.   I  can
taste  the  blood  and the
acid. I  can  almost  see it
burning    through     my
teeth.  I  want  to  fill  my
stomach  with  lilacs  and
watch­     them    dissolve.
©Nicola-Isobel H.       16.02.2012
Isobel G Jan 2011
He thinks an over-dose,
Will seal the contract,
But now I'm over-dosing,
On something else,
Addicted to a drug,
More dangerous than any other by far,

Such a cruel drug is Love,
Luring you in,
Too fast, too soon,
Consuming all your time,
While you're loving every minute of it,
Leaving you dependant,
Desiring nothing but to close the distance,
Ever so vulnerable to heart-break
©Nicola-Isobel H.     09.01.2011
1.1k · Apr 2012
Please, come home.
Isobel G Apr 2012
I saved you a spot by the fire.
Hold my hand for a while,
if only to watch time pass.
I just want your footsteps to
meet the door.

Please, come home.
©Nicola-Isobel H.         18.04.2012
1.1k · Jan 2011
Gravity Is Unforgiving
Isobel G Jan 2011
A beautiful lie,
The city sleeps,
A silhouette in the night,
We had everything,
He screams,
Defying love and life,
You meant everything,
He falls,

Gravity is unforgiving
©Nicola-Isobel H.     03.01.2011
1.0k · Dec 2010
Painted Purple-Blue Bruises
Isobel G Dec 2010
Your touch draws scarlet lines,
On my china white skin,
And complements this blood,
With painted purple-blue bruises,
Hurt, I run from you,
I hide, desolate and afraid,
We both know I could never conjure,
The strength to stay away,
Hence, I crawl - unwillingly - back to your arms,
I lock myself in your dark cages once more,
I'm crying,
But my tears won't ease this pain
©Nicola-Isobel H.     30.12.2010
997 · Oct 2012
Stutter
Isobel G Oct 2012
Sometimes, the world pours from my eyes
and all light escapes me.
©Nicola-Isobel H.              28.10.2012
996 · Oct 2011
Have You Ever Tasted Fire
Isobel G Oct 2011
Have you ever tasted fire,
It's consuming your mind,
Burning holes through your soul,
Smoking and smoldering,
Blackening your eyes,
'Til you drown in the ebony dust
©Nicola-Isobel H.        28.10.2011
983 · Jan 2011
This House
Isobel G Jan 2011
This is not a house filled with love,
Nor hope,
Respect does not reside here,
In this house,
The doors are closed to happiness,
The windows block out tenderness,
This house does not hold joy,
Or welcome laughter,

This house is consumed by depression,
Controlled by unbalance and deceit,
Conquered by dishonesty and lies,
Built on the foundations of mistrust,
Holding nothing but pain and misery,
This house is not a home,
But a prison of despair
©Nicola-Isobel H.     02.01.2011
981 · Jan 2011
Choking
Isobel G Jan 2011
Staring at the wall,
Not really looking,
Not really feeling,
Unprepared for the cruel fate,
For what is to come,
Just choking
©Nicola-Isobel H.     13.01.2011
975 · Nov 2011
Tattoo Scars
Isobel G Nov 2011
My name across his chest,
In whiter-than-flesh ink,
That pulled his skin,
Like gravity,
Into each letter,
Blistered on one end,
With sunburn,
Forged sharp with his smile,
Brown eyes downcast,
The fleshy tattoo scars
©Nicola-Isobel H.       08.11.2011
941 · Dec 2011
Paper
Isobel G Dec 2011
Just like paper,
We'll fold and tear,
Change colours and fade,
But we'll always be,
Paper
©Nicola-Isobel H.       18.12.2011
941 · Jan 2011
Futile As Devotion
Isobel G Jan 2011
Trying to make sense,
Of the world around me,
Is as futile,
As devotion
©Nicola-Isobel H.      31.01.2011
939 · Apr 2012
A Home
Isobel G Apr 2012
Do you picture,
A home,
Enclosed in snow,
Juxtaposed with ocean sand,
And the blaring light,
Of a fresh white sky,
Gumboots and maples,
Cemented in the dampness,
Of mud and dew,
Ice and oak walls,
Dripping with the gold,
Of morning
©Nicola-Isobel H.       04.04.2012
936 · Feb 2012
Skeleton Girls
Isobel G Feb 2012
Cloud-light fluorescents,
And sunscreen-scented, dust-polluted air,
Bones protruding through the skin,
Blue plastered on every surface,
Of every doe-eyed skeleton,
Wrapped up in white ribbon,
That burns holes in their spines
©Nicola-Isobel H.        28.02.2012
935 · Feb 2016
Musings on Modern Courtship
Isobel G Feb 2016
Love is unattainable; this is no exaggeration.

It is simply the way of my generation to dismiss all sentimental feelings in the name of reputation, but for some poor, idealistic fools still enchanted by the forgotten practice of romantic gesture.
©Nicola-Isobel H.        14.02.2016
925 · May 2015
My only love
Isobel G May 2015
I think of you and all of the memories
wash over me. Our intricate language of kisses,
our intimate habits, consume my thoughts.
I see the never-ending blue of your eyes
as they stare into mine, and my heart aches
with longing. I live every day in hope
of one more kiss, one last embrace.
Every breath is a wish for you
to be mine again, my only love.
©Nicola-Isobel H.          24.05.2015
921 · Jan 2012
Bullet Proof
Isobel G Jan 2012
Girls like me don't make the same mistakes,
They hide,
Fill their hearts with bubble wrap,
And their stomachs with stale air,
Stitch on someone else's smile,
Write falsehoods on their tongues,
Steel rods up their backs,
Pins in their fingers,
Nails behind their teeth,
Cushioned with no-nonsense policies,
And venom on their sleeves.

You can't dodge the bullet twice.
©Nicola-Isobel H.          31.01.2012
917 · Apr 2011
Disbelief or Disappointment
Isobel G Apr 2011
Are you really,
Going to leave me,
Like this
©Nicola-Isobel H.      17.04.2011
914 · Feb 2011
Never Honest Is The Sky
Isobel G Feb 2011
In circles;
I never change.
I orbit it circles,
Bleeding my heart
Into the sky
A thousand times,
'Til the clouds,
Tainted and red,
Float by
And silence.
Honesty;
"Just for a little while."
They're never honest,
Not even when the rain is sincere.
For beyond purpose
Lurks truth,
And doubt unmasks
Deceit,
Proving hope to be false,
And joy, disappointment,
For nothing is honest,
Never honest,
Is the sky.
©Nicola-Isobel H.      24.02.2011
909 · Aug 2012
Parasites
Isobel G Aug 2012
The cavity blooms
from the bones.
Twigs and bones,
hollowed out by parasites.
©Nicola-Isobel H.           31.08.2012
906 · Jan 2011
I Despise Daylight
Isobel G Jan 2011
I despise daylight,
When you're away,
Come home
©Nicola-Isobel H.     03.01.2011
899 · Nov 2014
Hypothetical love
Isobel G Nov 2014
Will you catch me
when I fall for you
©Nicola-Isobel H.      24.11.2014
889 · Jan 2011
The Consequences
Isobel G Jan 2011
Why do we inflict,
So much pain,
On strangers,
On those we love,
Is it so hard,
For us to see,
The consequences
©Nicola-Isobel H.     12.01.2011
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