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 Jun 2016 Kelani Olsen
Madeline
under the pink lemonade sky i left you.
not really, because you left me first,
but i left your memory there.
in the summer twilight i left you.
i left you for vast skies and glorious people
and pink lemonade sunsets.
under the pink lemonade skies i left you,
and under the pink lemonade skies i ran head-on into myself.
Our inevitable end was discovered in such an ordinary moment— eating at a cheap diner while the rest of the city was asleep. We shared a booth, and your arms were wrapped around me as you reminded me that "each day, I am new." We drove home with the windows rolled down, and we sang on the top of our lungs. Laughter filled the space around us because you were off-key and I had forgotten the lyrics, but we never cared about impressing each other. We just wanted to be real. And in this moment, you were oblivious to the fact that I knew our time was ending.

The last time you saw me, I had tears in my eyes because I knew we wouldn't speak again. But if I could go back and replay it all, you wouldn't have found a trace of sadness in my voice because it is unfair to expect everyone to stay forever. I'll still indefinitely look back on these memories and smile.

I'm sorry I couldn't be who you wanted, but you had the choice to love me how I was, and it was you who decided to not love me at all.

-k.w//cheap diner
about a friend because i just erased his number from my phone.
He'll tell you that
I broke his heart,
and you'll believe him because
with all that pain in his eyes,
how could you not?

But he'll keep it to himself that he
set fire to the best parts of me
and stepped back to watch me burn.

And he'll never trust you enough to mention that
my body was a world map to him,
and all he wanted to do
was explore.

And he won't dare speak about the way
his hands gripped the steering wheel
to keep them off my neck
when he could no longer control his anger.

So yes,
I broke his heart,
but only to protect mine
from further casualty.

-k.w//World Map
First full length poem I've been able to write since getting out of my abusive relationship.
 Sep 2014 Kelani Olsen
brooke
when Helen tried to
commit suicide I didn't
know until she told me
at the Oklahoma! premier
when I said I hadn't seen
her in so long and she
casually stuffed her
hands in her pockets
and said Well, yeah,
I tried to **** myself
and was in a place

so I took her face
between my palms
and kissed her forehead
which was out of character
for me, back then, but I wanted
to pull the black out of her brain
with my lips.
(c) Brooke Otto 2014


I miss her and we weren't even great friends.
I am a warped vinyl left in the sun
by your careless hand.

My voice has become so warbled
it's no wonder you can't hear
all of the times I screamed "I miss you"
into that tin can microphone
so many songs ago.

The surface noise has grown louder
than the instruments
and now I know why
you never dust me off
the shelf and play me anymore.

— The End —