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5.4k · Feb 2014
SelfleSSneSS
lilah raethe Feb 2014
there is a scene
where the wind cant be kept from the ocean
and introverts
are sitting
they are fishing at the end of a moon
lit
and artificially lit
pier

the only thing they have caught so far
is a banjo shark
and
they blamed each other

i am out there with them
i am reading a book about humanity
contemplating hope
and simplicity

where there is a world
that people pick a book off
their shelves
and say
it's yours!

or pull out a drawer full of pens
and say
take your pick.

there are places
where people are nice.
there is hope
in the tiniest glimmer of light.
(true story)
3.3k · Feb 2013
lips
lilah raethe Feb 2013
lick your lips before you sleep
and hope they stay soft
within your dream
so when you wake to my kiss,
lively
your lips will seem
2.1k · Jul 2012
Like A Snake Sheds Its Skin
lilah raethe Jul 2012
Like a snake sheds his skin--
Leaving the cracked dry shell,
And slithers with new, shiny,
Untouched scales into a new being--

I firmly step out of my old restrictions--
Leaving the past and all it's doubts behind me,
And walk with a firm grip and eyes on my vision,
Into the early morning sunshine of a new day
2.1k · Jun 2012
Forgive
lilah raethe Jun 2012
Forgive me for falling
But I cannot stand myself upright

Forgive me for staring
But I refuse to let your beauty out of sight

Forgive me for telling
But the words were clawing at my mouth

Forgive me for caring
1.8k · Jan 2014
awaken
lilah raethe Jan 2014
we have to realize our ideals shape our world
change our consumption fueled
capitalist mindset
of oppression, poverty, power
and aren't we all human?
why tear down other nations?
why tear down the trees,
Mother Earth - the heavens?
will our greed end?
we create our greed and why?
we can create
all we dream -
we have power, we have steam
we are trains,
imaginatively stuck to rails
of society;
what will i be?
will i marry?
will i have money?
when we are truly
h o v e r i n g
there are no chains
no restrictions
to our peace, serenity,
wholeness, oneness.
the only question
we need ask is:
will we be happy?
or
are we creating a world
in which our children
will even be healthy?
i fear.
i fear for the lives of many.

will we realize our power?
we must
for we are shifters
we are dreamers
we are artists, creators.
we are angels;
we are alive.
lilah raethe Oct 2012
A Poet’s Response (a response to Pablo Neruda's "The Poet")


In the new daze(days) I go through life
in the grip of newfound love and cherishing
a tiny shimmer of opalescence
and my eyes weep for the eyes of those who will not know
I shop for new opportunities, stop
to go out of my way for others, exhaling
my own sprays of love, the unknown
acceptance of woman and man.
I live in a world where I move forward
where the sudden raindrop, the falling water
soak me in god’s tears
and wherever I step my feet my pant leg gets wet,
but yet I walk on.
This is the way my essence manifests--
a sliver off the source, life
throws you down in punishment, to wait
for your arise like it’s most beautiful flower
growing out of the asphalt, like you never thought possible.
Looking out on the bright horizon,
the vast and deep sea
I stay steady as I search for
a holy being, the daily prayer
I know the lessons make me thrive
by teaching me I can teach others
about the foreign lands, and in the small drop of
my life, I meet with God.
Blessings carving my path.
Enlightenment plastered among the walls.
response poem to
Pablo Neruda's "The Poet":
In the old days I went through life
in the grip of a tragic love and cherishing
a little leaflet of quartz
and I nailed life down with my eyes.
I shopped for generosity, walked
in the market of greed, inhaled
the most secret fumes of envy, the inhuman
hostility of masks and men.
I lived a world of everglades
where the sudden flower, the madonna lily
devoured me in her shivering foam
and wherever I set my foot my soul sideslipped
into the jaws of death.
This is the way my poetry was born– no sooner than
redeemed from nettles, won
out of solitude like a punishment,
or how it set apart its most mysterious flower
in the brazen garden, as if to bury it.
Locked out this way like the dark waters
that live in its deep channels
I ran this way and that seeking the solitude
of every being, the daily hatefulness.
I knew that they thrived by drowning
half human life like fish
in the most foreign seas, and in the hugeness of
the vasty deep I met with death.
Death opening doors and paths.
Death slithering over walls.
1.5k · Sep 2012
I Will Not
lilah raethe Sep 2012
I've seen the debate of leaving
And the pain of being left,
I will not love like you have loved 

I've seen the torment in the others eyes
The guilt in your tears,
I will not leave like you have left 

I've seen the all night partying
And all the desperate men,
I will not betray as you have betrayed

I've witnessed the days in bed 
And the nagging duties,
I will not die as you have died

You exposed me to the truths 
While all the same lying to my face,
I will not deceive as you have deceived

It might be your childhood
Your codependency that kills
I try not to be bitter,
I will not hide anger as you have exploded

You've left broken hearts in your wake,
Forgotten faces at your feet..
And then there's me,
I will not destroy as you have destroyed
1.4k · May 2013
Liquid Furniture
lilah raethe May 2013
I brought this couch here
with new hopes for a
changed room
and it won't fit through
the door
and I brought this couch here

but nothing is right
about it's existence here
because I realized
I can't have nice things;
I destroy the change;
I put out the fire
                before it ignites;

and her first marriage
wasn't right
her second wasn't
either
but that didn't stop her
from proposing to nature
(Trust me, there were men
there
too)

and I wanted this couch here;
wanted to hire the men
and bring it up the stairs
and I did it because
I wanted it
and I can do things
myself
and I
am not hers
I'm not her baby--
I don't want to be
like her

but my new life won't fit
through the door
and I can't sit down
on the plush
in my own world
because it won't budge
pushed up against the doorframe

and so I am crying;
all hope is lost.
1.4k · Nov 2012
-ing
lilah raethe Nov 2012
Interesting
        The chance to start over
The smooth clean slate of a brand new surface
Never corrupted nor covered
Never torn to shreds by an unnamed power

Compelling
        The opportunity of new love
A chance to kiss a new pair of lips
To caress the curves of the hands so personal
And walk amongst the wet grass with new life

Sacrificing
        To give up the habits to please the guest
To not wonder about yourself when you rest your head
But depend completely on another for contentedness
Equal forces of give and take, a balance

Committing
        An act of finalization
A marriage proposal, a slit of the throat
Some trenches just too deep to wander
A few possibilities to be left unexplored

Separating
        Forgetting the magnetism of the first touch of fingers
Longing for a kiss on a new, softer mouth
A trail of footsteps leading down different paths
The pedals of a rose begin to sway to the floor

Soaking
       The pedals curl and harden, touching ground all too dull
Melt into the earth and return to where it came
The roots begin to emerge on a mutant species
Water is sprung from the dirt and rejuvenates the body

Interesting
        The chance to start over
1.4k · Aug 2013
seductress es es es
lilah raethe Aug 2013
**** me
to the slow
rhythm
of your heartbeat

as you tug me
back
from reality
and into the trap
of open arms
on sweet
silk

Cloud 9

as you gently
unfold me,
The rain
pours
down
1.2k · Sep 2012
Vroom Vroom
lilah raethe Sep 2012
I've waited 16 long years
And the day is approaching,
The day I'll be allowed on the road
When my dreams will come true and I'll drive on my own

Well not on my own,
With a parent at first
But I'll take what I get 
And I'll try not to burst

I'll make it through the trial period 
Of the dos and the donts
I'll sweep the floors with my tires
Make them all eat my dust

Because I've been waiting since childhood
For this moment of freedom
Of integrity and responsibility

And i only have to wait a short while
Until I abandon my driving rug once and for all
Put down the hot wheels and grip the steering wheel
Put a foot on the gas

And I'm really doing it all by myself,
I'm driving at last.
I get my permit soon and I can.not.wait. :):):)
1.2k · Jul 2013
Pruning
lilah raethe Jul 2013
ill miss my friends birthday
and ill miss my friends
when im gone for a week
with family and family's boyfriends
and my technology
and my loneliness
and my craving to be wanted,
to be missed
by my friends
but i wont be missed
and i know i wont be missed
because they wont
do anything for me
while im here;
they wont compromise
wont give up their selfishness
to help me
and i dont get it
because all i do is bend over backwards
for my friends
who i miss so dearly
and always will

and i think maybe
i feel too deeply for this world
because everyone seems to be swimming
in their own decisions and passions
and ive never dipped a toe into the water
but ive stood on the shore
looking out at them go
and grow
and i stay with my feet scratching the sand
my feet imprinting my place in the world
into one footprint
because i have not yet walked a path
but only left one tiny
thought in the sand:
the stagnation of me will
leave my soul to be pruned
by the breeze
1.1k · Nov 2012
Paradelle for Relationships
lilah raethe Nov 2012
To look into your eyes is like gazing in the stars
To look into your eyes is like gazing in the stars
Watch you caress the grass like you would me
Watch you caress the grass like you would me
Watch is me gazing into the stars in your eyes like
Like you would caress the grass; look to you

Hear the words I whisper in your ear
Hear the words I whisper in your ear
Like the pitter-patter of rainfall, or faint footsteps travel
Like the pitter-patter of rainfall, or faint footsteps travel
The rainfall travel in your ear like pitter-patter,
Faint words or the whisper of footsteps I hear

Every day spent with you is a dream
Every day spent with you is a dream
Slowly seeping into my pores and beneath the skin it’s away
Slowly seeping into my pores and beneath the skin it’s away
Every dream slowly seeping away into the day
Beneath my pores is a skin and it’s spent with you

Rainfall is seeping in my pores like
The stars whisper—like grass—the dream you would caress me—
Beneath the words you hear in your ear or it’s like
With a day spent gazing slowly into your eyes,
And every look into skin is faint—
I watch you: the pitter-patter of footsteps travel away
For those of you who don't know what a paradelle is, it is a made up structure of a poem that was created by Billy Collins. Each stanza is 6 lines. The first 3 stanzas: The 2nd line is exactly the same as the 1st, and the 4th line is exactly the same as the 3rd. The 5th and 6th lines are made up of all the words from the 1st and 3rd lines and only those words. The 4th stanza is using all the words from the 1st and 3rd lines of each stanza before and only those words. We did these in my poetry class:)
1.0k · Jul 2013
Meeting the Horizon
lilah raethe Jul 2013
take a seat
on the bow
and you'll bob
side to side
with the waves
as they threaten to
throw off
your center of balance

they seem menacing
yet they roll under the ship;
the biggest crest can
cause the calmest stir--
and it takes just one rogue wave
to topple over

so take a seat
upon the hull
to feel
the crash of the front
against the water
and the splash
hits your shins,
ricochets off the guard
and gets salt in your face

they stand
and you sit unharmed
and again and again
like some cruel paradox,
some infinite procedure,
the waves hit;
they roll
conform to the tides
and erode the soul
until your lost in a thought loop
because the same thing keeps occurring,
the same splash...
the same thought...

but take a seat
dangling off the only life preserver you've got,
dancing atop that deep solution,
and lift your eyes
to the horizon
where the sea meets the sky--
you know that they never touch
but only hover
distances from each other
in an infinite loop
of day and night,
rotation on the axis,
the earth and its' atmosphere

so take a seat
and strap yourself in
because honey
you're a part of it
and fishy
you're a part of it
and clouds
you're a part of it

passing

in an

infinite

loop

~
990 · Apr 2013
help us up
lilah raethe Apr 2013
why is it you reappear
    just when I no longer long
to see your face besides mine,
to be inches from your eyes.
  why is it you know
         when I'm over you
so you can return again
and plague me with the same cycle
I've never gotten your logic
  and your decision making skills are poor
and you have done me no service
              but my feet won't walk away,
and I wanna peel you back at the seams
and lose my bones underneath
       the surface of your skin
and I want you to like it...
but you keep sewing yourself up
     and you've got me thinking:
there may not be many layers
       to uncover under there
except you're good at faking it
                 and you're good
                            at making me fall
                      all over again
          over my own feet...  
       over my own shoelaces  
   that you tied to the opposite side
                                 so I would trip
        and you would laugh
         and help me up, again
lilah raethe Jun 2012
Let me put the smile that I wear for everybody on
And continue with my day
And hide all the pain I feel inside.

Let me put the smile that I wear for everybody on
And talk to my parents
And pretend that nothing is wrong.

Let me put the smile that I wear for everybody on
And go to school
And talk about nothing with people that mean nothing to me.

Let me put the smile that I wear for everybody on
And pretend that I don’t want to scream
To anyone who’d stop to listen.

Let me put the smile that I wear for everybody on
So that hopefully someone will see it
And take it off.

Let me put the smile that I wear for everybody on
So that maybe someone someday will care enough
To help me.

Let me put the smile that I wear for everybody on
So that when I dream about things like that
I don’t actually believe they will happen.

Let me put the smile that I wear for everybody on
So that I can come home at the end of the day
And finally remove it.

Let me put the smile that I wear for everybody on
So in the privacy of my room
I can cry for hours and no one will think a thing.

Let me put the smile that I wear for everybody on
So no one will worry
And I’ll be “fine.”

Let me put the smile that I wear for everybody on
So maybe you’ll see how happy I am
And you’ll notice me.

Let me put the smile that I wear for everybody on
So that someday someone will love me enough to know when it’s gone.
899 · Nov 2013
BEACON
lilah raethe Nov 2013
you* are a lighthouse,
a beacon of light
shining out in to the darkness--
maybe for others
but most definitely
for yourself--
and you are not absorbed
by the extraneous details
because you are a lighthouse,

and divinity
cannot be dragged down
by drama.
885 · Jul 2013
Ferocious
lilah raethe Jul 2013
we don't even lock eyes
& i'm trembling
from the memories I relive in
the present.
I trusted you too easily,
    let you in too fast,
     spoke about things I never had,
because there was something about you.
something that made me
want to open up and talk
and express and live.
you were my best friend,
my companion day by day.

I placed all my trust in you
and when you left
like the end of a season--
of a school year--
you left me to fend for myself
in a sea full of sharks.
but then again,
you're just another hammerhead.
864 · Sep 2013
Poetry is...
lilah raethe Sep 2013
poetry is the water under my feet
as I lightly step upon
the surface
of its deep terrain

It is the water
supporting my weight;
words won't let me
sink

The crazy part
is the fact that
I'm not weightless.
I'm not a waterbug
skittering across infinite hydrogen bonds.

And I walk along the surface tension
like I have never been tense;
I feel all the ripples below
but I cannot be influenced.

*

I am walking on water
and therefore

I must be God.
Poetry is...assignment (for the second time)
lilah raethe Jul 2013
my favorite pass time
when i'm saturated in my loneliness
and the hands of the clock
tick, tick on by
and i've exhausted my
google searches
and facebook stalks
is to open
an anonymous
text chat website
and inquire into the hearts
of faces I have never
(and will never)
see:
what do you think
the meaning of life is?

I paste into every chat,
delivered to their
screens in less than seconds.

you can have the most
intriguing
eye opening
enlightening
conversations
with strangers.

because i get atheists,
and nonbelievers,
and pessimists,
and perverts,
and not one person
answers
the same.

and it's beautiful;
no life
could possibly hold
the same meaning.
850 · Sep 2012
Extinguish
lilah raethe Sep 2012
I want to tell you I’ll extract the pain from your eyes
Like a cancerous tumor
But if I get close to you
The terror seeps from you and clings to me

I want to take your anguish
And feed it to the sharks
Watch them gnaw on the pointless doubts,
Made up faults, ****** up thinking—
Watch it all disintegrate between
Their massive sharp jaws.
See how easy it is for them to be destroyed—
See how harmless they are?

And I’ve had that pain in my eyes
The desire to extinguish it on your own
But I grew strong and helped myself
I conquered the pain once
But twice it kills

Your skin is precious
Yet you tear it
Like raggedy old clothes
In the garbage

It breaks my heart every time you speak
Of the hurt you feel every day
The feeling that never goes away

For I am scared

I want you to kick it yourself
To rise up from the death you’ve been embodying
And see the life in the world

Forget your limitations and live
Be kind to yourself

The world is not a tragic place
Unless you’re looking out from
Behind pained eyes
848 · Dec 2012
All the Empty Faces
lilah raethe Dec 2012
So why is school, life
And life, school

Born for elementary
To learn to count the numbers,
Memorize the letters of the alphabet
And work the way up to the
Table
Stacked with multiplication
Problems

Just to climb to
Middle school
With ****** little
*******—
Their prissy little
Cliques—
That make or break you,
Decide your fate

And high school
Tries to even out the awkwardness,
With the cloud of the
Future
Hanging over your head
And still studying
For what, well,
You’re not quite sure

To grow up:
End up working at
A job that
Churns your stomach;
Curls your extended fingers and
Stretched palms
Into fists

To walk on with an
Empty face
And stare into the eyes of many
Empty
People, trudging along
With the same education
As you.
844 · Apr 2014
~ Leaves ~
lilah raethe Apr 2014
the last piece of tree
before he leaves for the
night.
somewhere in a forest
she falls asleep
the only whisper
in her ear
the sound of her fears
and the wind between
her legs...
calling them.
they are calling them,
home.

somewhere,
God paints a figure
painting a figure, naked
like the new dawn
up on a podium
is a new heart.
it is small.

he leaves and the
crisp red of autumn
brushes his holy ankles
as he walks down the street
.
the cars seem weird there.
but the leaves seem right.
she
is in the forest.

somewhere, boots come
together to tread
on stage
to break glass
and announce: something
has been made.
he says he wants
to hold it,
but they both shy away.

she is brave.
the wrap around the page
keeps her sane
when the whispers
turn to howling
screams.
she is in the forest
of her dreams,
yet still
she scours
for a way to leave.
(broke out the type writer last night.)
835 · Dec 2012
Homage to my Smile
lilah raethe Dec 2012
this smile is a timid grin
a sad smile
a “don’t lose hope” smile,
the innocent raise of the child’s cheeks;
a closed mouth smile
with no teeth inside.
this smile is an excited smile
free to convey the ups of the day.
the “just turn your head a little
to the left” picture day smile;
the natural, unforced smile of
greeting an old friend like no time has passed,
the gentle smile while resting your head
on a lover’s shoulder,
with their returning smile more coveted than your own.
lilah raethe Feb 2014
to feel the ocean move through you

swimming out
the strong rolls of breaking waves
jostle you about
and you can see the height
under the water
as they roll forth and past
and you bob
up
down

dive down
to where the water meets the
deteriorating sand
the line is blurry
as each wave
picks up each grain and
jostles it about

but if you dive down
the surface sway
doesn't affect your body as much

the world seems to drop away
and you are alone with your thoughts
and breath does not seem important because
it is all so still

you are still

swim up to the surface
and chaos begins
again
lilah raethe Jun 2012
society ***** up all its victims
like we're the slave and it's our master

we thrive at its will
and die at its will

we all live to please the
"way things are"
the standards and the expectations.

it's like there's nothing else...

where are all the new ideas?

does anyone even have ideas anymore?

When do we stop living to please
The system
And start living to please
Ourselves

Society plants thoughts in our heads
Corrupts our minds—
Corrupts our children’s minds
Into thinking they have to be something they’re not—
A size their not—
A life they don’t want to live—
Since when is this the only way?
WHERES FREE THOUGHT, FREE LIVING, AND FREE CHOICE?
WHY DO WE HAVE TO CONFORM TO THESE RESTRICTIONS?


WHO IS STRONG ENOUGH TO BREAK THE CYCLE
WHO IS STRONG ENOUGH

When does it end
818 · Jul 2012
Construct
lilah raethe Jul 2012
all the creativity's seeped out of me
every situation just drains my energy
no time to do anything constructive
just sit around and mope about my love life
and all these other circumstances
of past relationships and lost chances
and ****** up people and second glances
alone with my thoughts and introspective reflection
i run away from time and space
with all these drugs and silly things
all my demons devour my imagination
steal the creative motivation
and feed it to mindless tv shows and endless meals
and concerts that i let go of my fears
sit around a hopeless mess
smoke with all my so called friends
never write a single word or read my favorite book
just wallow in the past and extinguish my quirks
brain chills unused
its knowledge pushed aside for useless information
never making something of its own
but following those that are well known
until my feet carve a new path
and accept my gifts for math
and story telling and let my mind mold
a story
a poem
an idea
a life
creativity needs not be stalled
open the gates and go on a journey
***spirit runs through me making me whole and complete and i am part of this knowledge and this oneness. i know that i am creative and everything i produce is perfect in and of itself because i made it. i am grateful for this knowledge of my power and self confidence and i release this into the universe accepting my creative self. and so it is***
813 · Jun 2012
To The Rivers Edge
lilah raethe Jun 2012
A lonesome girl,
She'd lost hope.
She'd lost sight of herself.

She was taking a year
Off college
For "re-evaluation".
Her parents weren't too happy,
And were often mean to her.
They thought of her only as a
Messy, undetermined child.

She was walking through the
Woods one day,
And came upon a river.
She'd never seen, or
Heard about this river,
But it was the most beautiful river she'd ever seen.

She returned here
Every day on her walks,
Trying to work out her life.
This river was her safe place.
Her place to come to think,
To discover, to
Learn about her own self.

The river calmed her.
It helped her get through to the
Next day, the next step.
The river soothed her,
With it's smooth currents and
Slow, rhythmic ripples.
The river helped to heal her.

On a particularly bad day,
She stormed out of her house,
Wanting never to return.
She felt as if the people there
Wouldn't miss her at all.

She angrily walked the path to the river,
Wanting nothing more
Than to feel better.

She sat on her
Familiar patch of grass,
And looked hard at the river.
On most days, that
Would be enough.

But on that day,
It wasn't.
She was still as mad as ever.
Slowly she stood up
And walked closer and closer
To the rivers edge.

Her feet inched in the surprisingly
Warm water,
But still, nothing was happening.
It wasn't enough to
Relieve her on this day.

So she stepped in further,
Fully clothed,
Into this river.

She dove in.
At once the water consumed her.
It warmed her from the
Outside in,
And cured her of her anger.

It calmed her like it'd never
Calmed her before.
She was in bliss.
She never wanted to
Leave the water.

This girl, in this river,
Felt warm like never before.
She felt peaceful,
And hopeful. Things she
Hadn't felt
In a long time.

As she silently wished she'd
Never have to part the river,
She looked down at her body.
She gave out a small gasp;
Her fingertips, as if
Dissolving, were falling off
In little sparkling droplets of water.

As the drips
That were her fingers
Met the body
That was the river,
She felt love in her heart.
She felt as if there was
No where else she was supposed to be.
She felt safe.

She was home.

She slowly watched the
Rest of her fall into the river,
Until she became a part of it
Herself.
She was fully one with the river.

Now she flows with the currents,
And makes the ripples,
That once did so much for her.
809 · Aug 2014
airport blues:
lilah raethe Aug 2014
i feel faint.
actually i feel the solid parts of myself seem to be
dripping away;
a dog could lap my sanity off the floor.

someone really fainting
could wash their hair in my skin;
someone scared
could slip in me and fall to who knows where.

"hey cathy it's dan"
they are solid, also known as
not fainting.

in a cafe in oklahoma! surprise!
are they home there with each other?
well it is known...they are known.
we are not.
we are faint: some
glimmer on the pearls of her teeth.

disappearing.
someone wearing cowboy boots
has never ridden a horse...
how is it the world has come to
this?
sad, fainting

everything boiling in simmering water
everything good boiling
everything good is leaving home
for the coast of faint stardom
faintly singing stars...
among them
she has a humble heart.

somewhere, God paints a figure
painting a figure -
up on a podium
is a new heart -
it is small.
faintest heart beat.

an even fainter kiss,
goodbye.

is that faint wave in the distance
really
a good-bye?
797 · Sep 2012
Poetry Is...
lilah raethe Sep 2012
Poetry is like diamonds
With glistening shards that shine
The light of your life and your essence,
With every word another truth rings its bell
Can’t wait to be heard, to be spoken, to be known

All my weakness transformed into strength
All my doubts turned into beliefs
All my pain melts into a liquid
That slowly runs down the parallel slopes
Of my mind and out both my ears
All my worry in a split second to confidence
When I compose a poem

When I compose a poem
It is all the words I’ve never said
It is the full opinion, the whole truth—
The truths I voice and the truths
That stay hidden deep inside

To speak a poem is to confront your fears-
With every scary detail of life rattling
Around your brain, cluttered-
Each poetic word like a knife,
Tourneing each fear like a vegetable
Into smooth constructed bite sized pieces-
You rise up like a giant and swallow them whole

Each letter a new building block
For the path your own feet must tread

When I write, I am not myself
I am everything I aspire to be

It is the action before the thought
It is the explosion before the reconstruction
It is the storm before the calm
lilah raethe Jun 2012
Like a fire that consumes all before it
Like a voice that takes a hold and never loosens,
Never lets go of her grip.
Like a fire that consumes all before it
Rips your insides to shreds,
Your self worth into millions of shards.
Like a fire that consumes all before it
Leaving you stranded and broken
Leaving you alone in your world.
Like a fire that consumes all before it
All of your thoughts and actions
All of your pitiful bones.
Like a fire that consumes all before it
Leaving nothing in its wake
Leaving nothing but fog and haziness.
Like a fire that consumes all before it
Leaving you staring in a mirror,
Hating your reflection.
Like a fire that consumes all before it,
Burning everything in its path to ash,
Leaving blood and tears scattered across the ground.
Like a fire that consumes all before it
Taking your old life in its flames
And leaving your body to reconstruct anew.
Like a fire that consumes all before it
Leaving your future open ended
Your crystal ball cloudy.
Like a fire that consumes all before it
Like a fire that consumes all before her
Like a fire that consumes your thoughts
Like a fire that consumes Y o u .
789 · Apr 2013
Carve
lilah raethe Apr 2013
why don't you carve
the pain out of me
like I'm an ancient fossil;
hold my insecurities to
light, under a
magnifying glass
and marvel at the self destructing
primordial beast
biting on her own toes
or eating her brain..
and you can't even remove it
unless in
an autopsy
788 · Aug 2013
These Two Tons
lilah raethe Aug 2013
It
feels good
to not levitate
beneath your "broad,
wise"
wings. Where the weight
of the world--
or who won the
argument--
while missing parents
canoodled their partners
or pole dancing classes
swept them from their
normal floors;
and kids
fought with sticks
and warpaint
for fun;
until it was war
and the kids
battled kitchen
knives
on the
floor
and the weight
of the blame
fell to the
little girl
who stood watching
from a safe distance
while her
two best friends
fought over tator tots.
{whose side would she
take?}

Those tator tots sadly evolved
into **** packs
and late night robberies
& unfortunately the
kids on the block
become thieves--
and the weight
of this economy
this system dancing
on the knapsacks
{as the kids ransack
and abandon for dead}
on the briefcases
{as the adult clones
corrupt til dead}

And it
feels good
to not hover
beneath the
view
of chemical dusted skies and factory worked
feathers.*

There is a world
in the sky
where none of this
has happened--
It's a place where humans
don't exist--
{where we cant crush the earth
with our weighted machines}
((nothing ever turns out quite how you thought it would.))
750 · Mar 2013
Inside
lilah raethe Mar 2013
It's weird what goes on
behind these "simple" eyelids--
the thoughts and the urges
I simply cannot control

In one moment, I feel like
cleaning my desk, my vanity, my life--
next I am moving in a fluid dance,
and every object has it's place so
please
don't touch my pile--
just watch as I rearrange
the makeup and bracelets,
don't speak as I shift the contents
into a perfectly patterned formula.

Don't look as I starve myself raw
let me tear up inside and tango
with the devil - once dormant - parading my soul.
everything's just a means of control.

And then there's the highs, like one
speedy night,
where the right words escape me, yet I
never shut up.
they roll on out
and with the drop of my tongue,
the tragic downs
shred the place where my hope once hung

The world is distorted--
all senses curved and
odd thoughts odd actions--
when there's more than
one of you
inside
748 · Nov 2013
even in distance
lilah raethe Nov 2013
even this separation
I feel
becoming a dance
as you process the events of Sunday,
I slowly let you go
and tell you it's okay to leave
because I'll survive
(Probably
)
and you have never promised me
anything.

and even the separation feels
familiar
Like you are kidding and might return
home for dinner.
that you might return home
and welcome me into your arms
maybe with no hesitation
behind your eyes or
guilt ruminating beneath your bone
structure

And I don't want to break down
your structure,
it is not my desire to see
pieces of you on my bedroom floor
or a shattered heart
beneath your ribcage

and I never want to enter a realm
where I can hurt you
but you've already hurt me
every Sunday and every time
you feel unworthy and
every time you don't see the disparity
between what you say
is my truth and what you can't
see as your own.

even the separation between
these figures
seems close
to being intricate and a
twisted
echo
of who we are and who we might be
together
728 · Jul 2013
Untitled
lilah raethe Jul 2013
just once:

someone to

join you

sitting on the beach

just

staring out at the waves as they

jog to

shore, the

jewels in his eyes meeting your

sad, reflective ones.

juxtaposition makes your best qualities

stand out; you feel

justly next to him and it is all

sacred.
lilah raethe Apr 2014
this is the last call
before the end of this.

remember how her fingers
used to look
gently twirled within
the curly cord of connection
speaking heavenly
through the wires
where birds make their
perch.

remember how she looked
lying naked in your arms;
when you slip
you are obligated
to redial.

you have come this far.

dialing numbers
in the inbetweens
of feelings.
they are not fleeting.
but for some time
have rested
somewhere under her armpit
unaware.

but it is too late now.

are you braced to say
goodbye?
will there be good in your
life?
how far will you be from home
without her in those
arms?

dialing numbers in between
sneezes.
  convulsions, and sobs;
you are leaving.
why cant you seem to
hang up the phone.

the sneezes come in threes;
you say goodbye
to freedom.
726 · Aug 2012
Hold Strong; Hang Tight
lilah raethe Aug 2012
When loneliness strikes in the darkest hour
We do our best to let it slip from our minds,
Please don't let the mood go sour
But keep it light, polite--
No one likes a stupid fool
Who savers the mistakes
And disregards the opportunity that awaits

For someone who dwells on pain and loss
Will never stand up and will always be soft--
Always taking on the weight from others,
Can't get enough breathing room to see that she's smothered

For someone who dwells on the good in the world
Will reap the benefits; be a glorious girl.
She's someone with class and a balanced head,
She fights for herself and prefers her own bed.
For one like this brings light
To the clouded eyes of birds without flight
Or lovers who lack insight

She is a person respected
A trophy on her own shelf
Wanted by many but owned only by death.
The power of her mind thrives
Through the lives of people that are pushed to survive

When loneliness strikes in the darkest hour,
She holds up her light, and releases her power.
8-11-12 3:23 AM
Just needed to pick up a pen.
719 · Jan 2013
Kind Soul
lilah raethe Jan 2013
What a kind soul you were
So easy for me to trust
And depend on
So simple for me to talk too,
Taught me to be open
And that people aren't
So bad

What a kind heart you were,
We spent so much time together
Without boredom crusting
Behind our eyes-
With free flowing words
And never a moments silence
Or lull in conversation

What a kind man you were
A gentleman,
A listen to your gut kind of guy-
No wonder,
I didn't deserve you

What a gentle soul you were
Always trying to comfort me,
Or let me down easy

What a ****** up person I was
To let myself become
Entangled in you
And all we could be

What a sad life I was leading
To always need your help
But depend too strongly
Until the breaking point,
Until you turned to go

What a disappointment I am
For me to have lost you
You and your kind soul  
To never touch,
Speak or listen to
Mine again
This is for that person that will never talk to me again. I miss him more than anything. I really messed that up, and it is one of my worst regrets. I lost my best friend; no one to blame but my own self.
lilah raethe Aug 2013
if there is anything left here
we’ll find it –
dig it out
of the rippling earth,
So we can mold it;
******* –
by the immense pressure
(of the bulldozer)
(of the needlepoint)
pointing
towards our future
(of the system)
caressing the victims
and swaddling the thief’s throat,
                 chest,
straight-jacketed to the depths of
near death
near the light
of the universe expansion
boiling in the brains
of us as human
        and we as human
have worked this earth
to ruin
and died ourselves
from exhaustion

and held in the calm stirring
of waking up every morning—
satin sheets and
pampered hands,
where there’s gas in the car
but it’s not too far
from crumbling
like that bridge that
lost its footing
on a spontaneous
mid-afternoon
swooning,
falling for the
water
being
so….close….
….to flooding.
The dams don’t hold a chance
To the masses
of hands
beating back
I’LL DIE WITHOUT IT
DON’T TAKE AWAY MY MAC
; I’ll cry
                 because they’ll die
without swallowing the
puffy blue air
       and breathing the
red diamond
waters.

And the caves
could never whisper
to the drums of those
whose ears beat drums
through their headphones;
the leaves
cant drip on the
                                tongues
that are inside other peoples
mouths

and I wont allow sorrow
to seep in my bones
for all they’ve missed
because while they kissed
the soft bellies
of misfits
I rolled an underwater bull
on its back
so I wouldn’t drown—

if there is anything left here

I’m not sure the soft glitz
would catch the
cones of the greedy
souls diving
for pearls

i’m sure we’ve missed it
I am practicing writing and performing my poems so they are being constructed quite a bit differently, because I allow space for pauses and use the structure as a vocal guideline. If that makes any sense. It seems very metaphoric and choppy, but if spoken correctly I think it has potential for fluidity.
lilah raethe Oct 2012
wanting to pursue
                        encourage

getting fingerprints,
        splatters

                        "It's amazing.
They're mesmerized."

                                                           end of their workshop,
                                               children watched                                              active detectives
                                                                                       while hooked
                                                                                          right questions
     investigative tools,                                                                  
                                                                                                                         early interest
                                          a lifelike mannequin
                                     in as the victim

                                                molds of footprints

                                                                                mind is made up, for now.
This is an assignment for my poetry class at school. If you don't know, Blackout Poetry is where you take a newspaper article and pick certain words out, creating a poem from the article. Then you black out everything but those words with a black sharpie or something. It's really cool, and I'm going to start doing this whenever I have a newspaper :) Does anyone know if I can take a picture of the actual article/poem and post it here?? The poem is a lot more affective that way, in my opinion.  I tried to space the words out like they look on the actual article.  Please tell me what you think and try this out when you can't find the words yourself.
706 · Jan 2014
h u m b l e
lilah raethe Jan 2014
i want to humbly live
with the eskimos
or in a kibbutz or
in a time when
most of the people around
were nomadic
with no attachment
to a real home.
to a big home.

i wanna be
where people
live in huts
by the sea
i wanna wake up
and see
palm trees
i don’t care
if i slept on the beach
the night before;
i realized last night
in my bed
that i’m always
where i’ll be.

right here.
i wanna wake up
and see
something
beautiful
i don’t want
beautiful
to be a ghastly
rendition of
“luxury”
i wanna be free
like what a bird is
to the wind

i wanna dig in
to the roots
of where i
come from…

…where we all
come from
i’m gonna
remember
what it’s like
to be one


somewhere
down the line
we lost the fact the
earth is our home
i don’t
wanna wake up
groveling
by my marble topped
counter top
weeping
because the red final
notice form
says to me
i’m leaving
that is not beautiful
did nomads even
know
that feeling?

i’d rather deal
with illiteracy
over our raging prideful
human stupidity

i wanna see the people
rise
instead of claw at the
quiet desperation
eating at them raw
i wanna see the people
love
like they don’t know
what greed looks like
like they could get up
and get their waiter
a drink

ever think of that?
let’s get her
off her feet
let’s make it easier
for her
instead of harder
where
can we meet
in the middle?
when can
we shine
the black mans
shoes or kiss
the land of
the pyramids
when
can we bring it
all in?

what happened
to the Brotherhood
of man?

what happened
to man?
we are not
the nomads;
we are a
whole new
species…
we are not
the same as when
we were young –
when God created us
out of universal will to become
before we found out
what greed felt like;
we are not the same
jeez
how we have changed the game
690 · Aug 2013
Looming Despair
lilah raethe Aug 2013
It's the feeling of still air
of despair--
how it creeps
up
to chill her tongue
and paralyze her legs
into a coma-
tosed state
of routine and a life
lost its shimmer

There's nothing to sparkle,
(no sun to illuminate)
anything
under her covers
and she can't feel
any
warmth
because she is stagnant there,
even past the suns peak
and into the dead
of night

She is stagnant there--
somewhere
where sadness calls her sweet
name.
My mom's having a hard time. She has consistently been having a hard time for a long while.
It is saddening to me as her child that loves her so. I fear that what I can do for her is simply not enough to shake the looming despair.
lilah raethe Sep 2013
The empty page comes out.
              -        -        -
(    It was said to me before
      that the very essence
       of brainstorm
             -  of creation  -
      is a blank sheet of paper     )

I want to talk about
             Colleges

She said
and she was genuine
   -  they all are  -
when she made a list:

She showed me
the stars I'd never
          reach
        and my
         Safety
           net.

And I...
Well I,
I started crying
         pushed up against the
old cracked kitchen cabinet
         and my family stared
at my flushed face
         And turned away
because none of them
         could say I was scared.
Marisa once said something profound to me: "You have to make your own choices. Because Max is thinking of himself when he makes choices and you need to do the same. Where do you see yourself living for the next four years?"
I couldn't stop thinking about Max and all the places he'll be going.  Where I'll be living remains undecided.
lilah raethe Oct 2013
I couldn't even feel
              the breeze
until you went inside

You keep me warm,
       keep me secure
          like a blanket
on a cold winters night

The breeze chilled me--
it assaulted my
             arms,

I never even felt it
ten seconds
before

and maybe I'm crazy
for attributing the cold
to you,
but everything changed
and the only
independent variable
was
      you.
652 · Mar 2015
wings
lilah raethe Mar 2015
i remember me and you, the you who is underneath
the failing heart, smoke brained; the sister dunking you,
the you who took me fishing.
and helped me rescue a butterfly on the beach
whose wings were wet and was half buried
in the sand...you held it in your fumbling hands
until it could move again
and we watched it fly away. if it wasn't for us,
that butterfly would have died.
now you are
the butterfly; you sit in God's hands.
i've always believed that this person is the person you truly are, no matter how you have treated me.

this is for a friend going through a hard time.

treat yourself well.
lilah raethe Jun 2012
Her eyes have lost their sparkle
She stares blankly at me
The person in front of me
Mimics my actions
Where I run my hand over fat
She runs her hand over bone
Little patches on her scalp are bald
From where hair has fallen out
Her skin is yellowish
We stare at each other for hours
Gosh she looks so ill
That poor girl needs help
She shows the truth where I show lies
I say....Look closer
Do you notice anything unusual
She stares blankly back at me without reply
You don't look like yourself
648 · Aug 2013
Pinky Promise
lilah raethe Aug 2013
¿Promise me. Can you please
promise me something?

Forever and ever ago,
there was this girl
with a toxic
smile who would
glammer her way to the style
of her elders and gamble her way
up the staircase of success.
That girl once answered a question.

Promise me you'll never lose yourself.
638 · Sep 2012
What is Shown
lilah raethe Sep 2012
I see my dad
With his cat and his lonesomeness
With his acceptance that
He’ll be spending the rest of his life alone

I see my mom
With her new guy every so often
Some of them last longer than others,
But they drift by all the same

All I know about love
Is what is shown to me
And luckily
These two examples are not the
Extent of my knowledge

Because if they were,
I’d be lonely in love
with not one shred of hope,
Or it’d lose all it’s value
like a broken antique

I see all the broken marriages
All the divorces that echo this world,
How easy it is to fall in and out of love
When it’s all anybody wants,
Its what I’m in favor of

Because I’d like to see a world where
Love is written on every pair of hands being held
Every couple being betrothed
On every street sign and
In the smiles of the strangers I pass

But alas the world is ever evolving
And we live in a time where love is
Not a puzzle worth solving
Each person must just muddle through
And try to find the person that
Feels about love as they do.

I see my grandparents
Her an ex model, proper,
In the worst sense of the word,
Him a nature man, a scientist—souls from opposite poles,
With their 50 years of marriage
and I form my foundation for the love I will have.
another poem for my poetry class..."love poem" This is what I came up with
636 · Jul 2013
What a Hoot
lilah raethe Jul 2013
She said
My totem animal
Is an owl
As we saw one
Soar above us
With not a cloud in the sky
And the reflection
Of it’s wingspan—
It’s magnitude—
on the water
reminding me of solitude

and reminding me of an
earlier memory of a
rock path:
carved into the California
mountains and
growing to our
empowerment—
as we all walked calmly
towards the doors
I felt my neck tug my chin upwards
And point my face towards the sky—
and notice how the stars back home
paled in comparison to these
clear ones—
and out of the trees comes
a perfectly white
snow
owl that soared
above our heads

and I looked up and I
gasped and I asked
the people around me to look up
and see the owl above us
and how it was blessing us
and our experience
with our empowerment
and our movement;
I asked them and no one would answer;
They didn’t crane their
Necks to see what I saw
And I only saw the owl that night…

I wonder…
Am I the only one who
saw it fly
Because they refused to look up,
or was I really
the only one
who could see it
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