Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
860 · Oct 2016
Threnody
Lillian Harris Oct 2016
Strangers at the edge
Of the churchyard
Cry their
Crocodile tears
And murmur
Dull regrets into
The dampened earth,
While the sad girl lies
In a Soulless Garden

Ravens watch
From the gloom of
The yew tree
And join in the
Mourner’s requiem,
While wringing hands
Throw lilies
Onto the upturned soil,
And the sad girl’s soul
Bleeds sorrow

Harrowed faces
Fade into the fog
And the bell
In the church tower rings
And the Ravens
Leave their tree
And the soul of the sad girl
Grieves alone
By the stone
In her Soulless Garden
857 · Jan 2016
Close to You
Lillian Harris Jan 2016
I want to feel
These miles of
Icy distance
Fade into the
Warmth
Of your skin,
The ache
Of time
Spent apart
Dimmed
As you
Pull me in.
847 · Jan 2014
Winter
Lillian Harris Jan 2014
Skeletal trees
With their barren, scraping bows
Shiver and sway in the half light,
Branches desperately reaching  skyward
Aching to reclaim the golden leaves
That Winter stole in it's bitter rage
Clawing and tearing
At the faded warmth and
Cloaking the world in its
Deadened, icy shadow.
Autumn's gilded age
In it's evanescence
Dissolves into a turbid dream
And shrivels in the ice
Grasping the delicate remnants
Of a time long past and sifting
Through ancient forests of memory
Lost in the glittering particles
Of a fierce December storm.
841 · Nov 2015
False Hope
Lillian Harris Nov 2015
Don't let me
Find hope
In words that are
Hollow
And think that
My footsteps
Form patterns
You will follow

Don't say
That I am lovely
Like stars and
Moonlit skies
When we both know
That I am only
Tear stains and
Sad eyes
I get attached far too easily.
802 · Sep 2010
A Rainy Day
Lillian Harris Sep 2010
Dark angry rain clouds greedily consumed the sky,
Hiding the once luminous sun in a dreary shadow.
The air is thick with anticipation. An eerie silence.
The wind roars menacingly as it rushes passed me.
The world is a weeping child as torrents of rain
Plunge down to the earth like teardrops, immersing
Everything in sight. A shiver travels down my spine
As I feel the water cascading down upon me.
The land is Grey with gloom. The drip drop of rain
Surrounds me. I Sway to the relentless rain,
And dance to the distant thunder.
Imagery and Figurative Language poem from my collection :]
799 · Sep 2015
Familiar Faces
Lillian Harris Sep 2015
Sadness has eyes
That never stop leaking
And two lips that tremble
Whenever she's speaking.
Don't let her find
A tear in your heart,
Because if she does
You'll drown there in the dark

Fear has two hands
That fidget and shake
With a voice like knives she whispers
All the risks I shouldn't take.
She closes all the windows
And stands watch at the door
To make sure I'm not tempted
To go out and explore

Loneliness is shrouded
In a suffocating cloak
It's heaviness she often shares,
It smothers me like smoke.
She shivers, aching in the cold
With arms outstretched and yearning
For a love that never lingers
To leave a fire burning  

Happiness is fickle
She seldom comes to stay
Her light once filled my soul but now,
That glow has gone away.
With all these faces that I know
I tell myself I'm fine
But through the glass I see the truth:
Their faces mirror mine.
797 · Jul 2012
Your Words
Lillian Harris Jul 2012
You whisper the sweetest words to me.
They float into my ears and linger there, repeating themselves over and over.
How can I harbor doubt, when they fall so beautifully from your lips?
You spin flattery into an eloquent web, and entangle  me in it.
What hope have I to turn away, when your soft voice draws me yet nearer?
What chance have I of seeing through this shroud that clouds my vision,
When your face is reflected even in the blurred darkness of my closed eyes.
Somewhere within the refines of my muddled consciousness, I feel the warnings of Reason.
But Reason's voice is hushed, and your words paired with my quickened pulse are enough to drown it out.
794 · Nov 2016
Roses
Lillian Harris Nov 2016
She clings
With lonely hands
To thorn-ridden
Roses
And yet
She is
Bewildered
When her hands
Begin to
Bleed
783 · Jul 2016
Ice and Stone
Lillian Harris Jul 2016
He has a smile that
Mesmerizes,
Carefully hiding
The circles that form
Beneath his eyes.
He laughs like he
Doesn't feel hollow inside
But the sound never seems
To come out quite right

He lives
Like the silver moon,
In a midnight starlit sky.
Faces stare admiringly
Yet he always wonders why.
He only sees the shadows
Swimming before his face,
Never the light that he emits,
With unassuming grace.

He longs for
Constellations
But I am just one fleck
Of light amidst the darkness
That wraps around his neck
I feel his aching heart contract,
Encased in ice and stone
Oh, that I could be the warmth
That he has seldom known.
770 · Feb 2015
Last Light
Lillian Harris Feb 2015
The colors start to fade
Just as quickly as they came
And the light that lit my eyes
Is dimmed with dark shadows.
I'm holding on so tightly
To this fragile orb of hope
But I can feel it begin to crack
Beneath my fingers,
Growing smaller with each
Grain of sand
That falls in the hourglass.
760 · Dec 2010
The Seeker
Lillian Harris Dec 2010
No words are ever enough to quench this thirst,
To put out these roaring flames.
This nameless sensation swelling beneath my skin,
Rushing through me like a tempest,
And burying itself deep within my soul.
It burns behind my eyelids as I sleep,
And fills my mind with blurred, chaotic dreams.
Nothing can satisfy this unrelenting hunger,
This consuming desire for answers,
To questions that i cannot comprehend.
Constantly i wander in this maze of restless thoughts,
Raging through my burdened mind like wildfire.
Each dead-end mocks me with whispery words,
And yet i am forced to drift on,
Overcome with these numberless questions,
'Til this yearning for answers has gone.
"If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world."
— C.S. Lewis
tell me whatcha think of my poemm:)
753 · Nov 2015
The Looking Glass
Lillian Harris Nov 2015
I dreamt of rain and wind and fire
Of darkened days surpassed
Until with dreary eyes I'd wandered
Through the looking glass
745 · Apr 2014
Futile Devices
Lillian Harris Apr 2014
These foul slithering figures
Don’t dance across the page
As they spill from my pen
Dripping, smudging, bleeding
They sit and idly stare.

Language is deceiving,
For words cannot weep
Or scream and cry
They do not laugh
Or dream or sigh

They twist themselves in knots
And feign sincerity,
Tangled on my tongue
A thick web of
Self-proclaimed eloquence

With each sullen rhyme and
Insipid adjective
I am convinced
Of the lies in these disguises;
Words are futile devices.
741 · Oct 2014
Elusive
Lillian Harris Oct 2014
Oh that I could love
And be loved in return
To feel warmth in the hearth
Of my heart
And not the icy emptiness
Of darkened stone
That seems to whisper
"You're alone"

Perhaps this ache in my throat
Would briefly dissipate if you
Tied your heart to mine,
Stitching the delicate pieces together again,
Though I thought them
Irreparable

You, the faceless figure
Whose absence I have
Known so long,
A phantom wish
Robed in my hopes,
The name on the tip of my tongue
That I can never seem to taste.
706 · Jan 2016
Fragile
Lillian Harris Jan 2016
You belong with someone
Who is built of stronger things
A heart that isn’t crushed
By the sad melodies it sings
But I am made of brittle bones
Of sinew torn and muscles weak
Of a mind that always fails to find
The words that I should speak

My shoulders will not bear the weight
Of your sorrows and mine
Without adding new fractures
To my already splintering spine
Your hands deserve to hold a heart
That warms you at your core
But holding mine will only leave you
Colder than before.
700 · Mar 2016
Lethargic
Lillian Harris Mar 2016
This lethargy I feel
Breeds sadness in
My soul
And with nothing
To distract me
From the shadows
Creeping in,
I am smothered
By the weight
Of their increasing
Gloom,
Sifting through
These restless hours
In the silence
Of my room.
698 · Apr 2015
Inside My Mind
Lillian Harris Apr 2015
Lies
Love
Fear
Faith
Secrets
Seashells
Daydreams
Vast blue oceans
Running in fields
Fireflies in mason jars
Cliffs overlooking the sea
Raindrops on misty panes of glass
The sound of the wind through the trees
The crisp crunch of autumn leaves beneath feet
The rush of feeling during the culmination of a song
Blurred colors and flashing light through the car windows
Forests filled with ancient relics from another time
Dancing alone with the music blasting loud
Adventures to nowhere in particular
The mystery behind the ruins
Slow dancing with a stranger
The sound of crashing waves
Nations I’ve yet to visit
Burnt orange sunsets
Pages in old books
Crackling fires
Constellations
Howling wind
Empty rooms
Guitar strings
Graveyards
60 degrees
Piano keys
Pleasure
Gain
Loss
Pain.
My head is a chaotic place.
687 · Jul 2015
Phantom
Lillian Harris Jul 2015
She is a ghost
In her own home
Drifting from
Room to room,
A phantom
Rattling chains
In the early
Morning gloom

She wrings her hands
And curves her spine
And spends
The night alone
Watching time
As it passes by
In a world she's seen
Yet never known.
683 · Sep 2010
The Twilight King
Lillian Harris Sep 2010
The sun was rising overhead,
It shined its gleaming rays
Then said the moon, just playing dead.
“I simply cannot stay!”
The sunshine softly said goodbye,
And brighter by the second,
She ascended to the rosy sky,
And to the birds she beckoned.
The silvery stars were now long gone,
Nocturnal beasts were sleeping.
The night was like a distant song,
Shadows ceased their creeping.
As the day wore on, the sun grew tired,
Her rays were gently fading,
Between her lips snuck out a yawn,
She knew the moon was waiting.
She’d had her turn to light the world,
To warm each living thing,
But then Moon said, as night unfurled,
“I am the Twilight King”.
Rhyme Scheme poem from my collection.
673 · Sep 2010
When I'm Dreaming
Lillian Harris Sep 2010
When I’m dreaming the world is full of color,
Bursting into beams of shining, sparkling light.
Fast asleep, and free of worry, want, and woe.
I pay no mind to the lies of mankind.

When I’m dreaming, I am no one but myself.
No need to hide behind an ugly shadow of
Someone I don’t know, someone I don’t need to be.
No longer in danger of being a stranger.

When I’m dreaming, the world is mine.
Every field, forest, and firefly.
The air is thick with the scent of flowers.
I could lie here in the breeze all day.

When I’m dreaming, I constantly wonder
Why reality can’t be like I make it,
Why all of my dreams are forsaken,
Why do I have to awaken?
Freeverse poem from the collection:)
666 · Sep 2010
Fire!
Lillian Harris Sep 2010
Embers glow red & orange
Inside a hearth of grey stone.
My eyes glitter in the darkness
As the flames crackle.
Warmth Surrounds me.

Sparks dance and begin to
Encircle me with dazzling
Firelight. I am hypnotized
By the shadows that are
Forming on my wall,
Flickering and morphing
Into strange shapes.

The comforting heat shields
Me from the bitter cold.
I Watch the blazing logs as the
Fierce flames engulf each stick
And twig within the fireplace.
Visions of the fiery colors are
Reflected on my glassy eyes.
FIRE!
Free verse poem:) this is a poem i did in a collection of poems i made for an English assignment. Hope you like it!
666 · May 2017
The Abyss
Lillian Harris May 2017
This silence yawns
Into my soul,
So widens the abyss.
Fissures crack
And then expand;
A parting lover's kiss.
An echo ricochets
Between these walls of
Lifeless stone
The word that rings
Inside my head:
*alone
     alone
           alone.
656 · Sep 2015
Burdens
Lillian Harris Sep 2015
The weight 

Atop her shoulders

Is enough to 

Curve her spine

And twist 

The corners 

Of her lips into a 

Sinking line

But in the view

Of distant eyes

She is no more 

Or less

Than posture 

Uncorrected

And vague
Unpleasantness.
September 10th, 2015
650 · Feb 2015
Fate's Fool
Lillian Harris Feb 2015
What a cruel joke to play
On a girl whose heart was
Already so scarred.
To shine a light at the end
Of a darkened tunnel
Only to ***** it out
Before the threshold.
To reach out a hand
As she drowned
Only to push her further
Into the murky water,
Though she'd only just found
The strength to resurface
And feel the sunlight
On her skin.
Fate has a twisted sense of humor, and it seems once again I'm the punchline.
645 · Aug 2010
Waiting For the Sun
Lillian Harris Aug 2010
The leaves ripple in the misty breeze,
waving at me through the foggy glass
which i stare through, absently sifting
through a forest of sleepy thoughts.
Fat raindrops fall and drip slowly
down the windowpane, like tears
the sky has shed. My root-beer
brown eyes are dulled under the
light of the pale grey gloom. A sigh
escapes my lips, disappearing silently
into the air. Quietly I watch the world
as each second crawls away.
Alone in the dim darkness waiting,
waiting for the sun.
rainy days:) ©Lillian Harris. i dono if i did the whole stanza thing right but i'm new at this so cut me some slack xD
630 · Feb 2015
The Great Divide
Lillian Harris Feb 2015
Somehow
You found your way
Into my heart
And lit a flame
Within it
That I thought
Would never burn.

It roars
So bright and hot
Inside my chest,
Igniting even the
Loneliest corners of my soul
Where it was before so
Dark and desolate.

And yet this warmth
Remains inadequate
When the distance
Yawns between us
Like an abyss,
Taunting me with only
The semblance of nearness.

We're sitting on separate sides
Of a great divide
Where Time is wearing thin
But I'm still reaching desperately
To feel, just once
The gentle heat
Of your hand
Holding mine.
627 · Jun 2015
Vacancy
Lillian Harris Jun 2015
Lonely benches,
Empty chairs,
Spaces filled
With empty air,
Absence felt
But never eased,
Love observed
But never seized.
614 · Sep 2015
Insomnia
Lillian Harris Sep 2015
You were
My excuse
To stay awake
So late,
3AM and
Losing sleep
But still
I would wait

Now you're gone
At the feeble
Faded light
Of dawn,
And I can no longer
Justify
The shadows
Underneath
My eyes.
589 · Jun 2017
Ruined
Lillian Harris Jun 2017
***** earth-stained
Fingers dig,
Shovel out the wreckage,
Raid the tomb-
A useless search.
No treasures sleep
Beneath my skin,
I am only bones
And blood;
Shadows and
Memories.
So, take those too
Before you go,
Leave me emptier
Than I was before.
There is nothing
Worth stealing
From me
Anymore.
589 · Jun 2015
Unspoken
Lillian Harris Jun 2015
The mind
Contains much more
Than the tongue
Tries to convey.

The heart
Knows such sensations
That the mouth
Could never say.
583 · Apr 2017
Drifting
Lillian Harris Apr 2017
Suddenly
The world is still and
The flutter of wings
In my stomach
Has hushed
And I can see
You drifting
Before I've felt
Your touch.
Never have I
Known a soul
That mirrored mine
So much.
11/9/16
564 · Nov 2016
The Girl That You Will Love
Lillian Harris Nov 2016
She will have fireworks
In her eyes
And lips that steal
The words
Out of your mouth

She will be made
Of wind and wildfire
And you will be
Consumed
By her

She will be light
Where I am
Shadow
And heat
Where I am cold

She will not be heavy
In your arms when you hold her
And I will curse my darkness
For leaning on your shoulder
561 · Apr 2015
The Passers-By
Lillian Harris Apr 2015
How strange it is to see
The Passers-By
With schedules scrawled
Across their minds
And clocks
Like ticking time bombs
Latched onto their wrists.

Overtaken in the static
Of their individual worlds
With all its never-ending
Numbers and plans,
Their heads are buried
In the sand
That falls from their
Hourglass skies.

So hurriedly they shuffle past,
Pulled by the pressing chains of
Expectations,
Straining to ignore
The hushed voice
That lives within them all
As it whispers its constant plea:
"Look up
And break free."
559 · Dec 2015
Words on Screens
Lillian Harris Dec 2015
I am sick
Of words on screens
Saccharine sweet
And yet so
Empty
556 · Dec 2014
Bottled Up
Lillian Harris Dec 2014
How do you fix a heart that’s full
Of sadness?

Despite all the times it’s been emptied

From a bottle that’s overflowed,
No relief moves in to fill the space.

You grasp every flash of pain and

Each withering poisonous thought

Until that silent moment when

The sting is far too great

And it begins to rain again

Down the sides of your face.
553 · Jul 2016
Unarmed
Lillian Harris Jul 2016
I say so many
Stupid things
I am ridiculous and
Impetuous,
I am unarmed and
Unyielding.
When you decide
To scar my heart
Or let it sink
In the wake of
Your absence
I will offer it up to you
Without hesitation.
Why do I wear it
Bare around my wrist,
Embedded in the fabric
Of my sleeve?
Why do I foolishly persist
When I know that
You will leave?
534 · Mar 2016
Flesh and Bone
Lillian Harris Mar 2016
You were a
Lovely ghost
Here yet far away
But he was
Flesh and bone
And I didn't have to
Imagine the way
His lips would
Feel on mine
Because they were
Already there,
Pressed against
My skin.
You were meant for someone far better than I am.
533 · Dec 2016
Collapse
Lillian Harris Dec 2016
My rib cage is
Collapsing;
All the butterflies
Inside me
Have died
532 · Apr 2017
Absent
Lillian Harris Apr 2017
Remember
When you said
I will always
Have your back

Where was
The warmth
Of your palm
Against my skin
That night
When my spine began
To crumble
And the walls were
Caving in?
11/30/16
528 · Mar 2015
Inarticulate
Lillian Harris Mar 2015
I’ve written
Countless words
To you
Attempting to relate
The extent of my feelings
For you
Only to throw them
All away,
Inadequate
Lacking
Empty.

Those words couldn’t
Make you feel
The way my heart races
When I hear
Your voice
Or the ache at the
Back of my throat
And the salty sting
Of tears
Overflowing
When you tell me
You’re in pain

Those words couldn’t
Make you see
All the times
I’ve laid awake at night
Hoping that maybe
You would call
Or all the days
That I’ve spent
Staring through windows
Wondering how I could
Make you happy
When your days turn gray.

Those words couldn’t
Bring you
Any closer to me,
Though I desperately
Wish that they would
And they
Could never, ever
Tell you how
I love you
The way that I could
Show you.
519 · Aug 2015
Non Omnis Moriar
Lillian Harris Aug 2015
In the Garden of Memories
I tread softly
For dreams lay buried
Beneath the soil,
Freed from the
Binding ties
Of worldly toil

Auras etched in
Marble epitaphs
And sculpted
In statuaries,
Traces of warm
Remembrance
In the solitude
And stone.
Non omnis moriar-- "Not all of me shall die"
516 · Jan 2016
Relapse
Lillian Harris Jan 2016
Sometimes
Sadness is strange
It can come along
So quietly
You don't realize
The heaviness
Of your own heart
Until you
Try to lift it
And find that you've
Somehow
Lost your strength
The darkness came back for a visit tonight.
515 · Jul 2016
Lovely Broken Things
Lillian Harris Jul 2016
She leans
Against the wall
A flower
Wilting
In the shade
He is sunlight
Suffocating
Beneath the
Gathering clouds
So far beyond
Her reach

The heavens
Break apart
When his heart
Becomes
Too heavy
And the rain is
Liquid loneliness
On her skin
Reminding her
Of all the lovely things
They could have been.
482 · May 2015
Stained
Lillian Harris May 2015
The water
From the faucet
Cleanses the dirt
From my pores
But it cannot sink in
Past my skin
To purify
My soul.
480 · Aug 2016
Mistaken Identity
Lillian Harris Aug 2016
I thought I saw you
Yesterday
In the face of a
Stranger
As he stood
By the sea,
And the breath
In my lungs caught
Like kite strings tangling
In the boughs of trees

He had your smile
Almost,
From far away
But it wasn't
Quite the same
And I felt
The old wound
In my chest begin to
Open up again
With that familiar pain.
478 · Apr 2017
Atlas
Lillian Harris Apr 2017
I am not Atlas
I cannot bear
The weight
Of the skies
That I am
Under
470 · Feb 2015
Vain Hope
Lillian Harris Feb 2015
I fell asleep to the sound
Of your voice last night.
The final thought
Drifting through my mind
Before my eyelids closed
Was you.

And when the sun
Kissed the sky
To wish it good morning
I hoped in vain that maybe
When I woke
You'd be there to do the same.
but you are so very far away.
465 · Apr 2017
The Trees will Tire of Me
Lillian Harris Apr 2017
One day your branches
Will not stretch
Towards me.
One day your roots
Will recoil.
One day your bows
Will grow to
Abhor me.
One day I will sink
In the soil.
Too much rain will make them drown
443 · Feb 2015
Sleepless
Lillian Harris Feb 2015
Maybe it's foolish of me
To stay awake
All night
Waiting for you,
But my eyes
Won't seem to close,
Kept open
By a lingering hope
That maybe
You are missing me
Just as much as I
Am missing you.
"do you even
think of me
at all?"
441 · Jun 2015
Colors
Lillian Harris Jun 2015
Strange
How all the
Colors fade
Just as soon as
They come to stay,
And drain like
All the empty words
That I heard you say.
Next page