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411 · May 2014
Blackout Poem
Maddie Lane May 2014
Speak through a personal story
involve judgements
go beyond values
see truthful life,
not random pictures.
A story is more than the sum total of its parts.
consider knowledge
A blackout poem I made the other day
397 · Mar 2014
I never deserved this.
Maddie Lane Mar 2014
I gave you everything I have,
tore down all of my walls and gave you the trust that no one gets.
In return you ruined me,
you turned me into this mess who can write about nothing besides you,
I cannot forget the map I made of your body
(we both know you forgot mine long ago)
it's not fair that I'm the one who suffers.
I'm not the one who did wrong,
I just asked for love,
I gave you everything I had,
put all of my effort and energy into you and your happiness.
In return you treated me like I was nothing,
threw everything I gave you back at me
(besides my trust, you just threw that away)

and now I'm lost.
395 · Jan 2013
226.08 miles
Maddie Lane Jan 2013
Two hundred twenty six point zero eight.
That's the quickest route from my door to yours.
I have never felt so alone.
You try to fill the void in my heart with phone calls,
I admire your attempts.
We fill the silences with:
"I love you"
"I miss you"
"I need you"
But it is not nearly enough,
it does not work.
I am still alone.
Waiting,
always waiting.
Waiting for this year to end.
Waiting for you to be closer.
Waiting for the day where you are not two hundred miles away, but a couple feet away.
Waiting for the day where we rest our head on the same pillow.
Waiting for the day where I stop crying every time I think about how far you are,
how long it is until I see you again,
how lonely I am.
Waiting to stop feeling so alone.
Waiting to get used to being left behind.
So
much
waiting.
373 · Apr 2013
I'm stupid.
Maddie Lane Apr 2013
I don't know where it ends.
I can't picture myself without you,
but I don't know how I can keep you in the picture.
I can't imagine ever calling it quits,
saying the past year was wasted,
saying we never want to see each other again.
I can't imagine life without your house around the corner from mine,
but I know that it will happen soon.
I can't imagine life without you to hold,
but I know forever isn't real,
the end is closer than we think.
370 · May 2013
Drowning
Maddie Lane May 2013
I am submerged,
drowning.
Trying to find the surface,
but it's coated in ice.
I reach my hands up trying to find air - all I feel is ice,
it's relentless,
I will never be free.
Something is always trapping me.
365 · Feb 2013
Okay
Maddie Lane Feb 2013
I want to tell you that it is going to be okay.
It's not
I can't lie to you
(I'm scared)
What does the future hold?
I have no idea
All I know is no matter how many miles are between us,
you will always be on my mind.
Whether you are right next to be or a hundred miles away,
you are on my mind.
It is a scary thing for the future to be so up in the air.
Everything is uncertain
Nothing is permanent.
Who do you trust these days?
No one but the dog.
358 · Jul 2015
Fade Away
Maddie Lane Jul 2015
Fading away
Ever so slowly
The monotony of life is killing me
I never thought I would live like this
In a city of so many people
I am so lonely
I see groups, couples, friends
EVERYWHERE
while I walk alone
from one job to the next
Waiting for the moment
when someone looks in my eyes
and says
"Come here, where have you been?
I've been waiting for you for so long.
I knew you'd show up eventually.
Don't worry,
you don't have to be alone any longer."
357 · May 2016
Naive
Maddie Lane May 2016
yes
at one point
i had love enough for both of us
i played your part as well as mine
but
that time has passed
what's the point of holding onto someone who won't stay?
but
now
it's different
now
you're kinder
more sentimental
yet you cannot listen
cannot give me what i say i need
cannot pick up the phone
but
i can't let you go
can't let you be with anyone else
can't let you love anyone but me
even if
i've grown unsure
of my love for you
Maddie Lane Nov 2014
My feet may be small but in certain shoes they create thunder,
I try to walk lightly.
I feel that I make too much noise as I walk.
I don't want the world to take notice of me.

Sometimes,
I clank my heels against the pavement,
waiting for heads to turn,
waiting for the world to notice me.

I am a bundle of contradictions,
I am the biggest hypocrite that I know.
I give advice that I would never take,
tell people to run when I stand still.

With you my feet are not quiet nor are they loud,
they are shaky.
For the past nineteen years they've done a great job of holding me steady,
but around you they seem to forget how to function.
I forget how to function around you.

I thought I built walls tall enough for only the ones who cared would scale,
but you got in and started swinging.
356 · Jun 2016
Amst
Maddie Lane Jun 2016
New York
is home
maybe
well
it's a temporary one
but
nonetheless
I miss it so
Amsterdam
is beautiful
the people
so tall
so blonde
always biking
and I'd like it more
if I could fit
but
I am
hot tempered
angry
cynical
not fit for European life
I'm hesitant
to say
I'm homesick
because I'm still trying to figure out
where 'home' really is
but
I'll concede
I miss certain people
I miss certain things
that I never thought I would
and
I'm not begging to leave
but
I'm not begging to stay
355 · May 2013
Maybe,
Maddie Lane May 2013
years from now,
you'll be waiting on a busy New York City sidewalk.
Maybe,
years from now,
you'll be waiting there for me.
349 · May 2013
I realized,
Maddie Lane May 2013
I know you inside and out,
better than anyone else.
I still feel like there are holes in your stories,
I still yearn to hear more.
I could know every moment of your life,
and still ache to know more.
349 · Aug 2013
New York
Maddie Lane Aug 2013
It was a test,
I wasn't sure if we would pass.
Roles reversed,
I thought I would be the bad guy,
call it quits after all we've made it through.
That's not the case.
I just want you here with me,
I want you by my side,
on these busy streets,
of the city that never sleeps,
I want you with me in New York.
348 · Dec 2013
Time
Maddie Lane Dec 2013
is a weird thing.
I haven't realized that I've grown up.
Being a Summer baby I've always focused on the fact that everyone's getting older than me.
The only time I realize how much time has passed is when I look at the people around me.
Cousins who I saw the day they were born are now entering kindergarten.
Sisters go from being innocent little girls making words out of barrettes have suddenly picked up smoking, and a number of boys with bad reputations, and a hatred for me.
Friends are planning their futures, living in cities far from the ones that we had known.
And I didn't even realize what I've become.
I'm living the dream I've had since I was small, walking the streets I've thought about since I was a little girl, being responsible after realizing that 'out of control' was not a phase that suited me.
Time passes so quickly, and I didn't even realize it until I took a step back.
348 · Aug 2014
New York City
Maddie Lane Aug 2014
In the hustle and bustle of the city I will always wonder why it is so easy to feel alone.
How is the easiest thing to feel loneliness?
Why is the hardest thing to feel happiness?
I used to revel in being alone, I used to take every silence as a moment for my creativity to bloom.
Now I dread it.

I feel that I could shout it from the top of the tallest building,
make it front page news,
and still no one would hear me.
345 · May 2016
phantom limb
Maddie Lane May 2016
too many people look like you
in dimly lit rooms
which sends me searching for the light-switch
well
only in the times
when i'm not searching for traces of you
something i can cling on to
until
the need passes
the ache fades
something better comes along
i must say
this isn't an ode to my codependence
i am great at being alone
but
after being wrapped around your finger
for so long
i've begun to miss the warmth
328 · Apr 2014
I'm tired
Maddie Lane Apr 2014
of being sad.

I've made a decision.
I'm taking all that I felt about you and putting it elsewhere.

I'm putting these feelings into anything else but people.
I'm putting the feelings of confidence that you gave me into my step when I walk around my beloved city.
I'm putting the emotion into my writing (I wanted to write you as many poems as I could, now I'll do it for me)
I'm putting the laughter into the moments that I am with my friends and find something truly funny.
I'm putting that huge smile you made me feel on when I walk outside and feel the sunshine touch my skin.
I'm putting my fingers, the ones that I used to run all over you, on the keys of my laptop, on the pen I take notes with.
I will use those hands that used to hold yours to instead hold the rain when it falls, to help a friend whenever they are down, to pet my dogs.
The arms of mine that used to find comfort in your embrace will now be used to hug my family, to remind them what they mean to me, and to hug my friends, hold someone when they are upset.
They will soon forget what you felt like.
Lastly, I will whisper tales of our love into the sand of the town that we probably will never admit that we love.
I will give my memories back to the places that they happened, and let someone else erase them with new memories.

I was tired of being sad.
So I decided to try something new.
Relationships are never easy, breakups are even worse. This is the solution that I've come up with.
327 · Mar 2014
You've got a hold on me.
Maddie Lane Mar 2014
there's a leash around my neck and you're the one in charge.

For a long time I've known that,
I let you **** me around with your wild emotions.
If I ever strayed too far I knew you would pull me back in,
sometimes I didn't mind the leash.

Now it's different,
the leash has managed to wrap itself around my heart
and you tug on it whenever you feel like it.

Careless,
that's the word I would use to describe you.

I had thought I knew you,
I let allowed myself to be put on a leash,
I trusted that you'd never pull too hard.

I trusted that you would never let go.
327 · Aug 2013
What
Maddie Lane Aug 2013
What is love?
Why are we so quick to define?
Love takes time.
Like a plant,
it needs sunlight and water,
needs to be cared for a nurtured.
I've been saying it's love for a long time,
when is it strong enough to be defined?
320 · Aug 2014
To my best friend:
Maddie Lane Aug 2014
It comforts me to know that I will be the maid of honor at your wedding - and that you will be the maid of honor at mine.
Through all that has happened, the changes we have experienced as we've become adults, we have remained the same,
and I think that's the reason I still have my sanity.
Words forever on our skin say, "I have seen the best of you, and the worst of you, and I choose both", from our favorite poem and I know our bond is eternal.
People may laugh and say that we might not be friends forever, but we will be the ones laughing because we know that they're wrong.
Although distance makes our communication less frequent, it does not make our friendship any weaker, and we will always pick up right where we left off.
You are my 2 AM, my number one fan and the only person I trust completely.
Our friendship has taught me many things - how to be there when needed, how to listen without judgement and most importantly, how to be a good friend.
We have reached an agreement - we might have different friends, but never ones like each other.
A friendship like ours is once in a lifetime, and only if you're lucky.
Thank you for being my best friend and making me feel lucky.
319 · Apr 2014
Me
Maddie Lane Apr 2014
Me
As far as people go I would say I'm not the best.
My emotions are far too volatile,
and I'm much too fallible.

I often feel that I'm falling to pieces,
I'm too codependent so I wait for people to fix me
(which never happens)

My writing is too emotional,
it has no structure,
its only purpose is to make sense of myself.

I'm a mess,
I'll confess that.

At least I know who I am,
accept myself for all of my flaws,
and take another step forward.
317 · Apr 2015
Keep
Maddie Lane Apr 2015
your complaints
your worries
your sorrows
to yourself.

Just for a night
I beg of you.

I don't mean to sound selfish
but I want to ravage you
hold your flesh between my teeth
mark you as my own.

I don't want to forget this night
and I don't want you to forget me
at least until the marks fade away.
317 · Jan 2013
Out of breath
Maddie Lane Jan 2013
You cannot run away from this

(not now at least, you’ve waited far too long)

You have to face your problems, admit to your mistakes

(...your many mistakes)

You’ve put this off for so long

(what are you afraid of?)

Why is everyone growing up so quickly?

(even the dog is getting old)

Why do you feel the same way that you always have, utterly lost and confused.

(is there a reason to this?)

(will the questions ever be answered?)

(will it always feel this way?)
314 · Jun 2014
Fact:
Maddie Lane Jun 2014
We will never be more than what we once were - it's a fact for all things that have ended.
Everything is relative, it will do you good to realize that sooner rather than later.
Everything is irrelevant when you're standing on a precipice trying to decide if you should leap into the unknown or hide in the comfort of familiarity.
Things will not change unless you do something different - if you never take a step you will stand still for eternity.
310 · Sep 2013
?
Maddie Lane Sep 2013
?
In the whirlwind that is the city,
is it strange that I ache for you to be with me?
I'm surrounded by people,
but I wish to be with those who know me best.

Tired eyes tell me to rest,
my brain tells me to resist.
Which do I listen to?

Do I venture back out,
into the life of the city?
Or do I settle down for the night,
and pick up a book?
296 · Aug 2015
Time
Maddie Lane Aug 2015
There is no time for sadness, wrap me up in your jacket and take me home.
294 · May 2014
Reminder (13w)
Maddie Lane May 2014
At least now I can walk freely,
and not tiptoe around your temper.
291 · Nov 2014
I'm drowning
Maddie Lane Nov 2014
and your strong arms could hold me up,
but you're drowning too.
I'm trying my hardest to keep you afloat,
pushing you up as I fall to the ocean floor,
but it doesn't seem to be working.

We're falling,
and flailing,
and aimlessly wandering,
and I keep hoping we can wander together,
at least for a little while longer.

When you find what you're looking for
(we both know it's not me)
and you stop drowning,
I hope you'll remember me,
drag me to the surface,
and remind me to breathe.
288 · Sep 2014
I'll always wonder
Maddie Lane Sep 2014
when our bones crumble and turn to dust,
as we both know is inevitable,
will we be remembered?

When my smile fades,
or becomes a facade,
will you notice?

I've been wondering for some time now how easy it is to let people leave your memories,
I know that I've always struggled with it.

I know that optimism would say that it's difficult,
pessimism would say it's as easy as breathing,
but what about the realistic part of the mind?
Is it actually easy?
I put effort and energy into make people fade into the past,
do you do the same?
288 · May 2014
UGH
Maddie Lane May 2014
UGH
In my dreams I fall into a pool of golden brown amber,
it feels that I'm falling
FOREVER.

The last time I said your name I nearly choked on it,
memories of you feel like fire and I'm tired of getting burned.

I feel you forgetting me more every single day,
as I collect different memories of days that ended in smiles.

My eyes fill with acid tears as I wonder how this came to be,
your amber eyes are dry and fine.

You're probably smiling my favorite smile,
as I am drowning in those ******* tears,
sparked by your golden eyes.
You could cause a forest fire with just a glance
287 · Apr 2014
Untitled
Maddie Lane Apr 2014
I have never been one to trust easily,
or even to trust at all,
early on I was taught that people are inherently untrustworthy.

The few times I decide to trust,
to let people in,
they sneak inside of my heart and then rip it to shreds from inside.

Watch me implode!
I tell them with disdain,
but no one seems to want to watch me combust.

They run at the first sign of anything unpleasant,
hoping that the guilt will not follow them.
They want to be able to sleep at night.

I hope their thoughts keep them up at night.
287 · Nov 2013
Our love
Maddie Lane Nov 2013
is a feather.
It falls,
so gracefully,
dancing
in the air
until
it hits the floor,
soundlessly.
281 · May 2013
Ugh
Maddie Lane May 2013
Ugh
I seemed to have lost the map that directed me to you long ago,
I take turns down random streets to try to find you.
I see memories of us laughing as I drive around this town,
trying to find my way into your good graces,
back into your heart.
I don't know what happened or when it did but something changed,
I opened the windows as I flew down the street and the map sailed out the window.
I didn't realize until it was too late.
277 · Dec 2013
Rain.
Maddie Lane Dec 2013
It rained in the city today,
and for the first time I didn't rush to tell you how badly I wished I were with you.
How badly I wished to be curled up next to you,
watching a movie,
laughing at your stupid jokes,
talking about the memories and the people from home.

I wonder if that means something.
I find it funny that I used to count each month as something special,
now we just round up to the closest year (two).

I wonder why you can't hear me when I talk to you,
why you can't do simple things like text me back,
or call me on the phone.

I could drown myself with memories from last year,
the phone calls,
the harsh words,
the times when I was the one who was too busy to talk.
But I try not to.

I don't know when things changed,
when you got too busy for me,
and when I decided to care too much
and then not at all.

It rained in the city today.
And I didn't think of you,
not even a little bit,
not at all.
276 · Aug 2014
I could be // I am
Maddie Lane Aug 2014
I could be that book on a rainy day,
the one you curl your body around as the rain pounds on windowpanes.
I could be that soliloquy that convinces you to stay,
the one who captures love with simple words - the one that makes you feel again.

But I am none of those things.
I am chaos -
a hurricane of feelings and emotions that only cause disaster.
I do not posses the calm that is required to be something beautiful -
I am far too frantic.

Pretending otherwise can only last too long.
Our time here is short so let's be honest.
I am chaotic and loud and you are shy and fearful -
let's stay true to who we are and find beauty in all that we do.
274 · Nov 2013
Fall
Maddie Lane Nov 2013
The leaves changed around me,
now they're falling,
wind blowing them all around me.

I wonder if I am like that,
changed,
falling,
wandering around,
no plan at all,
just waiting to see where the wind takes me.
273 · Nov 2013
Open book.
Maddie Lane Nov 2013
I've written you countless poems,
I'm sure you've never taken the time to read them.
I speak what I feel,
I never keep anything inside.
So why are you having so much trouble reading me?

I'm an open book.
272 · Feb 2014
I want
Maddie Lane Feb 2014
to scream,
to yell,
to curse whoever brought you my way.

I can't.
I end up in tears,
somehow with hope that appeared from nowhere that you somehow managed to ****.
I end up talking about you constantly in hopes of not getting caught up in my own head.

I will never
understand what happened.
I have lost myself before but I would never do what you had done.
I would never turned my back on anyone,
especially not someone who would move the sun if I said it was too bright.

I hope.
That you realize exactly what you're losing.
Someone who understood you, who stayed with you even when things fell apart.

I understand.
I have my own flaws,
I have demons I try to fight off, and that sometimes I'm not strong enough.

I never.
Expected this from you.
I never expected to feel this way.

I want to know what happened, I need to understand where this all went wrong.
270 · Apr 2022
dusk
Maddie Lane Apr 2022
the sun's setting
but
i don't want to turn on the lights
just want to watch the light fade from the room
windows open
listen to the low hum of life in the city
feel peace
realize
it's been a while since i've sat with myself
like this
alone
no distractions

i think
it's kind of
nice
257 · Mar 2022
march
Maddie Lane Mar 2022
i always said that winter
was our season
that the chill in the air
turned you warm to me

this is true

and yet

it's march

it was 70 the other day

and you're still here
(kind of)
(writing this down makes me feel like i'm ensuring your disappearance)
(we'll see)
256 · Sep 2014
My hands
Maddie Lane Sep 2014
will always be far too small to catch all that is crumbling.
It is all crumbling.

It seemed to have imploded,
infiltrated from the inside,
we lost all that we had
(which really wasn't much)

I don't think it can ever be the same,
Broken things are hard to put back together-
especially when no one wants to.

I showed up,
hard hat on my head,
ready to repair,
until I saw that I was the only one there.
254 · Sep 2014
Never (12w)
Maddie Lane Sep 2014
I can never make you love me,
I'm finally okay with that.
It took a while but I've finally accepted it.
253 · Mar 2016
Years later,
Maddie Lane Mar 2016
here we are,
strangers
exisiting
in the same city
.
I don't remember
what you felt like
what your smile was like
if you ever made me smile
I only remember
feeling betrayed
feeling angry
feeling lost
I cannot say that I care
because I don't
I think
we loved being in love
but you were far too volatile
which taught me to be
docile
.
I don't
hold many regrets
but
I regret
so much of the time
I wasted on you
253 · Feb 2014
Regret (20w)
Maddie Lane Feb 2014
I should have grabbed the letters that spell my name
when the spilled from your mouth
(for the last time)
253 · Mar 2014
For the first time ever
Maddie Lane Mar 2014
the stale New York City air leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
I wish to be back by the clean ocean air.
I often enjoy that I can hide in a crowd,
go by unnoticed, go long periods without speaking or listening,
but right now all I want to do is be with the friends who have known me a while.

Don't get me wrong,
I love the life that I lead,
the friends that I've made,
the conversations I've had.

There's just something about that place you call home.
You need it every once in a while,
to remind yourself who you really are.
243 · May 2015
The Fight
Maddie Lane May 2015
There's a glass on the edge of the table, it's sweating bullets and they're dropping to the kitchen floor. I'm saying, "I don't know if I can do this anymore,  you never listen to me" and you're laughing to yourself about something irrelevant. You're singing to a song that isn't even playing, you're making notes in your head of what shape the clouds are outside our kitchen window. I'm saying, "This isn't what I ever wanted for us" and you're still not listening. I'm begging, "Would you please listen to me? Just this once" and you're still not clued in. You ask what's for lunch and then are confused by the look of extreme hurt on my face. I repeat myself, "I don't know if I can do this. I'm sorry." and you're on your knees. Sobbing. Apologizing for becoming this man, the man even you didn't know you were capable of. You're asking where this went wrong, what you can do to fix this, and I'm throwing my arms in the air. "I don't know what to tell you" I said. You're begging for me not to give up on you, telling me that you can become the person that I fell in love with. "Calm down, calm down, okay." I say, swearing I won't give up on you just yet. You wipe the tears off your cheeks, pick yourself off the floor, grab me by the waist and smile. "Please move that glass, it's going to fall."
236 · Nov 2014
Reminder:
Maddie Lane Nov 2014
Stop handing out pieces of yourself like you've got anything left to spare.
233 · Jul 2022
tinkerbell
Maddie Lane Jul 2022
i want to believe in you
i swear i do
but oftentimes
the things worth believing in
are not true
227 · Oct 2013
Lost (9w)
Maddie Lane Oct 2013
I don't know
   what is
      eating me up inside.
227 · Oct 2014
Untitled
Maddie Lane Oct 2014
St-st-stuttering over undeserved apologies,
these eggshells are hurting my feet,
I've been walking on them for eternity.

Elephants stomp on my heart,
SOMEONE TELL THEM TO STOP,
my voice never raises above a whisper.

Tread
c
a
r
e
f
u
l
l
y
,
always.

Wearing your
heart
on your sleeve
makes it easy to steal.

LISTEN TO ME.
Build walls,
dig moats,
anything that will
halt
people from getting close to you,
close enough to hurt you.

Know that hurt is inevitable if you don't listen.
Giving someone your heart means signing a contract in blood,
it means stuttering over apologies.
Apologies that aren't always deserved,
but are somehow always given.
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