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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.
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.
Maddie Lane Jan 2015
I remember lurching my little body to the edge of the twin bed just in time to ***** on the floor.
I remember sharing a room with my sister.
I remember the feeling of immense pride as I pedaled by Little Mermaid bike across the lawn - finally without training wheels.
I remember my new dog getting sprayed by a skunk before my sixth birthday party.
I remember my dad putting her in a plastic tub full of tomato juice in hopes of washing away the putrid odor.
I remember having tons of friends to invite to birthday parties.
I remember not needing validation from people in order to be happy.
I remember laying in the backseat of the car as the streetlights flew by.
I remember when my sister threw a *** of bubblegum in my hair.
I remember washing the gum out with peanut butter.
I remember chunky copper highlights in my black hair.
I remember the first big fight.
I remember needing to rush my sister out into the rain to avoid all of the yelling.
I remember understanding that separating was the best thing for everybody.
I remember kissing in lemonade stands.
I remember dead-end streets and riding my bike down them.
I remember the walk to my elementary school.
I remember simpler times.
Maddie Lane Aug 2022
nighttime
and
sunshine
and france
and friends
and shooting stars
and swimming
and the beach
and sand
and grilling
and good food
and fine wine
and missing you tons
and feeling so full
but
a little empty
too

but

the sun sets later in france
(even she doesn't want the days to end)
and my skin loves it
freckles blooming on my skin
(proof of her kisses)
everyone is so happy
so full
and
a little drunk

so
to hell with it
nothing hurts if you don't let it
i'll let myself feel it all
while i ride alongside the seine
knowing
i'll see you soon
and missing you will have been worth it
Maddie Lane Jan 2022
but it feels good to be right

i knew that winter would bring you my way

did i know how close it'd bring you?
how good it would feel?

no.
not at all.

i was not prepared.

and am nowhere near ready to say goodbye.
yet,
i must

for we both know this is ending soon

tear out the stitches
rip off the bandaid

all of the medical metaphors

to say

goodbye
Maddie Lane Nov 2013
the dark makes it seem even colder.
Tomorrow it will never go above freezing,
and I know that all I will be able to think about
is the warmth I find in your arms.
My heart will beat steadily and slowly,
waiting to feel yours beating alongside it,
I guess it doesn't know it won't happen anytime soon,
that the cold day will pass without any sort of embrace.
Maddie Lane Sep 2014
anymore.
It's about this ever-growing emptiness that I feel when remnants of our time together appear.
It's about the reminder that I am alone,
that I will likely be lonely for a while.
I do not miss you, do not take this as a love poem or anything of that sort.
You are merely a frame of reference for a time when I was not so alone.
I feel that when I knew you was a different time in life,
so much has changed,
very little that existed during that time remains.
Memories are blurred as I willfully forget them
(I've been wishing them away for months now)
but still some linger,
a reminder of the time when I wasn't so alone.
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.
Maddie Lane May 2020
outside in a summer storm
driving on smooth empty roads at nighttime
sitting on the empty beach
before a kiss, when lips are a breath apart
being pulled closer in bed
first snow
first breath of spring
the compliment when it hits my ears
Maddie Lane Jul 2022
there was a way
to apologize for my past selves,
the versions of me
that i do not wish to claim.
Maddie Lane Jul 2014
I won't tell you that I love you because we will both crumble.
We are sandcastles just waiting for the tide to claim us,
waiting for the inevitable ruin that we both face.

I won't tell you that I love you because kindness can be cruel.
It's easy to wear a mask,
easier to look at it long enough until you think it is your face.

I won't tell you that I love you because intention is deceiving.

I will not take your trust because I will never allow you to have mine.

I won't tell anyone that I love them because love is not eternal, you are ethereal and I never want to be the cause of their demise.
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.
Maddie Lane Mar 2013
I want to keep you as close to me as possible as I can without crushing you.
Weld your lips onto mine - that is where they belong.
I want your gaze to never falter off of my faulty face.
The only place that I am beautiful is in your eyes.
I want to keep your voice in my head so I can never forget the way that it sounds when you tell me you love me.
I want to keep your love as close to me as I can so I can never forget about it or leave it behind as I experience new places.
I want to keep the memories alive so even when we are hundreds of miles apart and do not see each other for months I can still think of you and smile.
I want to keep you as close as I can without crushing you.
Maddie Lane May 2014
Do you ever think of me?
Or have you taken every memory and replaced them with someone else?
Maddie Lane Jan 2013
We collided one day. Limbs intertwined so tightly that they were impossible to separate. We lived for a while, happy at our joining. One day there was an itch that neither of us could get at, for our bodies had tied themselves together so well that we could not reach it. We started to grow uneasy, all because of that little itch. Uneasiness grew into discomfort and soon enough we needed to get away from each other. We needed to unravel from one another, but we didn’t know how. Pretty soon it got unbearable, being together constantly slowly killed our souls. We were ready to hack away our limbs just to escape each other. We had begun to formulate a plan, what we could do to get away without ripping ourselves to unidentifiable bits and pieces. Unfortunately we couldn’t think of an easy way of breaking free of each other. However we managed to tear ourselves apart one of us, if not both, would get hurt. How were we to do this?
Maddie Lane Sep 2013
The monotony of life makes me crave interaction-
a conversation, a hug, even a smile will suffice.
Cold shoulders can only be defended against for so long before you start to shiver.
A small ache for a warm conversation soon turns to a sharp pain.
Nighttime goes by,
moments when you reminisce of times there was someone to hold you,
it all seems so long ago.
Reminders of love visiting again are great,
but it seems so far away.
How lonely can one person get in a matter of days?
Maddie Lane Oct 2013
I don't know
   what is
      eating me up inside.
Maddie Lane Jun 2021
& i can't go past 72nd street without thinking of you
or be anywhere in little italy
can't see a 1 train without imagining you on it
(i'm not even sure if you take it anymore)

it's odd,
i've never bumped into you in the city
but if i'm uptown, i'm always on alert
waiting for you to pop up

i scan the platform at broadway lafayette
from my seat on the B
expecting to see you
i never do

& if you did appear
i'm not sure what i'd say
i'm not sure if you'd see me

it's a shot in the dark
a stab in the heart
this poem is bad
but it feels worth getting out
Maddie Lane Feb 24
you couldn't pay me to go back to high school
and trod through those prison-like halls.
but sometimes i ache to go back
to those high school summers,
the ones that you were so often a part of.

yes, i'll admit it.
i do miss
cruising down west shore drive
windows rolled down, summer's air filling the car.
going to the beach after the sun's set,
feeling deliriously dangerous as we sipped captain morgans
and pilfered *****.

i even miss
trailing behind all the skateboarders,
hearing the roll of the wheels on the asphalt,
watching the falls and the triumphs.

i miss chatting with you,
about anything and everything.
beaches and bonfires
and "where's my flopper"

you were there
always smiling,
always willing to let me in on the story,
to share the memories made long before i arrived,
inviting me to tag along.
you were a friend to all,
an enemy to none,
and you never passed judgment on anyone.

and though we hadn't talked
in far too long
i know,
if i had run into you,
you'd smile
say my name, ask how i've been.
that was something i could count on

it's impossible to comprehend,
that somehow
you're gone.

i can say that certainly
this really is
marblehead's greatest loss.
for cale
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)
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.
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.
Meh
Maddie Lane Oct 2013
Meh
I've written you many times:
poems
letters
messages.
I get none in return,
just empty promises.
How much longer do I have to hold on to the smallest things?
Love can only do so much.
I know,
I live in the past far too often.
I have a habit of holding grudges,
but what can I say,
it's genetic?
I can't let go of things that were said and done,
on your end- not mine.
I need something to make me forget.
I need a great love,
declaration of feelings.
Will that ever happen?
Maddie Lane Aug 2022
laying on on a bench
on the roof of a corsican villa
and nothing has ever felt like this

there are more stars than i ever thought existed
and
i'm in love
i don't want to leave
but
i don't want to stay

i wish there was a way to capture this
not just the stars
but the feeling of watching them

i wish there was a way
to tell you about this
how this makes me feel
tiny,
just a speck in the scheme of it all,
but powerful
at the same time
Maddie Lane May 2023
i did it,
of course.
let myself fall into
the false sense of security

thought that i had done enough
to prevent a ruining.

thought that a day
about me
could simply be good.

but,
apparently,
you had other ideas

and yes,
i can take it.
can deal with a lack of kindness,
can smile through most of the hurt,
but not always.
not today

not when the person
who claimed to love me
who wanted to protect me
set out to hurt
Maddie Lane Jan 2013
The words coming out of your mouth were bitter, harsh and cold.

They hurt, you say them with spite, influenced by your monster,

which had taken over, you let it take control of your words, your actions.

I try my hardest to not let it get to me, tell myself it’s not you, I can’t help

it though. You had always been my protector, my hero,

I had always looked up to you, but not anymore.



What am I supposed to think? You’re not the same anymore.

Your actions are harsh, is it really you who’s being so cold?

Occasionally I see the ice melt in you. There you are, my hero.

What feelings are you trying so hard to bury that you turn into this monster?

You were supposed to be my rock, your job was to patch things together. Help

me, because I can only stay strong for so long, I can’t put on this act



much longer. I am not strong, nor am I brave, which is shown by my actions.

I’m a vault of secrets that would destroy what little is left. We’re not a family anymore.

We have betrayed each other’s trust. We’re unhappily living together, desperately in need of help.

We deny everything but our sadness. I remember the worst fight. It was summer, cold

only existed in the arguments that brought up things of the past, hurtful words fueled by the monster.

From that point on I watched it all crumble, you’d become this mean man, no longer my hero.



That night had changed my view on everything. I became scared of the person I used to call my hero.

I was terrified. Never had you frightened me like that before, your actions

were those of a heavily intoxicated mind, all caused by your monster,

which you can never seem to leave. Do you not see what it does anymore?

Tearing apart what is already torn? Do you not hear the words you say, those cold

words that embed themselves deep in the brain. There is no helping



you. I can only sit back and watch you weep. I want to help,

I need to help, here in front of me is this man I never saw sad, my hero.

The saddest thing I’ve ever seen was you the next morning, cold

water droplets on your back from your shower, as you cry, recalling your own actions

from the night before. At that point I have no idea what to do anymore.

Never had I been put in that situation, the unfamiliarity itself was a monster.



I used to fear the unknown, now I fear seeing more people I love become monsters,

haunted by the things they’ve done in the past, desperately in need of help

but too proud to get it. Often they turn away from those they’ve hurt, anymore

attention paid may result in another bonding with the monster, their own hero

they look up to it, searching for answers, not realizing that these actions

are what got them to where they are now. Is that why your heart’s now ice?



No more will I allow myself to view this monstrosity.

I will become a cold person, unaffected by arguments, not in need of any help.

No more heroes, I’ve learned that when you look up to others you’re likely to be let down by their actions
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.
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 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.
Maddie Lane Jan 2014
I need a place to cram my memories.
Someplace safe, nothing permanent, but maybe permanent.
I need to change my hair and get a hobby and some new friends and do something interesting.
I need to be interesting.
I need to feel wanted, not worthless.
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.
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.
Maddie Lane Jun 2023
&
when i've grown accustomed to sleeping with you,
i sleep fitfully without you
even worse when you're unhappy
(and i've no clue why)
(all i want to do is help)
(all you want to do is hurt)

am i allowed my pain?
or is that more of an inconvenience
(you don't want to see how you hurt me)
(only want to look at the ways i make you unhappy)
(which is apparently all i do)

i'm scared
(to ask what's the point of it all)
(to find out what 'love' means to you)
(to know how little you care)

so i guess
i'll write this poem
(poem-adjacent thing, who knows)

and hope
(that things get better)
(that you cheer up)
(that you let me in)
nyc
Maddie Lane Jun 2021
nyc
i love new york
and you
(i think)

i like to get out of the city
sometimes
it feels like escaping

silly,
i know

since you're never around
and
we've not done much here
(in a city of hundreds of zipcodes
our moments were contained to a few)

but still

new york will never be mine
and it'll always be yours

you're tied together in my mind
(there's no escaping that)

and massachusetts
might be my home
maybe not anymore

i know nowhere to call my own
(even the apartments are temporary)

but i had thought
i'd carved a spot in your arms
nestled agains your chest
that from the place in my bed
that i could call home

but i was wrong
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.
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.
Maddie Lane Nov 2013
is a feather.
It falls,
so gracefully,
dancing
in the air
until
it hits the floor,
soundlessly.
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?)
Maddie Lane Mar 2023
at first:
a bit of static

i can hear you,
but only slightly

hello?
hello?
are you there?
can you hear me?

soon:
nothing

-----

dial tone
and hopelessness.

how am i supposed to reach you
when the connection is so bad?

i'm on a cellphone.
you're on a tin can with a string.

&
i'd do anything to get to you:
battle monsters,
dragons,
taxmen,
the 2 train.

but not if you don't want me to.

what do i do?
do i write a letter?
tie it to a carrier pigeon
hope that you receive it?

i have a feeling
that
even if i hand-delivered
my message to you
it would get lost along the way
Maddie Lane Oct 9
do you think of me?
when i'm not there?

do you playback the memories
of our times
(both good and bad)
?

or

do you forget me
once i'm out of sight?
Maddie Lane Mar 2013
Pound your fists against the wall as you tell me I know nothing,
scream obscenities through the phone so loud I'm surprised the glass doesn't shatter.
Call it Passion.
Passion is your alter ego.
Passion hates me,
Passion never fails to tell me when I'm wrong.
Passion breaks my heart again and again.
Passion loves me,
Passion always tells me I am talented and smart.
Passion picks up the broken pieces and puts them back together.
Passion never fails to tell me I am beautiful.
Passion never fails to tell me that I would look ugly if I cut my hair,
or pierced my nose.
Passion tells my that my nose is crooked.
Passion is spiteful and unforgiving,
never fails to bring up my past mistakes.
Passion hates when I bring up his mistakes,
he deems his lies necessary,
while deeming my white lies fatal.
Passion is never wrong,
I am never right.
Passion wants me to be honest and say what is on my mind.
Passion wants me to sit down and shut up.
Passion never fails to tell me he loves me.
**Passion loves me.
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
Maddie Lane Jul 2023
when i was young
and at the playground
i liked my feet to be on the ground
didn't really spend much time on the swings
&
when i did go on the swings
i made sure to swing only slightly
never pumped my legs as hard as i could
had no interest in flying

and now:
i'm grown,
and i still prefer my feet on the ground
still don't care for the swings,
or the unpredictability of your swinging moods

(i never know what will set you off)
(i say one thing one day and you laugh, and the next day you yell)
(this is a familiar pattern)
(one that i had hoped to escape)
(why)
(sometimes it feels like a nightmare i can't escape)
(am i not worthy of kindness?)
(am i not worthy of love that is secure?)

sometimes
i catch myself wishing for the sandbox
or just a nice bench
anything that doesn't swing
Maddie Lane Sep 22
where does it go
after this
when all is said and done

will you flit in and out of my life again
or
will i see myself out of yours

(save myself a little hurt)
(maybe)

or do we meet somewhere in the middle
not strangers,
but acquaintances of some sort

to be honest,
it's been so long
that it's hard to imagine
a life without you

but please,
don't get confused,
this doesn't mean that i want anything back
i wouldn't change anything
(except the timing)
(would have maybe tried to see the rug
before it was pulled out from under me)

rest assured,
you do not have the power any longer

it's just
strange
to think of my life
without you in it
Maddie Lane May 2022
i guess.
it's nearing summer,
and you're gone

and

i'm tired of writing about you.

i'm tired
of wondering
why people don't care

so there.
i'm done,
over it.
will only think about it
every other day
until
you finally
fade away.
Maddie Lane Apr 2015
beg for
s  p  a  c   e
,
break my heart
a little each day

it's fine,
I'm used to it.
but
that won't stop me
from trying to pull you closer
Maddie Lane Aug 15
was it worth it?
they'll ask,
the time
the effort
the love.
was it all wasted?

honestly,
i'll say,
i don't know.

it was my highest high
and some of my lowest lows

if you'd have asked me
where i thought i'd be by now
i'd tell you,
it wasn't here

i saw a future
(a long one)
full of growth
and love
and good food.

and maybe
(most likely)
i'm a naive fool

but maybe
(also likely)
i was just hopeful

so i'll stop short
of tearing my heart from my sleeve
i won't let myself grow cold and heart
i'll stay soft and tender
(for now)
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.
Maddie Lane Apr 2014
Wet tendrils of copper and black stick to my head,
I refuse to let this rain bother me.

In my ears a string of songs play,
most of them sad.
I refuse to let the lyrics get to me.

New York City is a magical place.
I had made the mistake of forgetting that when I let life get me down,
when I chose to focus on ignored phone calls and unrequited love.

Not anymore.
Water has always symbolized life,
so now, as I walk these city streets in a downpour
I feel alive.
Maddie Lane Dec 2013
Beauty doesn't matter if you're shallow and selfish.
With no depth to your personality it's no wonder you have a difficult time making good friends.
If you surround yourself with **** you will start to smell,
you become one of them.

We can poke fun at me all we want because yes,
I don't have many friends,
but at least I have friends that would never abandon me.

Blood is thicker than water but I feel no connection to you anymore.
Your abuse towards me is unforgivable (especially since you've never directly apologized to me)
I will never forget the things that you said,
I would have expected them from someone (you know exactly who),
but never from you.

It's sad to say but it's a firm decision:
I am done with you,
I feel no remorse about this.

Cutting people off is a common occurrence in our family.
So this was unavoidable,
I wish it wasn't so soon,
I wish you'd realize the err of your ways,
I wish you'd stop being such a sociopath.


Goodbye.
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