Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
Sep 2021 · 102
Posthumous call
Maura Sep 2021
The minute I knew
my breath left my body
sending part of my soul out to search for you

before she said the words over the phone
my heart raced
my throat closed
I sputtered with questions, trying to make action
when deep down I knew
that nothing could be done

my interrupting pleas blocked her
I wanted the words that came after to never come— and when they did
there was nothing

A tiny infinity
Folding itself into a tiny ball
instantaneously weighing heavy
becoming a singularity
time and physics changing
Unraveling around
bursting into surreal ribbons of time—that I wanted to stab
to pin you back down to earth

I confronted the stars to demand a bargain with the universe  
of course they responded with an indifferent silence
my wish goes against the laws of physics

So instead, I bare my soul
throwing it over the event horizon
to speak directly to you:
come back to me
come back to me
come back to me
Sep 2021 · 208
Moths
Maura Sep 2021
reoccurring nightmares jolt me awake
sleep deprived, I scroll through my phone seeking interpretations
this always leads me down a narrow spiral
a dearth of knowledge littered with lies

I fear most of all the devil, death and bugs
the devil because I’ve been told that I’m ******
death because it is coming to claim all the things I love
and bugs because I’ve lived through too many infestations

But last nights dream was different
I dreamed of beautiful bugs
a swarm at the peak of a mountain
moths swirling around the place that I might summit
a glowing moon, light blue and eerie
snow slowly melting
the air a tentative dusk

Fluttering at the center around the moon,
the red eyes on their wings flashed me a warning
I drew closer

so close I could hear a chitter
a shiver went down my spine

but I walked on
shielding myself through the swarm

a moth separated from the group
approaching me
I began to panic,
worried it would hurt me
fearing that its small yellow tongue might lick my feet
that I would taste the fur on its wings
that we might consume each other

I ran from the swarm down the mountain
down a dark path leading me back to reality
but when my eyes swiveled back open
and my face bathed in the blue light of my phone
I wished that I had stood my ground

what would have happened
if I greeted the moths,
continued to up the mountain,
and bathed in the light of the moon
joining the moths in a dance
Sep 2021 · 67
Lightning Bugs
Maura Sep 2021
Summer evenings I going walking
people reunite on porches
parents take their children to the park
and bugs seep out from cracks in the ground

lighting bugs glow
sparse floating sparks
gliding past my little park
the one that I never sit in down my block
because children play there

when I have the courage I like to wave
the children shriek and run to the iron fence
pressing perfect pudgy noses through the bars
sticking small dirt covered fingers out trying to reach me
I gently wave, tightly smile and shuffle on
fast walking to my home

laughter carries in the wind after me
I long to pause in the park a moment longer
but if I stop for too long
I’m afraid a lightning bug might land on me
Maura Jul 2021
I’d like to be a natural girl
aesthetically home-grown
A DIY princess
Instagram goddess
Externally signaling I’m internally pure

But I’m not.

I’m sharper
Internally slicing and picking
Instagram ghost
too lazy for a consistent aesthetic
Dreading attention

Yet I’m afraid of being forgotten
While equally terrified of the spotlight
an in between
Inner ego fighting the fact
One day I’ll die

What’s curious though,
Is my digital life may be buried
Long after my ashes
An Internet branded shell
Of who I once was
Jan 2021 · 88
Signs
Maura Jan 2021
There are certain memories that stick
visceral moments so vivd that the time of them feels stuck
like a tac on my wall, holding a snapshots in place

when I make meaning from what feels like nothing
it's like I'm able to trace back through the web of time
pausing at each moment
pondering how I didn't see the bigger picture before

almost like playing telephone through a wire & metal cup
a game that's easily misinterpreted
what it's like trying to communicate with the universe.
Nov 2020 · 466
Daylight Saving Time
Maura Nov 2020
The veins of my eyelids
a sharp toned red
transforms into a blinding white
my eyes swivel to peak at the sun

I want the light to seep into my bones
longing to instead be a plant
slowly photosynthesizing

It would be easier perhaps,  
to whisper sweet nothings
to the wind
rather than tightening my throat
strangled by my human body
the grief never quite leaving my lips

Shadows cross my bedside  
shapes of blowing leaves tumble over
as the sun turns her head west
I watch the flurries of colors pass by
I'd be better if the sun didn't go down at 4:00p
Maura Oct 2020
Two white candles
I light each night for you
one matches your favorite scent
a lavender
the other, plastered with a photograph
of the three of us

It took three matches to light four candles
and when even that wasn't enough,
I took the red advent candle from our kitchen table,

It bled onto the white candles
passing along the flame
seeping into the wax
splashing onto my blanket
oozing into my journal

Now when I go to light the candles
they burn the wax now orange
and I drip
until I stream
and pour
longing
as these candles bleed
Answer: it takes three matches, and an advent candle
Oct 2020 · 208
Mediums
Maura Oct 2020
They come to claim the carcasses
whispering sweetly underground
tentacles returning energy back to the earth
******* and spitting
pumping their wisdom into the dirt

Swaying slowly craning their heads towards the sun
These humble creatures in clusters dot the wooded bog
their work mostly undetected to human eyes
speaking in ancient languages and casting spells
carefully tending the land,
keeping the peace

mushroom mediums
between the living and the dead
pulsing with fungal renewal
holding the power
of natures neural network  
a vast information of knowledge  
unknown
If only I could know what the mushrooms know
Oct 2020 · 724
Lineage
Maura Oct 2020
They say, the dying are greeted, by their mothers
She comes for them at the end
Her love reaching further than bookends
Loving before, when you’re but an idea
A single cluster of cells,
Pregnantly waiting,
For birth

You came into the world quickly,
Precariously, the way you moved in life
Your pace blazing—light speed  
A glow that burned from the beginning

You were likely, the first person I ever held,
Me being too little to hold onto anything much bigger
But of course I adored you right away,
Right from when I first held you,
You made more than a daughter

You left the world quickly too,
during the month the sun burns the hottest,
August sweeping you into the air.
So I wonder, who came for you?

What I like to imagine,
and most desperately hope,
Is that you were greeted by a softness
A loving net cast by our grandmothers
Rocking you slowly
Pulling you back into our linage
Oct 2020 · 287
Disoriented
Maura Oct 2020
There’s construction on the way to therapy
I detour my own way
Ignoring the glaring orange signs
I know better I think

Swerving in and out of neighborhoods
Not paying close enough attention
I’m keenly aware of bikers, animals and children in yards
I fear being the driver

I don’t know where I’m going but I end up at the office anyway
Twisting and turning until I just
Arrive

I tell her
I’m sorry but my thoughts won’t be linear
My brain is no longer working
Or at least not working like it was
Before things were logical,
linear
Straight
Frustratingly narrow
Packed up into wooden boxes
Splintering my hands when I try to move around

Now things are split open
Wrecked into a circle of pulp,
strips
sharp edges
disconnected

My thoughts roll out in many directions
Following things that are folded
Slinking
Out forward and backwards
And ultimately ending up back
Inwards

I know there’s no signs I can follow
I’m under construction
It will be a long time until
I see a freshly paved road
With a street and no bumps
Don't drive to therapy in a state of shock
Oct 2020 · 126
Coded Messages
Maura Oct 2020
Today was pink
You’ve left me that colored message before,
Between hazy grey sleep and wake you whispered:
Look for the extra color

Dying hydrangeas left one branch vibrant
It was blush

A plane flying passed a blue cloud,
blinking electric pink flash in the sky
Pink goggles on a lawn in October
I wondered if it was you,
I whispered:
Show me the impossible, how about a pink leaf?

Three paces ahead the underbelly of a red leaf
I plucked it from the ground
It was pink.
Notes left in the wild
Oct 2020 · 256
Circles
Maura Oct 2020
On the phone we’d walk and talk in circles
Repeated conversations
Patterns on my rug worn from our talking
You taught me a life lived right will circle

Memories working out of order  
psychic dream senses in waking life,
stitching back together to make a web,  
Somethings have more than one context
But the synchronicity will only comes to those in rhythm

To seek out the motion, careful attention must be maintained:
A book will come back twice if it’s supposed to
One mention of it, you might let it slip your mind,
But then will come a coincidence so strong,
you’ll know it was supposed to be read

Without the dedication to trust a great doubt sets in,
the web so carefully spun begins unspooling
tangling into a knot wound so tight
It will leave in it's place a black hole
this is where I titer
between the point of falling in,
or dangling along the lines of the knot
trying to detangle whats left of the web we created
I am dancing around in different directions
hoping we’ll pass again in sync
how to speak to the dead
Oct 2020 · 140
Annihilation
Maura Oct 2020
The cloth tears
shredding
dust unfurling
circling towards the ground
glinting as the sun slices through the shades
burning on each fleek a final glow
a most mundane silent explosion

The universe tearing apart
scattering the stars at high speeds
rocks tearing through black
turning into space sand
things becoming smaller
So minuscule there’s no word for
what is more minuscule than quarks

It’s contrary then  
That quiet even exists
day after day certain things I feel I’m owed
a sense of guaranteed control over my destiny,
when all I am is the shrapnel of the stars
collected together in a precarious cluster
a mathematical anomaly of particles
that settled together
blindly believing they’ll never fall apart.
there's no such thing as nothing
Apr 2017 · 625
What a Childhood Should Be
Maura Apr 2017
I grew up outside with the sun on my face
not indoors to the glow of a screen

I grew up acting and playing pretend  
not inside watching actors on a screen

I grew up going on walks with my friends and my dog
not alone texting friends through a screen

I grew up empowered by the skills I learned through play
not lost and behind because I stayed inside all day
Apr 2017 · 996
I Feel Nothing
Maura Apr 2017
stare at a blank white wall for hours
let it's emptiness consume you
then you'll understand
what it really means to feel blue
Jan 2017 · 1.3k
Time freezes
Maura Jan 2017
when you tell me what happened
my body fills with ice
the whole world freezes
dust falls like snow around the room swirling in slow motion
other people seem warm and happy indulging in an ignorant bliss
but the same room feels bitter cold
the ice cracks and my voice breaks
my eyes fills with hot tears
streaming down my face to melt my frozen mouth
the dam breaks as I gasp for air and begin to cry
I blink a few times and hang up the phone
the room suddenly feels too hot
and I begin to feel dizzy as time rapidly picks up
Nov 2016 · 915
Sleepless Nights
Maura Nov 2016
I'm being strangled by my bed
each fold so uncomfortable
wanting this restless night to end

I can feel all the hairs on my head knotting
as I try to claw my way to sleep
I can hear my brush plotting
from my bathroom sink

Each muscle cries out in irritation
the day's work holds it's grip
I sigh in fits of frustration
if only sleep I could skip

nights are longer for a nervous soul
counting hours until we wake
anxiety takes it's toll
Nov 2016 · 3.1k
The Impending Doom Of Monday
Maura Nov 2016
Sunday's are gloomy
I don't want to leave my bed
knowing Monday's come
A Haiku about my weekly depression that comes with Sunday's
Nov 2016 · 914
Art is dumb
Maura Nov 2016
Art is dumb I hate it so much
It's why I don't sleep
I simply don't have the touch

Just kidding I like art a lot
because sometimes it's fun
it just takes too much thought

Back at square one
I hate art a lot
A poem by an artist for other artists.
Nov 2016 · 411
Dismissed
Maura Nov 2016
I asked you a question
you pretended not to hear
sometimes it feels as if you're far away
even if you're actually right here
Nov 2016 · 2.8k
Sachin's Laugh
Maura Nov 2016
Your laugh makes me laugh
Although it makes other's laugh too
Your laugh is what makes you so you
Nov 2016 · 1.7k
Real Men Cry
Maura Nov 2016
Thank you for crying
for being who you are
for continually trying
to understand who other people are

In those tears is empathy
that's the kind of man you try to be

Others should be like you
looking for the world in a sea of blue
trying to understand things they don't know
so that one day they'll be able to grow
Dec 2015 · 766
The Gate
Maura Dec 2015
Don't go past the gate
that's dangerous place
It'll make you late
just you wait

told me
one more wouldn't hurt
told me
one more bite of dessert

it's nothing but a gate
just a short cut home
don't wanna be late
run past that gate

take the shortcut couple more times
say we'll pay for our crimes
but that's only sometimes

Walk on that line
private property's just a sign
one more time
one more drop
it won't make your heart stop

Open the gate be free
God said not to touch the tree
but would it be so bad to be able to see?
who I am on the inside? Who is me?

Broken gate, can't undo the past
should have trusted the sign
and never gone passed
I've seen America's drug addiction... so I guess I felt compelled to write about it.
Oct 2015 · 393
The Pit
Maura Oct 2015
Dig for me down deep
the sand tumbles in; it will seep

I want you to find me
I'm calling for you
I promise I'm trying
I'm sorry I'm blue

pull me up
reach for my hand
I'm sinking
there's just too much sand

I dug a hole and accidently fell in
I wish I could get out myself
but I hardly know where to begin

I want to be the hero of my story
but sometimes I need help too
I don't want you to worry
I just don't want to burden you

People have tried and failed
I felt their hand
I grasped it
but I slipped and they bailed

I dug a hole and accidently fell in
I wish I could get out myself
but I hardly know where to begin
Sep 2015 · 579
The power
Maura Sep 2015
I am not just someone's wife
I am not just someone's daughter
I am my own light
and I give myself the power
Jul 2015 · 395
Unique?
Maura Jul 2015
Stay on the path
the sign reads
but what's around the bend?

Dare to be different
the poster reads
but what's original anyway?
Apr 2015 · 14.2k
Lonely
Maura Apr 2015
Having many friends
doesn't guarantee
that you might still feel
lonely.
Apr 2015 · 987
Too broke to fix
Maura Apr 2015
Waste that's stuck in the ground
will be here for hundreds of years
even if the earth was left alone to heal
our friendship is like that
waste build up like plastic tears
even if it was recycled
it would still be here

I can forgive you
but I cannot forget
Our friendship will never work right
like a thrown-out-broken cassette

My pain built up like trash
piles high above the ground
too high to try and hide away and stash
it stinks
it rots
it ruined the green
words were said
that were far too mean
somethings cannot be fixed
some mistakes you can never redeem

like plastic the pain is here to stay
the pollution of your toxic words
have made our friendship grey
Mar 2015 · 2.0k
Subtweet
Maura Mar 2015
I think
I want
to subtweet you,
you're a
*****
*****
*****
*****
doodily-doo
Mar 2015 · 459
On second thought
Maura Mar 2015
You seemed appealing on the outside
even on the inside too
but after I while
I saw right through you
and realized you were never worth
the pursue.
Mar 2015 · 12.4k
Betrayal
Maura Mar 2015
Tears fall down
to a puddle
on the
ground

the world is spinning
and you stand
in front
grinning

Trust is shattered
like glass smashed
on the ground

I hope you're flattered
that I realized you
no longer
mattered
Mar 2015 · 4.1k
"Take off your hat"
Maura Mar 2015
The hat rule is dumb.
I will wear a ******* hat
If my hair looks bad!
how I feel about the hat rule at my school.
Mar 2015 · 523
A code to live by
Maura Mar 2015
If you have to ask
you should know the answer
Is probably no
Maura Mar 2015
I am so happy
that I want to run and jump
and skip and hop WHOOOOOO
WHOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Feb 2015 · 16.4k
Quirky Cactus
Maura Feb 2015
Prickly pokey
I guess I'm kind of hokey
cacti are my jam!
Here is a cactus haiku for you.
Feb 2015 · 885
It will come
Maura Feb 2015
After winter
There is a spring

After pain
There is healing

After struggle
There is growth

After heartbreak
There is love

And while the dark seems to last
The daybreak never fails to
Come
Feb 2015 · 1.0k
Wanting
Maura Feb 2015
I want this so bad
winning would be nice this time
please let this work out
Feb 2015 · 1.5k
Silent Scream
Maura Feb 2015
I wish I could scream
I'm so frustrated right now
but no sound comes out.
Feb 2015 · 577
Confused
Maura Feb 2015
there are some things
I don't want to admit inside
because attached are strings
of stereotypes that people imply

I dwell on a thought
I try and push away
because somehow it's not
quite the right way

I feel alone in this feeling
because I don't know what I feel
It's hard to keep concealing
what might be just a simple feeling
Feb 2015 · 1.9k
The odds
Maura Feb 2015
The odds of existence
of being precisely who you are  
are slim

In fact, the odds are almost zero
but here you are
here you exist

so remember the next time
the odds are against you
that you've already beaten
the slimmest odds in the universe
before.
Feb 2015 · 3.0k
Hope
Maura Feb 2015
Hope is like a flower,
it blooms only when nurtured
care for your garden.
Feb 2015 · 999
I love you as
Maura Feb 2015
I love you as a friend
I love you as a daughter
I love you as a mother
I love you as a lover
I love you as a person
I love you as a brother
I love you as a sister
I love you as a father
I love you as a companion
I love you as a husband
I love you as a wife
I love you as a son
I love you
   I love you
     I love you
please tell me each day
it's something we all should say
Feb 2015 · 9.9k
Spinning in the Universe
Maura Feb 2015
In this universe:
remember what's down is up;
and what's up is down.
I know I have written like 1000 haikus today but can't stop won't stop.
Feb 2015 · 418
Body vs. Soul
Maura Feb 2015
Bodys restrain us.
so why aren't we all just souls,
floating aimlessly?
Feb 2015 · 43.3k
Being Gay is Not a Sin
Maura Feb 2015
If God is all love.
why is being gay harmful?
a sin is not love.
Feb 2015 · 604
Dandruff vs. Snow
Maura Feb 2015
Snow looks nice on hair,
so why does dandruff look bad?
pointless wonderings.
I decided to write my pointless questions out in Haiku
Feb 2015 · 2.5k
Man Bun
Maura Feb 2015
He can rock the man bun
this means one thing
he'***** a home run
and is the hair king

girls will faint when he swaggers down the hall
and will slowly drool and crawl
because the man bun rocks them all

that little ball of hair
is the stuff that makes girls stare
it doesn't matter what he wears
because the man bun is his flair

The bun is legendary
and makes girls want to marry
men who are super duper hairy

own those long locks
and knock off the socks
of everyone because your man bun really rocks
Feb 2015 · 3.8k
Bitchy Librarian
Maura Feb 2015
Why are librarians always mean?
They act like they are the queen
of the library scene

They are in charge, that is true
they make that clear when shushing you
if only they actually knew
people only go to the library to pass through

they ***** and fuss all day
and treat children like their prey
they all turn into a cliche
if only there was another way

they are lonely crotchety old ladies
who took their dreams and turned them into maybes
some of them had wished to write
or edit famous books into the night

but alas here they are in old schools
screamin' and yellin' all day about the rules
I think that's probably why
they take pleasure in making children cry

Forever they'll sit at their desk
growing in old age grotesque
when you see a librarian make sure to scurry
unless you want to feel her wrath and fury
Feb 2015 · 302
I can't shake this feeling
Maura Feb 2015
That It's never good enough.

         That I can't do

                  That all of this means nothing


I can't sleep

          because I don't want to get out of bed in the morning

                         Whats the point right?

That I'm so weak

         If I was strong this pain wouldn't consume me

              I would just keep going

I mean I do keep going

        But I also keep breaking

               because I'm faking

                          that I'm not terrified about where my life is going.
Feb 2015 · 431
All at once
Maura Feb 2015
All at once I realize I'm not okay
and I get so upset I can't even pray
all of my problems just seem so cliche
my lip quivers and I begin to give way

the dam breaks and I suddenly know
that I'll no longer be able to sit and lay low
I bottle so much up and I can't let go
of this feeling that will forever grow
that I am nothing, but I sure am I pro
of slapping on a smile and running a show
that depression is just something I'll outgrow
but that's not the truth and you and I both know
that my happiness is dim and nothing but a glow

Why won't anything work out
my faith is dry and in a drought
because I am in so much doubt
that God doesn't even have a route
or a way for me to get out
and so I sit in my room and pout

I feel hopeless I need this part of my life to be done
because it's awful and I'm having no fun
It's cold and dark and I'm really wondering where is the Sun?
I want to give up and say fine depression you've won
but I can't... so for now I'll just sit here and be done
Next page