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Maddie Jul 2019
Distance can't dull your shine, honey.
You were made for the stars.
384 · May 2019
A Plea from the Depressed
Maddie May 2019
Please don't get mad at me.
Please don't go away.
Please just stay here with me.
Please tell me it's okay.
Please just hug me tighter.
Please don't let me go.
Please tell me you love me,
That's all I need to know.
Please tell me that it's normal,
Even though I know it's not.
Please tell me everyone goes through this,
That it's not just my soul that rots.

I don't know if I can go much longer.
Please help me catch my breath.
It seems all I ever think about
Is fear and tears and death.

Just try to understand me.
Please, I know it's hard.
But if you saw what I can see,
You'd see all of the dark.
357 · Jun 2019
Sightseeing
Maddie Jun 2019
I want you to feel like a mountain, like you’ve been molded for millions of years,
Faulting and bending and building to become as you appear:
Strong and towering and brave, always rising toward the sun,
Certain of your movements, determined to become someone.

I want you to feel like a river, overflowing with life and with love,
Rushing and curving and spilling to cover us all with your flood -
Nomadic and adventurous and free-spirited, never ceasing to explore the world,
The river of life and of love flows from the heart of a girl.

I want you to feel like a forest, growing up from your roots and your seeds,
Spreading and falling and flourishing, a life-force that helps us to breathe,
Layered and vibrant and plentiful, rising up when you’re given a chance,
Your branches extend out toward others, and you stand firm in your wind-woven dance.

I want you to feel like a wonder, I want you to feel like a sight,
Embedded in all that I see and experience, joining me on this journey through life,
You’re worthy and natural and life-giving, astonishing all who meet you,
You’re as beautiful as the world out there, and I’m stopping to enjoy the view.
For Casey
Maddie Jun 2019
The song of the cicadas.
The stories in the sand.
The floating of the butterflies.
Leaves shaking like hands.

The whispers in the wind.
The dancing of the ants.
The stillness of the mountains.
The shivers through the plants.

The patience of the sunshine.
The blanket of the shade.
The potential in the skyline.
An embrace from this world she made.

Breath settles on my skin, so soft.
This moment feels like a smile.
I hear a voice in the cicadas,
"Sit and rest for awhile."

Watch the sun step slowly.
Listen to the speech of the wind.
The plants are performing for you, my dear.
The shade is inviting you in.

The ants will teach you to free-style.
The butterflies, how to have fun.
The sky will promise protection,
While the sand just waits to become.

Nature, it travels alongside you.
She begs you to act like a friend.
If you weave your stories together,
She'll entertain you until the end.

So, listen to the song of the cicadas.
Write your stories in sand.
Nature will rest there beside you,
In this world she created by hand.
342 · Jun 2019
The world deserves better
Maddie Jun 2019
Imagine the width of forgiveness that subsists in the breath of the world, for beauty continues to exist even when we don’t deserve it.

(I want to do something to deserve it)
339 · Jun 2019
We think, therefore we are
Maddie Jun 2019
If you think too hard about anything, you’ll lose touch with everything. If you don’t think hard enough, you’ll never touch anything at all.
315 · Jul 2019
Dreams drowned in the world
Maddie Jul 2019
Flying off swing sets, glimpses of sunsets, blades of grass floating in the air.
Snowflakes on my tongue, so much to become, dreams as big as a triple-dog-dare.
Chasing after leaves like a dog chases bees - relentlessly and rightfully fun.
Broken arms, not broken hearts, with band-aids to fix all my wounds.
Sadness existed solely in silence or when I was sent to timeout.
I didn’t yet bear the weight of the world. My bare arms were too busy living.
Surviving off smiles and makeshift mud pies, my backyard bakery was thriving.

I think back on that time when the whole world was mine. I wonder where I went since then.
That little blonde girl with the ribbons and curls doesn’t recognize herself anymore.
My old friends are gone, they simply moved on. I guess I had to move on too.
Monsters and demons crawled from under my bed, into my head.
And sticks and stones couldn’t touch my bones. My words were all that could hurt me.
My arms are now scarred from when life was too hard. They’re not bare anymore.
I’m more and more scared, I wasn’t prepared for my dreams to disappear.
It’s hard to have dreams when you struggle to sleep. I wish I could sleep through the night.
I wish I could see through the eyes of what used to be.

Why is the world so different than it seemed?
I’m ripped at the seams.
I can hear the screams.
From the little girl who had dreams drowned in the world.
266 · May 2019
Pipe Dreams
Maddie May 2019
Kindled in a container,
Waiting to be set free.
Pressed on the edges,
Waiting for my time to burn.
Maddie Jun 2019
How serene it is to smile and actually see the reasons why.
240 · Aug 2019
If this life is a meteor...
Maddie Aug 2019
If this life is a meteor, there’s no harm in simply watching the beauty fly by while it lasts.

Even if it burns?
...
Especially if it burns.
226 · Jul 2019
Healing
Maddie Jul 2019
Healing is finding something to write about besides the pain.
212 · Jun 2019
Turning pain into poetry
Maddie Jun 2019
Writing wages war on the monsters inside me.
I pierce them with my pen and lay them down to die.
209 · Jul 2019
Cursive
Maddie Jul 2019
Write our story in cursive so we can connect ourselves through time.
203 · Jul 2019
Infinities in my mind
Maddie Jul 2019
I create infinities in my mind to cope with the signs that we’re all going to die.
201 · May 2022
Ode to Lexapro
Maddie May 2022
You are round, white,
and easy to break –
just like me.

Over-the-counter candy to cure
my sour serotonin syndrome.
You help my body become
a sweet, symmetrical poem.

You spell the words
Medication Management,
Adjustment,
and Patience
on the tip of every
neurotransmitter I own.

Oh Lexapro,
sweet placebo,
thank you for making me
dizzy with dopamine.
Thank you for changing my clock.
Now, I’m geared toward making it

To my next pill,
to my next refill,
to my next daffodil,
and my next windmill.

You are my daylight,
my daylight saving time.
194 · Aug 2019
Why are we here?
Maddie Aug 2019
Maybe the goal in life is to get to a point where we finally feel ready to die.

I’m not ready yet.
189 · Jul 2019
On philosophy
Maddie Jul 2019
Questions without answers demand the most time.
Trying to find what we never can find -  
The meaning of life,
Where we go when we die,
The reason I’m alive,
Why I struggle to survive.

To get all the answers, we just have to die.
181 · Jun 2019
The stranger within
Maddie Jun 2019
I’m the person I know best, but there’s still so much I don’t know. How strange to be a stranger even to yourself.
181 · May 2019
(?)
Maddie May 2019
(?)
I’m scared I’ll never make anything,
Never do anything,
Never be anything.

I’m scared no one will be able to feel all the love my heart keeps a secret.
(Have I even loved enough?)

I’m scared no one will be able to see the determination in my eyes.
(Have I even strived enough?)

I’m scared no one will hear me as I pour myself dry.
(Have I even poured enough?)

I’m scared all that will be left of me in this world is a question mark.
(Will it ever be enough?)

I’m scared.
(?)
Maddie Jun 2019
You get so alone at times that it just makes sense.
177 · Jun 2019
The perplexities of life
Maddie Jun 2019
Time: there’s never enough, but it’s all we have
Trust: it takes almost an eternity to form, but it can come crashing down in one instant
Love: everyone’s supposed to have it, but no one knows exactly where they’ll find it
Life: we have only been given one, but we act like it will never end
176 · Aug 2019
Touch
Maddie Aug 2019
Touch is always a reciprocal transaction. Both our hands feel the electricity surge when the initial contact occurs. From there, our senses merge, and it’s impossible to tell where I end and you begin.

Touch me.
...
Or am I touching you?
173 · Jun 2019
Perspective
Maddie Jun 2019
All the world is tucked in under the same sky, but we all have our own private view of the stars.
165 · Sep 2019
Tick... Tock...
Maddie Sep 2019
Tick
Can you hear the time?
Tock
It passes by.
Tick
It never stops.
Tock
Why won’t it stop?
Tick
What if it stops?
Tock
Please don’t stop.
Tick
What time is it?
Tock
How much is left?
Tick
Once at the beginning.
Tock
Can you hear the end?

TickTockTickTockTickTock...
160 · Jun 2019
Running on empty
Maddie Jun 2019
I’ll either run out of tears,
Or I’ll run out of breath.
I can’t tell which first,
And I don’t know what’s best.
156 · Aug 2019
Infinite cotton candy sky
Maddie Aug 2019
The world turns monochrome as it masquerades in the night.
As twilight tip-toes on the towers through town, the daylight morphs into moonlight.
Colors blend and dissipate in the sky, creating a canvas of a lingering sun.
This world looks so beautiful before it sets, like paint on a palette, smudged, but not yet destroyed.
With time, shadows slowly sneak over the colors, and they swallow the world in small bites.
If only I could stop time and freeze the world in its setting.
Imagine an infinite cotton candy sky leading to, but never arriving at the night.
Maddie Jul 2019
"I myself am the sun and the moon."

I am the sun.
I provide light to other people as best I can while they go about their lives. Even though I burn up as time goes on, people are counting on me to take care of myself. I need to keep myself warm and functioning. Sometimes clouds get in the way of my shine, yet I continue to keep track of time and change. Every morning I rise with new hopes. Every night I set with a new perspective.

I am the moon.
I guide others in their darkness while remaining calm and steadfast, even though the darkness can consume me. Solace from the the exhausting day is enough for the night. Sometimes, I have friends in the stars. More often, I exist without a companion as the whole world sleeps. Yet, this loneliness is bearable. I am simply doing my job, giving everyone a break, and letting us all rest.

I am both the sun and the moon.
This may leave me confused about my role in this world, but it also leaves me reassured that the world is more complex than I give it credit for. We can be more than one thing.

We can be both the sun and the moon.
We can be both warm and cold.
We can be both bright and calm.
We can be both happy and sad.
We can be both.
132 · Jul 2019
She thinks of me
Maddie Jul 2019
I look at her, and I can’t believe she thinks I’m beautiful when she looks back at me.
127 · Aug 2019
I’ll tell you a secret...
Maddie Aug 2019
I’ll tell you a secret if you come in real close and promise to keep it when you need it the most.



(You’re beautiful even as your tears stain your pillow. The world is just happy you’re alive. We are falling in love with your every infinity, and we’re hoping you stay for awhile. We love you, we need you, we’re so proud of your fight. Stars can only twinkle when they’re placed in the night.)



Now put this in your pocket and hold it real close. Save it for when you need it the most.
Maddie Aug 2019
There
Is,
Was,
And Never Will Be
Another you in this world.

Never forget
How much you mean to this world,
How much you meant to this world,
How much you will mean to this world.

You are traveling through the tenses, and there is never a time to give up.
Maddie Sep 2019
The moon knows how to be lonely at night
It struggles through darkness and still stays alight
I think there are lessons the moon could teach me
About midnight and starlight and consistency
The world makes most sense when its black and white

There’s wisdom tucked in the constellations alright
It’s just about trying and trusting your sight
Because the sky will light up like a Christmas tree
And the moon knows how to be lonely

So take down your notes, take in all the light
Notice the shine that remains through the night
In your own darkness, I hope you can see
Your light like the moon you always wanted to be
The stars can teach you how to shine bright
And the moon knows how to be lonely
110 · Aug 2019
A million isn't even enough
Maddie Aug 2019
I want to write you a million love poems so I never forget the smile on your face when I read you the first one.
Maddie Jun 2022
Even the sun will die, my dear.
Burning as it’s ending,
ending as it’s giving,
giving as it’s shining,
shining as it's burning,
and burning as it’s ending.

Before the world goes black,
I want you to die like the sun.
Be beautiful and broken and bright.
All to suspend the darkness,
even just for a moment longer.

Darling, I want you to die like the sun.
Maddie Dec 2019
How do I make the most of words and lines?
That is the question I must ask of you.
Please help me with this noble quest of mine.
With all these words, I don’t know what to do.

A rhyme flies by and slips right through my tongue.
A metaphor takes form then disappears.
My mind can’t turn these words into a poem.
These rules, this craft is nothing but unclear.

Shakespeare and all his friends are mocking me.
They see the suffering through this terrible fate.
To mold just fourteen lines in quatrain three,
And little couplet—yeah, it’s you I hate.

Okay, I quit. It simply won’t all fit.
Oh, why can’t I just write a **** sonnet?
104 · Jul 2019
Our bodies make poetry
Maddie Jul 2019
Baby, we make poetry just by looking at each other.
Come here, and let's make our bodies rhyme.
103 · Nov 2019
Out
Maddie Nov 2019
Out
Every day, I inch
Out

to every character
in my life:

Mom and Dad. On the
patio of the white house that almost always
looked
like a home.

Friends. Told quick, before I had
time
to take back my
breath.

Four siblings. Who made
fun of me like
normal to make me feel
just a little
lighter inside.

Every person I will meet in the future-
Employers,
Clients,
Extended family
God (?)

Coming out is like a caterpillar,
Inching toward something --
inching toward flying
inching
              and inching
                                    and inching
Out.

Oh caterpillar,
hesitant little caterpillar,
climbing
up the tree,
cocooning various parts
of yourself
as you inch toward who you’ll be.
102 · Jul 2019
Why am I drowning myself?
Maddie Jul 2019
Sometimes an anchor double-knots itself around my soul, and it refuses to let go. It drags me down to the bottom of the sea, making me forget I ever knew how to float.
101 · Aug 2019
Just everything
Maddie Aug 2019
I’m not asking for much.
Just everything.

I want the light to shine through, and the darkness to settle
(but only when it needs to).
I want to soak up the sun, even if it burns.
I want to dance in the rain, even if the droplets come from tears.
I want beautiful sunsets, laughter with friends, cuddles on a cold night.
I want to learn to dance and trip on toes.
I want snowmen and hot chocolate with marshmallows melting next to a cackling fire.
I want heartbreak and thunderstorms and paper cuts and short breaths.
I want butterflies and butter pie and authentic love, like everyone else. 
I want to feel the rush of air in my lungs when the first taste of fall interjects itself into the summer air.
I want to hear the birds awaken like dominos falling in the trees when the sun rises and I haven’t slept a wink.
I want to feel my heart rest when it has found the right words to say.

I’m not asking for much.
Just everything.

Everything everyone deserves.
Everything life can extend to us.
Everything that makes me feel alive — makes me feel a life beating beneath the surface of my skin.

I’m not asking for much.
Just everything —
The good, the bad, the beautiful, the human.

Everything.
Maddie Jun 2019
Lift me up from beneath the stars, and I’ll help you reach the moon.
That’s where dreams go to dance; where they’ll act like they’re just out of reach.

But they’re not.

They may live in the constellations, but they were meant to travel with you.
You just have to show them you care.

You have to chase them.
Embrace them.
Fall in love with them.
Then, when your dream falls in love with you, it will follow you home.

Don’t settle for anything less than something that was born in the sky.
100 · Aug 2019
The storm
Maddie Aug 2019
Rain drips down my window pane.
Infinity freezes in time.

The storm-
The pain,
The sorrow,
The darkness,
The emotion -
It all falls through time.

It feels like I'm falling too.
Falling

            Falling

                         Falling

                                     Falling

                                                 Falling

                                                              F­alling.

Falling like the raindrops.
Except I come down in tears.
Maddie Aug 2019
The breeze flutters by like a secret.
The sun warms me up with a hug.
The birds serenade my existence.
The world wants to show me I’m loved.

The trees oversee my protection,
While the clouds perform in the sky.
I feel safe in the arms of this moment.
I don’t want this peace to pass by.

There is a lot to be heard in this stillness,
For its beauty is speaking out loud.
I listen to the whispers of wind which say,
“You are loved by the creator of the clouds.”
97 · Sep 2019
Thoughts on a thesaurus
Maddie Sep 2019
Is using a thesaurus cheating?

Are we supposed to have all the right words already?

Or maybe there are no right words at all.
95 · May 2022
Tornado Warning
Maddie May 2022
When the sirens come on,
don’t remain above ground.

Your dad will probably stay and watch. He
keeps the front door wide open. He invites
those gathering winds for a nightcap.

You must
befriend the lonely
creaks as you descend.

(If you don’t have a basement,
just get as low as you can.
Lie down in a ditch.
Crawl into something concrete.
Hit rock bottom.
Drop to the floor. Anything
is better than a grave.)

You’ll want to turn on the TV,
or a radio,
or your intuition.

If it gets too bad,
or if dad never comes down,
or if the wind decides to stay for dessert,
curl up just as you did
when you wandered into this world
on your hands and knees, with the back
of your heels on your ****, forehead
to the ground, and cover your head
with your hands. Almost
like you’re praying.
94 · Jun 2022
Sober
Maddie Jun 2022
Too ****** up to ever get ****** up.
92 · Aug 2019
Due North
Maddie Aug 2019
There is a compass in my heart, and you are my due north. You magnetize me with your smile, and you show me my way home.
92 · Jul 2019
Until the horizon
Maddie Jul 2019
She looks at me with eyes like the sea, so deep and incredibly pure.
I want to swim in her eyes and float in her love until we reach the horizon.
The sun and the moon are always gone too soon when I’m bathing underneath them with you.
The horizon we’re heading towards steals them away, and someday it will steal us too.

For now, I’m swimming in your eyes and floating in your love, just trying to catch the horizon.

I will love you until the horizon.
90 · Jun 2019
Be Proud, My Love
Maddie Jun 2019
Rainbows are simply a reflection of the brightest parts of you. Don’t be scared as you pierce through the sky. Instead, be proud, my love, for the rain has passed, and you have become something beautiful.
Happy Pride Month ❤️
88 · Jul 2019
Words that wound
Maddie Jul 2019
Poetry courses through my veins, but it only escapes when I make myself bleed.
Maddie Aug 2019
Let’s soar through the galaxy and find our own cosmic corner of the universe.
I hear the stars look even more beautiful when you’re among them.
Maddie Jun 2019
God is a ghost, but god is alive,
That’s what they want us to think.
Really, we’re just humans, trying to be divine,
Reaching for something we’ll never find.

God is a ghost, but god is alive

Is he alive?

Or is it a lie?
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