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ellie Jun 2019
i placed my head against your chest
and my ears were filled with battle cries
your heartbeat pounding like war drums in the night
i've heard stories about the armageddon in your head
you furrow your brows and clench your fist in your sleep
your pointer finger twitches with anticipation when the room is too quiet
i can only assume it’s muscle memory now
a war has been waging in your body since the day you were born
a war has been waged on your body since the day you were born
you didn’t ask for this
who would ever ask for this?
ellie Apr 2016
remember when you told me sleep was just practice? remember how when i asked what for, all you could manage was sea-foaming at the mouth and tired eyes?

funny how i see in black and white now. funny how i can still see sea-foam-blue.

one of the many things you taught me was to always keep eulogies tucked between my ribs in hopes of memorizing them by heart. i never knew heart break until words i can't remember writing—or, maybe, wont remember writing came spilling out of my mouth like reverse lockjaw.

but i remember the way you choked up and coughed out apologies as if you were fighting tides of pride; words getting caught in your throat—a foreshadowing of salt the water in your lungs.

i know i tend to ramble, and i know you tend to hate that but i swear god this had a point. i guess what i'm trying to say is, i never meant to be your anchor. i never wanted to drag you down.
  Apr 2016 ellie
Raymond Johnson
I've caught you like the common cold
but I have no interest in getting better
spare me the nyquil
I'll pass on the penicillin
I have no love for codeine
your presence is the most sobering thing I know.
I miss spoke a few seconds ago
there's nothing common about you
you're a rare strain of virus
and I'm patient zero
diagnosis: terminal
infect me,
corrupt me,
do your very worst.
break me down into my component parts
and return me to the earth from which I came.
I have made my peace.
I will rise from that same earth, lazarus of chocolate skin
a little stronger
a little wiser
immunized by your viral love to the horror of the world.
so take me
make & unmake me
I would die a thousand deaths by your hands.
ellie Dec 2015
worship me at 3am only to repent at dawn
make 'i love you' sound like a hymn
whisper my name as if my body's a cathedral and you're in the confessional
let my lips carry the weight of your sins
you told me you weren't religious outside of my bed
so let me be your goddess and guide you to paradise
relish in my garden of eden, where no fruit is forbidden
drink from my fountain of life, for you are mine
  Jun 2015 ellie
berry
right now there are eleven empty containers of alcohol in my bedroom,
but it's fine, i'm fine.
i've been telling myself for more than a year
that i wasn't going to write anymore sad ****** poems about you,
but here we are.
most days i'm sure i don't miss you,
but then i listen to the wrong song,
and before i know it -
i'm screaming along to band of horses in the dark,
stalking your twitter favorites,
and somehow,
i've managed to get snot on my forehead.
yeah, nostalgia is an *******
but not all the memories sting.
there was that one time we went to the movies
and i slipped on some ice and fell flat on my ***.
i just sat there while you took a picture.
but i'm glad we could laugh about it.
i'm glad we were comfortable.
in my head, we still are.
in my head, we're oversized-goodwill-sweater comfortable.
we aren't as comfortable in real life
but i'm glad we still laugh.
this is the part where i don't bring up the time you told me
my laughter could cure your sadness,
because i'm pretty sure i already put that in another poem,
and it makes me really ******* sad.
did i ever tell you i used to play guitar and piano?
i loved them, but i never tried very hard.
i wanted to be good without having to practice.
i wanted to be good without having to practice.
i wanna meet the girl you write about
so i can ask her how she manages not to love you back.
because i've tried everything & i am so tired.
i forgot this wasn't supposed to be a sad poem.
i'm not good at happy anyway,
i never have been.
but in your absence i've learned a lot about softness.
so if i ever find myself back in your passenger seat,
i won't correct you when you sing the wrong lyrics,
i won't ask why when you take the long way home.
i won't ask you why you don't have your seatbelt on,
i'll just say a silent prayer
and watch for signs that you might be about to swerve.
right now there are eleven empty containers of alcohol in my bedroom,
and i didn't find you at the bottom of a single one.

- m.f.
ellie Jan 2015
a.m
i am a racing heart
i am a network of pain pumping veins
i am sweating palms and bruised collarbones
i am tired arms
i am battered limbs and swollen lips
i am scratches on hips
i  am the calm before the storm and the smell after it rains
i am the curl of your toes into the duvet
i am brittle bones and aching muscles
i am tired eyes and dry throat
i am arms around your waist and lips pressed to your neck
i am salty beads on slick skin
i am wobbly knees and tongue against cheek
i am unstable steps of insecurity
i am a slur ushered at 2 a.m when you forget you don't like girls like me
i am soft cries into pillows when i remember you don't like girls like me

e.s
this is my first post on here and I'm super nervous. i'm not a professional or anything, so, keep it in mind, k?

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