i got a paper cut
and i picked at it
until its corpse
become a permanent headstone
on my skin.

you hurt me,
and i picked at it
until it began to scar,
until it began to
tighten the skin.

i will never be able to escape the ache of you.
never be able to revive myself.
or be able to relieve the pain of the skin pulling.

but i will always try to heal it,
even if it is no use.

Her heart was shattered like a glass
Her demons tearing her apart
She pleads and prays alas
They never would just go away

Look too closely and you will find
The secrets her mind hides
They are always with her
Not a second out of sight

Tries to live in the tales
That she just never fails to read  
She’d travel to places and see people
Who would never make her bleed

Suddenly she’s back in reality
There they are waiting, taunting
When all she wants do is stop this haunting

the girl
gauzy dress
tattered and torn
running
breathless through brambles
reaches a river
pursued
panting
she must cross it
take a step into
freezing water
numbing bones
shaking shivering
pale skin and blue lips
trip
and
fall
hands go forward
trying to catch
whatever is left of yourself
but pieces crumble and scatter
on the mossy rocks
sharper than they
look
dogs barking
men yelling
filthy
hunting
they will be here soon
so get up
because there is no more time
to lie here
and wish you were home
the girl
who was maybe once loved
is now drowning
face down
in frigid murky water
the only company in death
is those who persecute her
as her pale body
begins to rot
even god
starts to
forget
about her
first
her hands
then
her face
then
her hair
until there is
nothing
left
so that when the dogs
frothing lips
raised fur
and the men
shouting voices
savage thoughts
arrive
the girl is gone
nothing left of her but a
whisper of wind
the scent of sandalwood
and strawberries
and ****
and summer days
long forgotten
but now remembered by those
who never knew them
maybe god didnt forget her
maybe he saved her

Easy NTEs
NTEs were issued like candy to kids
Given to low performing reps
Who has bad metrix like no sales
Plus time keeping or tardiness
All accepted them without issue
Writing why on the back
Part of the BPO experience
An easy way out if need be

after anti-lamentation by dorianne laux

Regret nothing. Not the true-crime shows that kept you up in morbid curiosity,
Anticipation and cynicism you couldn’t help but chase like Pandora’s box,
A price you paid with the death of childhood ignorance.
Not the hours you spent trying to delude yourself into forgetting,
Trying to bring the fantasy worlds in your fictions to life as a distraction,
Only for them to be tainted by the blood of your supposed savior,
Not the nights you woke up in the purgatory of consciousness held down by restraints,
Inescapable regardless of how much you tried to urge your muscle nerves to just move;
You broke the rules - your mind your prison,
something you could sense but would never truly understand.
You were born to live an unfulfilled life,
Half of you chasing comfort in the warmth of the radiating body in the sky,
Only for the other to seek its death - to watch a being of vast power, provider of light,
devolve into infinite darkness - emptiness warping space and time, void of destruction.
You’ve been here before, sat in front of fate dealing her cards,
Only for her to reveal the fool, just like she had the last time, and the time before that.
Regret none of it, not one of the countless sleepless nights you’ve endured,
Not one of the days you walked through the world with your vision spinning,
Permanently blinded by the haze that stood between you and affirmation.
You’ve been blessed with a beautiful gift, so relax.
Don’t bother thinking about escaping the fog,
The way that it consumes your mind with unanswerable questions,
An uncontrollable desire to chase against your rationale.
I mean, you asked for it, didn’t you?

I need a dream to guide my solitary sleep
and help me forget my waking life.
Hold my hand, dream! Together we can explore
the distant lands of beauty.

Take me to mountains where horizons stretch far,
to oceans whose waters cannot quench
the insatiable thirst of humankind.
Lead me to a grave where I may question
the mysteries of the afterlife.

After all this, oh dream, speak to me.
I know you’ll vanish when the sun rises,
but you are a truer friend than those
who offer hollow smiles.

You are not mere fantasy,
but a yacht that sails me away
from this greedy world to my serene
realm of joy.
“You are my letters,”
my words of solace.