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Philip Lawrence Dec 2023
thoughts of tinsel and garland and stolen kisses under
mistletoe, of snow-covered walks, the prismed flakes
gathered garishly to glisten under the evening lamplight

of friends and family bearing cakes and drinks,
of hearty hugs and Santa hats, and toothy grins and silly
smiles of neighbors happily in their cups

the many pages since fallen from the calendar,
all shadows now, etched in their loveliest,
flawless in mind’s eye
Jellyfish Dec 2023
My family doesn't reach out to me,
All weight is on me to say hi.
If I talk too long, outbursts can occur
Contradictions leave me at a loss for words

They want a relationship with fiction,
An image; or story they see me as.
I used to try to fit the frame they made
But doing that lead me down a bitter path

Now I try to accept the reality,
Who I am inside is not enough for them.
When I'm myself, I recieve lots of judgment
Or comments that I don't understand.
I watched you turn young again
Lost in the supermarket
Searching for a place to be
Searching for my hand to hold

I watched my skin turn old and pale against the steering wheel
The way back home is long and
quiet and
all dirt road

Wise girl turned wiser
Wise girl turned free
Perhaps too gone to be my girl
Still, she returns to me
Shley Dec 2023
I hold my child against my chest,
The place he loves to sleep the best.

I feel the rhythm of his breathing,
A little moment with so much meaning.

Full of nourishment from my breast,
Satisfied and content to simply rest.

My arms surround him holding him snug,
Safe and secure inside my hug.

These moments limitless in their worth,
Little pieces of heaven here on earth.
Carlo C Gomez Dec 2023
~
She stands on the roof of the world, a ship in a bottle. She likes to wave at passing boats, inviting 120 volts to raise their sails.

Words unbosomed -- her attempt of blotting out the sun and those bloodletting habits.

Her eyelids say, "Only the disquieting muses have time for me." So she writes like an umbrella, shading reality; remembering pluck and luck stories about bumblebees, lovingly wrapped in Tiffany-blue ribbon and paper.

Father used to solve her every contemplation. Now indecisiveness in what she asks. Now indecisiveness in arbitrary tasks.

And she and her negative capability are the last two awake at a slumber party, giving commonplace words the allure of secrecy.

You see, she is only harmless when she sleeps.

~
Caosín Dec 2023
My fractured dreams,
A kiss, a cry, a greive,
Another relative splinters into moonlight
Another friendship wrought into iron and stone.
Inspired by my weird ******* dreams ****
Caosín Dec 2023
It must be bad, if the father weeps-
If the mother screams, if the sister gives, if the brother does not eat.
It must be bad.
Zywa Dec 2023
They can be loving:

father talks to the dog and --


my son lures the cat.
Poem "Children Coming Home From School" - 2 (1990, Louise Glück)

Collection "Em Brace"
Amy Childers Dec 2023
Starving and overeating, and yet I drink up every curse spoken to me,
The probing and the preening cause me to overthink that love has no meaning.
It is empty.
Cry baby, cry, I will give you a reason to cry. Blows landing on my back making me want to die.
My "mother's love" ain't how it is supposed to be. The hate in her eyes are all that she gave to me.
This baby bird, for too long, yearns to fly,
but the chains on its back prevents it to try.
Noose around its neck till it grows old and dies, but even then the expectations still hold in mother's eyes.
Cry baby, cry, you have no reason to cry.
I don't care if your heart is slowly breaking inside.
My "father's pride" may cause the death of me. The truth of the matter is that he never wanted me.
"That's why we had kids."
What to be your little slaves?
"Clean the house, wash the floors, no you can't go play!"
"What did you say? Are you talking back?"
Trying to hide my tears while my sister watches, so my sister can see that I may be bruised, beaten, and bleeding
But my spirit never faltered.

Enduring this for years can really wreak your life.
Sitting in hiding, if I am out of sight then I am out of mind.
Slowly, the body becomes a lifeless shell, and yet my heart still burns in the hells.
Everyday is the same, nothing every changes
If I try to speak my mind then I am told
"I will beat your face in"
" I won't care if you die, if you try to break this family up"
The words out of his mouth is something I had never even thought of.
Despite the abuse of so many years, I still find a place in my heart that truly does care.
Even in the end I don't understand how my brain works.
I guess masochism is my only good trait in the end.
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