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lisagrace Jul 19
My friend, I love you

I'm not in love with you, just to be clear. 
It's not so much
in the way that you walk,
or the way that you talk.
Or even the way your long hair
is always just so.
Or your smile.
Or your warmth.

I remember the way that I used to be. 
Quiet. 
Unsure. 
Afraid. 
Naive. 

But you pulled me away,
made me see that I could be more -
would be more, beside you.

I remember your birthday
at your family's restaurant.
I knew I'd already
ruined the night for myself,
but you found me
where I stood alone in the street...
and the silence softened.
You asked me if I wanted to dance.
I said no, it was already too late,
the damage was done...
but I wanted to say yes.

****, I wanted to say yes.

You're the one who listens to me,
who doesn't assume
I'll always say no thankyou.
I'd had "friends" like that before,
They made me believe
that I wasn't enough, just as I am.
But you...you believe that I am.

Now? I’d say yes.
No hesitation.
With you, the nerves quiet down.
I don’t feel like I have to hide.
It just feels safe.
Like I can dance without thinking,
and not be afraid of being seen.

But I've worried, even now.
Am I doing enough?
Do I check in, when it matters?
Am I still enough as I am?
You are a ******* gem, and all I want
is for you to sparkle.

I see how you are with others.
Lighter 
Laughing 
The way it skims the air,
untouched by my knowing.
I look at you and I wonder,
could I be like that?
Do I even want to?
I know my energy is quiet and subtle,
yet you meet me there and reflect it...
but is what we have enough for us?

This could all just be in my head.
I know I'm a worrier.
But I think you know
how much you mean to me. 

I'll never say it. 
I can't. 
Not out loud, anyway. 
But I can manage a birthday card
and a felt frame of a tabby cat
who looks like Julia.
The words flow easier that way.
And so I write it here too.

I really, platonically love you.
My squish. 
My gem. 
I love you.
A platonic love letter to the friend who helped me grow into myself.
This is for the ones who stay soft, who see you clearly,
and love you as you already are.
Evly Jul 18
Girl, you are no puppet.
You are not made to entertain.
You are imperfect and should love it—
That you are beautifully whole—
Despite the pain.

Not in batting eyes,
Lies the truth of what a woman is.
It’s in the red she bleeds
And in the dreams her wounded heart keeps—
Aching to be perfect, yet
Unknowing, brings life to earth.

She needs no angel hair or curves refined,
Nor tall, nor petite must she be.
She is the soul that breathes life,
Not the heart that seeks validation,
For she is heaven’s whispered gift,
A light that lifts, a spirit swift.
Labhrás Jul 18
Exploring a maze in the fog
Unpredictable turns,
Dead ends creep up with no notice.
A larger opening, more peaceful;
Some unknown garden waits ahead.

A place to sit and for a time
Find peace among the plants.
Leave something, gain more.

Eventually some urge forces
The traveler along their journey.
Ever older, ever forward
Winding toward some
Other unknown garden.
Dua lamari Jul 17
''A beautiful weather,
Where trees float in the air,
Where the sound of rain
Just makes you want to catch a train.

It's all in the picture now,
Since the day I made a vow.

Nothing lasts forever,
I thought it was impossible to say the word “never.”

I'm just a girl whose dreams are too high,
But never high enough to defeat me.

I'm still the same girl you see every day,
I am the girl that I dream to be.

No matter how many times you blow,
I will still let myself grow.

For every leaf that fell from the tree,
For every tear that escaped and said, “I'm free...”
For every flower that I was given,
That made me fly in the dream I lived in.

I'm here today, for all the women who never got to say:
“I wish to be whoever I want to be... and someday, I will be.”

You see, this is not a drill,
Or a game you can finish on a grill.

It’s ourselves—our rights, our voices—who will be heard,
Within our dreams that will be free, like a bird.

The sky is clear,
And the sound of rain is all I want to hear.
While the moon is gazing at me,
And the stars are inspiring me.

Ugh…
No better day to write how I feel.''
''Note every candle dies in the dark,some bloom instead.''
lisagrace Jul 17
I don't know what I feel.
I don't know who,
or what I like.
I just know,
that I do not feel
the embers,
I am blind to the spark -
The light

I think back on that time,
To that shallow kiss
I know that it was warm.
I know that it was nice.
Hell, I was on cloud nine.
But the moment passed.
And the butterflies were...sparse.

Was it him or me?
Was I just too slow?
Or he too fast for me?
I don't know.
I don't know.
I just...
don't know.

Three or four years
have gone since then,
And I still wonder why
Then I remember -
That wasn't the only time

There had been others before
We had courted,
And I was always wishing
I were elsewhere
Trying to spring forth
All of those feelings -
To lay my heart bare
...but they just weren't there

I still feel like the moth
With no flame
My heart,
In a state of decay
Now and then there is a stutter -
A flutter
Of something
I try to hold it -
But it just flies away

You may as well smear me
Across that windowpane

There are terms now
for what I could be,
The letters "A" and "D"
might feel like me
But I won't say a thing -
Not a peep
Not 'til I'm sure,
Until I'm really sure,
of what makes my heart truly sing

There's a pressure,
a quiet, constant hum
To know
who and what I am

They ask when
Not if I'll marry,
Bare children -
And start a family
Well let's just say,
That I'll not tarry,
To find a way
Out of the charade

Motherhood never spoke to me
It seems a cage -
Agony
I've only ever wished
to be free
Free to inspire,
To create
To ponder
Free to roam,
To dream
To learn
If only I knew the secret
For what makes me burn

But maybe it's okay
Not to know
Maybe I'm still blooming—
Unfolding slow, unseen
In the dark, I find
I do not cower
Instead, I glow -
I, the moonflower.

I will not blaze,
In the ways they expect
I will not leave entrails in the sky
But I still reach -
Only quiet,
and deliberate -
For the stars in the night
For why
Late-blooming questions and quiet reaching.
A reflection on identity, uncertainty, and learning to grow in my own way.
Viktoriia Jul 16
how far you've come.
do you remember every sunset
since the arrival of the sun
or do you crave the blessed dark
now more than ever?
the depth of misery's embrace,
the calm it brings, the warmth it takes,
like being stripped of every part of being you.
would you still welcome the collapse
or wait for sunlight to break through?
this grave's too shallow.
do you still wait to be transformed
or are you finally brave enough
to be in charge of your own form?
before the old survival instinct
can dig its claws into your throat,
remember, scars are there to guide you,
not to condemn, but to remind you
how far you've come.
You aren’t the first to come and sit beside me
On this couch.
Others have come before you
And have left their imprint.

I do hope that you’re the last to walk in
And stay.
The way you smile
and lean back against the cushion,
You stare at me and smile as if asking, what?

The past imprints are meaningful.
Some are deeper than the last that sat
Where you’re sitting now.
I’ve learned a lot from them.
Sometimes their ghosts still
Walk in and smile.
Before stepping back out.

It’s funny how well I thought I knew myself,
Until I realized I didn’t.
But without them,
I wouldn’t have learned more about myself.
About what I needed to change,
What I needed to let go,
How to hold you
without readying myself to say goodbye afterwards.

When you first walked in,
You reminded me of them.
The ghosts that walked in
and kept me company for a minute.
To be honest, I counted the minutes until you said goodbye.
I don’t count anymore.
I’ve gotten used to sitting here
on the couch with you.
polina Jul 15
Show them fervor, show them fire
Until they finally understand
Get good if that’s what it takes
Get good to show yourself you have what it takes

Once you reach the ceiling, it breaks
A million shards cutting skin
Your outstretched hand bleeding
(glass all along)

Fragile and transparent, it reveals
How far you still have left to go

Do you have what it takes?
this one's for you
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