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Zywa Aug 2022
People only change

when someone else forces them --


They can't change themselves.
"Het volgende verhaal" ("The next story", 1991, Cees Nooteboom)

Collection "Willegos"
Bansi Adroja May 2022
I like traditions
reading the same book on holiday every summer
watching Frasier re-runs with my morning coffee
going to the same restaurant on my birthday
with the same seven friends
meeting at the pub on the corner
for a white wine buzz before heading to the city

Crawling back to you like I do every time
and promising myself I won’t
Maurice May 2022
Time spent with family
I'm able to break free
from all these bad habits
constantly chasing after me.
They never truly go away
sticking to me
like a shadow sticks
to the concrete.
Time spent away
distanced from my past
I feel finally free
from the demons in me.
Now I'm home alone,
I'm all on my own
I was naive
I thought I was free.
Knocking on the door
I hear a familiar sound
it's my shadow; the demon
I've been found.
5/25/2022
Eyithen Apr 2022
I pluck the weeds out of my head every season,
All the bad, the negative thoughts, the unhealthy habits,
so the flowers have room to grow.
Until the next season,
when the weeds regrow and I must pluck them again.
I grab the base, pulling up the roots,
Without roots, they won’t grow back.
They do.
Our brain, Our mind, our command center,
Without thinking, they control our breathing,
Heartbeat, while processing our vision, hearing,
So much more, always giving us signs.
We can look outside to rain, convincing ourselves,
It’s going to be a gloomy day, everything seems,
To go slow even the actual time.
Some people say no one can control them,
If we hear, read, see, somethings enough,
We even start doing them every day,
How did almost, everyone in the country,
All about the same time, decide they were,
Going to carry a bottle of water or something,
Every day even if not thirsty, habits born stay,
Cell phones the same, ever hear of people,
Leaving their kids in a car, their phone, no way.
The Original: Tom Maxwell© 3/16/22 A D
9:45 pm
Bansi Adroja Mar 2022
I still sleep on the right side of the bed
add sugar to my tea in halves
keep my keys in my coat pocket
with notes of the things you said

I still wonder what you'll think about the mess
and all of these bad habits I have left
because I'm not myself anymore
just a version you kept in your head
Zywa Feb 2022
All in due time please,

we eat the soup and the flies --


but not in one bite.
"De rat van Amsterdam" ("The rat of Amsterdam", 2020, Pieter Waterdrinker)

Collection "Rasping ants"
Zywa Nov 2021
Sometimes I think: Aye!

I will tell you right away! --


And then it is still.
The lasting bond with a dear deceased

For Ineke #13

Collection "Slow circles"
Gabriel Jul 2021
When you drown in
an endless ocean of whisky,
you'll miss the taste of life's waters
  as your mind floats above the
ravaging tide of addiction
  and you constantly begging
for the flow to calm

You'll realize that the slowest of recovery
   is better than the fastest one who can chug


Someone out there is either dying for alcohol
or dying from an alcohol addiction,

I won't judge you
on what your heart is looking for
but the drink that's been on your hand
for too long
ain't Jesus in a bottle

It will pass.
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