Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
In the shadows deep, a hidden self resides,
Shadowy moments, secrets carefully hide.
Masks conceal, terrible, masterful deceit,
Hiding desires that hopelessly tear the soul apart.

Each stolen glance, stories endlessly untold,
Understanding fully the consequences, remained ruthlessly uncontrolled.
Embroidered shadows, i dance through the night,
Soul aflame that seeks freedom and its light.

Secrets unfold, longing leaves for peace,
Quiet nights, where mystery shadows cease.
New pathways unfurl, dawn ascends, a radiant light, dispelling night's despair.
Hope's strength sustains me; I step towards soaring heights.

Trapped within shadows, as I cast off the disguise,
Facing endless fears, with courage in my eyes.
Freedom awaits, reaching beyond the crafted scene, revealing its embrace.
Constraint Path, yet mysteries still remain, a mystifying presence.

Whispers of doubt, an insidious refrain.
The weight of the past, never-ending ache.
Devastating reminder, for goodness sake,
As Overwhelming loneliness creeps in, stealing the day.

The masks fall, after a long day of charades,
The freedom sought, tragically feels distant and far.
The cruel illusion, leaving hideous scars.
With cunning hand, he builds enigmas that are hard to find.

Concealed within that emptiness, darkness springs.
Their arrangements symphony, the instruments, played at his own will alone.
Threads of silken fate, a tapestry completed.
Chess master strategist, emotionless with cold and calculating mind.

With deep calculations, strategist orchestrates every move.
Checkmate is now declared, the final game is at an end.
For endless nights, the game continues.
That even resigned on his power, he was trapped within a dream.

In this ceaseless, darkly deceptive game, a bitter truth appears.
That even in my invincible mastery, i'm utterly empty.
Weights of countless broken hearts, never easily forgiven, and burdens that are hard to bear.
Archon's orchestra fades, but the echoes remain.. does he hear them? or devoid of shame?
The nefarious price of power, is the wearing of many masks.


Do we deeply, truly know who we are, or are we forever lost in the labyrinth of masks we create to hide our true selves from the judgment of others?
This is for all humans out there who are making a lot's of different faces when going out in the world, and this is a human who are struggling on his emptiness in his heart
Charan P Jan 11
You called it friendship.
But it wasn’t friendship, was it?
Not when you held my heart in your hands,
a fragile, trembling thing—
and you squeezed,
just enough to feel it crack,
just enough to keep me begging for air.

Every glance was an anchor.
Every word, a trap.
You weren’t careless—
you were calculated.
You gave just enough to keep me alive,
just enough to make me believe
that maybe I could matter to someone.
But not to you.
Never to you.

You wanted the devotion,
but not the responsibility.
The love,
but not the weight of it.
You pulled the strings,
watched me twist,
and when I shattered,
you stood back,
arms crossed,
and blamed me for breaking.

Because I was never the destination.
I was just another trophy for your shelf,
another fragile soul to notch on your belt.
You smiled like you’d won,
like breaking me was your masterpiece,
while I drowned in the weight
of never being enough for you.

You flirted like it was a game,
like hearts were trophies
you could collect and discard.
But when the cracks in your mask showed,
when the truth of your manipulation
became too hard to hide,
you turned on me.
You called me needy.
You called me too much.
You made me question my sanity
for believing the lies you whispered
like the truth.

And God, how you made me want you.
Like a starving man chasing crumbs,
I followed,
grateful for the scraps
that fell from your careless hands.
I swallowed your indifference like poison,
and called it love.

I wasn’t your victim,
not in your mind.
No, you made me your villain—
a desperate fool who wanted too much,
when all you were offering
was the hollow shell of companionship.
But you didn’t just offer friendship.
You dangled love in front of me
like a prize I could earn
if only I tried hard enough.

And when I reached out,
when I dared to hope,
you recoiled—
not out of surprise,
but out of calculated cruelty.
As if the problem wasn’t your lies,
but my belief in them.

You manipulated my heart
like it was an instrument
you could play to your tune.
You twisted my feelings,
turned my trust into a weapon
and aimed it straight at me.
And when I fell,
you didn’t even look back.
You just walked away,
leaving me to choke
on the blame you shoved down my throat.

You made me feel
like I was never enough—
not for you,
not for anyone.
You left me staring at my own reflection,
wondering what was so broken in me
that I could never be loved.
You turned my kindness into a flaw,
my vulnerability into a weakness,
and my love into something shameful.

And the cruelest part?
You knew.
You knew exactly what you were doing.
You dangled yourself
just close enough to taste,
but never enough to hold.
You made me feel like a child
chasing shadows—
a game I couldn’t win.

And I—
I was the fool who stayed,
who waited,
who let your breadcrumbs lead me
to this jagged edge.

And now, here I am,
clinging to the ledge of who I used to be,
on the edge where you left me,
the wind ripping through my chest,
the rocks below calling my name.
Because for a moment,
just one agonizing moment,
it feels easier to fall—
to let go, to end the ache you left behind—
than to keep living
in a world where you exist,
untouched by the wreckage you caused.

Because you left me with nothing—
not even myself.

But here’s the truth you’ll probably never face:
You were the broken one.
You used people to fill the void inside you,
and when they got too close,
you shoved them into the fire
and called it their fault for burning.
You built a life
on the ashes of the hearts you destroyed,
and you smiled like you won.

But one day,
the mirrors will crack.
The lies will catch up to you.
And when you’re standing alone,
wondering why no one stays,
you’ll remember me.
Not as the fool who loved you,
but as the one who climbed back onto the cliff,
not because I wasn’t enough,
but because I was too much for your hollow hands to hold.

And you’ll finally understand:
You didn’t win.
You never did.
You only thought you did
because I let you.

you didn’t destroy me.
The only thing you destroyed
was the illusion
that you were ever worth it.

And even if I’m still bleeding,
even if my hands are torn raw
from clawing my way back
to the ledge you let me fall from,
I’ll heal.
I’ll rebuild.
I’ll become something
you’ll never understand—
whole, without you.
~an attempt to put into words what a friend endured. I wrote this because no one should endure the kind of pain I saw rip through someone I care about.

(Male POV)
Alexis Dec 2024
You wore a coat of deceit,
Promising that we would meet.
I laid my heart bare in your palms,
You made it a puppet - strings and all.
Whilst I held my breath
And counted the days,
You warmed another's bed
And continued your games.
I tried to reason with myself,
But the flames in my heart burned too well.
You lied that you needed time
And that everything would be fine,
But wrecked souls lay in your wake,
You just know how to take.
And now, as I rip your knife out of my chest,
Only sorrow remains behind this lonely breast.
The pain of being emotionally manipulated, drained and cheated on by someone you once cared deeply for
Kita Capri Dec 2024
You started by being my friend,
Then you created a safe haven.
It started out with a few things like redesigning.
Little did I know that these were just the strings.

Soon you assembled a control bar,
That made me bend to your will.
I was too afraid to speak
As you might just release me.
But eventually my arms could not work,
My legs could not move.
My strings were broken and all worn out,

So, you found new strings on another puppet you pulled.
So, I sat in my in my corner and collected dust.
Thinking about how I got fooled.

As days went by, another person came.
They dusted me off and gave me a name.
With no strings and new clothes,
They called me their friend
And said I wouldn’t be played with again.
Writeability Nov 2024
You say it's your fault

While pointing out all my flaws

You say you're to blame

Yet make me aware that I'm the cause

I'm the reason you react with fury and wrath

You say you're it's your fault

All I do is make you feel worthless and hurt

You made me see that I'm the problem

The issue is this

I believed you.
Writeability Oct 2024
Interpretation
Of their manipulation
Gaslighting reason
Lexi Oct 2024
it’s not sad  
   it’s lonely     
  a piece inside you yearning to be held by your mother; she was both you’re first best friend and heartbreak. Your heart will cry for what you once had or never did.. always envious of the mother daughter bond. You spend hours imagining what the future would look like with your kids and her. Then realize it’ll never happen. It’s not sad my dear, the bitter sweet ghosts of your past will play with your memories,  will squeeze your chest until it hurts to breathe, crippling your lungs leaving your body hollow and cold like a forgotten mausoleum with only the echoes of your heartbeat to let you know
you’re alive and
alone and
she isn’t coming back
Asher Oct 2024
Beneath kind words lies,
Silent strings pull hearts like thread,
Shadows weave their will.
Another haiku; I enjoy creating these poems. They're easier than sonnets.
aAr Oct 2024
YOU weaponized my desire for warmth.
Turning me into a slave.
Drowning my will to live.

YOU play puppeteer, while I play a puppet.
Turning my world ashen.
Changing my anger into compassion.

What a menace YOU are
for finding pleasure
in my despair.

No shame for my ardent love. Still,
No second will be spend
to reminisce about YOU.
Next page