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Mark Wanless Jun 2023
a mother in her heart
   dreams
of days of love

and falls to this time of
   reality
of here and now
louella Dec 2022
it’s funny, you told me
that i would be popular in high school
you were unbelievably wrong

you said that out loud back then
and i felt like the coolest
person in the room

as you can see, the past
fills my mind, my body, my soul
and it’s not worth letting go
at least after all this time
my tears are still not manufactured

spot me—
under candlelight
because when the night comes
like a tidal wave
all my old victories
present themselves
as fantasies
when in all reality,
i was just as washed up then
as i am currently

before i even had a phone,
you were there.
i snapped photographic pictures
of you and you stayed in my
memory like hot glue
and i got burned and burned and burned
and now i hover around
as a burden in a blood soaked satin dress

you’re funny, until you feel threatened
and call every warm-blooded force
around you
ugly.

it hit the brunt of me,
and you never asked me to dance
i was waiting for you all night
your father kept talking to me
and wouldn’t
shut up for some reason
he always told me the
spotlights exploding
were just our hearts

or at least that’s what i gathered when i
read his mind

you laughed with me, you waited on me,
you conversed with me, you talked about me
and i would dunk
my head in the water beneath me
to rid of the cruelty you pushed on me;
to combat the rings of fire that you hurled me into

all these people who get to talk
about their feelings
yet, you never admitted
how you felt
and i was getting mixed signals
and i was young and dumb
and crazy and selfish and
hateful of myself
and you didn’t help at all
and..you know.. i never needed your help
it just would have been nice to be able to
know that you cared at least a little

i hate that i have to remember you
i don’t like me because of you
although it’s not always about me

    got your driver’s license?
  how does it
feel to not
     be in control
all the time?

it’s not as empowering as you would have liked
and good
your ego doesn’t deserve to be bloated right now

i am not in love with you,
let’s be clear; i never was in love
with you, honestly
who could be?

i was about to see your new flesh
a couple months ago
but a spirit must have taken over your
mind
and the excitement i had
vanished
into the august midnight breeze

don’t you know that:
I DON’T NEED YOU
I NEVER NEEDED YOU
I DON’T WANT YOU TO RETURN
I DON’T WANT YOU AROUND

hopefully our ending can be brutal
but not too brutal
for i need to see you once more
inspired a little bit by big thief’s writing style.
written- 12/26/22
published- 12/27/22
louella Apr 2023
you were whisked away on a ship, bound for the treasure of the hidden world

i traveled to a desert
sweltering heat and cracking blisters
called your name as dry sand filled my esophagus
an oasis sprouted in the middle of the sandcastle civilization
running water, blue and hopeful
sprinting like a madman, i trekked towards my salvation
but when i came across its beckoning entrance
the mirage collapsed
the betrayal
my eyes had deceived me
in my consuming exhaustion, i had forgotten the illusions, smoke and mirrors the desert plays on you
and in being so crushed beyond belief
sandstorms came from under my feet
and, you know, the mirage became some
solidified reality
and
i
ache for it
with all my bones.

if only i were a crew member
aboard your ship to the galaxy
i was seconds away from boarding
five steps away
so close i could smell the saltwater as it caressed my cheek
waving goodbye to your face, decorated with sunlight
sun-kissed and golden.

the navigator of the seas
traveler with a sense of abandonment, on a sailboat gliding over waves,
glowing, evolving, flying
the sunset disappearing beyond the horizon,
where you chase the possibility of its various immensities
a rhythmic beauty, hung up in galleries, watching the waves lap against the shore
hands on her chin as she sits cross legged,
feeling the sand swirl around her  
she cups up the sand, as it vanishes slowly underneath her palms
sobbing into a pile of grief, so confined in a state of helplessness
she tumbles on the sand, silky hair falling to her sides under crescent moon design
and
she
aches for refuge
with all her bones.
for my old best friend. hopefully you haven’t forgot about me. read these words and understand that i want to be in your presence again. i miss you so dearly.

in the end i switch up the way i refer to her, as she and i have gotten less and less close over the years. the ‘she’ is used because i do now know her by the end, so instead of using ‘you,’ a more definitive term, i used ‘she’. do with that what you will

4/20/23
Mark Wanless Jun 2023
cause reality
imposed from somewhere not us
we are just this now
Mark Wanless May 2023
there is no answer
now there's no answer future
there is no answer
Mark Wanless Apr 2023
i see you in gold
intrepid on the mountain
and a person now
Mark Wanless Jan 2023
i see a pattern
ten thousand years old
new colors new voice
same oh same oh
nothing new is here now
same oh same oh
see the past here now
same oh same oh
Zywa Aug 2022
And now? Again this

'Now', that mat under our feet --


keeps slipping away.
"Het volgende verhaal" ("The next story", 1991, Cees Nooteboom)

Collection "Over"
Glenn Currier Jun 2022
There is an old hymn
this world is not my home
an old friend freely sings
its lyrics but she’s lonesome
never full of joy in her place
ready to depart
but a strong heart keeps her here
for us to talk
and laugh this year
not last or next but now
with both cheer and tears
in our eyes
and on our cheeks.
We’re not waiting.
In this long float
we can smell the fragrance of aster
not before or after
but blooming in our spring
upon this glorious encircling stream.
Poetic Eagle May 2022
Now and forever, always ringing in my head
Could be a story to tell
Imaginations reaching far from reality
A fuel to my everyday life,
the company in my head  keeps me sane

Now and forever, could have been different
If only l had known now is the forever l wanted
But...l didn't loose it all, a part of it is within
Laughter and joy, never a sad moment,
The only tears dropped are the ones that build happiness and create memories,
Memories l hope we could both remember

Now and forever, l picture it every day
A fantasy too good to be true?
I dream with my eyes open so reality can never bring be back to brokenness
Look and become, they say
Just a piece of my heart
Work in progress
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