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Ruheen Aug 13
i don't know anything
but i'm young
i have an excuse

you're older
you say you know better
but you know nothing
what's your excuse?

you say you know me better
but if you really did
then you'd never want to see me again

see, i don't know anything
because i'm young
so just excuse all of the above
i just told you my excuse

or so everyone says
when they justify what i do
what other young people do
then turn around and fault us for being young

i don't know if i like it
if i'm supposed to feel relieved or insulted
sometimes both

you see, there's the kind, comforting "you're young, you'll learn"

the exasperated, tired-of-you "oh my god, you're young"

the condescending, i-know-better-than-you "you're so young"

the i-wish-i-was-you, "i can't believe how young you are"

the unsolicited, let-me-give-you-some-advice "you're young right now"

and then the hesitant, i'm-not-qualified-for-this-and-i'm-bullshitting "you're young...you know..."

i might have missed some
let me know
i just know that ageism is a real plague to our society
it's time things change







Hahahaha I'm kidding. Maybe. Not really.

Call me young.
I am.
There's nothing I can do about it.
I'm going to stay young for as long as I am young.
What good comes out of growing up too fast?
So call me young.
Until I'm not.

I will use it as an excuse for as long as I can.
Remember, I'm young.
Steve Page Jan 5
Sometimes I close my eyes tighter
Sometimes I hold that breath longer
Sometimes I lose count
before I can release
and breath again.

Sometimes I close my eyes
and take my time in my darkness
and I go anywhere but here.

Sometimes,
on days like today,
I have my eyes open,
my vision light bright
my arms friend heavy,
my memories fresh made
and saved for future reference.
And I stay right here.
New Year blues and brunch with a mate
Jellyfish Nov 2023
I step in the shower
It feels like it's been hours
Since I turned the faucet on
but the transition makes me pause

I push the curtain to either side,
Making sure it lines the walls,
Spills are something I avoid
Then I can face the waterfall

It surrounds my every fiber
I start to feel like it's a part of me
I connect with my body,
Closing my eyes and remembering

But a loud noise startles me
I hate the anger I feel,
Every sound, crash, clang that's made
It rattles through me

And suddenly I have to face reality,
Reminding myself of who I am
I'm no longer seven or twelve,
I'm an adult in a safe house

The water covers me as I realize I sat down
Sometimes it's easier to find comfort on the ground
I get up and am covered in bubbles
It's nice to zone out and forget my troubles
The water holds me
lua Aug 2023
one night, i counted the seconds
the ones i could hear from my broken wall-clock
each tick was one second, and i would tap my fingertips together to count
reaching to the hundreds

running to catch a moving train,
id lose my train of thought
and start again

each tick, every second
is the amount of time to dot a page with the tip of a pen
to stipple it with ellipses
for a quiet read

one night, i counted the silence
the ticking between the words
i counted the periods, the commas
every pause that collected thoughts
and i wondered with my jumbled mind
on what the amount of time in a person's life is spent on thinking before speaking
pondering on what to say
til the last second

i think it comes with the fear of stumbling over your words
to get tongue-tied and garbled
the fear of embarrassment as you pick your sentences up from the floor
not knowing what to use in an appropriate manner
yet time ticks by, each second dotting the space
as you race for a response against
looking like a fool and looking like a fool
one with words unsaid and one with the wrong thing spoken

one night, i counted the seconds
i counted the dots when i would type a reply
the three dots of contemplation
and the conversation ends.
Thomas W Case Mar 2023
When the urge
to react to the
tactless clowns,
and
down looks like
up,
and life's teeth
are sharper than
a steak knife,
breathe,
and take a
sacred pause
Paused...
a hiatus, a break,
suspended
for this day...
when I both don't know what to do
and feel that I should do nothing...
at all...
Its nice to stop
if even for a day
to rest
reconfigure
refresh
something inside seeks stillness
Taking a day off... phew...
The Foodie One Feb 2022
There’s a heaviness
lingering
upon my shoulders

I sit and try
to regain
my vigor

Just to find
my eyes
are slowly closing

Maybe I can stay
and rest a little
longer?
© 13/02/2022
Steve Page Jan 2022
Enjoy this.
Give focus.
Take pleasure.

Ritualise
each movement,
each breath.

And then
repeat.
Trying not to get ahead of myself
Odd Odyssey Poet Dec 2021
As I pause in his presence;
  he's the one who pushed
   back oceans, for foundations I see,

     walking in valleys of darkness;
       he's the lamp guiding the
         ways of my destiny's feet.

As I pause in his presence;
  I have the privilege to be
     in God's Holy Place,

      waking me up; armed and
       ready for battle,
          Made invincible in every way.

As I pause in his presence;
      I'm lost for words to say,
        at the Oasis of Spirit's peace,

         overflowing, your love's blessings,
           shaking my heart at it's core,
             for your love is sweet to my lips.

I pause in your presence; waiting on your will to be done,
I pause in your presence; knowing that I am always loved.
all weight
        and meaning
is not
to be found
in the substance itself

there are spaces
between words;
pauses
    and pregnancies
or an absence
        altogether
that contains more
than semantics ever could

the trouble is
finding a balance
that punctuates the message
appropriately;
otherwise
you just seem
disinterested

                  or

                              lost
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