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Nathan Box Mar 2018
We are born to die;
Such a defeating way to look at the world.
It ignores the possibility of progress and hope.

We are born to live.
In that view, we move humanity forward.
Generation after generation is born again.

We are born to prosper.
Here, we can make ourselves better.
Humanity is given a chance to change.

We are born to embrace the long view.
What we do now holds weight.
The world is offered a fighting chance.
She was the second thought
The second best
Second is the first loser
So even though she was above the rest
What matters is that she didn’t win
vic Mar 2018
we are not gathered here in memory
of the 17 who lost their beautiful smiles
and laughs and futures to your
precious laws that may have applied to the seventeen hundreds
but now? we don't need these machines
this danger.

we don't need this fear inside of us
the feeling of being stalked
in the hallways of the same building you
previously walked before without a second thought
but now it could happen. and it's more real than
ever before.

those 17 could have been me and
my friends and peers. they were a mere drive away from
that place i go everyday where i see the people
i love. to know that one day they could be on the floor
next to my desk or my still
lifeless
body.

that terrifies me.

tell me, how are you not
terrified? how does it not scare you, that your
next wave of voters are terrified of your inability to act after
the nightmare that became our reality.

we are gathered here to tell you that
we
demand
change.
Fritzi Melendez Mar 2018
Why do I try with you?
I can never win.

It's like building up the biggest sandcastle so far away from the ocean,
Yet you bring a bucket full of water and pour it out until it's just mush.
It's like fixing up a heart that is barely beating almost to full recovery,
Yet you grab it once again and dig your nails into it until it withers.
It's like bringing my head up from the tides to breathe for air,
Yet you grab my head and push me back down into the water.
It's like being worn out from a long day walking drenched by my rain cloud,
Yet you barge into my safe home with words as loud and hurtful as thunder.
It's like quieting the sad blue baby to sleep after hours of constant crying,
Yet you wake it back up once again with your own terrifying screaming.

Only I am the one crying until I awaken with puffy red eyes.
...
It just feels unfair and frustrating,
to feel so high and crash back down in a matter of seconds.

It's always the times where I feel alive, where I feel like I can walk.
And then I feel your hands push me back onto the ground,
As I listen to you blame me for not standing strong enough.
How doing this will leave me permanently scraped on the knees.
How my weak knees will force me to become a failure.
...
Sometimes I wonder how life would be without you.
Would I be happy? Probably, but my mom wouldn't.
It's the lesser of the two.
The latter of who is most important.
It's either the one you fell in love first while the other was forced.
It's abandoning the one that has less to lose.
The potential gain you receive from the kisses my mom gives you.
and I am the opportunity cost of your relationship with her, it seems.
You chose this life, yet you act like you despise it.
It makes me fear growing up, if growing up means to become cold and erratic.
...
Everyone wonders why it all affects me so much.
Very rarely do I get a break from the endless vast that holds me in its arms.
But when its tired arms puts me down, I'm able to walk freely.
I can breathe again, I can feel again, I can smile again, I can be me again.
Until you command the vast to hold me much tighter than before.
And I drink in the vast and let it soak into my brain as it leaks out my eyes.
And I can't help but do what I'm conditioned to do: blame myself.
I'm just the loss from the gain.
the chaos from the calm.
the bad from the good.
the pain from the pleasure.
the black from the white.
the second from the first
and let me tell you...

2nd *****,
But you wouldn't care.
It gets so frustrating to be able to take a deep breath and enjoy the feeling of happiness, just to have me go back to feeling depressed once again in a matter of seconds because my mom's boyfriend thinks he has the right to throw me down all the time.
fm Feb 2018
i am a misunderstanding
    i am misinterpreted
i am the second to the first
    and then i am cast away
singing the melody of a song
    that is never heard

i am the one they turn to
    when no one is there
or when everyone leaves
    and then I am the one
being left though you know
    what loneliness feels like

i am held to a standard
    and talked to with love
but my friends are only
    the lonely lilacs
sitting on the side of the road
    waiting to be picked up
only to be hung upside down

i am everything you ever
    wanted and nothing all at
the same time and when
    you are through with me
you will wonder why I left

          but you left me first
z Feb 2018
our life is a story
plot unclear
path winding
so for a moment

would you stop walking by the passageway
and lay with me?
— for it is heaven in your arms, and in this world my soul is dying
Evelyn Genao Feb 2018
“They lied to me!”
She screams to herself.

They promised!
That they would be there for her.
THAT THEY WOULDN’T HURT HER!
How could she not see through such an obvious lie?
She’s so stupid!
Her silence is her most powerful scream.
No matter how many people she tries to surround herself with, fooling them with her smile and bubbly attitude, at the end of the day she’s still alone.
Do they have any idea how worthless they made her feel?
She smiles, but she wants to cry.
She talks, but she wants to be quiet.
She pretends that she’s happy, but she’s not.
She’s used to being left behind.
She’s used to being the second choice.
She’s used to it.
And she’s sick of it.
They have no idea how worthless they made her feel.
I hope you like it.
Amber Meza Feb 2018
These feelings.
They don't come and go.
They are eternal.

Love.
Anger.
Pain.

Forgiveness is not something easy to come by.
I have to remind myself not to give in so easily.
Do they deserve the second chance?
Do I deserve the pain that may come with it?

I don't.
If it's him and not me, go. 
Please go. 
Don't make this any harder. 
My heart has been through tornados and tsunamis,
But nothing could prepare it for this. 
For you leaving. 
For this heartache.
For you are choosing him over me. 
Over 
And over. 
Again
And again. 

If it's him and not me, leave.  
Take your bags and walk out the door.
But don't you dare look back,
You've left me before. 
Without a doubt in your mind,
And I was a fool to let you back into my heart. 
This time was the last time. 
This is your choice. 
You choose.  
It's him. 
Not me. 
So go.
The pain that replays over and over again. She wouldn't know. Sometimes I wish she knew how it feels to have a heart that been threw love and hell.
lins Feb 2018
something happened this evening
I haven’t thought this way for a while
I almost reached out to grab you
just after seeing your bright smile

my stupid heart wanted you near
to pull you closer to me
in the darkened parked car
a moment to be carefree

I couldn’t take my eyes
off of your crooked mouth
thinking about another kiss
not being able to go another second without

I could almost feel your
lips engulfing mine
all the while your hands
trailing up and down my spine

it would’ve ******* up everything
had I reached across the car
ruining a working friendship
busting a large reservoir

but to grip the front
of your black t-shirt
and have your lips
as a sweet dessert

for a brief moment
I thought I might do it
but the time escaped me
and the feeling quickly quit

something happened this evening
glad I didn’t do anything rash
your smile just snuck up on me
and made my heart startle then crash
All of this went through my head in the span of 3 seconds then I jumped back into reality and realized who I was thinking about.
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