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Jeremy Betts Dec 2023
My rough past, a lonely gravel path that directed me here
One riddled with loathing and fear from myself and every peer
It all pales in comparison to each and every fallen tear
Added to the unforgiving shame of having tried to check out that one year
It's this reign of pain that stops me in my tracks like headlights freezing a deer
It's clear I don't know how to steer and can not get out of first gear
My entire windshield is a rearview mirror, the next tragedy always closer than they appear
My over corrections and over reactions are too severe, they're starting to break down the veneer
Put in place to simulate normalcy and hide the real me but I'm a horrible engineer
The intentions were sincere but this cavalier attitude never allowed the good in me to adhere
I've given in to my dark passenger allowing it to commandeer the space between each ear
At the time I thought it'd be far messier if I tried too interfere with the puppeteer
So I grabbed a few memories as a souvenir and tried to disappear

©2023
Pax Dec 2023
I've killed that old flame
felt so ashame, I'm to blame
i left to pursue nothing
it kept me running
please, lend me something
a little bit of hope
for me live on and to cope

i wish i never killed you
left you there
    in the darkness's hue
i wanted to write something good i hope but it becomes depressing when you dive directly into the darkside on how you killed your own dream.
Lacey Clark Dec 2023
I write about grief which is like a container for many feelings of hopelessness. I am writing as if we stand on a high plateau, where grief can soar. So often, we get painted into small corners, hidden behind walls of shame, into isolation, and patronized.

The reality is we are bold to face the world with uncertainty about ourselves and each other. We feel the presence of the smooth, cool creek flowing deeper than its dimensions. The raven's caw, breaking the silence on a cold morning, feels like a welcome message. The grey skies have an inspiring grip while the rain is a healing soundscape.

It's within all these details we feel a multitude of presences; a lost dog, remnants of a friendship, a brighter version of ourselves, a half painted mural, everything we have lost to get here now.

It's harder to get lost in yourself when you carry the fragments of your memories somewhere with vast, endless scenery and breathe with confidence that you can see your winding paths.
take care of yourselves this winter
Caosín Dec 2023
A white-hot rod of shame burns into my chest- I can feel it now, the charring of skin, the cracking of ribs. I smell the smoke before I can see it. I feel the rod before I can break it.
"No, that's not quite right...."
I know. I know it isn't. I knew it as I said it, it's not right. God, I ******* know. I thought it was wrong, I was going to say something else-
And there's the stench of burning. There is the familiar rib-crack. There will be a scar there by morning.
Scarlet McCall Dec 2023
I saw you standing by the door
as I swayed and rocked on the dance floor.
The music was familiar, I could follow
the rhythm, the melody;
it seemed to be the missing part of me--
my unspoken sorrow, and sexuality.

You seemed immature. I didn’t try to understand
what you were saying. Your offered hand,
I rejected.  
I thought you were adolescent, smirky
trying to shock, pretending to be *****.
It didn’t make me feel like being flirty.
In fact, you reminded me
of everything I despised.
I couldn’t see the pain in your eyes
or peel away the lies
to hear the truth that you were saying.

A few decades later, here we are.
I’ve now found myself hitched to your star.
Do I now understand who you are–
or did you change--
older, wiser, the pretense gone?

I”m so sorry to arrive at this party so late.
Forgive me–
I was blind,
I was deaf,
I needed someone to hate.
Zywa Nov 2023
I'm ashamed, I eat

brownie crumbs, in the movie --


I've **** in my mouth.
Being an extra - Novel "Munya" (name: "Wish/Desire/ What is longed for permanently even though it is very difficult to get", 2008, Abdelkader Benali), chapter Morocco

Collection "Appearances"
Chelsea Quigley Nov 2023
I am useless,
Clueless,
Naive
And foolish.

I am a child
Of chance.
A night of romance.

I am an early-morning
Call,
A surprise to all,

Aren't I, mother?

One that can use no tool.
A waste to the teacher,
Within a school.

Aren't I, father?

A child
'Out of control'.
Seemingly 'too old'
To be consoled.

But alas,
You wish for connection.
How should I know of it?

I am prone to rejection.

Subjection,
To your own mistake.
A choice you made.

The icing on the cake.

But now I am far
Away from your pain.
For I live in worth,

As you live in shame.
jǫrð Nov 2023
Learned this lesson as a child
Don't say more than you have to
And never write it down
Unless you want someone to read it
I keep forgetting
For the sake of being myself
The History: People respond better when I don't have much to say.
Zywa Nov 2023
She pulls her dress up

to her face and then freezes --


hiding it in shame.
Painting "The Cover-up" (1994, Marlene Dumas)

Collection "Imprints Masks"
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