Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
Trinkets Jan 7
“Come on”
    “Shut up”
         “Behave”
   when one day I burst into flame
     when every notebook I held burned up
           when dusty soot from attempts at art
                                                        just flew away
blinded by the pain
       it’s difficult to see
when every bed is flammable
                       it’s difficult to sleep
       enough sleep deprivation would
                                     drive anyone insane
“Don’t play the victim”
              “Don’t ask for pity”
      “Stop your constant complaints”
                      “Don’t give the fire
                                     power of mind
                                         allow it to grow
                                            into its own entity”
alive but aflame
   hiding with all my might
            they kept asking more
                                  “Be normal”
                                            "Helpful"
   ­                         “Smile for ***** sake ”
               while every glimpse of real
                          gave them a fright
when I in desperation sought
                        for water
                  at any cost
   just make the pain stop
                  while their words
                          created drought
in my life
  of burning flesh
      I kept trying to forget
                                start fresh
                got so good at pretending
                             invisible flames
            my life slowly ending
                 just not aloud
    my silence during emergency
             made them proud
when there was barely any left
  turned to dusty soot myself
     turned mute
        I dropped to my knees
                        I begged
they didn’t waste any time
         before saying
                                  “You have to understand,
                    everyone gets a little hot sometimes”
Edoardo Alaimo Dec 2024
Non é l'istruzione
Non sono gli oggetti
A fare un uomo,
Se stesso.

É come vive l'ora,
Cosa fa con gli altri;
Ció che condivide;
L'intenzione con cui lo fa,
La voglia;

La personalitá, il mistero,
la magia, la forza...

Di amare ogni istante
Vivere, amare, capirsi
LB

2016, non meglio precisato
EA
I'm talking to you;
Is it because I have to
Or because I want to?
I'm talking to you;
Is it to understand you
Or so I am understood?
I'm talking to you;
Is it that I like you
Or that I don't?
I'm taking to you;
Is it to hear myself
Or to be heard?
Is it solely from the verb
Or by the noun?
In this rhetoric,
Is it mine or ours or yours?
In this dialogue,
Is it gossip, chitchat, or conversation?
By the course of it
Is it chance, choice, or demand?
I'm talking to you
Or I'm talking with you?
Jeremy Betts Nov 2024
Can I tell you my dreams?
Will you stick around long enough to understand what each means?
Should I skip over the nightmare scenes
That flicker through like 8mm on pull down screens
While the essence meanders by like dust through projector beams
Two extremes
Two cerebral regimes
Strange themes
Nothing's as it seems
Importance only found beyond the streams of screams
No, I don't think I will mention my dreams

©2024
Amanda Kay Burke Nov 2024
My heart burns without presence

Your mouth says my name and voice still sounds the same

The inner damsel in me fights way through my flesh

Leading her by glow of all the potential I set on fire

My hot skin itches for touch while yours is soothed by a thick coat of reassurance

Is medicated by unwavering dose of devotion

My wound so raw and pain so sharp knives flee in fear of injury

My blood screaming for recognition

Like how many drops must be spilled for you to acknowledge I'm dying?

How many cuts appear before you notice I'm not well?

Hell
At this point begging for my tissue to be pulled in two directions and a massive amount of sodium chloride poured in
Would relish the agonizing
Unpredicted sting
Because at least that means I can tell you know I'm not alright

You seem to understand exactly where to rub the salt in
Not where to bandage
Written 6-19-19
Malia Oct 2024
Nothing made me angrier than when
You expected the best from me and I
Felt like it was unfair, and I couldn’t do
What everyone else could, that I didn’t
Have the tools, that this was a race but
I was positioned behind the
Starting line.

I thought you didn’t understand.

And you didn’t.

But you pushed me farther than I thought
I could go, you told me that I could do it—
That I had to.
You held me to that same gold standard,
On the bad days and the good days and
The days in between, you never wavered
And you never gave me the option to
Quit.

So I ran that race, and I ran it fast
I sprinted and leaped and speeded past
Everyone else, despite where I started,
And all I could feel was the rush in the air,
The breath in my veins and the wind in my hair,
The power of my stride, the power of my will,
The strength of my wholeness, this strength I could feel,
And every time, I thought I could not do it.

You did not know my pain—
Yet you pushed me right through it.
Mateah Oct 2024
I sense the silent tears
Shed for those you've lost
The memories behind your eyes...
It breaks my heart to watch
I wish that I could take your place
Or steal away some weight
But there's nothing I can do
That will give you an escape

I may never have experienced
The things that cause you pain
But through the gift of human empathy
I feel them all the same
So in sorrow and in heartbreak
I am here to hold your hand
And while I may not be able to relate
I can always understand
Wrote this for my friend going through a breakup, but I've toyed with this concept for a long time. I hate when people believe they can't comfort someone just because they've never experienced the exact scenario that person is going through. You don't have to be able to relate in order to understand and empathize.
Maria Etre Aug 2024
When they tell me
"we understand"
I take them seriously
because they will always
be under
the impression
that they know
Sophie Jun 2024
I want to crack you open with unconditional love, to see what’s inside your tough exterior
I want to watch the smile dawning on your face grow wider and wider until your cheeks hurt
I want to hear you talk without giving it a second thought

Lose your cool. Yell until your voice grows rough and raspy.
Bury your face in your hands and cry
Just once, give me something, anything, to see what’s inside your tough exterior
Next page