Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
It still hurts.
Your memory’s radioactive.
It’s no use thinking about
how much I lost
as the script of my life kept rolling.

You caught me as I fell,
I was searching for a way out,
and found you instead.
But reaching for you
only pulled me deeper down.

Looking back is hard.
Toxic dust I breathed in,
a chemical romance
that burned through my lungs,
your atmosphere seeping into everything.

Maybe fate turned kinder
the moment I left.
what I might have become
is folded quiet, neatly kept.

But it still stings.
Not the loss—the time I can’t reclaim.
You weren’t a lesson.
You were a delay.

So take the version of me
you once believed.
I won’t ask fate for mercy,
nor beg time to rewind.
I’m done with your ghosts
that never tried.
June 17, 2025 – 'Még mindig bánt' translation
For Nono.
Shawn Oen Apr 21
Still, With You (The Family We Grew)

We are not mirrors, you and I—
I chase the stars, you watch the sky.
I dream out loud, you hold things tight,
And still we make it through the night.

Your laughter fills a crowded room,
I find my peace beneath the moon.
You need the noise, I crave the still—
And yet, we walk this road with will.

We’ve shouted, cried, then softly swayed,
But never once let love decay.
Our corners sharp, our angles new—
And still, I’ve always chosen you.

Through seasons passing, fast and slow,
We built a world where roots could grow.
With tired hands and hopeful eyes,
We raised our hearts into the skies.

The sleepless nights, the sticky floors,
The little shoes behind the doors.
The scraped-up knees, the birthday cheers,
The quiet talks across the years.

I taught him fire, you taught him rest—
Between us, he became their best.
He learned that love’s not always smooth,
But in the cracks, it finds its truth.

Now silver lines your softer face,
And still you move with stubborn grace.
We may not see the world the same,
But side by side, we played this game.

And when they ask us how we knew
To hold on tight and make it through,
We’ll say, “We grew, and bent, and stayed—
And loved through all the mess we made.”

So bring your storm, I’ll bring my ground,
In every clash, we still are found.
For all we’ve built, and all we do—
I’d grow old, again, with only you.

© 2025 Shawn Oen. All rights reserved.
Gideon Mar 8
A lingering glance.
I look away.
A subtle flirt.
I don’t notice.

Blatant ignorance.
But not blissful.
Months pass.
They tell me.
I understand.

A lingering glance.
I still look away.
A subtle flirt.
I blush a bit.

New knowledge.
I didn’t see it.
It eats at me.
Guilt for not knowing.
Never questioning.

A lingering glance.
My eyes hold.
A subtle flirt.
A blushing smile.

I think I understand.
They connected with me.
I think I understand.
Why they see me like this.
Why I see them the same.

A lingering glance.
I make a funny face.
A subtle flirt.
I finally flirt back.
Faith Cubitt Feb 8
I still see you in my dreams sometimes, like echoes in my head of something familiar.
paper was my new best friend, it listened as i laced my words with pain and beauty, heartbreak and desire.
'we still could be' was the last thing you said before I walked away.
(that's right, i walked away this time)
I knew the what the words you said meant. the silent question mark lingering in the air.
but I couldn't bring myself to answer.... not then.... so I'll answer now.
I could love you till the sun stop's shinning and the moon stop's rising. but the truth to us is we were never meant to last that long.
we were stubborn and messy, young and reckless.
but I can still miss you, dream and write about you.
but when you said 'we still could be' somewhere deep in my heart  knew, and answered for me.
maybe in another life we could be something we weren't supposed to be in this one.
The pain you must feel
can wounds ever heal
the shame that is mine
the shortness of time

The love I expressed
overcome by regret
the sadness you showed
overcome me so

No way could I find
No words of love, or kind
could stop you drifting away

So I took myself away
Lines written on breaking up
Odd Odyssey Poet Sep 2024
Envious to myself to be called out as your
baby, despite how much she nurses me-
all the night she prays for my blessings; while
during my day I act out as one not considering
how blessed I am to have her… her clothing prepared
to robe me with the covering of much respect

Her sacrifices are unsung; reaping all for me to sow
—and by the bruises on her heart, it has to show
as young as she was, she reflected a mother's love
put all together in our pretend house

we were unashamed under a tree’s fruit to ripen-
perhaps I missed how to her, this was our very first
date- but please forgive me, for not seeing how my
childhood friend didn’t take our childish love
games as just another game
                     I thought it was just a game of house
Lucas Grant Aug 2024
Roma is where I met you,
You said you were a fighter born from the waters of Venice,
But I knew better hiding in that sweet ladies apartment on 11th Street,
Hiding from love.
        Then there's hiding from you
On our second date you told me you were an actor,
Glittering under the fatal light of Hollywood,
Your talent mistaken for imitation of your greatest tragedy,
That fatal kiss in the streets of Roma
Where you told me you were a singer known for unusual lyrics,
But i didn't mind listening to your symphonies
For they imitated sirens and so I should've seen it sooner
For on our final date you told me you were a builder known for building great relationships
And so that's why I sit writing in this sweet ladies apartment on 11th Street because it surprised me so much when you broke ours.
In Roma where I met you, where you said you were a fighter,
Yet your actions were treason because betrayal is normal in Roma,
The place I left you with all the right intentions and
                         All
                             The
                                   Wrong
                                              Reasons
It's interesting really when I say I enjoyed writing this poem when it felt a mixture of autobiographical while entirely not a true self confession of my life truths however I find it comforting and safe to turn my struggles into stories that lightly reflect how I've felt through personal experiences.
primordialgirl May 2024
I remember when
You wrote me a poem

I was sitting on the window sill
It was morning
You held out a piece of paper
And you read it out loud
Your voice shaking
With such sincerity
You couldn’t hold it in

I remember the warm sun
that shone onto the city
And the room we were in
that held the words you spoke to me

Everything about that day
Is forever engraved in my memory
And thank god for that

Because I remember the night before
The lamp above the kitchen table
The night we both knew we had
Found each other from another  
Lifetime, in the way our hearts beat together
and our breaths had synched


I wish I still had your poem
Never thought I’d had to think about keeping it
It’s crazy the things pain makes you do
But now that I feel better
I wish I could remember you
Next page