#marked
Tucked away in a corner, lay a wooden ruler blending in with the past. Flat as a floorboard and weathered as a dock. There are layers of built-up ink, graphite, marker and paint along one of its long edges—the side with the incrementation, naturally. As though differentiation demands to be marked. Deep, erratic gouges from the seven and three-quarters to eleven inch mark suggest a moment of frustration—perhaps a project under the gun or a predisposition to flying off the handle. On its back are ten “safety rules” geared towards teaching children how to avoid dangerous missteps with strangers. Things like: “Never Hitchhike—NEVER!”, or “Never Tell Callers That You’re Home Alone” and “Never Accept Toys, Candy, Rides, Money or Medicine From Strangers”. However well-intentioned this small piece of wood may have been, the owner used a thick, black marker to write “MEGhan’s ruler” across them and actually painted over two rules with it—namely: “Always Play or Walk With Friends” and “Never Give Your Name or Address To A Stranger”. Additionally, there is a line etched through the safety in “safety rules” as well as the same blacked-out treatment given to the other end with the two rules. This person was clearly a child and, most probably, was more worried about other kids taking her stuff than getting kidnapped by a stranger. Yet here lies the ruler with no account of Meghan’s current whereabouts or condition. Needless to say, one cannot rule out the intervention of a stranger in her life at some point. On the other hand, maybe she just got tired of measuring things.
Sep 16, 2025
Sep 16, 2025 at 6:18 PM UTC
Marked our skin in ink
Each one with secret numbers
Now just lines I think
Aug 2, 2020
Aug 2, 2020 at 4:15 AM UTC
to leave little stains on your cheeks with my lipstick
to see how good you look marked up
your perfume upon my breath
so everyone knows who I'm with
tight hugs
slow dances
nights in autumn
cuddled up
just me and you angel
having a good time
Feb 23, 2019
Feb 23, 2019 at 8:38 PM UTC
You have forever marked me.
Leaving me ugly & wounded
Leaving me less than whole
Leaving me alone & cold.
I am scarred with a constant reminder
That you once loved me.
I hope that you don't return.
Mar 30, 2018
Mar 30, 2018 at 6:45 PM UTC
she was German
we
we're
glad
we couldn't see her face
but we couldn't help
but to admire
her
handrail
we couldn't see fear there
whos
fault
is
that
could it possibly be
because she was
German
Excuse me
veRy much
Miss
ma'Am
Now
can we paint your hand rail
was she
she
was
German
?
...
..
.
Feb 28, 2018
Feb 28, 2018 at 7:33 AM UTC
Your lips kiss me black and blue.
Lucky for you,
that's when I feel prettiest.
Jun 6, 2017
Jun 6, 2017 at 12:08 AM UTC
Your voice; a melodious tune
that replays itself in my head,
and as I watch you speak
the words dance off your lips
and linger onto mine...
Divine. That's what you are.
A being so rare, so bright, that
I am fortunate enough
to have crossed paths with you.
And though our paths may not
be intertwined, the thought of you
is burned into my mind.
You have left your mark
and I am scarred.
So beautifully scarred.
Apr 18, 2017
Apr 18, 2017 at 5:42 PM UTC
The words curled around her tongue
vanishing before she gets a taste of it
Her hands are inked with sentences
Her stomach are filled with phrases unknown
Every bit of her skin
Are marked with ancient lines
Four lines, five lines, six lines
And she lost count of the others on her back
They called it stanzas
From the World Before
When words were freely written and spoken
On things called books and papers
With an ink that must be the same
As the one inscribed on her soul.
She is an obscenity
A walking contradiction
A curse in the post human language era
As she bears all the words and languages of the world
So that all can see through her
The beauty that words can make
(Yet none can read nor understand)
Even though none can read nor understand.
She wears her soul on her skin.
Still, no one can read her.
Aug 30, 2016
Aug 30, 2016 at 12:34 AM UTC
You carry with you a blackened sky
Not everyone can see it, but it's in your eyes
It's in the very heart of your being
I hear the sorrowful song your singing
You hide it well
Your personal hell
But I have my own, I can tell
I can feel your pain's tide ebb and swell
It threatens to pull you under
I too hear that thunder
We are creatures connected by darkness
The beast of Hell have marked us
You try to hide this from the world
As your life spirals and whirls
It's exhausting, I know for a fact
For everday your taken aback
Living life under that blackened sky
You can hide it, except from your eyes
May 4, 2016
May 4, 2016 at 10:51 AM UTC
I know I'm different,
Believe me it's true...
I've been through
too much,
You-------
Jan 23, 2016
Jan 23, 2016 at 8:03 PM UTC
I wish your memories were threads
Sewn through my skin
Your beautiful stitching
A make shift fix
But your memories are splinters
A dull ache
Hiding in the depths of my head
Splinters, you are a foreign object
My body in protest
You linger a reminder
Just behind my skin
You're always there
May 13, 2014
May 13, 2014 at 1:47 PM UTC
It would be much too dangerous to talk about
Or remember at all
That night
A piercing scream from behind
A clatter of fallen crockery on the floor
Crimson fills the apron she wore
I do not yet think to ask how or why
My heart beats a silent cry
I kneel beside to feel her warmth
All I feel are empty eyes slice into my soul
My eyes look over the pool of red
Gathered by the drops her body shed
But for the blood, she can be lost in dreams
I think, as I imagine her pale in peace
Grabbing a mop
I cleanse her of the damaging dye
Her body now remains uncoloured, untainted
Of that which still inflames her quintessence
She's been marked, I realise
In an irreparable scarlet
All action, all words- scattered on the tiles
Lying broken and futile
Apr 19, 2014
Apr 19, 2014 at 12:51 PM UTC