#ribcage
i have a light in my ribcage
a home for the lost ones, the
distant sign to come on home
i shine it over every traveler
let them bask in the warmth, to
shake away the lurking shadows
but who watches the watcher?
who welcomes the host?
I didn't need to know
where home was, as
nowhere was home.
so I never knew this comfort
until someone else with a
ribcage of wisps found me
Home is not a place.
I found my home with you.
and I will follow that light until
the
very
end.
May 17
May 17, 2026 at 11:13 AM UTC
so much to give
but so closed off
a glass
filled to the brim
waiting to spill
others take tentative sips
or pour it out completely
I just want to be savored
drank slowly over time
enjoyed through all seasons
while my heart may be punctured
oozing out love to anyone who looks
my bones are hard and sharp
waiting to poke through this flesh
and stab if need be
to want to love
so freely
to want to receive
the same
you'd think it'd be easier
to crack open this ribcage
Sep 8, 2019
Sep 8, 2019 at 1:35 PM UTC
I am tired
of placing my heart
in places
where it should
not
be
Apr 16, 2019
Apr 16, 2019 at 6:51 AM UTC
you’re alive today
your aching ribcage
are filled with petals
as you kiss his cheeks
over and over again
you feel like stardust
filled your soul
and today you tell yourself
‘I finally love again’
Apr 7, 2019
Apr 7, 2019 at 5:38 AM UTC
my chest is an aviary,
hundreds of caged birds
flutter and shudder and whistle
soft songs and incomprehensible words.
my ribs as bars,
and my heart as feed,
and the birds all hum,
and we all have needs,
including birds, including me,
digging my hands, into my chest,
they peck at me, my insides,
to rip me open, we try our bests--
i scream and writhe and cry and whine--
i tear and pull and carve and break--
they sing and sing and sing and sing--
half-gored, i give in, stop, shake--
an albatross in my chest cavity,
the canaries' screaming pitch remains,
the robins and bluejays and wrens and larks,
all choir my unending pain.
i want to be free of them,
and them, of me,
but my ribs are bars, and my heart is feed,
and in my chest they will always be.
Jan 31, 2019
Jan 31, 2019 at 12:17 PM UTC
my ribcage scrapes against my heart
body
soul
but isn’t supposed to
protect me?
Nov 29, 2018
Nov 29, 2018 at 2:51 PM UTC
I listen to my mind
talk while my heart
roars in its cage,
wild within my
ribs
Is it bad that I just
don't listen to it
anymore?
Oct 20, 2018
Oct 20, 2018 at 12:14 PM UTC
A naked tree in winter
my bones are always bare
I reach inside this
tree crown ribcage
pull my insides out
and press them on this page
I make a lovely composition
of red and superstition
I don't care
about how ***** it gets
I dare
you
Let me share
with you
You can do no wrong
Watch me
as I pretend it's been you
who touched these pages
all along
Sep 2, 2018
Sep 2, 2018 at 4:13 PM UTC
I find the irony of human biology is that we are taught the ribcage protects our heart from physical harm, and the irony of human psychology is trying to understand what plays a role in emotional harm — yet seldom how to protect ourselves from it.
Aug 3, 2018
Aug 3, 2018 at 4:40 AM UTC
a heart is wild
a beating, throbbing beast
held prisoner by the ribcage
hardly contained
within this bony enclosure
ready to leap
right out of my chest
and consume you
May 26, 2018
May 26, 2018 at 11:23 AM UTC
place your hand on my chest
can you feel the rustling?
the almost constant buzzing of the monster growing it's nest?
in moments of stillness I can feel it tunneling through my bones,
until it comes to rest inside my ribcage
waiting to hear it's name called again,
when it will flap it's wings in reply,
shedding feathers under my skin.
once it's awakened it will continue its endeavor
in pecking and pulling,
making more room for itself
and less room for me.
Jan 21, 2018
Jan 21, 2018 at 11:51 PM UTC
You left love notes
Written along my ribcage
You said the spaces
Made perfect lines for poetry
My skin still remembers
Even after I washed you off
Oct 29, 2017
Oct 29, 2017 at 3:58 PM UTC
Sometimes,
I think of taking my hands
And ripping - splitting - cracking,
My ribcage in two.
The breastbone splintering apart,
My torso opening like a rotten tree.
The inside hollowed,
Like a lake that has been emptied
I've convinced myself that
Fragrant flowers
Would grow there.
That they would grow feverishly
In the gnawing gap
I had created.
And that time would preserve
What I had done.
Sep 29, 2017
Sep 29, 2017 at 5:48 PM UTC
Shake the cobwebs
that have stilled the beats
that silently thud in your core
Step into the light
fear has only kept you
in the shadows of your past
Liberate your true self
from the ribcage that
confined it to a comfort zone
that has been your sanctuary
for quite some time
or so you thought
Just take a deep breathe
walk past it
curiosity can
only
stir
you
May 23, 2017
May 23, 2017 at 2:39 AM UTC
Your ghost is still in my arms
I can feel your eyes and your palms
Pressed against me. Why do we waste time
Being this far apart?
Come to me and lay your bones
Hold me viciously close
Until I can't tell if breathing is necessary
Torture me until I spill of gold
Aug 5, 2016
Aug 5, 2016 at 10:32 AM UTC
Doctor please,
Crack open my rib cage
and let the light seep in.
Take this monster out of me.
Scrape it off my bones
and tear it out,
I can feel it growing larger
with every breath I take.
Doctor please,
this is killing me.
Oct 14, 2015
Oct 14, 2015 at 8:57 AM UTC
when I'm sad
the sun sets into my rib cage
my chest crashes into my spine.
fingers will claw at my skin and hair
and slid with the tears on my cheeks
I want to scream my pain
I want to set fires on my body
just to remove the sadness
that sleeps in my veins
Mar 20, 2015
Mar 20, 2015 at 2:38 PM UTC
And before the year had ended, and a new one would begin
You had left my ribcage broken, and sagging lids and skin
Before the year had ended, you had professed you thought
You loved me with lights and your palms left my skin to rot
With each touch I melted, and basked in your great light
And then you walked without a word into the quiet of the night
Before the year had ended you built a tower, tall and strong
You used supports of love and trust so that the tower may be standing long
And then at last, after using your last brick,
You pluck each one standing, using your last trick
The tower came crashing from high into the stars,
Brick by brick, it landed, sticking in the tar
The tower sat in shambles, yet still basked in the light
It could not be rebuilt, with any amount of might
And before the year had ended and the tower had been laid
It sat in awful woe in the questioning of the raid
No matter the reason for the fall, what truly matters is this,
The tower was desperately searching for the unending light of bliss
Mar 11, 2015
Mar 11, 2015 at 11:00 PM UTC
I can't help but wonder if there's a poster above her bed
which you couldn't stop thinking about
I wonder if it lingers when you're trying to fall asleep
and your heart is tossing and turning in the bed of your chest
while mine sits upright with eyes wide open and burning into my ribcage
Feb 1, 2015
Feb 1, 2015 at 8:55 AM UTC