an anchor of diamonds
reflecting light and beauty
not a crevice or a crack
no sliver of darkness
so perfectly perfect
so beautifully true

i swim to the depths
revel in the shadows
you glisten as you are
a nightlight keeping me safe
how do you stay so bright?
how do you stay so perfect?

i am a child in a library
of toys and imagination
you are patient and forgiving
beaming as i explore
i am with pirates and astronauts
a million miles away
i can feel you, my anchor
my guiding light back home

i am a drunk schoolgirl
suffocating in mistakes
you hold me steady and guide me
hold my hair as i'm disgraced
you allow me this release
no judgements or reproach
i can feel you, my anchor
my guiding light back home

i eclipse your features
still your beauty persists
we trade diamonds and regret
until we are a perfect match
and still you are beautiful
and still so absolute
how do you stay so bright?
how do you stay so perfect?

Oh, come to me in dreams, my love!
   I will not ask a dearer bliss;
Come with the starry beams, my love,
   And press mine eyelids with thy kiss.

’Twas thus, as ancient fables tell,
   Love visited a Grecian maid,
Till she disturbed the sacred spell,
   And woke to find her hopes betrayed.

But gentle sleep shall veil my sight,
   And Psyche’s lamp shall darkling be,
When, in the visions of the night,
   Thou dost renew thy vows to me.

Then come to me in dreams, my love,
   I will not ask a dearer bliss;
Come with the starry beams, my love,
   And press mine eyelids with thy kiss.

paper hurts the same
way life hurts:
strip all of the dense air away
as the margins of our memories collide
with the graphite of our instrument of pain.
words.
shelter us with your actions
and as the mind wants to get foggy
so do the memories of that everlasting change.
thoughts are nothing but the imagination,
uncontrollable because let's be real:
reality *****.
and as the words begin to flow
so do those thoughts.
they appear.
it rumbles my consciousness and
stirs those repressed feelings.
the unspeakable.
the hatred.
the sorrow.
the love.
and I just lament my feelings into the paper
because I know the pencil won't hurt me.
and i keep on writing and writing and writing
till the rush of death sweeps over me
and Lord knows
I just want it to end.
So I write.
I write some more.
And as my hand because just as numb as my
heart,
I know it's over.

Potential hides
As competition grinds,
Indecisive times,
Jealousy's here to blind.

Redundant doubts
Pollute my brain
They flash on display,
Persisting everyday.

Prove your worth,
Earn your keep.
I know it's there,
obscured and weak.

Consistency's,
just out of reach
New circumstances ignoring
Past experiences toning

1)  Be a Feminist
2) Don't fall under the spell of White Hegemony
3) Try to be kind to those that treat you badly
4) Open yourself up to people that you aren't sure won't break your heart
5) Do #4 again.  And again.  And again.
6) Love yourself
7) Care so much it hurts

AFTER

After ripping heart tissue that is

Bleeding all over the place

with rips of disgrace,

you say,

I love you.

www.authorthelmacunningham.com