Droplets fall, cascade
Around me; I wade
Deeper, inhale, hold my breath.
Fully submerged now,
I ask myself: how
Can such beauty cause one’s death?

The flickering flame,
It hisses your name,
Spells it out in thin grey smoke.
The room is cold now –
I ask myself: how
Will this fix the love I broke?

I am a downpour;
You wanted much more…
After all, you were a fire.
Tried to douse your flame
With some of my rain,
But could not douse desire.

Things they used to say:
“Poetry is gay”
“Nobody likes a bookworm”
“That’s an awful song”
“You do not belong”;
Their taunts were painfully firm.

Things I used to think:
“How do they not know
Edgar Allan Poe?”
“Why do they stare when I write?”
“What is wrong with me?”
“What can I not see?”
I was always stuck in night.

Things I know today:
I still love the way
Words and music intertwine,
And despite their words
(And though they still hurt),
I’m perfectly fine.

Clear and slick and frozen,
The ice coats the ground,
The trees, parked cars,
And any tangible thing around.

My breath makes the air visible,
Just for a moment; it’s 25 below,
And I am frozen, chilled to the bone,
Shaking everywhere I go.

The city is an ice sculpture,
Glistening, so beautifully hazardous;
Frozen solid, doomed to melt –
An existence quite precarious.

The sun is stunningly silent today;
Does it believe its fate has been chosen?
I don’t miss it now, I suppose, but only
Because I’m enchanted by all that is frozen.

You scared me, Augustus, you really did;
I hate the feeling of smoke in my lungs, and yet
I found myself wishing I was cancer-free
So I could stand with you as you pulled out a cigarette.

But you just held it there between your lips;
It was the epitome of a metaphor,
And I stood there in utter disbelief,
Wanting more and more and more.

And the more I got, the more I loved -
Even your horrid driving (I’d drive with you
Until the end of time, Augustus, it wasn’t your
Time, Augustus, I’ll say it again, “I do.”).

These tears are a side effect of love,
And the fault was in our stars, but someday
We will unite again, Augustus, because our
Love is immeasurable and immortal, okay?

I didn't get to school today
I woke up
usual time
and lay still
my arms felt like they were
strapped to the bed
my legs felt like the bones
had been replaced with lead
my shoulder sunk into the matress
and my head was stuffed with
cotton or water
I wasn't able to move
so I cried
and after a while
of crying I finally lifted a shoulder
nothing was wrong with me
but the weight
I just couldn't move


look what depression is doing to me
how am I meant to live through this?

You lived next to a mushroom field
The smell was pungent and distinct
It reaked of sewage and sulfur
I never understood how anyone could
"Just get used to it."

I hate mushrooms now
Moreso that I ever did before.
I mull over the things you did to me
And made me do to you.
All I can remember is
The smell creeping up my nasal passage
Strangling me
Choking me.

Since that day,
My life has resembled that place.
So much junk to deal with
Such a despicable scent
People wonder how I deal with it.

I don't even know how I stand the stench.
But I find it funny, oh the irony
In how I have come to simulate
The place I detest the most.