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Tiger Striped Jul 2020
nihilism is your Mecca;
apathy your temple
i abandoned religion to follow you.
i thought you were the north star
but as it turns out,
you were nothing but an airplane
bound to crash
with one passenger inside.
but death doesn't matter, does it?
nothing does, in the end.
i was the eye of your hurricane,
the ostensible object of your affection,
terrified to
venture beyond the tiny circumference
of peace.
you'd line your shoes with razors
just to prove you felt no pain.
you were untouchable, you told me;
you concerned yourself for nothing,
i worried for everything.
as it turns out,
your glass ceiling was fragile
and sent you tumbling to rock bottom
when it finally shattered.
you loved the thrill of the free fall,
but i was afraid of heights.
i wouldn't be there for your downfall
though you seemed to know you'd survive.
i was left with no faith
little hope
and more questions than i knew how to ask.
it's been years now,
and still i wonder
were you lying all along,
or just deluded?
Tiger Striped Jul 2020
oh, that i could picture
your lineaments, soft
curves and angles
that i could conjecture eloquent
words, to color you
as blood colors my veins
would that i could hold you
between my fingers, as
ribs hold my lungs
that i could know you
like a brother
and love you
like the sunflower loves the sun;
bathing in the beauty
of magnificent mystery.
yet you are illicit,
despite these afflicting affections you elicit
you are proscribed by some
cosmic law.
i chase after you still,
though the universe binds my
hands and feet.
one day i'll reach you, darling,
i'll know you and love you and hold you
and we'll be outlaws together.
Tiger Striped Jul 2020
red zeroes,
circumscribed about
our sallow
wrists. yellowed
paper, we
circle our
mistakes and
fatal flaws
no erasers.
lemon eyes
pulp and
peel crammed
down our
throats. how
were we
to make
lemonade? four
american dollars
to our
names, it
means everything
it's worth
nothing. crowds
love the
tragic heroes,
but we
suffer our
own stories.
Tiger Striped Jul 2020
limestone cherub
on the grass, by the
busy sidewalk
hiding her eyes
from the passersby
years ago, gentle eyes
wide with wonder
looked for a savior
in strangers rushing past
while summer brought her
the scorching sun
pavement sizzled at her tiny feet
she looked on, delivering her
silent invitation through the fall
while winter brought her
accusing tongues, spitting
frosty hatred
she shivered, longing for the arid days
wrapping her arms tight around her legs
learning to close her eyes,
so she would not hope
for a warm home
learning not to hope
that she could ever stop the
changing of the seasons
Tiger Striped Jul 2020
when there is no one to speak to
i
scream at the stars
they don't understand but
they listen
Tiger Striped Jul 2020
if hell is personal,
i will spend eternity
swimming in a burning lake
of missed opportunities
and souls i did not save
Tiger Striped Jul 2020
i thought
somewhere deep inside,
you were an artist
but the red paint on your hands
was always blood
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