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"And for the first time in a long time I found a hope I once lost to a storm, a happiness I knew I had, but needed to find again."

Isnt it hard to breathe
underneath all that mask?
I ask my self daily,
while I listen to the world,
but hide myself in my shell.

Insecurity:
discouragement of one's true beauty,
an adornment courtesy
of too many misplaced trusts
in society's lust for perfection.

The idea,
planted false notion in me,
a seed of deceit,
one I taught myself to believe;
to question who I am.

How much am I worth?
Am I something artificial?
Somedays I don't feel real.
My doubt undermines my potential.
How do you know if your good enough?

My mind has no answer;
but the heart knows I already am.
I just need to learn to listen,
not be so stubborn minded,
less susceptible to belittling self.

Its hard you know,
when youve been told,
by yourself your whole life,
that you are coal,
instead of diamonds.

Ive been my harshest critic,
forgiving of others
but often unforgiving
of my own mistakes.
Not allowing myself to heal.

Ironic,
to be so sensitive to others
but ignorant of my self,
my own brutal teacher
of lessons in self esteem.

I had to reclaim the cofidence,
I exchanged at an early age
for inferiority, insecurity.
I had to learn to love myself, a hard lesson,
but one worth all the trouble I experienced.

Now I am no longer the girl
searching for someone else,
but a woman who has found herself.
I have learned to be kinder to me.
Accept myself as I am; love me unconditionally.

©achosenword
The war between low self esteem, and self love and self acceptance is a constant battle, one I am determined to win.
All the walking books
I have yet to read;
the human hearts that beat.
Soon to be acquaintances
or lifelong friends.

Some come and go as surface dwellers.
Others stay,
and come to know you better;
the roots of the tree
that gave birth to its branches.

Reveal to me more
than your shallow surface,
I want to know the deeper you,
the intricacies
that make up who you are.

I will build a bridge
between your heart and mine,
listen to understand.
I will choose to climb the ladder
leaving judgment on the shelf below.

Be unafraid to trust in intimacy.

Hide no part of you
bare your scars to me
for I have them too
my love will only grow
in light of all you show.

Be courageous in faith.
Share with me the wear and tear
of a human heart
Lovers bearing scars,
bare to me all

the unpretty things that make you beautiful.

©achosenword
An extension of two earlier poems that seem to fit better together. I also wrote this because I have such a curiosity about people, a real desire to see beyond the mask of skin and get the know what's underneath; true beauty.
"Lonely is something I am accustom to, not something I desire to be, but have learned to accept." -the wolf

In the way
Only the wolf can
Soft cries
I bared my soul
Shed tears
Whispered dreams
Fed fears
To the black widow
Of cold night
Lifetimes
Of alone
Rolled into
A half smile
Of hope
A sliver
Of moon
Perhaps
One day
Soon
The rooster
Will crow a tune
Of love
Ill wake up
From this nightmare
Of hollow
Bones
No longer vacant
Of wamrth
But curiously
Touched
By the fingers
Of a wanderer
Who saw it fit
To curl breath
between
The spaces
To make my empty
A home

©achosenword
(Mansuetude: mildness, gentleness)

Moon and Sun

are reflections

of the quiet

calm inducing

light

that breathes

in the lungs of

his eyes

immeasurable

beauty

Like staring

into dragon fire

I lose myself

inside

everytime

they meet mine

our souls

a ball of twine

©achosenword
I am a lover of what lies behind the eyes; the beauty of the soul.
morning fog

some days it feels like I am

barely existing

above the waves of silence

the small still voice of black birds

©achosenword
Depression is something I did not ask for but will not let stop me from the things I long for; achieving my dreams. In that darkness I face, the sparrow's singing, the ringing of hope will lead me to the light.
Share with me

the wear and tear

of a human heart


Lovers

bearing scars


bare to me all

the unpretty things

that make you

beautiful

©achosenword
Each scar tells a story of the heart, how we have experienced pain and hurt, but survived. Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes by C.S. Lewis "Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn".
it is so cold here

in the shade of your shadow

just a memory

the leaves have long fallen now

I wish I could forget you

©achosenword
with a thud and clink

of a locking door

my heart did sink

right down to the floor

like a half moon does

into the grey forest smoke

the lonely and lost

I am forgotten by you

the one I remember most

my house of heart

you once called home

now just a rented space

searching for a tenant

to love
©achosenword
The unexpected end of love or the parting ways of friends is a difficult thing for me to cope with. When someone who promised to stay, walks out on you in the end. For me it is especially hard, because it is difficult for me to open up, and once I let you in, like a memory, I can't get you out.
petals of rain

unfolding into the skin

love shatters soft

like warmth on a stone

it tempers all despair

©achosenword
a needle

through the eye

tiny stars

I knit the dark

into dreams

©achosenword
I keep trying to forget you, but the wind keeps whistling your name, and my heart won't stop listening.
©achosenword
sure as the wind blows

one is persuaded to be

all in or nothing

either love me or leave me

but do not string me along

©achosenword
he crept in
while she slept in
always the last
and the first thing
on her mind
©achosenword
I have been studying the tanka form, sometimes the original japanese 5/7/5/7/5 and also the english modern form of short/long/short/long/long format. Really practicing it beacuse I find it such a unique form, so much meaning in so little words and lines.
again and again

the odds are stacked against me

but all is not lost

hope is a well within me

that refuses to run dry

©achosenword
I took a dive

Cannon ball style

into the ocean of you

I was all in

from the beginning

not knowing

there was no depth

beyond the surface

no beauty skin deep


The mask was pretty

but the underneath was

purely a mirage of paradise

too good to be true

You were more jagged rock

than water

a knife through the heart

just a shallow pool

of empty promises


From this

I learned a hard lesson

Next time

Ill remember to dip my head

before my chest

test the waters first

before risking my heart

only to drown

in a dead sea

©achosenword

— The End —