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Nicole Joanne Mar 2015
spring cleaning in the form of blasting your bands music
while i pick up the clothes that smell like him.

spring cleaning in the form of replaying the day I walked away
over and over in my head as if to erase all that happened afterwards.

spring cleaning in the form of taking all the poetry I wrote about you,
and scrambling them up to mean something entirely different.

spring cleaning in the form of endless shampooing,
to rid the touch of your hands from my hair.

spring cleaning in the form of disposing all memories made in winter.

(NJ2015) All Rights Reserved
Nicole Joanne May 2015
i'm making wishes on flames,
that burn and fade away.
i'll cut a piece of cake,
and pretend like i believe,
and wait.

they say you can't rekindle a flame
once it has burned away;

but i want to think that you're the birthday candle
that keeps re-lighting; you know, those trick ones?

I use all my breath and blow out the flame,
i don't want to get burned,
but now the light's all gone.

I'm starring at the cake just hoping
you'll light up my world up again.

Maybe I should just enjoy the cake,
but I'd rather wait.

Please don't make me wait.

NJ2015 (All Rights Reserved)
Nicole Joanne Mar 2016
winter has left and it took him with it,
along with my sanity and understanding.
and you would think spring would bloom flowers,
but i only see myself wilting and shaking.

winter may be gone, but the winds inside of me are still screaming;
more often than not i'm left clutching my heart in the middle of the night
crying because the rain of spring never really did make it's appearance,
and I'm lost.

There's something about the smell after the rain;
you know, the kind where all feels as if it's been washed away
and made new again? That's what I needed.

Droplets formed on the windows of the car,
as did they on my cheeks while his arms wrapped around me;
his head resting on mine like clouds during rain or shine.

Tonight, I was a thunderstorm.

He was always my rain;
sometimes he was a drought, sometimes he was a weekly storm;
but he was always my rain.

My sorrows were puddling into my hands,
my mind the heavy fog of a late March night,
and my heart a huge pothole in the middle of the road.

It's 12:45 and my clothes smell like him;
it's the smell after the rain;
didn't think I could drown in so many ways.

I'm stuck in the rain,
but i wish it was his cloud.

NJ2015
Nicole Joanne Mar 2015
if fate is written in the stars
they have two weeks to conjure up a plan
that erases state lines and keeps us together.

(NJ2015) All Rights Reserved.
Nicole Joanne Apr 2015
teenage lust in the form of him helping you undress,
but not lifting a finger to help you re-clothe.

teenage lust in the form of his hands navigating the galaxy of your skin, but straying from the black hole that is your mind.

teenage lust in the form of learning pluto isn't a planet
even after believing it was for so long.

teenage lust in the form of her experiencing
that of an event horizon
while he's orbiting other planets.

teenage lust,
you don't touch my soul.

(NJ2015) All Rights Reserved.
Nicole Joanne May 2015
he took off his dress shirt,
tossed away his gold tie,
danced away the whole night
in a white t-shirt
and I couldn't help but smile
at that boy the whole time
all these other formal lookers,
but they're not what i like;

'cause there he is dancing
in a five star restaurant
in nothing but some black slacks
and a wrinkled white t-shirt,

and i know that it's crazy,
but he's the one that i want:
i'm breaking the rules,
and i want to get caught.

[NJ2015] All Rights Reserved
Nicole Joanne Mar 2015
there are no surgeon general warnings
about boys with sunlight eyes and dark voices,
of boys who speak meaningless words and irrational sentences
in such a way that even the greatest philosopher
would secondguess himself.

with a voice that colours silence,
and a gaze like the moon lights the night sky,
his glare will turn your head into a meteorshower,
thoughts colliding, breaking, seperating.

it's his third cigarette, and smoke is clouding up the room,
he closes his eyes, exhales the nicotine carelessly,
leaning against the wall, so at peace,
and all you can do is happily drown,
your self-control more intoxicated than his lungs.

the blinds revealing whats left of the sunlight on white walls,
scattered light, faded patterns -faded thoughts
you love the sunset, but you can't take your eyes off of him.

cigarettes and cigars are labeled with warnings,
'may 'cause heart disease'
but they forget to label the boys that leave you breathless,
the boys that hold your heart in one hand, and a cigarette in another;
the boys the know the best way to set something on fire for pleasure.

(NJ2015) All Rights Reserved.
Nicole Joanne Mar 2015
I remember the first time I saw you,
you were on the front left side of the gym
walking to the sign in table,
I knew you'd be important somehow.

I remember the first time we talked,
we were on the bleachers on the back right side of the gym,
you sat in front of me talking to your friend, my friend,
I knew I wanted you.

I remember when you first started sitting with us,
we sat in the painted-floor circle in the middle of the gym
It took some time before I worked up the nerve to say
"Oh hey, I have that free too! I'm usually in the cafeteria."

I remember the first time you spent a free with us,
front half of the cafeteria, middle row, back table
you taught me how to unlock a password locked phone.
I remember your colourful shirt with black sleeves, you wore it often,
I remember hoping you'd be there every free after that,
and you came a lot after that.
I think we were the reason for the vending machine shortage,
we probably bought all of the chocolate chip cookie ice-creams.

I remember the first time talking about you,
and I remember the first time being told "he's not a good idea."
I remember the first time being told "you like him, don't you?"
and I remember the first time you invited us to your house
we didn't go because I was scared

I remember the first time I got your number,
and I remember trying to contain my excitement.
I remember walking all the way home to get my long-board
because you said you would skate with me
you haven't seen your skateboard in years but you decided to leave that little detail out and pretend you were going to look for it

I remember the first time we hung out alone,
I remember the park, I remember the swings.
I remember returning there months later
and laying on the grass looking at the light blue sky.

I remember looking at the dark blue sky,
and the starry night on the high-school field just months later.
You held my hand for the first time that night.
I was locked out of my house that night.
You walked me home that night.

When I got home you walked off singing 'Rude'
and I remember thinking "I am so *******."

I remember the first time you kissed me,
it was on my forehead.
I remember the first time I kissed you,
and your shocked reaction.
I remember you falling asleep,
and the twitching of your jaw,
and they way you pulled me closer.
I remember laying on the hammock with you
watching the day turn to night.

I remember the first time I went to kiss you on the lips,
and I remember you taking out a cigarette
and crossing to the window.

"I'm not as stupid as you may think"

I remember you leaving,
I remember getting hurt,
I remember falling apart.

I remember your explanation,
and I remember kicking myself for understanding.
I remember you saying you're not ready.

I remember when you decided you were ready,
I remember the first time you kissed me on the lips,
(waiting for almost a year was about to **** me)
and I remember thinking for the first time in years,
'i might get hurt. but that's alright. that's alright.'

Two months short of a year ago I met you,
and I don't remember the feeling I got the first time I saw you,
because you can't remember what never disappeared.

you're important, somehow.
i knew i wanted you.


(NJ2015) (All Rights Reserved)
Nicole Joanne Mar 2015
he has eyes of grey marble,
and skin white like porcelain.
his hair is a sandy blonde,
soft and messy like ocean waves.

his lips are pink jellyfish,
i tell myself to stay away,
but i continue to get closer,
i continue to admire,
i know i will be stung.

i'm swimming in his waves,
but i keep crashing on the shore
one day i will be washed away

i only hope that i will be admired like sea-glass
instead of the just a broken-up seashell
when he the waves decide not to pick me up from shore anymore.

(NJ2015) All Rights Reserved
Nicole Joanne Apr 2015
I'm not saying I don't think about you, because I do.
i check my phone every morning
to see if you were drunk enough to text me;
I'm just saying, I think more about what you might be thinking
than I do of who you are.

don't get me wrong, things have changed.
you say sweet things to me now,
without the help of a clumsy tongue
or an empty bottle... or ten,
but I still can't wrap my mind around the idea
that you enjoy the taste of my lips
as much as you enjoy the sound of another drink.

you hold me like a glass
but you've never devoured me;
it's like a preference of white over red wine;
I look clear enough for you to think I'm empty,
and I'm not bitter enough to make you feel my presence.

I just wish you would indulge in me like you do the alcohol;
why can't you see that I too hold stories worth hearing;
if I can't cloud your brain, or make you stumble,
slur your words, and make you crumble;

than maybe I'm not your glass of wine,
rather I'm the wine itself;
drink me up,
I'll be nothing but a memory in the morning.

(NJ2015) All Rights Reserved.
Nicole Joanne Mar 2015
Eyes brighter than the sun that acts as my heat in this cold world,
the smiles on their faces,
their loving embraces,
locked in each-others arms;
I'm tangled in the limbs of roughed-skinned trees and faceless barks.

A slap in the face from the wind is my kiss on the cheek,
their shelter is the roof above their head,
mine the endless blue sky.

Blue is all I've ever known.
I feel blue, I see blue,
faces turn into oceans at the sight of me;
they turn cold, they get scared, they rush at me like strong waves.
I cannot swim, I am drowning beneath the body [of water]
I have admired and adored.

My fantasies and dreams shoot at me with guns and sharp objects;
the one who could've understood me
was protected by those who think they understand him;
I can no longer keep running into the ocean
just to be continuesly thrown back to shore.

He throws me out to sea,
but yells at me when he steps on the  sharp pieces of me.

I am only a shell;
I am fragile.

You're yelling at me for hurting you,
you're the one who hurt me.

(NJ2015) All Rights Reserved
This is based off of Frankenstein, the novel.
The Creatures point of view upon meeting the De Lacy family.
Nicole Joanne Nov 2015
he reminds me of thunderstorms,
the way his voice soothes me to sleep,
the way his hands run down my body
like dew drops on a car window.
his humid breath on my neck,
sending chills up my spine.

one minute it's down-pouring,
the next minute there's nothing but the scent of stale rain.
a love that's screaming one moment,
and silent the next.

when the lightning between our body seizes,
the thunder in my mind begins.
i end days drenched in the rain of us,
and i'm catching a cold.

i want a love like sunny days,
all i've ever know is love in the rain.

NJ2015 [all rights reserved]
Nicole Joanne Apr 2015
who am I to judge
the way you run away;
you find the same escape,
just in a different way.

you drink until you're lost at sea,
a broken glass on the beach,
when someone tries to pick you up,
your rigged edges scare them off;
can't show others who you are
unless you're unaware of yourself.

she cuts herself open
just to spill it all out;
tries to bandage it up;
she's so scared of herself.

who am I to judge the way you escape?
we're all drowning in waters blocked off with caution tape;
'cause the ocean floor doesn't exist
until you try to place your feet down,
and don't feel the ground.

(NJ2015) All Rights Reserved.
Nicole Joanne Mar 2015
I used to hate the smell of cigarettes,
until it became the smell of you.

Now I cover my mouth,
I cover my nose,
and bathe in your smoke.

Suffocating, but it's okay.
I'd rather suffocate in your arms
than have time very slowly take my breath away.

(NJ2015) All Rights Reserved
Nicole Joanne Jun 2015
Sometimes your eyes were leaves of ivy;
they poisoned my brain,
but not my heart.

Other times they were skies of blue,
and I was an airplane looking for a cloud to pass through.

I could've loved you given the chance,
but seasons keep changing and we don't.

It's autumn and my arms can no longer be the branches
that keep you from falling -I'm getting tired.
And the cloudless sky has turned grey,
and everything is foggy.

Like the ground that holds on to fallen leaves,
letting you go will be difficult,
but like poison ivy,
I'll soon heal.

(NJ2015) (All Rights Reserved)
Nicole Joanne Feb 2015
you're picture perfect,
and I'm working with negatives.

(NJ2015) (All Rights Reserved)
Nicole Joanne Jan 2015
Spinning around his room,
walk to the mirror,
put on some red lipstick,
I feel great.

What's wrong with you?

What do you mean? I feel great!
Spinning around his room
without a care in the world.

Are you on drugs?

No silly, I just feel great!
Spinning around his room,
stumbling off balance.

What is wrong with you!?

I feel grea-
hands grab my wrist,
pull me from my spin,
light eyes turn dark
his stare in my eyes

What is wrong.

Next thing, I'm crying into my palms

it'll be alright,
and he holds me tight.

Hug me forever, don't let go.

I wont.

Hug me forever,
cause once you stop
I have to go.

And he lets go,
what does that mean?

I have to go,
I don't want to hurt to be happy,
I can't dance anymore,
this was our finale,
and this is the end of the show.

(NJ2015) (All Rights Reserved)
Nicole Joanne Nov 2015
let's drink water out of wine-glasses
and pretend that airplanes are shooting stars.
let's count each passing minute
as another lucky moment spent together.

extravagance is a state-of-mind.

let me wear my thrift store ****-dress like an elegant ball gown,
and lead me to the grass-ballroom floor.

the grass stains will be proof that the night existed.
let's make dreaming reality, if only for the night.

i'm no cinderella, and the shoe may be the wrong size,
but your hand fits perfectly in mine, and we can still dance
barefoot on the grass floor,

-and that's perfectly alright.

-NJ2015 [all rights reserved]
Nicole Joanne May 2015
I remember the honeymoon stage,
it wasn't as elaborate as many,
but I was enjoying it just as much.

I remember making plans,
asking you to come and hang out with friends,
and you said the weekends were for partying;
I remember our first argument.

"When the liquor calls, I follow."

You answer to the inaudible calling of liquor,
but barely respond to my texts,

and then you tell me I'm crazy
for saying you could never love me
the way you love the single life.

(NJ2015) All Rights Reserved.
Nicole Joanne Sep 2015
If it wasn't raining, were we really together?
I remember sitting in the backseat of your dads car with you for hours because I was allergic to cats, and your house was the safe haven for two of them. We drew pictures on the condensed windows and watched them slowly fade, we teased your friends through text messages, you let me into your world, and I was intrigued. It was the first time you ever held me in your arms, and I never wanted to move.

The next time I saw you we walked around town and found ourselves following a little path by the water. Our rumbling stomachs spoke more than we did, and when we decided to get food, the sky decided that we were probably thirsty half-way there. It poured. We ran all the way to the Muscle Maker Grill in a storm only to find that it was closed. I remember laughing, I remember the, 'you've got to be kidding's' I remember settling for the little corner store all the way by your house. You bought me my favourite Italian Cookies, you got yourself a sandwich.. I remember you complaining about having to pick out the bread and give it to them because it was their job. I remember sitting on your front steps eating our "lunch." We talked about the squirrels, and how they do things they don't want to do. How though the squirrel wants the nut, he can't reach it, and he must leave it. We spoke about us in metaphors. You told me you wanted me back, you told me you could never do that. I told you I'd never stop trying.

I also remember the night you walked with me to my aunts house because I was too scared to walk alone. You told me that nothing would happen to me, and if anything were, we would go down together. You never made me feel wrong for being so nervous -you didn't understand, but you never made me feel bad. It rained on my way home that night.

The next time I saw you was a year later. Your house was knocked down and remodeled. Your cat had decided to make a home within your neighbors house during that period. I saw you dad outside, you saw me through the window - I was nervous. Sitting on your couch, I watched you connect the wireless music for your guardians -your aunt kept complimenting you, trying to get any sight reaction out of me to see what we actually were. I've never known what we were.

I remember the first time I went to dinner with you, your father, and your aunt at Green Dragon. I enjoyed it although they found my diet and my lack of appetite a little odd. And they asked me questions about college that I was a little nervous to answer. I remember the bought us gum, and then departed to the 99 cent store. They expected us to kiss. We didn't. I wanted to. I think. By the time they came back, the windows were drenched in raindrops.

Anyway, the day I went over your house was the day you let me leave carelessly. We spent hours together -talking at Strawberry Fields, walking down the little path, watching the ocean, making sandwiches in your kitchen, showing me around your house -visiting your bedroom. I will never forget how we hugged when saying goodbye and I said, "don't be a stranger," and you said "bye."

You told me you were indifferent about me -couldn't care whether or not we kept in touch. So I said goodbye. But I still think about you sometimes. You were the first boy I swore I loved, and maybe I have a different definition now, but by god, I loved you with my whole heart, even though through the years all you did was break it apart. It didn't rain that day.

I still miss you sometimes. Still wonder about you. And wonder if you wonder about me too. How is it that you held my heart and crushed it without even straining a muscle?

It doesn't rain much anymore in the dingy old town.
[NJ2015] All Rights Reserved.
Nicole Joanne Feb 2015
don't run your hands all over my body
if you don't plan to run them over my heart.

don't tell me you enjoy my company
when you jump at any outing you're invited to
even while I'm in your arms.

don't tell me you find me interesting
when you cut off every chance I have of personal expression.
don't tell me you think I'm pretty
if you can only say it in pixels.
don't tell me you think I'm funny and smart
if you're only going to laugh at me when I'm being serious.

but most importantly,
don't kiss me goodbye on the forehead
if you're going to slam the door closed
before I even step down the stairs.

don't pretend to love me if you don't,
and I won't pretend that I don't feel like a stranger in your arms.

don't pretend to love me if you don't,
'cause I'm not going to pretend that I'm happy with 'us'
because I'm not.

I don't think this will last much longer.

(NJ2015) (All Rights Reserved)
Nicole Joanne Aug 2015
every-time we're in his room i forget to take my water-bottles along with me. if water-bottles were of any value, he would have a million dollar collection. he's the first boy i've ever made direct eye-contact with intentionally - i'm not sure if he's noticed, but it's become more of a synonym for 'kiss me please' than anything else. sometimes he catches the hint.

if i want his attention, all i have to do is pick up my phone -he seems to notice that even when his ears are deafened by the media on his laptop screen. i speak more with my eyes than my mouth - often my eyes will be closed if i'm disinterested; i'd rather create my own little world and enjoy it than destroy what he's enjoying at the moment. so i stay quiet. so i close my eyes. he thinks i fall asleep a lot.

when i want him to hold me i inch away, he always seems to pull me back in, and i never really say what i mean to, i just slow down my pronunciation. i run my fingers down his spine when i'm thinking about making out with him, and sometimes, i say 'i love you,' but like i said, i don't tend to speak much. i say it with my eyes. he never notices. i think i like it that way.


[NJ2015] [All Rights Reserved]
he says he doesn't like labels because it ruins things. i see it as organization. my voice is mute with the words 'i love you' because i fear it will diminish the meaning -too much can destroy. i want him to know, but i don't. don't want things to change. god, why is he always right?
Nicole Joanne Mar 2015
For five years you were the weight on my shoulders,
the blindfold over my eyes, and the holder of my heart.
Today you are nothing -we are strangers.
Do you ever think about me?

Sometimes I feel like it never happened,
You and I feel like a distant dream.
I don't think I ever truly knew you.
I can't even imagine a time with you anymore;
it all seems like a figment of my imagination.

The day we ran all the way to the restaurant in the pouring rain,
just to find out they were closed.
The day I leaned on your shoulder,
and we fogged up your father's car windows.
The day you held me for the first time.
It all seems like some faint memory of an old movie.

Remember the story of the bird we created?
How we spoke vicariously through the innocent bird
hiding under the tree to shelter itself from the storm?
I don't quite remember anything
except it was significant at one point.

I used to remember it so vividly.
Our memories are fading.
Does that scare you?
I'm not sure how I feel about it.


This may be a different story,
but I feel like I was a bird,
and you were a birdhouse with the door locked,
I'm glad I eventually found the strength to fly away.

Do you ever run your fingers over the scratches I left,
or have you refurnished over them?

So why do I tell you I miss you,
when I feel nothing at all?
And why does it hurt
when you don't respond?

(NJ2015) (All Rights Reserved)
Nicole Joanne Jul 2015
he puts on slow music and leads me off the bed,
spinning me into his arms and dancing into a waltz;
we're wandering around the whole room;
my head on his shoulder, his hands on my waist;
and we're dancing the night away.

if it's not like the movies,
they say to let a love go;
but with choreography like us,
that film would surely fall apart;

but it felt like a movie;
the way he held me,
the way he looked at me,
the way he
                   cut scene.

All Rights Reserved. [NJ2015]
Nicole Joanne Jul 2015
he comes to me at three in the morning,
my hair a mess, my feet in slippers,
my attire dingy, but my eyes sparkling.

drunk and tired, hiding behind a tree
so my father won't see; he holds me;
light drizzle and cigarette smoke,
hazy eyes and alcohol breath;
trying to make the best of it.

he's no romeo, and i'm no juliet;
but my parents are Capulets
and he's the dangerous boy
involved with their princess.

sitting beneath a tree
at three in the morning,
no place i'd rather be;

he's no romeo,
but he's all i need.

All Rights Reserved (NJ2015)
Nicole Joanne Mar 2015
the doctor smells the smoke on my clothes,
'i thought you didn't smoke'
i don't, but he lingers.

(NJ2015) All Rights Reserved
Nicole Joanne Jun 2015
back in school, my geometry teacher told me that lines are infinite;
that though it may stop on paper, it truly continues on.
he taught me that a circle has no end, but it has no start;
it's not infinite, but confined to the infinitcy of it's own space.

it was only a few months, but it felt like years
they way he and I continued straight down the path;
it felt as if we were walking in circles;
kissing, hugging, fighting, teasing
month after month after month
but we were truly walking on the line
endlessly, straight into nothing.

how can we be both the endless line and the confining circle?
I never wanted to become a geometric equation;
but I'm doing the math, and quite frankly,
he and I are just a miscalculation; a mistake.

All Rights Reserved.
[Copyright NJ2015]
Nicole Joanne Jan 2015
Each time I see you,
you're a new you.

Unfortunately,
that is true.

Never will you meet someone like me,
I'm many people distinctively.
I change my mind all the time,
one night I'll be fine,
in the morning I'll be a crime scene.

My preferences changes endlessly,
one day I want something,
the next it wont mean a thing to me.

Does that scare you?
Well, don't let it.

'Cause through all my changes,
you're the one thing that remains the same;
I'll always prefer you.

(NJ2015) (All Rights Reserved)
Nicole Joanne May 2015
im broken down,
im looking for a way out,
but the only way out
is buried beneath the ground,

im so sorry you,
you got stuck in my story,
ill stop writing your name down,
and you can rip the rest out

i never meant to hurt you,
i never meant to cry,
i never meant to blame you,
but i get so lost sometimes

i never meant to drive you crazy,
i'm trying so hard, but i think im losing you baby
how do i keep this from falling,
when one columns is nearly broken,
i wish you'd stay around darling,
but I'm dragging you down,

i didn't mean to complicate everything,
but i have some issues that drive me insane
i really like you, but i dont want to hurt you
when something is good, i tend to push it away.

i like laying around with you,
and the way it's hard to read you,
(but sometimes i wish i knew a little more.)

I like the way you close your eyes
when you're enjoying the moment,
but i wish with me you'd close your eyes a bit more

can you be patient with me,
i wish you'd stay.

(NJ2015) All Rights Reserved.
Nicole Joanne Jul 2015
he woke me up and said, 'you're always tired,'
said that i always fall asleep when i'm with him;
and i argued and said i just rest my eyes;
but truth is his arms are more like blankets to me
than my own sheets.

his chest carries a beating heart
and it's more comforting to fall asleep to that
than to the sound of bickering between hard-headed family members.
his laughter, usually mixed with the sound of anime,
or the narrator of YouTube's 'Watch Mojo' series, is my lullaby,
and the way his hands run through my hair
help rock my nervous mind to sleep.

but i tell him i'm resting my eyes,
because i can't tell him that he's my lullaby,
i can't tell him he's my refuge from a long day;
i can't tell him that when i'm with him,
i feel satisfied to just end my day.

(NJ2015) All Rights Reserved.
Nicole Joanne Jul 2015
trying to figure out what my head thinks,
my hands are searching for something to hold on to,
my feet skimming water hoping for solid ground,
but it seems the only branch to keep from drowning
is being weathered by the tide.

the one thing that can save me is destroying himself,
broken from the whole of him that i never have known;
you can pick a flower and admire it's beauty,
keep it in a vase and try to keep it in your presence,
but you will never see the way it's roots were planted,
and you cannot keep what once was from wilting;
even if you constantly take care of it.

once upon a time i was walking through hills,
now i'm running through forests,
gasping for air, holding my chest;
and it's ironic because amongst the trees
is the most oxygen one can breathe;
but i'm lost, i'm drowning, i'm screaming;

how can i save you,
i can't even save me.

All Rights Reserved (NJ2015)
Nicole Joanne Feb 2016
to the boy who currently holds my heart,

your past lover;
she will always love you in a way that i can't.
and for that, i envy her.

NJ2015 All Rights Reserved.
Nicole Joanne Feb 2015
life's a mess, and I'm a wreck.
it's great when you're by my side,
but it get's lonely at night.
I'm having conversations in my head
and they never spill from my mouth,
and I wish I could just tell you them all,
but I'm a wreck and my life's a mess,
and I still want to keep you around.

but when the moon is out,
my mood is down,
and I really wish you were here right now.

quiet my head, quiet my head,
when I'm with you there's no sounds.

(NJ2015) (All Rights Reserved)
Nicole Joanne Feb 2015
Mr. Stephen Glass,

i understand now,
you wrote to escape,
you tried to convince yourself it could be real,
by convincing everyone else that it was too.
it's okay to disappear into your own world,
it's okay to try and make your dream reality.
it wasn't deception, it was real to you,
and it would've been real to them if they believed,
it would've been real if they kept steady perception.

Mr. Glass,
I learned the hard way too.
reality has left me stranded me as well.
I understand.

Mr. Glass,
have you found a way to live with yourself again?
I'm in the purgatory of reality and dreams,
I don't know where to fall, I'm already shattered.

(NJ2015) (All Rights Reserved)
Stephen Glass was a journalist who published lots of fake stories, and soon became the most untrusted man in journalism history. I think I understand him more than anyone else has even tried to.
Nicole Joanne Jul 2015
lately i've been falling asleep with the tv on, when about a month ago even the slightest bit of light kept me awake. days spent with you have molded me into something i haven't quite figured out yet.

like sedimentary, maybe this confusion will just erode away. or maybe i've permanently metamorphasized into something new.

all i know for sure is that i'm feeling a way i have never felt before. i can't determine whether the feeling is good or not. and i can't promise that it's not dangerous or fatal. i can't promise you that the thought of 'us' is stable. but i try not to think about it. please don't think about it.

i fall asleep now to the chatter of the television. it quiets my mind. i used to find comfort in silence, but now it just screams at me. ironic isn't it? how i turn the sound up to find quiet.

i don't stay awake with my thoughts anymore. they wake me up in the form of nightmares from time to time. i could never escape anything. not even my mind. i won't escape you. tell me that's fine.

no, don't talk. please, change the channel.

[NJ2015] All Rights Reserved.
Nicole Joanne Nov 2015
i want a love like the movies,
or at least a love that i can feel.

pixels shouldn't make me feel more
than you do.

NJ2015 [all rights reserved]
Nicole Joanne Feb 2015
he told me I had pretty eyes
as his fingers crept under my shirt
and ran along my spine,

his palms ran across my lower back,
and forced my hips to the bed,
and he bit my neck and softly laughed,

and I laughed, and I smiled,
and I nuzzled my head in his neck
and I placed my fingers between his
and rubbed my thumb on the bone

and he stole glances at his phone,
making plans with his friends,
while I stole glances at our future
and ran a blank

but I dug my head into his neck and laughed
while he ran his fingers on my skin,

all I wanted was to fall asleep on his chest and hold his hand,
all he wanted was an adventure, and he was dragging me along
-and I willingly gave him the map.

(NJ2015) (All Rights Reserved)
Nicole Joanne Mar 2015
I DON'T KNOW IF I WANT TO BASH MY HEAD INTO A WALL OR MY HAND INTO YOUR CHEST. ALL I KNOW IS EVERYTHING IS SPINNING AND I CAN'T MAKE IT STOP AND I JUST WANT TO SIT IN A FIELD AND FEEL THE SUN ON MY HEAD BUT THE GROUND IS COVERED IN SNOW AND I'M SHIVERING IN THE COLD AND I DON'T KNOW IF I WANT TO BE WRAPPED IN A BLANKET OR IN YOUR ARMS. I DON'T KNOW IF I WANT TO BE BURIED BENEATH THE SNOW OR CRADLED IN YOUR WARMTH. YOU'RE HER FIREPLACE AND SHE KEEPS THROWING LOGS AND YOUR FLAMES KEEP GROWING. ITS BEYOND MY CONTROL. IM TRYING TO MAKE SMORES BUT THE FLAME IT GROWS. I'M SCARED TO GET BURNED. I'M SCARED TO GET BURNED.

(NJ2015) (All Rights Reserved)
Nicole Joanne Feb 2015
I can spend my whole life reaching for stars
only to be disappointed to find palms full of nothing but air,

As I grew up I learned that stars will never
provide me with the fuel I need to fill my lungs,
only air can do that.

But I still catch myself reaching for stars.
I still catch myself reaching for him sometimes,
even though there's no point.

(NJ2015) (All Rights Reserved)
even when I reach for the stars, the air still lends it's hand. i only hope it never leaves, only then I will understand what it is to not breathe. I know I'm reaching for something useless when I have what I need in front of me, but let me learn. let me learn. one day I'll take a deep breath in, and I will learn. I will learn what I need. please don't suffocate me. please don't leave.
Nicole Joanne Jul 2015
Don’t you understand? I’m the careful girl who sets her alarm three hours early to guarantee she wont be late, the girl who’s scared to use boxed hair dye because there’s that one percent chance of a fatal allergic reaction. I’m the girl who gets sick every morning because anxiety tells me that i “might mess up something today.” I’m the girl who reads the fine print, the terms and conditions, because one time i didn’t, and i got hurt.

You’re the boy who sees terms and conditions as guidelines. The boy who drinks every night because though its drowning your liver, its what you used to fill an emptiness that’s now addicted to it’s harmful comfort. You’re the boy who sees a party as a release from responsibility and real life, a lazy Sunday night as a day wasted. You’re the boy with messy hair, tired eyes, and a tired heart. You welcome chaos because it keeps your mind from straying.

Cause though you’re reckless, you never were with love. Your heart is a liquor bottle that was indulged and tossed to the side by girls too drunk to understand that glass breaks. And glass cuts.

I always read ingredients before I consume, but i wasn’t thinking before i tasted you. So now here i am, the careful girl, and here you are, the reckless boy, caught in one world that’s both hazy and precise.

I’m trying to handle you with care, but youre screaming that there may not be a tomorrow. I’ve read your terms and conditions, but disregarded the “more terms below,” and found there’s more to you than i thought.

this careful girl is dealing with a reckless boy with a careful heart and I’m not sure whether to place the wine in a cabinet, or just down the bottle.

All Rights Reserved. [NJ2015]
'things i meant to say' series
#me
Nicole Joanne Feb 2015
it was like watching the sun set and rise
over a hundred times in a single minute,
how I saw you one second, and not the next.

your eyes were green pastures,
and when you shut them,
I imagine it was because they were in flames;
your hands ran over the plains of my back,
and mine on the stubble path of your neck,
soon finding them tangled in the waves of your hair

the teasing between the waves and shore lasted much too long,
yet it lasted shorter than I thought,

I don't know how much longer I could've done it,
walking barefoot on a sharp-shelled land
just to see your face,

but the sun set and I walked patiently to the end of the beach
and suddenly the waves calmed, and the sand was soft,
and all I knew was I was holding green hills in my hands,
the scent of the ocean filled the air,
and satisfaction on my lips.

the sun just set,
I saw you one second,
but had you the next,

and I hope the sun will rise and set again.

(NJ2015) (All Rights Reserved)
Nicole Joanne Jul 2015
if i'm the apple of his eye,
then he is the worm;
biting through my skin,
devouring me,
trying to reach the core.

All Rights Reserved (NJ2015)

— The End —