"replaceable" poems
I've just been told
I'm a huge disappointment
Forgive me for doing this
but it just hurts
A girl once laughed at me
for crying when a teacher
gave up on teaching me
she said it was a stupid little thing
A boy once forgot me
after talking to me only a day before
He had said I was beautiful
but it seems that was a lie too
I've been told today
I was a disappointment
I don't know how to feel
I don't know what to do
So forgive me if what I do
is drastic and irresponsible
But I'm a disappointment, it's true
and I am replaceable
Sep 4, 2013
Sep 4, 2013 at 12:52 AM UTC
My eyes flipped through the list of names
And I saw your's, your picture surfacing in my memory
But my heart did not skip a beat
My cheeks did not brighten with blush
At a thought that I did not remember.
I did not close my eyes and see that room of comfort
Your hand was not on my shoulder
Your face was not mere centimeters from mine
Your existence did not overwhelm me.
I saw your name on that list of long night conversations
But I did not want to speak
I did not even want to look.
Have you been replaced? It is possible.
But are you replaceable? Impossible.
your name is
always before my eyes
always on my lips
always in my mind
but never in my hand.
Never next to mine.
Never next to me.
No matter how many times I
See your name
or write it down
or sing it out loud
or scream it with pleasure
It will never be my name,
And I will never be yours.
Understanding will never be
as comfortable as your bed,
but it will make seeing your name tolerable.
Sep 25, 2010
Sep 25, 2010 at 7:44 PM UTC
two days
before we loaded the car
with what seemed like the entirety
of my heart and belongings
to move me across the state to attend college,
my baby brother found me on the kitchen floor,
crying
about the microwave.
well,
not just the microwave.
he found me in a crumpled up heap,
sobbing that this day
would be the last i had
to microwave things
in
this
particular
microwave.
i couldn’t justify my lament then.
my dad chalked it up to ***
my brother called me a drama queen,
and my mom told me i needed to eat less microwaveable things.
but i think i might’ve figured it out now.
five months later.
y’see, i grew up an ARMY brat.
attended five different elementary schools,
two separate middle schools,
one high school,
and two colleges.
i was never good at saying goodbye,
but i’m a pro at walking away.
i found out quickly
that while the faces and names
of my friends and classmates
change from state to state,
the character tropes
stay basically the same.
people and places become such replaceable things.
i worry,
a lot,
about being a replaceable thing.
there are talented people in this world.
people that can divine the past and future
from coffee grounds and tea leaves.
but can anyone here tell me what kinds of awful things my footsteps say about me?
there are boot marks,
with my name on them,
in places i know i should never have been.
and clumps of dirt stuck to my heels
that have been with me longer than some friends have.
i sat on the floor last night
while my love explained physics to me.
he told me
that gravity is a constant force,
and of course,
the earth’s gravity affects each and every one of us.
but our individual gravity affects the earth as well.
according to newton’s third law,
the earth pulls of me
with the same force that i pull on the earth.
my mass disrupts space time.
carl sagan once told me
through the clarifying prism of the television screen,
that we are all stardust,
collapsed suns
and black matter.
we belong to no place.
i belong to no place.
i belong to no place.
i don’t cry about the microwave anymore,
i don’t waste my tears on saying goodbye.
i know that every thing and every one has their time,
and sometimes that time is brief.
it’s a hard pill to swallow,
ultimately my favorite self descriptor is ‘infallible’.
but somedays, i fall
just to stand up and see:
the sun still rises,
the earth still turns,
the microwave still makes bomb-ass chicken nuggets,
and i am still here.
Nov 16, 2016
Nov 16, 2016 at 11:28 AM UTC
do you know how it feels?
to have to look a certain way?
to act a certain way?
do you know how it feels?
to fight against a backwards mentality?
to be sexually objectified?
to keep quiet to appease fragile egos?
do you know how it feels?
to be treated as though you are replaceable?
to be treated as though you are incapable of possessing your own entity?
do you know how it feels?
to be treated as though the best thing you have to offer is between your legs, rather than what circulates within your mind?
do you know how it feels... to be a woman?
Feb 21, 2019
Feb 21, 2019 at 4:08 PM UTC
I grew up ignored.
Not neglected, never abused.
Ignored.
Blithely alone with people unawares of my existence besides them.
They spoke about me as though I were not there, so I learned not to be.
I spoke myself through days that stretched into years.
"Don't draw attention.
Don't speak unless spoken to.
Don't be the interesting one.
They aren't interested in you, anyway."
Siblings stole the spotlight and I let them.
'Being ignored is like being abused, kind of. '
No, not really.
Being ignored is being silent and knowing what happens even though no one else does.
Being the ignored one means that you don't have pressure to achieve; you don't exist.
You are no better
No worse
Nothing at all.
You are nothing at all.
And eventually,
You learn to appreciate that nothing-at-all feeling.
It's freeing.
You don't have to worry about things like looks because you don't get seen.
Scars are ignored because they exist on you.
Making friends, though, is hard.
"How do you share like interests when you've never been important to have any at all?"
I'd ask.
"Figure it out."
I would tell myself.
"You have before."
Take on the skins of people around you.
Be who they want you to be.
Be replaceable in that way that makes you needed.
Simpler than it sounds, really.
Being nothing is so freeing
So calming
So boring
So cold.
And empty.
Like the nothing-at-all you are.
Jun 16, 2014
Jun 16, 2014 at 7:37 PM UTC
You lose her when you forget to remember the little things that mean the world to her;
The sincerity in a stranger’s voice during a trip to the grocery,
The delight of finding something lost or forgotten like a sticker from when she was five,
The selflessness of a child giving a part of his meal to another,
The scent of new books in the store,
The surprise short but honest notes she tucks in her journal and others you could only see if you look closely.
You must remember when she forgets.
You lose her when you don’t notice that she notices everything about you;
Your use of the proper punctuation that tells her continuation rather than finality,
Your silence when you’re about to ask a question but you think anything you’re about to say to her would be silly,
Your mindless humming when it is too quiet,
Your handwriting when you sign your name in blank sheets of paper,
Your muted laughter when you are trying to be polite,
And more and more of what you are, which you don’t even know about yourself, because she pays attention.
She remembers when you forget.
You lose her for every second you make her feel less and less of the beauty that she is.
When you make her feel that she is replaceable.
She wants to feel cherished.
When you make her feel that you are fleeting.
She wants you to stay.
When you make her feel inadequate.
She wants to know that she is enough and she does not need to change for you, nor for anyone else because she is she and she is beautiful, kind and good.
You must learn her.
You must know the reason why she is silent.
You must trace her weakest spots.
You must write to her.
You must remind her that you are there.
You must know how long it takes for her to give up.
You must be there to hold her when she is about to.
You must love her because many have tried and failed.
And she wants to know that she is worthy to be loved, that she is worthy to be kept.
And, this is how you keep her.
May 12, 2014
May 12, 2014 at 5:38 AM UTC
Irreplaceable you,
Drifting into my world
With so little a care
As the heat of the evening
Turned into a sordid affair
Irreplaceable you,
Riding me gently, tamer
Of heavy waves
Tangled together in shadows --
For you, I’ll always misbehave
Irreplaceable you,
Slipping from my grasp
And into another’s --
Trembling toward your kiss
Tell me I’m your only lover
Irreplaceable you,
But replaceable me
Left to wilt at the shoreline
While you sailed off to sea.
Apr 14, 2017
Apr 14, 2017 at 6:55 PM UTC
Did you ever hear the tale of the loneliest cigarette?
Bringing short term pleasure to just one man, while simultaneously burning herself away into oblivion, she is selfless.
He'll soon kick her to the kerb and stamp out her embers which she offered to him because it's what she thought he wanted.
When she is gone, he will take another.
And she will be useless. Lifeless. Unwanted. Replaceable.
Aug 26, 2015
Aug 26, 2015 at 4:59 PM UTC
All people are created equal.
********
If you say that then you have no respect
No one is equal to another
because that would mean that
every one of us is replaceable.
You equal you, no one else.
No one is less and no one is more
but no one is equal.
Sep 30, 2013
Sep 30, 2013 at 5:06 PM UTC
Wish I was Meccanoman with
replaceable bolt on bits;
a pop off detachable arseole;
n grease ******* on my ****
yeah; wish I was Meccanoman
with a gearbox for a brain
n a cabriolet flip top hair do
-- as protection from the rain,
my feet could be two dustbin lids
held on by wire n rope;
maybe double up as landing skids;
- but no good on a slope.
the blood - of course;
synthetic oil;
with that I'd never get sick,
pumped 'round by the bestest
- induction coil,
powering my foot long
- hydraulic ****
Yeah; wish I was Meccanoman.
Oct 16, 2010
Oct 16, 2010 at 2:53 PM UTC
The feeling of being replaceable is easily one of the ********* feelings in the world
You feel like your presence doesn't make an impact enough on a person that you can be so easily thrown out and replaced by a better person
You feel like if you leave you won't even leave a void and space where you once were
Maybe just a mark, a minimal trace but before they can feel that you're gone, someone new slips in
It's like trying to prove your worth and make someone realize how important you are so you keep a distance
But instead of longing for you, they replace you
I'm not some object you got at the store that you can replace when you're tired of me
I don't have a warranty, I have feelings
I don't want to be the girl who can easily slip through your fingers
Scratch that, I DO want to be the girl who can easily slip through your fingers but you choose to keep your fingers tightly packed because you know if you lose me you can't find another me among the 7 billion people in the world
I want you to know my worth
I know I have troubles seeing that myself
But I hope you see the light that shines through the cracks on my skin when I'm too sick of myself to look in the mirror
I hope you see the little hidden things and quirks of mine that I'm too blind to see
I hope you realize that no matter how many girls you talk to, time after time,
None of them can ever
Or will ever
Replace me
Apr 6, 2016
Apr 6, 2016 at 1:11 PM UTC
I'm feeling empty without her depressed and I'm becoming more stressed with each un answered text I know I'm annoying and this is just toying with my emotions I'm glad she's happy without me I just wish she couldn't replace me.. But I'm replaceable and I'm never good enough, I never will be I'm destined to be with my anxiety throwing up unexpectedly... Just wishing I was acepted for me..
Jul 9, 2015
Jul 9, 2015 at 3:05 AM UTC
How long will it take you
To forget the smell on my hair?
How long before you stop coming to my room
Out of habit?
How quickly will your heart stop aching
At the mention of my name?
A month? A week? A day?
Did you ever need me?
Will you miss me at all?
While I lie here alone
Crying for your touch,
Will you move on?
How long will it take you
To find another?
Prettier. Skinnier. Smarter.
More talented. Better.
Will her smile outshine
All your memories of me?
Will her hands be softer,
Her feet prettier,
Will she be bolder and brighter
Than I ever was?
How long will it take you
To replace me?
Jun 7, 2014
Jun 7, 2014 at 4:12 AM UTC
I am not a sealed container that has not been purchased
I cannot be bought with paper and stacks of bills, I am not what you get out of currency
Shuffle me in between categories, I am only a human being
I am not replaceable, despite my claim for it
I am not a pleasure box, I am not toys, I am not an object
You cannot talk me out of my resistance
If my doors are locked, you cannot welcome yourself inside, forced entry is what they call it
You are compelled by urges I do not want to satisfy,
When all I want is a conversation, but filth is all that roams your mind
Your apologies are sorry's that emerge into a sea of forgotten,
And my feelings keep towering over my guard that was built for protection and fighting
But tell me this, if I said "no", then why are we still talking?
n.j.
Aug 21, 2015
Aug 21, 2015 at 5:50 AM UTC
We read “Captain Hook’s collection of psalms,
And other songs to sing along to.”
Nothing better to do off hand,
But revel in our own arrogance.
And, we notched holes in leather straps,
To expand at the waste.
Drive through diets replacing lessons-
Of keeping elbows off the table.
Of speaking only when spoken to.
Twenty-one years plus a little change.
And, daddy says-
Everything I taught you is replaceable.
And, daddy says-
Mistake is a just a word.
Hasn’t got it figured out either,
At least he admits it,
Choking down another cigarette,
Says: here’s to now.
And, don’t break your back if you don’t have to.
Technology affords avenues
Different rivers to float experience
Overalls and baseball caps
And the tree house that broke my tibia.
Talked through tin cans in this age,
Of golden innocence.
Now I’m Facebooking and twitting or twittering
Or… who the **** cares?
No one I care about.
Rivers given way to raw sewage.
And, even dogs eat their own ****
This cat called my computer a *********** box-
If the shoe fits,
Clichés get the hits.
Search: Blonde **** Big *******
5 million 38 hundred and 2 results.
Neon Bibles erupt in the sky.
Today I am a believer in the quarter pounder with cheese
Tomorrow in gasoline for 2.85
Midas made gold
Now he wants to change my oil.
They call that economics
Or advertising.
And, suddenly my sneakers aren’t good enough
Voice on the other end reassures-
My ideas are manic.
Paint a scene of terror.
Laying waste to iron giants-
Tearing down systems in place to restrict
Setting fire to everything-
Rack it up to fulfilling.
Rack it up to rebuilding.
Dismal haze, red glow to ash filled sky,
That makes mom clutch the good book-
Saying its time to go home.
How she knows her redeemer lives.
Clarity reigns supreme
And, daddy says-
Son, you’ve been watching too much TV.
And daddy says-
You catch more with honey by rule.
Feb 7, 2013
Feb 7, 2013 at 1:37 PM UTC
She's Tired...
of the broken promises,
and of the broken dreams,
She's tired.
of being unappreciated,
taken for granted and hurt.
of lies rolling off your tongue,
and of the swelling tears,
she'd learn to hide.
She's tired of feeling replaceable,
disappointed and undesired,
of broken hearts,
--broken trust,
and of the emptiness she feels.
She's tired,
of being yours,
when you do not know how to love her.
Apr 24, 2016
Apr 24, 2016 at 7:07 PM UTC
I feel like a trophy.
Something to be won,
then thrown away once I begin to dull.
I feel like a trophy,
Paraded around when beautiful,
Left alone to rust and dissolve away.
I feel like a trophy,
loved at the start,
then kept only for the memories
I feel like a trophy,
Marveled at in the spotlight,
then slowly forced to share the shelf space.
I feel like a trophy,
naive enough to think
that that my next owner would treasure me.
I feel like a trophy,
non-living, replaceable,
and disposable.
Dec 19, 2016
Dec 19, 2016 at 7:09 AM UTC
Today i found out that you met somebody else.
I thought i was over you,
I stopped crying at night
Letting the black tears stain my sheets
My chest never ached for you anymore
I never felt like i couldn't breathe
Like all the air was slowly suffocating me
I didn't hear your voice in my head anymore
You'd just became a memory that every once in a while id play back the record i saved of our love.
Instead of breaking down every time i saw your face,
It brought me happiness.
Today i found out that i am replaceable by someone else.
someone better.
It hit me like a bullet to the heart
Thrown against the wall as if a wave brought me out to sea and started to drown me.
As the water filled my lungs
I heard your voice again,
But now its muffled by the water I'm submerged in.
I saw your face for just one second
And then the ocean swallowed me.
Feb 15, 2015
Feb 15, 2015 at 6:35 PM UTC
If I struggle with the answer
For the price of these beers,
Please let me get on by,
For it’s a wonder I’m still here.
We’re swarming through headlights
As we make our way through town,
The women fix their heels and lipstick,
Whilst the streets fill up with sound.
And I can’t think about tomorrow
Over the loudness of my shirt,
An imitation of new Hawaii:
Throw a rainbow over hurt.
Yet still I say ‘thank you’
As you throw up in my face,
Then I’ll pour you another *****
Everything can be replaced.
May 15, 2014
May 15, 2014 at 9:31 AM UTC
It was a truth I had stated before
No one in this world is unique enough to not be replaceable
When no thought has been original for 50 years
History repeats itself on a daily basis
And life has the same rhythm every single day
How could you think, for even one second, that you’re special?
Friends come and go.
Loves burn out one after another
Trust wilts and faith slowly extinguishes
Your touch suddenly feels cold.
And her eyes suddenly look empty
When they used to be warm.
Your hands burn for her, and I?
I turn to ice next to you
The rock on my chest freezes
Grows heavier too
Icicles form that prevent the next person
to come even half as close as you
As you _could_ have
As _you_ would have
As you _should_ have
I hope you keep my gift as a rememberance of me
Of what you used to have
And maybe even could have had.
That you’ll one day look upon it and think
****
That was special
I could have had it
But you won’t. You won’t even care
You will have replaced me with someone else
Someone better
Someone smarter and prettier and easier to see through
And you’ll never look back
Cause after all
Which one of us is not replaceable?
Sep 17, 2018
Sep 17, 2018 at 4:15 AM UTC
World around me:
Produce, slave. Move!
Eat.
Sleep.
Produce.
Prognosis – fatal.
Me:
Wow, coffee heals all wounds.
What a beautiful day ahead.
What impressive words I'll have said.
What will they think of me when I'm dead?
World around me:
Remember,
You are replaceable.
You are a cog.
The machine is God.
Me:
What about a drive,
A good read,
A pipe on the porch and a walk?
*I rely on an empty countenance,
A guise to hide the storm behind my eyes.
The world needs a smile and a hammer.
I thrive on words.
I survive on heart.*
Oct 13, 2014
Oct 13, 2014 at 11:22 AM UTC
Man, she can't say another word
Not today
Not tomorrow
Having you on her side is something big to her
Telling you about her day, means you're in her world
Loving you is kind of confusing, she said
Day and night passes by
No call from her
She tries to arrange steps ahead
Maybe she goes to the future without you, means you're replaceable
Or you're not
To leave you behind isn't in her top priority
Furthermore
She not to meant to cross the line
She prays to the Almighty
For the best of you
For the best of her
She tries to deliver something to you
Between happy and sad things
May this problem solved, soon
For a new path of your journey
But I believe
Not today
Not tomorrow
Sep 20, 2018
Sep 20, 2018 at 11:51 AM UTC
I can live without him
He is not indispensable
I can love despite him
He is not inevitable
But it isn't new
It was my routine
I have lived without him
Smiled without him
Only I didn't feel alone then
Now I want to live with him
He is irresistible
I want to love only him
It is irrevocable
I want to smile and cry
when he is reachable
I can move on, yes
He is replaceable
But this is new
And I'm addicted
My muse invincible
Nov 15, 2023
Nov 15, 2023 at 10:54 AM UTC