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The scrunchie sits on the dresser not alarmed by my passing
The scrunchie sits unburdened by the twists and turn of everyday use.
The hair band is lifeless and yet more content than I will ever be.
You see, I’ve dug myself in a hole, I’ve built myself 4 walls, I’ve lost myself in the cascade.
For what is a house without someone to occupy it, and what is a wall without something to capture, and what is a scrunchie without hair for it to hold.
- AC
Jenny Liu Zhang Sep 2018
For a baby, I am unkempt,
But for an adult, I am very unkempt.
People can tell me my age just by looking,
So when I bashfully admit I am 21,
I actually have no bash left,
Because I used all of it on my ***** sneakers and chipping nail polish,
and hangnails and tangled split ends in a scrunchie,
and leftover acne from the homecoming dance when I tried to erase it away with my mother’s makeup, two shades too light, two left feet as I had not grown fully into my limbs.
And they can see how aware I was of my pointy chin when I was thirteen years of self-conscious, repeating all the better responses to conversations, like my life was some laugh track sitcom,
just like I do right now,
many days, still,
in notebooks, to plants, to the bank machine, to the mirror at the optometrist, to the grocer when I run errands,
because even though now I run errands and have checks to cash,
I still have baby hair to bash,
and I laugh the same laugh,
with my eyes that turn into little moons,
thinking in the same cartoons,
under good eyebrows, though unkempt,
above the toil of braces and 21 years of chapped lips.
Ben Brinkburn Jan 2013
Molly Upstairs was the first to greet me
as I moved in
immediately she showed me a new tattoo
she had just had done
upper left arm
it looked like a dart board
she didn’t say why but
within five minutes I had learned her father
had been abusive she had crap taste in men
always went for muscle over brains
her fatal flaw
and
how she paid for it oh how she paid
but
I benefited from the muscle as she hollered up
the stairs and a huge bloke in a grubby bat wing tee shirt
and denim cut offs appeared
grinning, calling me Chief,
and carried the rest of my gear in
without complaint and Molly Upstairs
told me a Norwegian lived on the ground floor
computer geek
worked for a software firm on the edge of town
renting cheap creaming his expenses
and a guy called Sanjeev lived next door to me
sweet guy from Mumbai always looking to borrow
an iron
and to go out for a drink with anyone at
anytime anywhere
another computer nerd she reckoned
and she was all legs and little denim skirt and a
pink tee-shirt that said ‘**** Buddy’
and blond hair pulled back in a black scrunchie
and offered to bake me a cake but she
assured me
it wouldn’t be a sponge one
know what I mean
the peel of crazy laughter from above
the sound of Red Hot Chilli Peppers starting up
pounding bass
the shower’s ****
the landlord’s a ****
if you’ve got a motor
don’t park out the back it’ll get nicked
best to drink and smoke
to dull the pain
but always remember
to have a laugh

The world according to
Molly Upstairs.
Theresa Grace Oct 2012
Nine wheel karma controller
Compact sleeveless button case
Oil deltoid combo
Metal magnet scrunchie spray
Bootleg leaf fret
Wick hunger limit
Tedious lantern bucket
Psychokinetic apple bubble
Intergalactic time space fraction
Anything immortal lost
Sleepless anxious toss
Divine magic water bodies
Healing wild birds
Extraterrestrial swimming fish
Fleeting nighttime children
Delightful new age beauty
Deep elemental menstrual cycles
Strong sight protection
Given soul story lessons
Clear Global God
Request practiced peace
Garden random physical reason
Humorous overwhelmed solution
Earth discovered on turtle
Used miraculous fact
Command locked paradise
Key kept love thirsty
Closely counsel deceased Master
Reaching for things not seen
Endless chaotic writing paper
Creating cool frog bog
Washed pilot sitting clean
Reaching things unseen
Wonder what all this means
Reaching unseen things
Feeling presence of other beings
Reaching for things unseen
Sleep walking in a dream
Reaching things unseen
Piecing together chaotic strings
Reaching unseen things
Hearing angels sing
While reaching for things not seen.
This was an exercise in creative writing. I picked Allot of random words then pieced them together into this tasty little gem. Towards the end I took it over with my own words but it was still fun and a good form of practice.
Tom Gunn Mar 2013
Mad
Wait your turn to piping tune
Suncreen, scrunchie, ***** pack

Un-birthday song by Hatter, mad
Wrought iron, mushrooms, storybook

Take the fastest spinning cup
Play-dough, crayons, apple sauce

Bring your playmate. Tag, you're it
Purple, maelstrom, pizza dough

Spin the sun and time away
Mushrooms, sunscreen, apple sauce

Ninety seconds: laughter, puke
Manners, madness, misery

Night falls under sleeping tree
Paper lantern, lightning bug

Hand-in-hand, stumble home
Twilight, popcorn, cinnamon

You've been drunk in drunken tea
Swing the gate,
Hurry on
This is a poem intended for a collection of poems inspired by Disneyland rides and attractions. This particular poem is inspired by the famous Teacups ride. I'm eager to hear constructive feedback, so please take a moment to react in detail. Thanks.
William Lee Jun 2017
Father sits at the head of the table
Strong and loud and proud.
Across the corner, to his right  
Mommy sat up straight.
Straight across again from her,
Is stubby chubby Bobby.
A yawn,
a stretch,
His eyes are fighting lack of rest.
He was awake far too late,  
but can you blame the boy?  
He turns sixteen today.

Finally, was little Annie  
half her brothers age.
She sat alone at the table’s end
A chair apart from mother,
A chair away from Bobby.
She hid behind the table’s edge
That faced her towards her daddy.
Her face she hid in the elbow-pit
of her bent right arm,
hoping no one notices

the scratches that cover her face.

“So good to have us all together,”
Father shouts away,

“A shame, indeed, when work keeps me
from my loving family.”
His hair is short, straight, stiff and blonde,
gelled perfectly in place,
Yes, so very neat and clean.
Though, not so flattering.
The hair has a hateful streak
you’d swear,
It seems determined  
to bloat and puff,
the Rosacea cheeks he wears.
The sun dyed shadows underneath
the neatness he perceives as
all important.
The cousin of Rudolph
he could be called,
his cheeks ignite and flush,
but still he wears his toothless smile
after tasting his ten A.M. toddy.

Mommy’s hair is a black whirlwind
attempt at taming with a scrunchie,
Yet failing to mask the mess it was.

Understandable,  
acceptable,
she had cleaned the house again.
Wiped every crease  
and every surface

no filth hides from her hawk eyes
Though the house was spotless  
when she began.
She still smiles,  
“Oh yes! So good!  

It’s been too long indeed!

We all are grateful for father’s attendance,
for Bobby’s sweet sixteen.”

Bobby’s smile didn’t fit his face,  
He’s too fat to reveal all his teeth.
No fault of his of course,  
happenstance and lottery
Still,  
that smile of his is one you simply never seem to want to see.  

“I’m really quite ecstatic myself,”  
Bobby proclaimed (every tooth exposed),
His teeth fade away  
He looks at his plate
“And although I know, I still wish,
I could have had a friend attend.”

Annie was neither stupid nor blind,
when three faces glanced
and two danced away.
But Father spoke up, addressing his daughter,

Shouting what he had to say,
“You know how stressed,  
little Annie gets!
With big days like today!
It’s not all bad! It’s for the best!  
I’m myself am very glad!  
See how well she has behaved?”
Bobby gave a knowing nod, and threw Annie a glare.

Annie did not respond;
Annie simply stared.

Father made a violent sound;
saved himself from a phlegm cave-in.
Now prepared to roar once more
at an eight-year-old with tremors.

Yet the words were nothing more than whispered.

“Now, Annie, why is your beautiful face so scratched?”

Annie did not respond.  
Annie simply stared.  
Then tucked her face in her elbow pit,
and swallowed a chunk of tears.

Mommy heard the gagged-up sorrow
and quickly interjected.  
“I found steel wool in the bath again,  

Annie likes them so.
If I’ve told her once  
Then I have a hundred times more,
They remove the filth from the dishes,
but not from little girls.”
Annie says,
“I know.”

Mommy fibs inside again,
a lonely little liar.  
Wishes her intervention  
was that of heroic martyr,  
But mommy interrupted
to save herself from silence.
Because sometimes in the noiseless stillness  
mommy feels an echo
it bounces from her spine to sternum.
That’s when she feels the lack of soul.
Hollow, mommy. Hollow.

Mommy held her smile hard,  
the silence only wins inside.
Glued-on cheer feels natural,
if you only wear It for a time.  
Her sawblade smile stayed
so perfectly monotone;  
statuesque.

The echo’s echoing too much,  
surely all the others hear?

Mommy croaked a giggle out,
and passed the cake around.
“Eat up! Eat up!
I worked so hard!  
I made it perfect!”

There were three plates that did not hold cake,
At least not for very long.
Seemed Annie simply liked the look,
And what a look it was!
Mommy made a masterpiece  
To say less is heresy!
Yet, now down two slices of masterpiece,
stubby chubby Bobby’s peace,
was no longer something he could keep.

“My God, how rude!
Annie hasn’t touched her food!”  

Father was just behind,
he, too had no peace of mind,  
he bellowed out,
“It really is rude!
It’s simply not fair!”

Mommy’s echo broke through the noise,
Mommy stopped responding;
mommy simply stared.

Stubby chubby birthday boy Bobby,
spitting frosting and cake:
“You, ungrateful brat!  
Why do you act the way you do?”

Mommy tried to intervene again;
She tried to save the day.
But hollow people make no sound,
they simply waste away.

So, of course, that could only mean,
Annie gets a chance to speak!
Why does she act so disturbingly?
With scratches and tremors,  
and a tummy full of swallowed hate?

Annie said,
“I can’t just make believe that Daddy doesn’t **** me.”
Donall Dempsey Dec 2015
CUTE PIXIE EARS

she slipped out of her
fuchsia *******

a quick twist turning
them into a scrunchie

"I hate it when my hair
gets into my eyes!"

I kept looking at her
cute pixie ears.
Maia Vasconez Jun 2016
velvet scrunchie
balled up money
I feel funny I feel funny
wet feet
dead meat
you and me
are dead meat

ripped tights
bug bites
another street fight
my wings are damp kites
forgot a light,
can I *** yours?

scratched disks,
you are the sound I missed when the record skipped

someone said I belong in a trash bin
broken chin
crooked grin
too thin too thin
tattoos made with a safety pins

yes she was star lit,
lying face down on the carpet
I love her this way
wish she'd pass out here everyday

I got voicemail again!
I write these letters
and you never respond
would you like me better if I said something nice about your sweater?

I feel sick again
fever, chills, muscle aches
it only happens when you flake
it only happens when you flake
I think I have the flu
ya I probably do
this cant be heart break
no it cant be heart break

you call me glum chum
I think I know why
I haven't smiled in awhile
I have scars on my thighs
I drink wine, get high
spill about how much I hate life

you call me glum chum
but I wipe crumbs off your
mouth with my thumb
don't play dumb
don't play dumb
also don't swallow your gum
Writing things when your heart hurts and reading them when it doesn't
b e mccomb Jan 2021
cold string lights
warm street lights

sweater
scrunchie
mask
mittens

fogged over
grey bus ride
it's always
morning
in this world
i've made for myself

tapping keys and
blazing screens and
soft wooden
electronica dreams

coffee cups with
grease on the outside
and swirling flakes
of keep it together girl

don't let your
fingers freeze
and hope that
your toes get warm

and at night pull
the velvety clouds
over your eyes
after you slip down
like hot wax
off a candle

washed down with
soap and daily regrets
washed down with
cold wine and ink

wash
rinse
repeat
tomorrow
but for
right now

*it's all over now
baby blue
copyright 1/29/21 by b. e. mccomb
Audrey Feb 2015
thank you kyler, you were my first
right in the back seat of your car
first in front of my house at two am
and then later in a grocery store parking lot a few blocks down
with foggy windows and clothes that took a while to find again
I only told you I loved you when you ****** inside of me
with new car smell and broken condoms.
You pinned me up against your car
in the parking lot of stadium thrift way.
baptized my neck with hickeys after I cried about issues with my dad.
I broke your heart I guess
i'm not that sorry

thank you Donald, I fell for you
sneaking over to your house
or up to my bedroom
or on every couch in my living room
even in a public park
the first time we kissed, we stood in my empty living room. you made fun of me for standing on my toes.
I fed you leftover Thai food as we snuck kisses in the kitchen and then crawled out on the porch.
I sat in your lap. you put your hand between my legs.
you felt more experienced and more apathetic, making me feel small and childish
you thought you had taken my virginity, but you had just taken an old phone charger and a yellow hat
you told me through a text
'I just don't see where this is going'

thank you Cassius, with shocking white hair.
infatuation isn't a word strong enough.
'don't u know vandalism is illegal?' id say.
you hid a smile when you caught my eyes in the back of jacob's show
you'd say 'what can I give u for a cigarette?
a lighter, 50 cents, or a kiss?'
we almost did it in the back of your friends car
with your **** out, your friends came back in and we threw a coat over your lap
sneaking into a construction site, I sat on a dusty shelf and you ****** me
I left my scrunchie on the ground in there, and you pulled out and came on it
I never got it back
you said once 'I'm always sad, and whenever Im happy
I just get more sad'
sneaking into your bathroom
turning the shower on
pushing me up against a wall
I liked the way you held my hands
and wrapped me in your arms.
sneaking my fingers into yours and you responded eagerly.
out of breath, you'd say 'I need a cigarette'
Steph's Corner Oct 2013
-
Sour drinks and parochial doilies don’t go together/ My impermanent knee protrudes from the pretentious slash of your jeans/ My hair is the anti-cliche, the counter-perfect, the poofy dry to your flat and mediocre shine/ The sides and crevices turn black within seconds, like marks on my soul, mirroring the hidden cavities of my teeth/ Why do I need a phone when you never call? Why do I brush my teeth when they will eventually fall?/ My blocked nasal is similar to your blocked mind/ Your anger does not affect me, it only kills you/ Her black scrunchie is like the black hole, an entangled abyss against her snowy grandma hair.
Lily Feb 2020
She never failed to mesmerize,
The poetry girl
With the rich maple eyes.

Her jungle of hair flourished on her head,
Contained by a green scrunchie
While the bangs on her forehead were spread.

A bite of the nails, a twist of the hair,
A brush of the bangs,
And her voice echoed like a call to prayer.

She goes to IHOP every weekend, knows the menu by heart,
Lives on pancakes and unlimited coffee,
Although she has been known to dabble with egg tarts.

She pulled her knees up to her chest,
Two Crocs, one green, one white,
Her gaze as stalwart as a tree in a forest.

When she spoke, her thoughts came out like trails of smoke,
Littering the room with her personality,
Those scraps of beauty as powerful as a thunderstroke.

She never failed to mesmerize,
The poetry girl
With the rich maple eyes.
OnwardFlame Jun 2019
On the weekends
On these coming summer weekends
I'll dress up and lean into the wind.

My hair it grows
My arm is inked
I work and I try to have a lot of fun.

The boys are
One noted in some ways
I never thought
I'd come to a place
Where they'd echo all around
"I'm not looking for anything serious."

I've heard that phrase so many times now
I never enjoy it
But I no longer let myself feel defined by it.

I am a powerful, ******, in charge of my own self
Being
And I don't have to allow myself to feel small
From anyone.

I wore holographic stickers on my eyes
I was feeling a little bit weak
In my flowered dress
A good friend gave me a choker to match
Somedays I wear pjs all day
And not a lick of make up.

His moves in the bedroom were so
Touching
We seemed to speak the same language
With kisses and grabs
Rough playfulness
The photo I had drawn of me
Reminds me of the ****** positivity
I advocate and believe
Heartily in.

I'm not worried about
I let it just
Roll off
Sometimes somedays
I see myself more clearly
After working through a lot
The south reaches for me
With its long lean pampas grass
And Spanish Moss
Arms.

I know I could stay here all the while
But its just too cold
Its perfect right now
We feel it in our lips
My grief of the past
Lingers in different forms now
But the darkness of it
I feel I've overcome it
Finishing projects
Starting new ones.

Enjoying.
Resting.
Recovering.
Building.
Living.
KB Jan 2019
i tie and retie my hair w the same scrunchie that you gave me 5.6 years ago hoping your cinnamon eyes will return my gaze but the purple clouds at sunrise can't and won't blow out the fire in my bones fast enough to look away, the railing on our front porch is falling apart for the first time since we bought this haunted place but I don't have the guts to get out my silver hammer and whack the nails back into place the way you carry around a loaded heart & never hit my love out of bounds, but still past the field where we used to play baseball as kids, the same bases that I fell for something about you in black & white nights red lipstick stains & dainty gifts, we didn't need to watch fireworks every 1st of July because we had sparks inside of us but we did anyway, I'm not sure why, & it was till 2:13 every night that you still had me on your mind till the next phone call in off white and spearmints green
Andreas S Mar 2015
We had a great time
well, I had, with breathing
your chestnut hair, tied with a scrunchie.

Others say you had a great time
you got everything from me
and I didn’t expect anything back.

Well, I did, although I never admitted,
but you always knew,
and worried about it.
I expected you,
and didn’t get you,
and despaired of not getting you.

But by giving all I had
and despairing of all I’d wanted
I’ve let passion shape me
in her own image
so that I am now
what I all but like about me.
kodi Jan 2020
i want to shave my legs, i want to be a girl again
i want to be like you, i want to be feminine
i want to be pretty, i want to wear pink
i want to pluck my eyebrows, i want to wear a dress

i want to paint my nails, i want to wear lipstick
i want to have the softest skin, i want to wear the pinkest blush

i want to write queer poetry, i want to write love songs
i want to be gay, i want to be a lesbian
i want to write about your *****
i want to write about my lack of a *****

i want to wear cute glasses — i have cute glasses
i want my hair to fall down to my lower back
i want to tuck it behind my ears
i want to put it in pigtails, i want to wear it in a scrunchie

i want to be a feminist
i want to be an intersectional feminist
i want to be an angry feminist

i don’t want to suffer under patriarchy
i don’t want to be told to be quiet a man is talking
i don’t want to be told to smile
i don’t want to be stared at with beady eyes
i don’t want to be *****
i don’t want to feel unsafe

i want to feel free, i want to be me
i want to be published
i want to win poetry prizes
i want to show trans girls that we can do anything
Nigdaw Jun 2019
There's a ******* the checkout
With long blond hair
Restrained in a scrunchie
At the back of her head
Scanning scanning, far away
Smile, looking past groceries
To a future self

I see a dream under that uniform
I see a freedom in that face
She knows there is a future
But it's not held in this space
Uncloned and unchained, one day
She will fly, on the wings of a voice
With stardoms far cry

A till away sits her broken dream
She's about forty, slightly grey
Last week on a warning for being
Late, her dreams have succumbed
To a different fate, she had wished once
For a chance to be free, but now
Has become part of the corporate machine
Michelle A Ford Dec 2020
The Red Carpet was adorned with Stars dressed to the Heavens

Bejeweled with Dior the smell was effervescent

We took to stare at our wishes come to life

Reenacting our worlds pains and struggles

If perfection were to be a thing this was where it was happening


Oh how I always personally wished

A passion to pursue in the big bowl of fish

Little Orphan Annie now tatted with the sun

Mediocre just will not do

Then family and life began as they often choose to


Raised in the Church

many a village of People

Never losing hope but whoa along the way

My dignity sanity and dreams all the same

God Blessed and Thankfully my mercy my babies

Now on two failed marriages and a train wreck resume

My Children also wonder what happened to me

Ill save the story as you may already know



I have lived a great life always doing as told

Deep deep inside secrets I will hold

\Back to the carpet and the first Dell I received

Working at a job where it turned real queer /

I was a technician yeah Cable Girl is a thing

I rocked of course wearing my 1st ring

The purchase of the Dell and the Highway to the World

Holy ***%%   did my head take a nose diving swirl

^^^Inverted

Psych wards and pill or were they potions for pain

In the Dell mirror everyone knew my ****%$# name

I now became an addict again but not the same

Literally smoking in the mirror of heaven hell life and pain


I quoted Jim Carrey and that **** Truman Show

Was it a warning now the  f^ck if I know!!

End of marriage two now on its way
Still my mercy and grace tatted on my right forearm
Jason Maraz so it never goes away
I wont give up
Its not something I do
Just a **** ton of unanswered and *** do I dos


NOW here is the kicker hold on to your ticker!!

What if I was a star to some reality type life

Never knowing I was doing anything but living right?

Would there be a hero ..... is where I get stuck

I am quite a bada$$ no need I am my own luck?


So as you all know I do not watch much TV

As my kids will tell you fast asleep I will be

I love Nicole Kidman and of course Aquaman

So off to the living room and popcorn in hand


That day it got weirder you see

Oddly that reflection was looking into me

Yeah I know shell relax....take another pill

But **** got crazier even and still!!!!

It is like my brain did a huge back flip in my head

I have no idea just *** have I been dead?


Countless conversations over 20 plus years..........

Things started falling in place

Like *** am I doing here

Too many levels to this Crazy life

Which reality is the less strife


On a pink scrunchie day

This Crazy Train had enough

I am  a panda....YOUR my WHO?????

Holy FU%%%%% ENOUGH



Princess of Darkness now lets add that too

Watched by the world

Here take them ******* and your sparkly shoes

So off to Thelma and bottle of Fireball

That is it FCU%$ this I cant take no more!!


We talked about the day we smoke some grass

I told her I saw some **** today on puff puff pass

Imma skip today that was my forward pass
\
/
I woke in a tub of ***** and shame

to my oldest to collect me oh how that pain

All the years I tried to save them from this

I saw my oldest disgusted
and i knew
He was ******!!

As I type this I cry for me and my children

What ifs still fly and now no identity

Maybe God still has a plan for me?????


Christmas upon us and I wont lie

I see a pink scrunchie in my head is that too a lie??


My DNA and odd bank accounts.............


You can keep it all count me out......


My Christmas wish in case and before I die

Is to know if that man does talk to Fish

He has been through my whole life ..... isnt that a hitch???

I am back at St. Mikes sooooooo many years ago
We all were the BEST as all of you KNOW

In the All American City
I now prove to you Jesus is real and witty!!

adorned with my Hat given to me by my 2nd son
and the name Mierk and I love me a nerd??

That is hotter than any red carpet!!

At the end of the day yall do what do

Gods got my back and now my front too!!


I stand firm beaten mangled forked most times at the tounge
Shaking and Roaring his will will never be undone

Thankful even more still 3 days till his birth

Merry Christmas You filthy Animals ;)
for
What that's all worth


I love you all <3
kain Jul 2020
Imagine having that perfect highschool boyfriend
Being one of those couples in the halls
Hugging before each class
Kissing after school
Wearing his hoodie
While he wears your scrunchie

Imagine staying up late facetiming
Falling asleep to his voice from your phone
Holding hands when you walk together
All your friends talking about how cute you are
Holding a special place in someone's heart
And being so open about it

Imagine being enough to have that
These aren't even relationships that only exist on tv. I knew couples who did the scrunchie thing in freshman year. I know couples who do all of this still.
I can't imagine what that must be like for them.
Cassie Sep 2021
my fingers intertwine when you
stand next to me
your body a showing of creation

glitter eyes I catch through a counter
crooked teeth
gaze floats in a smile

though the headset beeps
my head freezes
when your hair grazes my arm

a gold band chokes like
the scrunchie on your head

upper lower back aches yet
it's past twelve as I watch you
mop the floors
sandra wyllie May 2020
it in a martini glass
her frown is covered
in a scrunchie
she stole at the CVS
her lipstick sticks to it

She masks
it in a poem
she throws em
about birds and trees

She masks
it to the man
behind the door
as she stands outside
inches from his face

She masks
it as she sings
behind dark sunglasses
that covers her iris

The world is masked
in the virus
so nobody sees

— The End —