"unbreak" poems
Sometimes the enemy is myself
In the fight for my will to live
An inner conflict that occurs
More often than I care to admit
Approaching myself with utmost care
As if I am a war torn child
Who is use to conflict yet still afraid
Like bulletproof glass that's fragile
Jan 18, 2019
Jan 18, 2019 at 8:29 PM UTC
We did not ask for agreements or signatures
even a due diligence, check out each others
entrails, internet outcomes, criminal records
social security numbers
marriage licenses, children's ages, moles
on our mountains of doubt
even a fingerprint on a bare breast
phone numbers, mates and mistresses
drinking and smoking habits
salad preferences, vegan, bogan or whatever.
We did, however, listen to that heartbeat
the words we spoke, the pictures we drew
finished, the colours that we painted
between rainbows
and the children we dreamed
who would look like you and me
if ever born
and how smart they would be
and as naughty as those little titters
of laughter, that cleared every checkbox.
on this shopping list for a mate!
We knew that this partnership existed
there was nothing we could do
to unbreak this bond that grew
from a tiny little seed
into this one big giant momentum
of togetherness.
That's a worthwhile partnership
several levels above commercial simplicity.
Author Notes
The romance continues.......
© Marshall Gass. All rights reserved, a month ago
Nov 1, 2014
Nov 1, 2014 at 5:37 PM UTC
You were born better than me for now
More prepared, your skin smoother, even,
Your black boots that look like
They’ve been licked by junkies
Your oil-eyes are able to divide the images
T.V. orange and a tangerine
One is not the other
When I will seep inside the hole in you head
I’ll pick and pull to get you
Really get you
Before your full mouth moves
I’ll nod and tell you
Quiet quiet, I know I know
I am an idiot, I run scared
I hide in cars, I cry at celebrity gossip
The red carpet is the ****** scene
Your tongue rolls the same way
Unrolls, let’s the stars fall out
Then rolls, let’s me disappear inside
I hate myself
I reach for better thing than the sky
I grab your hand in mine and I reach for
Toy monsters
For romances written by wine and fuck-buddies
For meaningless problems
For music carved in plastic
I let you unguide me, undo the zipper, unbreak my glasses, the ones that are tiny mirrors
But then you speak
And it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen
So
I make surgeries on myself like a night-doctor
I build a tree house in a pear tree that you can’t see
Yes, that’s me buried up to my head in your yard
Yes, that’s me telling strangers I am dying of sadness and lack of substance
Yes, that’s me trying to fit in your head
Yes, this is me setting myself on fire wearing nothing but your black boots
I win.
Keep ignoring me
I write better poetry (and we all know I hate poetry)
La. La. La. La.
The cursed and fated prince had prophesies, I’ve got soap operas
I’ve got night and nights of blank, blank, ****
I’ve got a freezer-burnt heart
And pictures of you drinking neon drinks
I’ve got the dichotomy and pungent mixture of art and **** of God found in the gutter
You’re drinking anti-freeze aren’t you?
That would mean so much if you were
Keep ignoring me
I’ll send you my hands when you’re done with them
They won’t work
But you can touch yourself with them
They will be gray
Paint them red
A red that can’t wash off.
Mar 27, 2011
Mar 27, 2011 at 9:55 AM UTC
butterflies love the blood,
tumbling about in bellies,
whisk it away, the way we pray,
a bird being carried by a breeze,
lifted essence, manifested,
heart shade, finally, at ease,
signal came through,
translated to
sharpened claws,
unclenched jaws -
unthought it all while sober -
*you came as ocean, as breeze,
as birds, as leaves,
as hues and blues,
sunshines and moons,
and you left as you pleased,
opened my mouth wide to cry for you,
praise you,
love you, raise you above
what I've said in silence,
unbreak the trust I betrayed in private,
you came as hearts, as people I've known,
and stories never told, as whispers,
as hugs, and as kisses,
as melodies, repeatedly on my brain, as so,
absent of you,
I came to know you:*
butterflies love the blood,
dying slowly from the greed,
whisk it away, the way I pray,
would ask for your forgiveness,
but I know there is no need,
I feel you in the leaps
of knowing when to regret,
and when to let it be,
summon the tides stronger
aside dying suns, each day,
each night I pray for you to call upon me,
like you did when I was your favourite color,
pray for you to love the me now, and be sure of no other,
so if I adjust the pitch,
tune the sounds to form around
your wisdom, or pretty eyes,
maybe the melody will reach you again,
if not for love,
lost at sea,
then for truth,
and maybe friends we'll be,
no longer eclipsed by rumors
Jul 11, 2014
Jul 11, 2014 at 4:13 PM UTC
the sickest part
about realizing you are in love with someone
is figuring out that
they don't have to love you back
we believe that
the person that we hold closest to us
should hold onto us just as tightly
sometimes they can't
because they are too busy
holding onto someone else
who isn't holding them back either
and the trend goes on forever.
so after all of this, here i am
sitting on the edge of another strangers bed
coughing up all the 'i love you's that were said to me
but never meant for me
i realize now that curses don't always unbreak
the past is tied to you
like cinder blocks around your ankles
and pressing hard against your chest
like the weight of his other woman
your true loves kiss
wont fix a **** thing
if the love isnt mutual
lately ive learned that
it is sometimes better when you get stuck
kissing your own wounds
and sometimes is always
i never believed that i was somebody
that someone else could love again
thank you for proving me right
Nov 23, 2015
Nov 23, 2015 at 12:12 AM UTC
Tell them everything & don't leave out the good parts
Hell bent whispers for desperate listeners
I'm not proud of the things we did
No, it didn't work out ... we were just kids
Knowing I stand tall in courage to leave
Go on and tell them why I needed to flee
Oh, everyone is talking about me
Oh, I've kept it mute so you wouldn't fall
Don't leave out the good parts, tell it all!
Tell them everything & in between
How you've become so mean... you've got your story & I got mine
Oh, the secrets you've told me
Uh, were a waste of my time
Good sweet lies as you said " I love you"
How do you feel now? Seeing me rise above you
Tell em how you broke my heart
Should have left but was blinded from the start
Just continuous restless nights
Knowing my decision was right
Fine lines were breaking
Unbreak my heart now that beats to a different drum
Continuous agony has made me go numb
Knowing **** well it was all affecting me
You tarnish my character just so you can look clean
Oh, after it all. I promised to never fall
Uh, at least tell them I'm a good kisser.
Think Good Thoughts! JK! **** You!
Jul 9, 2018
Jul 9, 2018 at 11:55 PM UTC
To unbreak a heart
Is to be alive
when you feel death all around you
It's to smile
when all your tears are melting through your pores
It's to be happy
when sadness owns your every breath
It's to pretend the impossible is happening
when you know the reality of it all
To unbreak a heart
Is to never have been in love
It's to wash your hands of the past
when your present is made up of ever present memories
It's to make believe you never believed
when you've still got a ray of hope
It's to laugh out loud
when your insides feel like they're collapsing
To unbreak a heart
Is to a tell a lie
To cross your heart and hope to die
To recognize your faults and forgive his sins
To pray for forgiveness
To lose the fight and learn to live with regrets
To marry out of connivence
To unbreak a heart is to have never loved at all
Sep 28, 2013
Sep 28, 2013 at 1:56 PM UTC
I reassemble,
The wind flows backwards to your hands,
I am returning from whatever version of “beyond” you choose to believe,
Each particle caring a manifest blessing back with it.
Perhaps tears flow up your face, retracing the progression of grief down your cheek.
Or maybe I was an awful at the end and in rewind you whisper “dead is ***** old that god thank.”
But either way that is the past… or the future,
It isn’t prudent to examine such distinctions now
It’s movement not direction that matters.
My form is re-forged by fire,
My bones smoothing in the heat
My flesh hardens from liquid to coalesce around my uncooking muscles,
And still I rewind,
Personality and character drifting through the cobweb wrinkles of my skin,
Till somewhere in the dynamo of my body my heart finally beats its last *** ba”… and then it’s second to last.
How strange is a life lived backwards?
Would words taste different in my mouth, have new meaning in rewind,
Would I find satanic messages in my everyday phrases or just speak in nonsense, a string of “a-blah-blah” that takes too long to be made sense of.
How different would my actions be?
My hands could peel away bruises, unbreak eggs, and **** insults out of the air
Yet who would be responsible for these miracles,
Some dreadful foreword version of myself.
Mar 16, 2013
Mar 16, 2013 at 10:30 PM UTC
(song)
Talk to me, trust me to listen
Allow me see what everyone else has been missin'
Feel free to be exactly the person you are
Call out to me knowing I'll never be too far
I know you've been hurt, I know I've played a part
Allow me the chance to unbreak your broken heart
I understand your stance on never again
I just want to see that smile returned to my best friend
Tell me,
What makes you happy and
Tell me,
What makes you sad
Tell me your best day and every one that's turned out bad
Tell me,
What makes you laugh and
Tell me,
What makes you mad
Tell me your nightmares and every dream you've ever had
Step to the side and I'll respect the space
Turn to me when in need of a warm embrace
When you have something to say I'll be a captivated audience
When you can't find the words, we can sit here in silence
If you want to fly I'll help mold your wings
Let us set sail to find what tomorrow brings
The future is unknown, let's write out own ending
You could do it alone, I know, so know it's a desire to be accompanying
Tell me,
What makes you happy and
Tell me,
What makes you sad
Tell me your best day and every one that's turned out bad
Tell me,
What makes you laugh and
Tell me,
What makes you mad
Tell me your nightmares and every dream you've ever had
We aren't perfect, never strive too
Two broken people applying our own glue
We want but we don't need
Together, never been more free
Making this breed of love we feeeeeeeel more than real
Tell me,
What makes you happy and
Tell me,
What makes you sad
Tell me your best day and every one that's turned out bad
Tell me,
What makes you laugh and
Tell me,
What makes you mad
Tell me your nightmares and every dream you've ever had
(Possible bridge or outro)
...makes you happy...makes you sad
...your best day... rescript the bad
... your laughter...so cute when mad
...together in all the dreams being had
©2023
Feb 23, 2023
Feb 23, 2023 at 1:32 PM UTC
So you have an email that won’t get to me
So you have a life that’s fancy-free
So you have some dogs and mis’rable wife too
So you have your gun
And you have your excuse
So you have a few pictures, pictures of me
So you have some fake little stories
So you have new family and the sun’s shining too
So you have your addiction
And you have your excuse
Excuses, excuses
I’m so tired.
Excuses, excuses
They’re not enough to unbreak my heart
And they’re not enough to heal these scars
You went with the wind, changed my world
You left with no sign, not even goodbye
No apology, just a lie
So I’m supposed to let it go
So I’m supposed to be the adult
So I’m supposed to forgive and forget
How can I if you don’t regret it
Breaking my heart, weaving your lie
Spitting your words, making me cry
Cry, cry, cry, cry
How can I forgive? you’re not sorry.
How can I live? you took my life.
How can I believe you? all you do is lie.
How can I?
I’ve been hurt more than anyone should
All at your hand
So now it’s goodbye, goodbye for good.
Aug 11, 2012
Aug 11, 2012 at 6:14 AM UTC
It's like
I would give anything to be melting into your lips right now
To have you pull your fingers through my hair, ripping out the split ends and insecurities, wanting to make me feel perfect for you again
And I
Would take your face in my hands and press it closer, making me your mask as we try to unbreak the relationship that's broken
And the hushed, delicate murmur of our hearts would beat against each other's bodies in the perfect silence
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Feb 18, 2013
Feb 18, 2013 at 9:18 PM UTC
If I could find a smile,
I'd find it deep within you.
If I could hear a laugh,
I'd make you giggle so true.
If I could feel the love,
I'd give it back but more.
If I could unbreak my heart,
these tears wouldn't be so sore.
If I could have a chance,
I'd turn your life around.
If I could turn back time,
I'd save you from the ground.
R.I.P. Big brother. I miss you.
Jul 15, 2012
Jul 15, 2012 at 4:52 AM UTC
I await the calm, the bleach
of night, that chapter
when my ribs
unbreak, crawl back
around my cageless heart. eyelids
weigh like lead in this cruel gravity--
they swell faster than tears. tears
that fail to surge me out of this flooded
shell; they close
like every marble door
that stands straight between my dreams
and I,
and you-- I await
you, draped in downpours & monsoon
tempests; maybe, this time, our wildest
winds would fade out in their collision.
Sep 24, 2020
Sep 24, 2020 at 5:27 AM UTC
If we don't fix ourselves,
We'll have to deal with all these broken smiles
As well as broken hearts
And if we don't teach ourselves
We'll fall behind someone who's fixed themself
With a hammering heart beat
Yeah no more broken parts..
Don't try to be perfect
'Cause you're not it
You are beautiful
And believe me that's more worth it
But don't deny a love that'll fix you
'Cause one day it'll hit you
Like a house of cards
Oh its a broken heart
Not a broken life
Or soul.
Mar 20, 2014
Mar 20, 2014 at 6:16 PM UTC
Saying what I feel
Ain't no easy feat
Yearning for something that
Isn't what it's meant to be
Lying through my teeth
Over and under again
Vouch for my existence
Even though it's through a pen
Yearn for me
Over many a mile
Unbreak my heart and open a smile.
Feb 26, 2010
Feb 26, 2010 at 7:42 PM UTC
First he wont stop hurting me
Then they don't believe me
And lie to my face sayin' they do
I know them, I know you!
You just don't wanna let me go
She told me the whole **** thing!
I'm on my last string
Now I walk home, and text
It's from her, my best friend
She texts me sayin' "u ok?"
Then she made an irritated face
Goin: colon, rightslash
She don't know what to believe
They broke my last string
And I was singing
a little Taylor Swift
Then I just sat down on that metal bar, on my home
Three boys 2 or so years older then me
Said "Why you cryin'" and I just hadda show them me
I said they broke my last string!
So I was talkin' to them
They said they'd take care of him
Gave hugs and then stopped cryin'
I thought they we're my friends
After the hugs and after the scarce
I said something and yeah I dared
To say "What the hell do you want"
When his ring tone came on
He was calling me
But he, but she, broke my last string
I called my best friend
She's the only one who believed me at all!
And she tried everything she could to get me to smile
But I cried more and for a while
And nothing could unbreak me
And they broke my last string!
Jun 19, 2010
Jun 19, 2010 at 4:21 PM UTC
i think the reason why i fell so deeply and helplessly and utterly in love with him was that he was not broken. i thought that maybe loving him would somehow unbreak me, make me a little less shattered than i was. i have seen and felt and fallen and broken and aged and heard and been more than i ought to have but there's nothing i can do about that now. and so i was drawn to his innocent, unbridled naïveté, which may as well be the last thing that has been left untouched by the bitter darkness of this world.
May 1, 2016
May 1, 2016 at 10:34 PM UTC
If the fairy tales and happy endings
were not what I deserve,
then give me a tragedy and
make me an outlaw
I will learn not to curse
but strengthen my grimace
and try forever
to unbreak my heart.
Sep 13, 2014
Sep 13, 2014 at 4:44 AM UTC
the blink that releases the tear that all lovers fight,
the day that all lovers dread,
the words that all lovers despise,
the pain no lover ever wants to feel...
as a lover of all things,
it amazes me how that blink, that day, those words and that pain always finds a way back to me
like a firefly moving hurriedly through the night, I find myself back in this familiar darkness
I find myself alone and afraid, searching for the light, yet again
I find myself hopeful that you will be the one to come and provide that light
I find myself waiting patiently for your return
I find myself hoping endlessly that this is your idea of a cruel joke
The memories, they haunt me
Small moments of what used to be happiness turn into reminders that we are no more
The silence, it eats away at me
Being left alone with my thoughts turns into an earful of tears
The music, it speaks for me
Every song on the radio turns into the soundtrack of my life
The heartbreak, it controls me
Those butterflies that once occupied the pit of my stomach turned into bees that sting with every aching heartbeat
Who says time heals all?
From everything to nothing in the blink of an eye
I don't doubt that it will take an eternity of blinks to fill this void
This emptiness, this loneliness, this sadness...
Falling out of love is far too difficult..
Won't you catch me?
Your hands are the only ones that possess the power to unbreak my heart
From now until you're mine again, no one else will have the opportunity to get close enough to even try
What am I supposed to do with this heart of mine?
It belongs to you...it always has, it always will
This power you have over me...I call it love
I loved you then, I love you now and I will love you forever
One of these days, I'll blink and you'll be back
I'll be awaiting that day just as the moon waits for nightfall
Is that foolish? I don't care
In love and war, everything isn't fair
We have to grow alone in order to grow together
Nothing but sunlight can follow this stormy weather
So until next time my dear lover,
I will never love another...
Ex's & O's
</3
Jul 7, 2014
Jul 7, 2014 at 10:55 PM UTC
**All Hours of the Night
there's a war going on inside us all
don't get up...
I brought a storm chaser to deter the turbulence
I know the effect of a lightning strike
that's my love smeared everywhere
If I could channel the glow that powers the well
where beautiful grows in the eyes of of a girl
who believes in a boy
that digs her mind more than her behind
til it's pipe time...
between me and the walls
I need a big score
I could double down on the underdog
everyone leans on the longshot
false hope
false God
I bet on love... I always bet on love
there are no shortcuts
you believe in ya boy like smart is ****
I wanna stand
with more than my mishaps in my hand...
an educated man
before your open book
and scale the pages in braille
with my big imagination
what does it say in there
about mind ****** before marriage
I'm not settling on secondhand joy
If I could just channel the glow...
and if I could recall the way to its light source;
love is the one thing
no other divine thing persists without
All Hours of the Night
there's a war going on inside us all
don't mind me...
I sleepwalk around in my sin
every mortal moment and again
that rust colored stain on the corner
is what's left of my lust;
can't be rinsed away
a trick I should have never entertained
any ****** could tell
it's always love
streaming live in hi-def through your brown eyes
if I could direct the energy
that mains the intensity
it takes to unbreak a guiltless heart
the bass would pulsate like saintly drums;
biblical horn sections
don't get up...
His Majesty will find you
between me you and the walls
I need a big score
more than pipe time most mid-mornings
I could have gone against the odds
if the purse were the purpose
I'm not a gambling man
I'm not afraid of being the favorite
or favoring one thing
love is the one thing
no other divine thing persists without
you are my one thing
All Hours of the Night
our glow powers the well
where beautiful grows in the eyes of a boy
who believes in a girl
more conscious of his brilliance than his abilities
I believe in us. Smart is ****
this book is about you
all verses in cursive and indelible ink
the master key
the last and only link to the hilltop
I bet on love... I always bet on love
your lifeline is the way to its light source
no shortcuts
my world in the palm of your hand
your touch alone
is why I know the effect of a lightning strike...
there's a war going on inside us all
less settling than white noise by now
I've learned to ignore the static**
May 14, 2014
May 14, 2014 at 6:16 PM UTC
Insecure smiles spread thin.
Their veneer is old.
The cracks are showing.
I look inside each crevice.
Peering deep inside, I see the hurting soul.
Black, cold, straining towards the light.
I move to another wound.
This one cries out.
Aching to be heard.
It tells me to break the shell.
Open the wound.
"Let them see!"
The cry is heard only by me.
The room is filled with hurting hearts.
They drown out the other voices, hearing only their own.
All but me.
I hear.
It takes a mended heart to unbreak another.
Oct 10, 2011
Oct 10, 2011 at 6:56 PM UTC
I run with all my might
Can’t put up a fight
Whether I run left or right
I can never find the light
Consistently sprinting into the night
Never gaining ground
Always fallin’ down
I feel like I’m gonna drown
In my own helplessness
Reverse exodus
Is this my personal pestilence?
How did I become so broken?
With all this burning emotion
Broken spirit
Broken heart
Broken person
I need somebody to save me
Pull me from the fire
Wash away my blood
Show me love
But where can I find this someone?
All I desire is healing
Nothing else is even appealing
Here I am kneeling
Begging to be free
Savior, unbreak me.
Dec 17, 2013
Dec 17, 2013 at 1:46 PM UTC
I was supposed to be somewhere holy by now.
Twenty-eight, maybe.
Soft-eyed, loose-shouldered,
eating cherries on a porch that faces west,
“I trust the sky not to drop me.”
“I haven’t wished on a coin in months.”
Instead, I’m awake at 3:47 a.m.
Googling “What does it mean to feel inside-out?”
I keep finding pieces of myself
in weird places—
a sandal from eighth grade
in my mom’s basement—
a song I skipped for years
until it wrecked me—
now it’s the only sound I can breathe to.
A fourth grade diary entry
that ends with:
“I think something’s wrong with the air.”
I think something’s wrong with the air.
I was so sure by now I’d
quit making altars out of absence,
retire from bleeding for the line break,
know how to hold still when people love me.
I thought I’d hear God more clearly
and panic less when I don’t.
I thought I’d be done
being undone
by
a read receipt.
/ Then the break. /
And yet.
I flinch at compliments
like they’re coming from behind me.
Sometimes I still check
if my name’s spelled right on things.
I still rehearse
what I’ll say in case I’m asked,
“So, what do you do?”
(I become.
I break and unbreak.
I drink soda in bed and call that healing.
I make it to morning and call that enough.)
I keep living like the soft things won’t leave.
There’s a version of me
who doesn’t bend into a wishbone
for every boy with a god complex—
and a version
who flosses because she thinks she’ll live
long enough
for it to matter.
There’s a version who never had to explain
the scars on her thigh.
A version who didn’t stay
just to see how bad it could get.
I keep dreaming of her.
Not to compete—
just to confess.
Not to ask forgiveness—
to give it.
She sleeps through the night and means it.
She makes plans and keeps them.
She doesn’t exist.
So I just keep writing toward something
I’m not sure I’ll survive.
There’s a version of me
who didn’t touch the red button.
Didn’t ask.
Didn’t hope.
Didn’t write any of this down.
Apr 18, 2025
Apr 18, 2025 at 9:01 AM UTC
she's not just another pretty face
she's got cuts and scars
but to me she is beautiful in so many ways
i know the song in her heart
she only sings to me ....
can't you see
Can't you see
Oh Cant You See
Can't you see what this love is doing me
Can't you see
if i was gone tomorrow....
would you even care would you even sorrow....
expressed the feelings you bare
if you had the last words to say to this man
what would they be baby
can you tell me why have everything went so crazy
what's the game of life all about
i once heard somebody say
once you're in, you're in, you can't get out
it's on you how you gonna play
it's up to you to choose
roll the dice win or lose
it's the chances that you take
the decisions that you make
you can put on the brake
and play it safe
or just like love put your
heart all in and watch it break
and there you are
back at the beginning of the race
Can't you see
Oh Cant You See
Can't you see what this love is doing me
Can't you see
if i was gone tomorrow....
would you even care would you even sorrow....
expressed the feelings you bare
if you had the last words to say to this man
what would they be baby
can you tell me why have everything went so crazy
just be sincere
and hold me near
whisper in my ear
words I wished to hear
unbreak my heart
take away my tears
Let me know you are really there
It's so hard I swear
all this wear and tear
has smeared
my heart with lies and fear
If I could only reach the stars
fly past the moon, I would give you the sun
just to reach out and touch you
Just let the world around us fall apart
we can make this dream last
baby if we are heart to heart
i know we disagree
but baby please hear me out
I'm missing you
but baby tell me
are you missing me
all these sleepless nights
without you here are tearing me apart
I swear my love to you
this time there's no doubt
that together we can work it out
cant you see what it is you mean to me
my heart bleeds without you in my life its killlin me
Can't you see
Can't you see
Oh Cant You See
Can't you see what this love is doing me
Can't you see
if i was gone tomorrow....
would you even care would you even sorrow....
expressed the feelings you bare
if you had the last words to say to this man
what would they be baby
can you tell me why have everything went so crazy
Feb 12, 2015
Feb 12, 2015 at 8:46 PM UTC