I step outside Of the curtain lining To tell you the truth But you’ve already gone to work
I step outside To my midsummer garden Cos it’s all about myself In my own little world
And in my opinion, it wasn’t meant to be I see it in the palms of my hands See it in the trees But looking at past daydreams I so wanted it to be A universe where things could work out for me (playing the victim?)
Poem: Haunted (continued)
In the grand scheme of things They’re always listening Don’t pay much attention to it cos I spend my days dreaming Future apartments with bay windows New acrylic nail salons Runs with my dog on Lake Shore Drive
You could have just told me Though you did in your own way I made sure to Curl up in a blanket I didn’t cry at first But then the weekend came I was tangled and interwoven into you and me again
You should have just Taken it out on me You should’ve just – You should’ve just – But you stopped yourself. I don’t get how You didn’t take it out on me You should’ve – You should’ve – But you stopped yourself.
Poem: Haunted (continued)
In an arboretum I found truly my favourite flowers Next few hours, you grew so bored, I thought you would fall straight into your hands The thorns from the castle drains would Stop to tell you that This wasn’t exactly Part of her plan. I grew quite timid Wasn’t born to be an alarm clock So I let you sleep the next day while I did my own thing The thing was, it was my birthday And anyone knows that can have meaning So it isn’t worth the frame-worked lawsuit The heavy weight in my mind
You shouldn’t have Taken it out on me I thought we were different people Living new lives, so it seemed. You shouldn’t have chosen To take it out on me I thought we had become new In the grand scheme of things.
Poem: Haunted (continued)
Fortune surrounds you So I’m in a blanket Wishing you well in skyscraper heaven. If you turned around, To retrieve your belongings –
My apartment would be empty, But it would still be haunted.
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Free verse poem: This is my castle (they built it for the queen)
All I want is some wine To know that you’ve tried But I don’t get what I want, but in case you forgot, This is my castle; they built it for the queen I’ve gone by my nickname since I was nineteen I picked the cherry stems just fine Wrapped them around you in due, hazel time Not unsettled by rage, only burnt by hot sunshine There is a time and a place For letting me go tonight I can only live in shades of blue for so long
You’ll call when you’re drinking But the rosemary and fever dream has me thinking That in this warm abyss, I’m finally putting myself first I’m the most decadent of late-night desserts (I don’t care if I get hurt) Moving like the Chicago Transit Authority that picks me up every fifteen minutes, To sit and watch the downtown splendor, the people having conversations The luxurious skyscrapers with their gleaming reflections on the river My god, if you could see it My god, if only you could see it Reels of the same film run through my mind
I look at the lilac flowers That I picked out for myself You handed your credit card to the cashier and made my head hurt You didn’t want to be there You pinched my weakest nerves But they fired back, like dropped bombs on a 1990s Cadillac I was confused when I looked in the mirror, and I wasn’t blushing Why, as a young girl, did I feel nothing?
I moved, so briskly I held them, so close I always hold flowers so deathly close to me Can’t help having something in my life I don’t intend to have and to hold, as the evening unfolds I’m mesmerized by the dusky, disorderly, crimson, secluded, and mechanical sky I can’t help having something in my life without keeping it close-by I’m a porcelain and ivory, soft-hearted girl All you had to do was try All you had to do was try
Ice cream summer popsicle dreams Muscle relaxant mixed with white amphetamines To handle the chaos that you collided with mine I think there’s a right place, and a right time But if you call late at night, know I’ve had some red wine So the pauses are longer When you hold your breath, No longer allowed to lay your head on my chest Coming to terms with what I’m led to believe You’ve been lying to me I saw it; I grabbed it; I wreaked some fucking havoc Internally, always Internally No longer lying awake as you, beside me, breathe
An exemplary paradise for your magical thinking She’s the one, she’s the only one Who cared to ask about Things you couldn’t say out loud To anyone, anyone She’s the one, she’s the only one She’ll be the one, she’ll be the only one To tell you the truth To show you who you are She’s the only one She’ll be the only one
I’ve moved in a geometric possession to the interwoven mention, Of “boyfriend,” and “happy” And “I don’t want to,” A passing thought: was I gentle enough As if in my lifetime, I’ve ever been rough Like a foreign identity I’ve latched onto lately To remove your hesitation with no A+ on my exam I rest my heavy head in my pale hands I pull you back and forth like a rubber band I’m swimming and I don’t want to come up to breathe
But I have to I have to
Like fine black metal branches, delicate though not brittle, The uncertainty Is damaging It feels Like tragedy Knocking on hell’s door asking if I’m ready for some more Are you ready for some more? The peaches were more vibrant than I could have dreamt them up to be But they’re only on a painting that was completed in the 17th century Find myself alone in this maze of lost equilibrium There’s an error in your calculations The past has nothing to do with the girl standing before you It’s taken me 26 years to learn the blind cannot be cured by me Even though it’s my specialty Even though it was real to me, Even though I
Count blueberries and pick off their tiny stems On a blanket, it rains; I am hopeful again For a time when I’m sitting in a boy’s passenger seat, and he looks at me And he’ll feel so free The thought of belonging to me They have led astray me, but don’t go by a day That I don’t count the ways
I grow softer, and softer As I learn man’s ways,
I grow softer and softer I don’t lose myself in the haze If you knew what I know, My god, you’d be amazed
I thought about how you didn’t say Merry Christmas Even though it’s my most favourite of holidays I thought of all the rainy dates The sombre, cold Saturdays Square cross-sections of apple-green pyroxene Hand over my mouth while I scream The antagonism of adenosine by caffeine The nights of unconditional pain Nothing to lose, nothing to gain I thought of you as my John Wayne Only my devotion remained the same
Daffodils paint your iridescent smile I always try to get you to stay for a longer while I’m not who you’re looking for, but I’m trying The roses I buy myself are perpetually dying If you bought them for me, they’d stay alive They’d put their hands on my shoulders when they’d come on by I’d never have to come up with a reason why When you’re faithful and in love There’s no reason to lie
I nailed death decrepit, got it in centuries-old buildings You throw away all the invitations to friends’ weddings I’d love to meet your family I’d love to meet your friends I’d love to meet anybody that admires the time you spend Fixing up daisies Mowing the lawn You softened my view of right and wrong You made me too vague to quite belong
Falling out of love with someone you’ve loved for so long Sounds an awful lot like an unfamiliar song
But I’m learning the chords Your vinyl collection, of course You want me to play housewife and do all your chores But with my pale blonde hair you still manage to get bored The hollowness in my eyes has become an eyesore So when I look directly at you, you just choose to ignore And I wait at the docks, my knees up to the shore If I asked you for freedom, you couldn’t give me any more Spoke to me like a virgin Told the world I was a whore
I could leave tomorrow You wouldn’t say goodbye It was my absolute most favourite holiday And you must have forgotten that brilliant thing you had to say My friends keep saying this time I need to stay away No more watering the garden No more child-like play Find me reminiscing in your spot in the doorway Nostalgia too much to bear Your petit-mal seizure stare I’m not quite there But I’m almost halfway
I molded you into a diamond You decayed that way Now you’re so lost in thought that you’re digging your own grave I’m upset my soft face can’t bring you back Been trying to determine what it is I lack It’s so sad to see you so worn out like that My words are so useless, coated in coal-black You’re so sober when you drink your cognac I keep thinking of this one hazy flashback
It’s you and me on the balcony But this time you’re in love with me
I’m not who you’re looking for, but I’m trying The roses I buy myself are perpetually dying If you bought them for me, they’d stay alive They’d put their hands on my shoulders when they’d come on by I’d never have to come up with a reason why When you’re faithful and in love There’s no reason to lie
You only see black & white but I’m lilac You only see in me all the things I lack A heroin dream that begins and ends with black
I know I said forever, but I’m not coming back I know I said forever, but I’m not coming back
It’s you and me on the balcony But this time you’re in love with me I know I said forever, but I’m not coming back But this time you’re in love with me
Maybe I was made in hell The way I’m living is how I can tell
A lullaby of daffodils You hold the camera and tell me to hold still I’m like a melting candle, the way I’m built Like Saturday night’s florals, I begin to wilt Loose edges Sharp corners Haha, of course – you did it on purpose You know, you’re so good at making me nervous You open the window, but you shut the curtains I can’t come too close because I will never be certain If it’s you, the recent news is very concerning I love to know everything about you, it’s my lust for learning It’s doing me damage I’m picking up patterns I found a loose screw and some nails under the mattress I have this beautiful velvet dress that’s strapless But I’ve been gradually weakened, my violence is sapless And him and his coffee is quite the distraction Though I’m perilously stuck in perpetual subtraction
Doesn’t buy me roses No visible action It’s doing me damage I’m picking up patterns
I have ten thousand things to tell you But instead I asked for flowers You, not so permissive You aggressively declined I dreamed of blush-coloured roses, they were just divine Heaven sent on a plate, a black gun & red wine I was just wondering if maybe next time… I could have a guarantee for a cute little valentine Yeah, sure, that works, he can show up at nine
I’ll look so perfect I’ll smell of jasmine & pine I’ve made a plan for our date, it’s a rough outline I’ll fix up my hair, I’ll trim my waistline For the misery you put me through, I’ll need an anodyne I’ll paint my bedroom walls the carbonate powder of calamine I’m not doing my best, I’m hardly even trying
Lazy afternoons in the pool when it’s forty degrees I fall all the time, I have wounds on my knees You’ve never said sorry, you rarely said please Is it love, or is it the amphetamines? Stop getting so mad I’m only in my twenties But I know the best stones are found at the cemeteries And I know the absolute best are freshly grown blueberries When you scream at me, I close my eyes because it’s scary I think “happy thoughts,” I picture us married But I keep thinking ’bout how pretty I’ll look when I’m buried
I wanted to be your only You can’t handle being worried I’d come for you Never hesitate to hurry
It’s two in the morning I’ve made tea for myself I wear long faux lashes ’cause it’s good for my health I’m little Team Captain, everything I do is the best I’m losing my grip, I think I’m failing this test When you’ve broken everything, what is there left? They think I’m in a castle, I consider this a mess Do me a favour and be my guest When you find out what I’ve done, Don’t think more – think less Envisage Dream about The thrills the little boys and girls scream about She forced herself to think of how he must be feeling She forced herself to think of how he must be feeling She forced herself to think of how he must be feeling
Girls never get complimented anymore The boys just presume they’ll get bored It’s a mistake they’re all making, that I’m sure But I’m only one person, can I count as more?
She forced herself to think of how he must be feeling She forced herself to think of how he must be feeling She forced herself to think of how he must be feeling
Drowned in insecurity because it seemed like disposition When you really want to die, you make it your mission
I’m a very kind and gracious girl If you let me, I will give you the world But as the brutality of this world continues to unfold My mirror’s edge is veiled, my patience can’t be sold
Give me your garden Make everything quiet I swear I’m prettiest when I’m not lying I won’t give up hoping, I won’t stop trying But it would be a piece of fiction to say I don’t dream of dying
You’re laughing at me My blonde hair blows in the breeze I will prevail, even though they’re dead-set on bringing long-lasting harm to me I see through the trees When I run, you freeze Collapsing in child’s fables isn’t only for the weak Take me with you I want to know what God knows Don’t be scared of the nighttime In the darkest hours, I’m most composed
The more you grow up, the smarter you think you are But in the same circumstances, you always lose yourself I collect hard-cover books of flowers & death spells I know all the wonderful roses by their first and last names I play with my sanity like it’s my favourite win-or-lose game You were always so harsh But me? Oh, so tame Didn’t know how to respond to all the accusations and shame I hate you, I love you It all sounded the same
I’ve decided to take my most loved photo of us down from my shelf I thought it proved we were real The space between you and myself But my mitral valve is still broken, so I can’t afford to inconvenience oneself Though our smiles were true You said it yourself Never seen a girl look at you so warm and heartfelt It hurts now But it didn’t back then Those split seconds repeat in my mind, again and again You were my prince, my most handsome immunogen You said I stunned in my floral dress Dainty and parisienne
I know this frail body wasn’t exactly built to please I’m a young girl too – I have restraint, but I have needs My singleness of purpose is far too remote I tend to break up with boys by posting poems I wrote When I was at my most fragile, I asked you for a rose Your promises were painful because I never got those
But your perseverance to love me will be your best power I stay up wondering how to please you I only sleep a few hours Me at my most tired is me at my most sour How much more beautiful do I need to be, in order to receive a white flower? I’m sort of like a princess stuck at the crown of a tower My father’s hung flyers for the peasants and princes to form a line Some of them have courage Some barely have a spine The common denominator seems to be they’re all trying But if you said it’s to impress me, I’d say that you’re lying
Several days ago, I bought roses To make myself smile I didn’t change the water Just like me, they’re dying
Winters in Chicago were when I felt my most free The wind chill was so strong, I felt it belonged to me It didn’t matter that it was a lake, I still saw it as the sea All I remember are evenings at Argo Tea Feeling happy, just to be me
You must have composure, you must be determined I’m taking care of myself, I’m doing it on purpose The December chill confronts me with things I am sure of Like how spontaneously great heights can collapse Like how the disillusioned are most likely to relapse Like how I felt, true love was almost in my grasp
But as the fog on my window, it visited and then passed It disappeared just like that I’m trying not to react
I’m screaming into my pillow (I’m trying not to react) I’m folding laundry to feel productive (I’m scared of whom I’ll attract) I lied to everybody & said I was fine (I was so scared the whole time) I’m taking every analeptic (I write your name, strike it out with a line)
I picture me in your backyard, Picking grapes off the vine I cried the whole way home, driving past the coastline I thought I didn’t deserve beauty, God doesn’t want me on cloud nine So I hit up your number, Forgot you were atropine And now I’m having trouble sleeping because you aren’t my lifeline I tell you I need you! You say, maybe next time “I’ve got a girl here, she’s helping me escape my mind”
To some people, I’m gorgeous To you, I’m saccharine But everything I am, you will always undermine I’m not your chosen one Never your valentine
I’m the one that treads water Looking for reasons to be alive
If you were safety, you wouldn’t give me your hand You’d sail towards what suits you The palm trees, the sand
I would get tired Give up and drown You wouldn’t say sorry, because you wouldn’t be around
The water obscures my hearing The green-blue current is the only sound I wanted to be loved, the void was what I found But the ocean is my new bliss, so I fade into the background I’m five again, I’ve found my new playground
I would get tired Give up and drown You wouldn’t say sorry, you wouldn’t be around I’m five again, I’ve found my new playground The sea has become my chosen burial ground The green-blue current is the only sound
The void is what I felt, but true love is what I found
