the older you get
the higher you’ve climbed the mountain
the higher you’ve climbed
the more of the land you can see
the more land you see
the more you can determine what is and isn’t worth fighting for
at that point you’ve reached peak adulthood
Tag: Poetry / Poetic Prose
genre: anything that’s focused on poetry, poetic prose, and inspirational writings
dragonhide [poem]
I’m becoming a dragon
one scale at a time
the coming winter transforming my skin
into a thick protective hide
or maybe I just need a good sugar scrub
some sweet scented lotion to moisturize the dry zones
I don’t know
being a dragon seems cooler
than just being dried out
the poem where everything is a bad metaphor about loving me [poem]
most puppies eagerly pounce on new people
tails wagging a mile a minute
this mutt lays at your feet
still and cautious
quiet around these unfamiliar predators
a bee knows itself a bomb with a self-destruct button
it will protect the hive anyway
one dead bee is such a minor thing
weighed against the honey that isn’t taken this time
bulletproof glass looks just as delicate as any other window
but lets through only the light
it keeps safe those who stand behind it
ready to break but remain unshattered
the cracks on its surface
proof of the protection it gave and will keep giving
a screen protector on your phone is meant to break
absorbing every thunk and crash and ding
to keep the phone’s true face uncracked
some things are made to be broken
and that’s okay
the deepest point of the ocean falls in the Marianas Trench
some 7 miles underwater
only three humans have dared the depths
knowing death would swim alongside their vessels
curiosity is a dangerous addiction
only humans seem to possess
this body, an owner’s manual [poem]
this body is my first home
this body is furnished for my comfort rather than your aesthetic
this body may get spruced up for your visit but
this body is not required to look good for you
this body is decorated by my choice of paint
this body will have whatever holes in the walls I deem desirable
this body is allowed however many visitors I want to invite to the party
this body is never required to host a party
unless I want the party to happen
this body runs on the utilities I sign up for
you have no say in how I power my home
I’m the one who has to live here
this body may require outside maintenance in the form of a doctor’s visit
but the doctor is only invited in
to fix the plumbing or replace the cracked tiles
I will ask for other services when I deem them necessary
and I don’t appreciate attempts to upsell me carpets
if you’re here to unclog the sink
this body is exactly the way I want my home to be
and will remain this way until I say otherwise
this body is my last home
I will leave it well lived and well loved
limitless love [poem]
once I believed in true love like it was some
once in a lifetime thing
like we only get one shot at happiness
and everything else is just a lonely heart trying too hard
to light a fire in the middle of the ocean
my greatest lesson has been unlearning such
limited measures of what love can be
the world is a thousand times more beautiful
with love in every breath and heartbeat
I will not say I love you out loud [poem]
I will bite my tongue and only murmur the words in my sleep
until the day you tell me there’s love between us
let my dandelion love play the unnoticed weed
growing in the cracks of the pavement
I will sprout love almost anywhere you know
but I will never presume a permanent home
after all
most weeds are unwanted guests
you never invited in the first place
crossing the line [poem]
the line is right there
right next to my toes
I could step over it so easily
just a quick skip and I’d be free
from this awkward desire to say it
to tell you where my heart is
to admit it isn’t mine anymore
and you are now its master
this is witchcraft [poem]
the incense smoke bathes the room in magic
while I surf through Pinterest for dinner ideas
this is witchcraft
I reblog a self-care post
after seeing that several of my followers seem a bit down
I pray they see it and listen to the suggestions and feel better
this is witchcraft
I swallow down my frustration when a friend
once again tries to get back with her ex
I remind her that her happiness is key
and that I mean it when I say I’m there for her
even if it means finding the good in a bad situation
I will keep my word
this is witchcraft
the dying seasons [poem]
I am the moon’s child
I find comfort in the darkness
my happiness
attuned to the fading of the sun’s presence in the sky
from the first day of autumn
to the last day of winter
my spirit sings
I have always been a winter child
a star that shines brightest
once the sun has set
everything is damp now
autumn finally making her debut
I add cocoa to my coffee and
let the steam lick my face as I sip it down
the season’s first chill is just a reminder
winter is coming
it’s almost time to go home
the future is brimming with possibilities
little wishes granted with every step forward
and I don’t know how to react
to this happiness
to all this unexpected bounty
this heart [poem]
this heavy heathen heart
knows hope
knows humble
knows how to keep humming
when happiness is hard to hold
knows to heal after hurt instead of harden
knows a hollow bucket with no holes
can be filled again and so
knows to stay whole and holy even when it’s hollow
this human heartbeat is a hymn to the old gods
without a hint of hesitation
omnivore [poem]
I love animals
both the way they greet you at the door
and the way they taste
you see
I come from a long line of flesh eaters
the kind of people who consume the dead
to sustain the living
I’m not a squeamish flower
scared off by blood or bone or brains
I relish in the chance to get to know my food
and its life before the butcher
dissected [poem]
it makes my stomach twist to see you like this
so open and exposed across the page
desire dissected and labeled
piece by piece
I never did master the art of the scalpel or the stitch
couldn’t take you apart for study
without damaging everything inside of you
with these two trembling hands
impossible futures [poem]
have you ever had a
pie in the sky
pretend we’ve won the lotto
dream? the kind of plans that
are attached to impossible futures?
I used to think I did
have those kind of dreams I mean
but then one came true
and another
and another
suddenly I’m living in the town
I swore I’d call home as a millionaire
but without all that money
suddenly I’m sinking time into my love of words
buying books enough to overflow my shelves
and writing down the world inside my head
until I can almost taste it
suddenly I’m allowed to be me
as soft or sharp or simple as I please
and no one bats an eye
maybe impossible dreams just need
impossible people to reach for them anyway?
Larissa Lee 