you and I stand on opposite ends
of the same burnt bridge
and I’m not saying
you poured gasoline on it
or struck a match
but a careless cigarette butt is
just as dangerous
when you flick it out the window
onto the dry grass
and you never looked back to see it
burning
and here we are
smoke gone
ashes scattered by the wind and seasons
and this
is what’s left
a reckless river full of rocks
and the bones of our friendship
somewhere at the bottom
Tag: Poetry / Poetic Prose
genre: anything that’s focused on poetry, poetic prose, and inspirational writings
live wire heart [poem]
I spent the first hour at my new job thinking
I can’t do this I can’t do this I can’t do this
over and over
as my trainer took me around the office
over a dozen strangers
names and faces I can’t remember moments later
hands shaken
even as I curled up inside myself at their touch
this is what social anxiety looks like
me playing the adult
professional pretender at being okay
it’s not this place
with its calm atmosphere and
its tiny coy pond in the courtyard
it’s not these people
with their genuine smiles and
friendly hellos to another new face
it’s not this job
the role of front desk clerk
a familiar coat
well worn and comfortable
there’s no reason to be so anxious
heart jittering as if hooked to a live wire
silly girl
there’s no danger here
no harm to me or mine
just a terrifying newness
depression (and anxiety) [poem]
why are you so sad all the time?
why do you listen to that song if it makes you cry?
you know it makes you cry
have you tried drinking more water?
maybe you’re just dehydrated
maybe you should stop drinking so much soda
what do you mean
“the water tastes like anxiety”?
that’s not even a flavor
why do you always act so sad?
wild love [poem]
the first time I come out as polyamorous
I’m only loud about it in safe spaces
surrounded by my family of quirky friends
and a community of weirdos
used to self exploration leading down
the winding uncut paths often overlooked
the eleventh time I come out as polyamorous
I’ve got a system in place
I know how to time it just right
give someone this new word to explain
the pieces of my backstory
they suddenly find fitted together in
an unfamiliar pattern
the forty fifth time I come out as polyamorous
it’s mostly an afterthought
as I realize my effort to flirt is brushed off
my married status confused with monogamy
as if I belong to anyone but myself
I paint a wild love across my lips
and beg him to kiss it off
polyamory [poem]
polyamory is never being the forever love
in a world that promises
a one true match for each of us
it is the act of accepting transience in love
for the rest of your life
even when you know it means
everyone will leave eventually
it is the terrifying reality
of tiptoeing between the landmines in a lover’s mind
the ones other people put there to keep you out
and it’s knowing you may clear the field of danger
just in time
for someone else’s forever to begin
without you in it
polyamory is so many loves like stars
but also the vast stretches of black loneliness
between them
it is never easy
maybe [poem]
maybe if I stay silent
you’ll come looking for me
maybe if I keep quiet
you’ll miss my laughter
maybe if I hide here
you’ll come looking for me
maybe if I wander away
you’ll realize what you’ve lost
or maybe not
love [poem]
is it cowardice to call this
warmth toward others
love
knowing it will make falling for you
that much easier
to recover
from?
hypotheticals [poem]
you made me talk to my wife in hypotheticals
your presence
awakening enough of a reaction in me
to need a discussion
polyamory is about communication and
she and I are experts at words
she approves
adding only a vague reminder that
being a secondary love interest doesn’t work
for some people
fragile [poem]
your wounds have finally scarred over
that jigsaw puzzle you call a heart finally made whole
but now you’re worried
about letting anyone else touch something
so beautifully fragile
or about someone else’s fingers tracing the edges
memories of stitches tickling their fingertips
Atlantis [poem]
the place I once called home is
drowning in a flash flood
a hurricane hurling itself across most of the state
Texas is now Atlantis
sinking below Poseidon’s wrath
and it’s hard not to wish them washed away
the ones who tried to bury me alive
in the sun baked sand and clay
my rage is a category 4 hurricane
destroying their memories with a vengeance
but hurricanes are hard to aim
and so there are victims
caught in the crossfire between
the past and the part of me who dwells in it
ashes and aches [poem]
anger is a violent hunger
consuming me from the inside out
or rather
anger is a summer field full of tinder and dry grass
and your face is still danger
still the careless flick of a lit cigarette
sending everything around me up in smoke
I can put out the fire and still be covered in the burns
which is to say that
I’ve learned how to play firefighter by letting it go
clearing away the underbrush
before another wildfire of hate hurls through
but forgiveness will only come
long after the burns turn to the kind of scars
I can talk about by name
for now
all I have are ashes and aches
wine [poem]
I’m more wine than water
I know that my love leaves stains so easily
and no one likes cleaning up after me
I know that too much of me is a bad thing
because I will poison your body
until parts of you will never be the same
with or without me
I know that I can turn bitter if left forgotten
and my acidic anger will sting your tongue
at the next careless sip
you don’t need me to live and that’s the trick
that I can quench your thirst
but still leave you so thirsty
high and dry
and dizzy with it
the type of woman [poem]
I have always been the type of woman
who sets her course with deliberate focus
and stays on the path laid out
as long as it is right for the end goal
I’m also the type of woman
who changes direction when the end goal
is no longer desirable
or the path is too full of thorns
people often mistake my steady forward movement
for complacency or mindless obedience
always so surprised
when I grab the wheel and
turn the other way
Larissa Lee 