Submissions by Nizana (Lauryn)
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Poet Introduction
My mother wrote poems when she was younger, mostly about love. Later she returned to poetry to express thoughts and desires that she'd squelched over time. She passed the torch to me (her daughter) when she entered treatment.
Mother's Day
The night before Mother’s Day,
he signed the blank
card and wrote a note before
placing it on mother’s pillow.
She was out, and we had
the house to ourselves.
I opened the note.
“Your daughter’s beauty is your gift to me.
As her mother, you’ve given much more than you should.
I’ll treasure her and am thankful for your trust.”
I signed the card and added,
“Thank you for my life.”
Then I placed the card back on mother’s pillow
before turning to unwrap myself as a...
he signed the blank
card and wrote a note before
placing it on mother’s pillow.
She was out, and we had
the house to ourselves.
I opened the note.
“Your daughter’s beauty is your gift to me.
As her mother, you’ve given much more than you should.
I’ll treasure her and am thankful for your trust.”
I signed the card and added,
“Thank you for my life.”
Then I placed the card back on mother’s pillow
before turning to unwrap myself as a...
#MothersDay
#humankind
255 reads
3 Comments
Letter to Mother's Lover
May 21, 2023
Dear David,
It’s been three weeks since mother’s death. I miss her very much but have begun to smile again.
My mother loved you. The two of you should have grown old together. When I saw how you viewed mother’s body before her cremation, I knew you could love deeply and were worthy of the love mother gave to you.
After the memorial, you mentioned you’d like to visit again. Maybe you were just being polite, but I would like that, and I’m sure mother would want us to know each other better. You’re the strongest connection I have to her...
Dear David,
It’s been three weeks since mother’s death. I miss her very much but have begun to smile again.
My mother loved you. The two of you should have grown old together. When I saw how you viewed mother’s body before her cremation, I knew you could love deeply and were worthy of the love mother gave to you.
After the memorial, you mentioned you’d like to visit again. Maybe you were just being polite, but I would like that, and I’m sure mother would want us to know each other better. You’re the strongest connection I have to her...
#love
#death
227 reads
4 Comments
A Woman in Pursuit of Pleasure - Mother's Note
April 26, 2023
Much of what I’ve become is simply a woman in pursuit of pleasure. How many of my daily decisions are based on careful consideration, experience, and what is best long term? Very few. This is my life. This is who I’ve become. I’ve set the stage and must now live my remaining days reciting the lines required of me.
Oh, but the pleasures of even a flawed life are plentiful. ~ Janice (Nizana)
Much of what I’ve become is simply a woman in pursuit of pleasure. How many of my daily decisions are based on careful consideration, experience, and what is best long term? Very few. This is my life. This is who I’ve become. I’ve set the stage and must now live my remaining days reciting the lines required of me.
Oh, but the pleasures of even a flawed life are plentiful. ~ Janice (Nizana)
#regret
#death
181 reads
2 Comments
A Pirate's Love
I was like a pirate riding tides below.
Frantically, I forced open doors
that should have remained closed.
While we crawled at fleshy walls
meant for our protection,
unseen children cried
beneath the thrum of
our love-making.
When I swallowed the crude pulsing of his lusts,
I tasted the weight of our transgressions.
Frantically, I forced open doors
that should have remained closed.
While we crawled at fleshy walls
meant for our protection,
unseen children cried
beneath the thrum of
our love-making.
When I swallowed the crude pulsing of his lusts,
I tasted the weight of our transgressions.
#lust
#betrayal
261 reads
2 Comments
Note from Mother's Lover
Dearest Lauryn,
Thank you so much for including me in your mother’s final arrangements. I was honored to be there and thankful that she made it possible for you to contact me.
I’m back home now and feeling empty without Janice in my life. I’m sure you feel something similar though I can’t truly know the depts of your grief since both of my parents are still living.
When I viewed your mother’s body before her cremation I was struck again by her beauty. Her inner strength and ability to love seemed limitless. Her spirit will live on in those who knew her best....
Thank you so much for including me in your mother’s final arrangements. I was honored to be there and thankful that she made it possible for you to contact me.
I’m back home now and feeling empty without Janice in my life. I’m sure you feel something similar though I can’t truly know the depts of your grief since both of my parents are still living.
When I viewed your mother’s body before her cremation I was struck again by her beauty. Her inner strength and ability to love seemed limitless. Her spirit will live on in those who knew her best....
#love
#grief
#hope
201 reads
2 Comments
Faith in the Present
When you were younger, you asked where we go when we die. I gave you the answer I thought you were ready for at the time. You're older now. You have found a young man who seems to have religious faith and I respect that. I saw a prayer you wrote and respect that, too. Faith can be beautiful if it maintains a healthy skepticism. My only fear is that you might be hurt if you place too much faith in beliefs because they can be fragile and unreliable.
Since you're experiencing faith for the first time, I wanted to share thoughts that I didn't share when you were younger. You're in...
Since you're experiencing faith for the first time, I wanted to share thoughts that I didn't share when you were younger. You're in...
#mother
#religion
#faith
182 reads
3 Comments
Baring Our Infidelity (Mother's Poem)
Dispensing with the decorative trappings of life
we stood naked as created, baring our infidelity.
He breathed long and slow as his hands slid
down my arms, petal smooth skin brushing skin.
Desire grew at the center of him, and
I knew it would seek release.
At what cost would our pleasures be indulged and
to whom would these debts accrue? These were
my thoughts as he tipped quietly toward what was inevitable.
Pressing gentle into me again, he looked to my eyes for answer, but
I was shrouded in darkness. From sheltering...
we stood naked as created, baring our infidelity.
He breathed long and slow as his hands slid
down my arms, petal smooth skin brushing skin.
Desire grew at the center of him, and
I knew it would seek release.
At what cost would our pleasures be indulged and
to whom would these debts accrue? These were
my thoughts as he tipped quietly toward what was inevitable.
Pressing gentle into me again, he looked to my eyes for answer, but
I was shrouded in darkness. From sheltering...
#love
#betrayal
187 reads
2 Comments
David Viewing Mother
Mother didn’t exist for millions of years. She was born in the summer of 1977. She lived forty-five years before ceasing to exist on May 2, 2023. Now, she is only in the memories of others.
These were my thoughts as I watched mother’s last lover, David, lean over her casket. I imagined the panicked stirrings he and my mother created together and the sense of gratitude he must have felt the moment she led him into her heat. They would have fallen into a fluid rhythm, gently sliding together toward heaven.
He touched the lines at the corners of Mother's eyes. “I...
These were my thoughts as I watched mother’s last lover, David, lean over her casket. I imagined the panicked stirrings he and my mother created together and the sense of gratitude he must have felt the moment she led him into her heat. They would have fallen into a fluid rhythm, gently sliding together toward heaven.
He touched the lines at the corners of Mother's eyes. “I...
#love
#death
228 reads
4 Comments
Remembering Mother
Remembering Mother
#funeral
280 reads
3 Comments
Words of Kindness
I saw in you great potential
as a writer, evidential
too was the way you shared
thoughts with your daughter, you so cared.
I read the comments we exchanged
about most of the pieces ranged.
Yours to me were filled with kindness,
no discordance, and thankfulness.
~ Excerpt from Solomon_Song's poem for Nizana. This is one of several quotes and songs that will be placed on Mother's breasts during her viewing and cremation.
Mother's Poem by her daughter, Lauryn
Words of kindness and gifts of praise
Heal us when...
as a writer, evidential
too was the way you shared
thoughts with your daughter, you so cared.
I read the comments we exchanged
about most of the pieces ranged.
Yours to me were filled with kindness,
no discordance, and thankfulness.
~ Excerpt from Solomon_Song's poem for Nizana. This is one of several quotes and songs that will be placed on Mother's breasts during her viewing and cremation.
Mother's Poem by her daughter, Lauryn
Words of kindness and gifts of praise
Heal us when...
#love
#kindness
#death
214 reads
3 Comments
Her Last Words
Dear Lauryn - I’ve disappointed those I love the most. I’ve tried again and again but can’t break my addictions. It’s no use. I’m of no use to the world. I can’t keep failing and continue to live.
Don’t follow my path. Stay free and be safe with yourself. There’s much in life to love, but I’ve gone down a path that only has one exit and I must now take it.
I’ve loved many and been loved deeply by a few. I feel at peace knowing I’ll enter the silence all humans must enter.
I’ve been living with David Axxxxxxxx in Austin. He has been good to me....
Don’t follow my path. Stay free and be safe with yourself. There’s much in life to love, but I’ve gone down a path that only has one exit and I must now take it.
I’ve loved many and been loved deeply by a few. I feel at peace knowing I’ll enter the silence all humans must enter.
I’ve been living with David Axxxxxxxx in Austin. He has been good to me....
#beauty
#death
#suicide
453 reads
8 Comments
She Knew Me Every Inch
She knew me,
every inch and blemish,
but still, she said I was beautiful.
She heard the voice
behind my eyes,
and understood my words.
(continued)
every inch and blemish,
but still, she said I was beautiful.
She heard the voice
behind my eyes,
and understood my words.
(continued)
#love
#mother
372 reads
3 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by Nizana (Lauryn)