Submissions by paperstains
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
But You Never Really Let Go
They make it look easier
in movies, on TV
painful, sad, but simple
peaceful
No one warns you about the sound
the gurgle and rattle
of last gasping breaths
or that your aunt will urge
her sister's broken body to fight
as if your father hadn't told
the love of his life that it was safe to move on
and you hadn't held her hand
whispering that it would be okay
you'd take care of your dad
You do know to expect the silence
that eventually comes
Some emotion without a name
settled in, burrowed...
in movies, on TV
painful, sad, but simple
peaceful
No one warns you about the sound
the gurgle and rattle
of last gasping breaths
or that your aunt will urge
her sister's broken body to fight
as if your father hadn't told
the love of his life that it was safe to move on
and you hadn't held her hand
whispering that it would be okay
you'd take care of your dad
You do know to expect the silence
that eventually comes
Some emotion without a name
settled in, burrowed...
#love
#parent
#death
54 reads
8 Comments
Can't Stop the Ringing in My Ears
Fell asleep on the fucking sofa
again and woke to the sound
of your ring tone coming from my dreams
and my stupid hand fumbling
for the phone
Torn between laughter and weeping
it's been seventeen and a half weeks
since the last call
my head still hasn't got the message
Decide on neither, take a deep breath
and drag my sad ass to bed
again and woke to the sound
of your ring tone coming from my dreams
and my stupid hand fumbling
for the phone
Torn between laughter and weeping
it's been seventeen and a half weeks
since the last call
my head still hasn't got the message
Decide on neither, take a deep breath
and drag my sad ass to bed
#emptiness
#IMissYou
61 reads
6 Comments
Maybe They Mourn You Too
Went for a ride today
on the boardwalk by the bay
passed the beach shared with you
brown grasses swaying in golden sand
grey rocks teased by barely-there waves
half moon hanging in blue sky, sun still dancing on the water
Did you know the gulls call your name?
on the boardwalk by the bay
passed the beach shared with you
brown grasses swaying in golden sand
grey rocks teased by barely-there waves
half moon hanging in blue sky, sun still dancing on the water
Did you know the gulls call your name?
#bittersweet
56 reads
10 Comments
Hate Sex for One

#hate
#rejection
#dark
#sex
#dirty
190 reads
13 Comments
Giving Up Goes Both Ways
Copper and bile
flavor my rage
rise again in my mouth
and I restrain the urge
to hurl it all at you
because it would only be air
whistling past
your narcissistic ears
Stale sweat scents the air
tells tales of broken promises
another never again
turned to just one more time
that can't be
won't ever be
just one
Hope dries up
crumbles like autumn leaves
in your hands
scatters to the wind
But you don't need us
family is tedious
and expects too much
flavor my rage
rise again in my mouth
and I restrain the urge
to hurl it all at you
because it would only be air
whistling past
your narcissistic ears
Stale sweat scents the air
tells tales of broken promises
another never again
turned to just one more time
that can't be
won't ever be
just one
Hope dries up
crumbles like autumn leaves
in your hands
scatters to the wind
But you don't need us
family is tedious
and expects too much
#anger
#betrayal
#addiction
83 reads
12 Comments
And So it Goes
I'd almost forgotten numb
it's been so long
since I felt the need to bury
instead of sharing every fucking feeling
I could find words for
Until I read yours
And froze as the warmth
of seeing your name
deadened to emptiness
Three scribbled sentences
the epitaph of seven years
it's been so long
since I felt the need to bury
instead of sharing every fucking feeling
I could find words for
Until I read yours
And froze as the warmth
of seeing your name
deadened to emptiness
Three scribbled sentences
the epitaph of seven years
#grief
#emptiness
79 reads
6 Comments
Not Enough
Even when I put it in words
I'm not sure
that I've put it in words
I'm not sure
that I've put it in words
#minimalist
93 reads
11 Comments
Letters to You
All my letters
forming every word
in every phrase
that lays me open on the page
are for you
I wrote 'em all out in ink and blood
scrawling love and loss
ache and fear
for your heart to read
even the ones you'll never see
Maybe I shouldn't write out loud
how it all sings your name
but it's always there
in all these lines
when you want to listen
for things I can't say
forming every word
in every phrase
that lays me open on the page
are for you
I wrote 'em all out in ink and blood
scrawling love and loss
ache and fear
for your heart to read
even the ones you'll never see
Maybe I shouldn't write out loud
how it all sings your name
but it's always there
in all these lines
when you want to listen
for things I can't say
#love
#WritingPoetry
#passion
136 reads
7 Comments
Barry White Said It Best
Fingertips thoroughly indulged
I want to memorize the textures of your skin
with lips, tongue, nipples
roaming reverently along the breadth of your chest
contours of your hips, length of your thighs
absorbed in the reverie of my wonderlust
I want to memorize the textures of your skin
with lips, tongue, nipples
roaming reverently along the breadth of your chest
contours of your hips, length of your thighs
absorbed in the reverie of my wonderlust
#lust
#erotic
#sexy
262 reads
6 Comments
Found Your Obituary Online
They gave your ashes to the sea
I whispered goodbye into the salt air
still wondering why you didn't tell me
it came back
I whispered goodbye into the salt air
still wondering why you didn't tell me
it came back
#grief
#death
#cancer
159 reads
12 Comments
Temporal Embrace
We come together in moments
as our worlds tangle
into a sphere wholly ours
slipping in time
making memories
of things we won't do
in places we won't go
embraced in the intangible us
that ignores oceans and impossibility
There is a lifetime in your words
freedom in the warmth of your whisper
abandon soars on the breath of your sighs
The river of you rushes through my veins
and the beating of my heart
belongs to you
in these fleeting ripples
that rearrange our reality
Then we exhale the truth ...
as our worlds tangle
into a sphere wholly ours
slipping in time
making memories
of things we won't do
in places we won't go
embraced in the intangible us
that ignores oceans and impossibility
There is a lifetime in your words
freedom in the warmth of your whisper
abandon soars on the breath of your sighs
The river of you rushes through my veins
and the beating of my heart
belongs to you
in these fleeting ripples
that rearrange our reality
Then we exhale the truth ...
#love
#LongDistanceRelationship
223 reads
12 Comments
Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
Possession
Tethered to you
by the sound of your breath
words that slither under skin
and keep you with me in the dark
I've given up on the truth of morning
Wait
Leaving you was loving you
letting go of whispered midnight dreams
that dissipated in the reality of day-to-day
I wasn't who you needed
and I still grieve
Plenty
Still not sure it made me stronger
but it didn't kill me
that was the lesson learned
The pain of you set me free
from the fear of alone...
Tethered to you
by the sound of your breath
words that slither under skin
and keep you with me in the dark
I've given up on the truth of morning
Wait
Leaving you was loving you
letting go of whispered midnight dreams
that dissipated in the reality of day-to-day
I wasn't who you needed
and I still grieve
Plenty
Still not sure it made me stronger
but it didn't kill me
that was the lesson learned
The pain of you set me free
from the fear of alone...
#music
192 reads
13 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by paperstains