Submissions by paperstains
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Shovel Blisters Make Interesting Patterns
Would it matter
if I spelled it all out
wrote verses about the ache
that keeps me company
familiarity breeding contempt
for my stupidity
You say it's good for the soul
but I just keep digging a deeper hole
to bury the same shit
in a mass grave of what the fuck
am I doing?
if I spelled it all out
wrote verses about the ache
that keeps me company
familiarity breeding contempt
for my stupidity
You say it's good for the soul
but I just keep digging a deeper hole
to bury the same shit
in a mass grave of what the fuck
am I doing?
#SelfReflection
347 reads
10 Comments
Repetitive History
The more I see
it becomes easier to recognize
regurgitation
and I'll confess that I miss
the bliss of ignorance
sometimes
even though I understand
it's safer to know
that stars in your eyes
are probably headlights
and the brighter they are
the less time you have
to get the fuck out of the way
it becomes easier to recognize
regurgitation
and I'll confess that I miss
the bliss of ignorance
sometimes
even though I understand
it's safer to know
that stars in your eyes
are probably headlights
and the brighter they are
the less time you have
to get the fuck out of the way
#shadows
#evolution
#learning
332 reads
8 Comments
Once You Know
Mike's playing Otherside
in that magic way that acoustic
turns electric into something new
letting the words flow through
and there's no way to shake thoughts
of you, listening to one of your favorites
meditating on the phrases
that dance and tumble
between my ears
As I sit on yet another side
of the most recent iteration of us
in distant reflection of the lies
questioning which ones were mine
if what I've seen with my eyes
is coincidence or evidence
I don't need to ask if you're still a slut
when the...
in that magic way that acoustic
turns electric into something new
letting the words flow through
and there's no way to shake thoughts
of you, listening to one of your favorites
meditating on the phrases
that dance and tumble
between my ears
As I sit on yet another side
of the most recent iteration of us
in distant reflection of the lies
questioning which ones were mine
if what I've seen with my eyes
is coincidence or evidence
I don't need to ask if you're still a slut
when the...
#love
#forgiveness
261 reads
2 Comments
I Wrote this One Oneirocritically
You stayed all night
navigating my sleep
through a series
of what seem to be
unconnected scenes
except for your face
In the beginning, I felt your breath
on my neck
took your weight
as you traced your name
through my interior
The middle is mainly a haze
of color, movement
surrounding the fixed point
of your presence
The last, which opened my eyes
embodied the oddity
of my usual dreamstate
where feeling often lingers
as image fades away
But this one stayed
and plays...
navigating my sleep
through a series
of what seem to be
unconnected scenes
except for your face
In the beginning, I felt your breath
on my neck
took your weight
as you traced your name
through my interior
The middle is mainly a haze
of color, movement
surrounding the fixed point
of your presence
The last, which opened my eyes
embodied the oddity
of my usual dreamstate
where feeling often lingers
as image fades away
But this one stayed
and plays...
#dreams
195 reads
4 Comments
Presto Chango
Once those words were magic
a mirror showing my reflection
in a different reality
a little lost, a little found
and I was enchanted
Spellcraft is not meant for the reckless
and clumsy hands
let the curtain fall
to reveal machinations
as tricks tumbled from sleeves
Truth was fantasy
hidden between bold phrases
and seductive imagery
The lines and curves now bereft
of meaning beyond dictionary definition
coax no more feeling
than instructions on my tax forms
leaving me bewitched
by how...
a mirror showing my reflection
in a different reality
a little lost, a little found
and I was enchanted
Spellcraft is not meant for the reckless
and clumsy hands
let the curtain fall
to reveal machinations
as tricks tumbled from sleeves
Truth was fantasy
hidden between bold phrases
and seductive imagery
The lines and curves now bereft
of meaning beyond dictionary definition
coax no more feeling
than instructions on my tax forms
leaving me bewitched
by how...
#secrets
#lies
#disappointment
208 reads
10 Comments
Toxicology
Must've said something unsettling
made the quiet part too loud
the truth a dare
he feared taking
reminded that time doesn't lessen
the illicit
because consequences feel more distant
My presence, once poison
those years ago
now more lethal
I simply showed him the warning label
made the quiet part too loud
the truth a dare
he feared taking
reminded that time doesn't lessen
the illicit
because consequences feel more distant
My presence, once poison
those years ago
now more lethal
I simply showed him the warning label
#secrets
#lies
288 reads
8 Comments
Out of Sight, Out of Time
For all I think I've learned
of love
a forever unanswered question
remains
what does it means when it comes from you?
Those words that once flowed easily
from your lips
now dammed somewhere beneath your larynx
in your time-honored farce
that silence drowns what's left unsaid
So, here we are
again
in the vortex
of our beautiful oblivion
those precious parts we chucked
into the jar
pressed puree without the lid on
splattering everything that ever mattered
with persistent stains
of love
a forever unanswered question
remains
what does it means when it comes from you?
Those words that once flowed easily
from your lips
now dammed somewhere beneath your larynx
in your time-honored farce
that silence drowns what's left unsaid
So, here we are
again
in the vortex
of our beautiful oblivion
those precious parts we chucked
into the jar
pressed puree without the lid on
splattering everything that ever mattered
with persistent stains
#love
#conflict
459 reads
13 Comments
I've Forgotten How to Feel on Paper
Poems write themselves
while I'm in the car
or taking a shower
lines and rhymes flicker
at the edges in half-sleep
But when I have pen in hand
or keys under fingertips
the will and the words evaporate
seek the safety of ether
reject the solidity of black and white
while I'm in the car
or taking a shower
lines and rhymes flicker
at the edges in half-sleep
But when I have pen in hand
or keys under fingertips
the will and the words evaporate
seek the safety of ether
reject the solidity of black and white
#WritingPoetry
#healing
482 reads
20 Comments
Past the Bottle
We sat, not speaking
a couple bar stools between
not quite close enough to touch
distance that felt insurmountable
words ceased to have meaning
as the bottle passed
from one to another
glances lingering
longer with each pour
until the silence was drenched
with the only things left worth saying
Conversation returned with dirty phrases
fevered and rough from broken tongues
punctuated by claps of desperate flesh
etching runes into skin
messages for later
language abandoned
a couple bar stools between
not quite close enough to touch
distance that felt insurmountable
words ceased to have meaning
as the bottle passed
from one to another
glances lingering
longer with each pour
until the silence was drenched
with the only things left worth saying
Conversation returned with dirty phrases
fevered and rough from broken tongues
punctuated by claps of desperate flesh
etching runes into skin
messages for later
language abandoned
#lust
#conflict
#passion
349 reads
6 Comments
And It Keeps Coming Back to This
Doesn't take a few
to make me want to call
just makes the urge stronger
somehow, I've fought it off
drink in hand or not
playing, replaying those songs
that make me want
or want to cry
or both, which is the real sweet spot
no matter what
I end up drunk on something
And I could crawl
don't mind spending time
on my knees
but there's nowhere to go
other than my bed
where dreams of you wake me
leave me shaking
with the phantom of your lips
not quite brushing
against hungry skin
whispers...
to make me want to call
just makes the urge stronger
somehow, I've fought it off
drink in hand or not
playing, replaying those songs
that make me want
or want to cry
or both, which is the real sweet spot
no matter what
I end up drunk on something
And I could crawl
don't mind spending time
on my knees
but there's nowhere to go
other than my bed
where dreams of you wake me
leave me shaking
with the phantom of your lips
not quite brushing
against hungry skin
whispers...
#music
#lover
#separation
351 reads
6 Comments
Your Embers Still Glow in the Shadows
Strange that my memories of you
are simple and clean
considering the plotline
of our brief history
The way we connected
was so uncomplicated
just spare time
with no demands
other than those of bodies
colliding in the night
(and morning and afternoon and night again)
Most vivid in the dark recesses
is one of our early encounters
I cried when you made me come
from the violence of the first
then urged into the second
the third made me feel like I was drowning ...
are simple and clean
considering the plotline
of our brief history
The way we connected
was so uncomplicated
just spare time
with no demands
other than those of bodies
colliding in the night
(and morning and afternoon and night again)
Most vivid in the dark recesses
is one of our early encounters
I cried when you made me come
from the violence of the first
then urged into the second
the third made me feel like I was drowning ...
#lust
#sex
#memories
620 reads
14 Comments
Gravel Roads, Gullywashers, and What Comes Next
Now that the storm
is lulling
into a cleansing shower
and it's easier to see
the road ahead
I'm waiting for the moment
when I can relax against you
stop the cyclones in my mind
take a slow, deep breath
The drive ahead
is still bumpy
as far as the eye can see
and I could make a game
counting all the potholes
in the way
Two points for the ones you avoid
While I might long
to take your hands in mine
I'm just going to admire them
firmly on the wheel
keeping...
is lulling
into a cleansing shower
and it's easier to see
the road ahead
I'm waiting for the moment
when I can relax against you
stop the cyclones in my mind
take a slow, deep breath
The drive ahead
is still bumpy
as far as the eye can see
and I could make a game
counting all the potholes
in the way
Two points for the ones you avoid
While I might long
to take your hands in mine
I'm just going to admire them
firmly on the wheel
keeping...
#love
#relationships
#friendship #healing
#friendship #healing
349 reads
7 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by paperstains