Submissions by paperstains
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
10th Apr 2023 3:59am
10th Apr 2023 3:59am
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
527 reads
8 Comments
LOVE POEM
Published
12th Mar 2023 7:58am
12th Mar 2023 7:58am
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
380 reads
2 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
2nd Mar 2023 3:52am
2nd Mar 2023 3:52am
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
313 reads
10 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
26th Feb 2023 3:49pm
26th Feb 2023 3:49pm
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
435 reads
8 Comments
LOVE POEM
Published
24th Dec 2022 7:48am
24th Dec 2022 7:48am
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
604 reads
13 Comments
SELF POEM
Published
28th Oct 2022 11:02am
28th Oct 2022 11:02am
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
662 reads
20 Comments
EROTIC POEM
Published
3rd Aug 2022 10:04pm
3rd Aug 2022 10:04pm
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
492 reads
6 Comments
LOVE POEM
Published
2nd Aug 2022 11:14pm
2nd Aug 2022 11:14pm
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
448 reads
6 Comments
EROTIC POEM
Published
24th Jul 2022 8:02am
24th Jul 2022 8:02am
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
750 reads
14 Comments
SELF POEM
Published
21st Jul 2022 11:05pm
21st Jul 2022 11:05pm
Can't Forget How I Got the Scar on My Forehead
No one in my life now
knew me then
except my father
but he was only there
with no way in
The friends I thought I had
wandered off on other paths
and I'm dangerously good
at being alone
I know there were happyish times
that broke through the darkness
but so many memories are buried
It's been a long time
since there's been someone
to help me find them
give them some light
Left with my own faulty mind
there are plenty of blank spaces
punctuated by pain, fear, shame
those...
knew me then
except my father
but he was only there
with no way in
The friends I thought I had
wandered off on other paths
and I'm dangerously good
at being alone
I know there were happyish times
that broke through the darkness
but so many memories are buried
It's been a long time
since there's been someone
to help me find them
give them some light
Left with my own faulty mind
there are plenty of blank spaces
punctuated by pain, fear, shame
those...
#SelfDiscovery
#SelfWorth
511 reads
16 Comments
LOVE POEM
Published
21st Jul 2022 6:16am
21st Jul 2022 6:16am
Mentor, Muse, Persistence Paid Off
With patient urging tenacity
you slowly peeled me away
from myself
discarded each shielding layer
of my carefully crafted facade
Such delicate, time-consuming work
for one more used to plowing
through projects
getting things done
moving on
You explained your plans
in delicious, tempting detail
while stroking the peak of my curiosity
teased with swelling anticipation
and eased me step by little step
down a path of exploration
Somewhere between...
you slowly peeled me away
from myself
discarded each shielding layer
of my carefully crafted facade
Such delicate, time-consuming work
for one more used to plowing
through projects
getting things done
moving on
You explained your plans
in delicious, tempting detail
while stroking the peak of my curiosity
teased with swelling anticipation
and eased me step by little step
down a path of exploration
Somewhere between...
#WritingPoetry
#gratitude
458 reads
10 Comments
SELF POEM
Published
19th Jul 2022 8:22pm
19th Jul 2022 8:22pm
Probably Should Have Applied for a Building Permit
Construction began
in the months after death
took my mother
as my father packed her things
and gave them to me
laying the foundations
each a few feet tall
These unassuming cardboard towers
hold the contents of a life
time capsules of memories
I haven't been ready to open
So familiar now
they're almost out of sight
but a strange comfort
to know they're waiting
and I don't mind
the space they take
I've often thought they're done ...
in the months after death
took my mother
as my father packed her things
and gave them to me
laying the foundations
each a few feet tall
These unassuming cardboard towers
hold the contents of a life
time capsules of memories
I haven't been ready to open
So familiar now
they're almost out of sight
but a strange comfort
to know they're waiting
and I don't mind
the space they take
I've often thought they're done ...
#grief
#mother
#father #memories
#father #memories
437 reads
5 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by paperstains
