Submissions by paperstains
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
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
407 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
599 reads
12 Comments
When Too Much Isn't Enough
Served up everything
you thought I wanted
unhearing what I need
Left to starve at the feast
of your intention
you thought I wanted
unhearing what I need
Left to starve at the feast
of your intention
#relationships
#minimalist
468 reads
11 Comments
You Can Stroke Your Ego with This One, Too
Cutting you out of me
would leave too large a hole
with no way to stem the bleeding
Doesn't mean I don't eye the knives
with desire you once called your own
Though, if it could heal
sealed up with scar tissue and tears
the cavernous hollow would echo
memories of you saying what I wanted to hear
That option erased
maybe I'll attempt my own concoction
of chemotherapy
direct injection of all your bullshit
straight into my veins
see if it shrinks the sickening pain
until I can breathe ...
would leave too large a hole
with no way to stem the bleeding
Doesn't mean I don't eye the knives
with desire you once called your own
Though, if it could heal
sealed up with scar tissue and tears
the cavernous hollow would echo
memories of you saying what I wanted to hear
That option erased
maybe I'll attempt my own concoction
of chemotherapy
direct injection of all your bullshit
straight into my veins
see if it shrinks the sickening pain
until I can breathe ...
#hurt
#anger
543 reads
7 Comments
Clean-up Crew
Untroubled, they circle
catching currents
riding high
looking for work
The job a dirty one
uneasy on the eyes
tending to messes
life left behind
Fresh kill prized
but rotting meat will do
infested and diseased
the way this feels
broken-hearted, begging
please just come and take me
Lying amongst dandelions and daisies
I pray to be picked clean
exposed to the bone
set free from you burrowed in my marrow
Let me be carrion
become one with the birds
warmed...
catching currents
riding high
looking for work
The job a dirty one
uneasy on the eyes
tending to messes
life left behind
Fresh kill prized
but rotting meat will do
infested and diseased
the way this feels
broken-hearted, begging
please just come and take me
Lying amongst dandelions and daisies
I pray to be picked clean
exposed to the bone
set free from you burrowed in my marrow
Let me be carrion
become one with the birds
warmed...
#grief
#hurt
433 reads
2 Comments
Thin Line between Heaven/Hell
Worship you
lead, guiding your flock
breathless in your rejoicing
reading Psalms
Good Book resting in your palms
presiding over prayers and amens
family in the front pew
enthusiastic young ones
singing hymns
heard in the back
where I sit
contemplating the show
Worship you
demanded of me
palms compelled I kneel
breathless in your need
invocation to some god, somewhere
consecration of carnality
release of your sin
wipe my chin
watch you tidy and leave
...
lead, guiding your flock
breathless in your rejoicing
reading Psalms
Good Book resting in your palms
presiding over prayers and amens
family in the front pew
enthusiastic young ones
singing hymns
heard in the back
where I sit
contemplating the show
Worship you
demanded of me
palms compelled I kneel
breathless in your need
invocation to some god, somewhere
consecration of carnality
release of your sin
wipe my chin
watch you tidy and leave
...
#relationships
#sex
#hypocrisy
446 reads
18 Comments
1082 reads
19 Comments
Acoustic Alchemy
Falling
slowly
into the strum
and slide
along strings tuned just right
fretting tight chords
vibrations ripple through
pulsing rhythms
striking percussive tap-tap-taps
Transfixed in a gaze
urging me
sing
in harmony joining
the swoops and swells
of his twisting melody
catching breaths
in the disquiet between notes
Tempo changes drive tension
to the bridge
coaxing me to cross
and he keeps playing
mastering the instrument ...
slowly
into the strum
and slide
along strings tuned just right
fretting tight chords
vibrations ripple through
pulsing rhythms
striking percussive tap-tap-taps
Transfixed in a gaze
urging me
sing
in harmony joining
the swoops and swells
of his twisting melody
catching breaths
in the disquiet between notes
Tempo changes drive tension
to the bridge
coaxing me to cross
and he keeps playing
mastering the instrument ...
#sensual
#temptation
678 reads
12 Comments
View from the Passenger Seat
Looking at me
bemused
tired eyes crinkled, smiling
it's clear you don't understand
why I hitched this ride
and never looked back
Through every bump and curve
every quick-brake
head bouncing off the windshield
burning rubber
blowout tire
van in the ditch collision
(we survived more than one)
I called shot gun
claimed my seat
and I stayed
We laughed until we cried
and cried until we laughed again
hurt so much we...
bemused
tired eyes crinkled, smiling
it's clear you don't understand
why I hitched this ride
and never looked back
Through every bump and curve
every quick-brake
head bouncing off the windshield
burning rubber
blowout tire
van in the ditch collision
(we survived more than one)
I called shot gun
claimed my seat
and I stayed
We laughed until we cried
and cried until we laughed again
hurt so much we...
#love
#forgiveness
#hurt
660 reads
20 Comments
The Disappearance of Nancy
She lives in the moment
not by choice
short-term going first
accelerating its absence
old faces still familiar
names are fading
Filled with joy
when loved ones are seen
hugs tight
"It's been so long"
so happy to greet them again
twenty minutes later
Most of her life spent as a nurse
a good one, she'll tell you
like her mother before
such impatience with being a patient
on the wrong side of care
Her husband, her children
foundations of her heart
not lost
not yet
holding...
not by choice
short-term going first
accelerating its absence
old faces still familiar
names are fading
Filled with joy
when loved ones are seen
hugs tight
"It's been so long"
so happy to greet them again
twenty minutes later
Most of her life spent as a nurse
a good one, she'll tell you
like her mother before
such impatience with being a patient
on the wrong side of care
Her husband, her children
foundations of her heart
not lost
not yet
holding...
#illness
816 reads
15 Comments
Between the Lines
Middle of the night
driving down a dark highway
unlonely
all the company I need
are the trucks
the melodies filling my car
and your memory next to me
taking the passenger seat
Passed my exit
over an hour ago
nothing waiting for me
in the place I called home
Don't care where
these white lines are leading
Just need to keep moving
driving down a dark highway
unlonely
all the company I need
are the trucks
the melodies filling my car
and your memory next to me
taking the passenger seat
Passed my exit
over an hour ago
nothing waiting for me
in the place I called home
Don't care where
these white lines are leading
Just need to keep moving
#MovingOn
495 reads
2 Comments
Lesson Learned at Thirteen
He touched me unexpectedly
a hand on my thigh
his lips moving
mouthing words that went unheard
I may have answered
Middle of the afternoon
our old floral couch
no one around
the heat of his hand
crept higher
Blood rushed my eardrums
pulse-pounding panic
unaware until it was removed
my brother was in the room
Left in confusion
while they went on their way
His friend never
kissed me
showed any interest
Boys like him
didn't look at girls like me
I'm not...
a hand on my thigh
his lips moving
mouthing words that went unheard
I may have answered
Middle of the afternoon
our old floral couch
no one around
the heat of his hand
crept higher
Blood rushed my eardrums
pulse-pounding panic
unaware until it was removed
my brother was in the room
Left in confusion
while they went on their way
His friend never
kissed me
showed any interest
Boys like him
didn't look at girls like me
I'm not...
#anxiety
#confusion
#emptiness
#fear
#learning
1154 reads
18 Comments
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