Submissions by toniscales (Lost Girl)
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Poet Introduction
I am very critical of my own work but I tend to love intensely, and writing is an emotional release and catharsis I can't seem to resist.
LOVE POEM
Published
12th Dec 2024 11:31am
12th Dec 2024 11:31am
Redemption
My 26 year-old daughter has bought
a Christmas tree. She stands
at the stove, stirring sausage
and parmesan cheese into scrambled eggs.
It’s that time of the month when food
is scarce, but my daughter
has a knack for making meals
out of sparse ingredients.
I sit with my 3 month-old granddaughter
who rests in her swing.
We play pat-a-cake, then I roll her legs
like the wheels of a choo-choo train.
My daughter comes
to sit next to us at the table,
a jigsaw puzzle spread out
upon its surface. ...
a Christmas tree. She stands
at the stove, stirring sausage
and parmesan cheese into scrambled eggs.
It’s that time of the month when food
is scarce, but my daughter
has a knack for making meals
out of sparse ingredients.
I sit with my 3 month-old granddaughter
who rests in her swing.
We play pat-a-cake, then I roll her legs
like the wheels of a choo-choo train.
My daughter comes
to sit next to us at the table,
a jigsaw puzzle spread out
upon its surface. ...
#family
#love
#motherhood
60 reads
1 Comment
SELF POEM
Published
27th Nov 2024 2:11am
27th Nov 2024 2:11am
Rachel
We're good at making things fit. The day grown soft from pain. Grown fragile and necrotic at the edges. The hurt in my body is not centered. I can feel it everywhere, snaking a brutal seduction through my limbs. The way certain adjectives feel on my tongue. I taste words again and again. Malady. Milady. Meanwhile the objects wait. The blue satin curtains with fringe tassels. The sad, leftover slant of the pillow. The ache in me, sinuous. Its endless, indelible perfume.
#depression
#sadness
68 reads
0 Comments
SELF POEM
Published
27th Nov 2024 2:06am
27th Nov 2024 2:06am
The Rising
It's evening now. I look out
into the night sky, the moon a cup
of blackness. There are no stars
to guide me through this emptiness.
I think of how my mother died
long ago. This tiny ball of a universe,
casting us off so effortlessly, indifferently.
So small we are, so alone.
My mother loved me when I was a child
but grew to hate me.
Just like my adult daughter does now.
We used to be so close.
Sharing secrets and vodka.
But today I learned I'm just an obligation.
I squeeze my toes, feeling the strange
tingling of...
into the night sky, the moon a cup
of blackness. There are no stars
to guide me through this emptiness.
I think of how my mother died
long ago. This tiny ball of a universe,
casting us off so effortlessly, indifferently.
So small we are, so alone.
My mother loved me when I was a child
but grew to hate me.
Just like my adult daughter does now.
We used to be so close.
Sharing secrets and vodka.
But today I learned I'm just an obligation.
I squeeze my toes, feeling the strange
tingling of...
#aging
#despair
#loneliness
69 reads
3 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
31st Oct 2024 6:52pm
31st Oct 2024 6:52pm
Publication in Coffin Bell Journal
I'm so sorry I haven't responded to comments lately. Have been struggling with my mental health and depression. But just wanted to share the link to the latest issue of Coffin Bell Journal, where I have a poem featured. Thank you so much.
https://coffinbell.com/volume-7-issue-no-4/
https://coffinbell.com/volume-7-issue-no-4/
#LifeAsAWriter
59 reads
0 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
8th Oct 2024 3:20am
8th Oct 2024 3:20am
My poetry book on Amazon
I decided to release a collection of poetry on Amazon, in case anyone is interested. I hope everyone is doing great!
...
...
#LifeAsAWriter
110 reads
4 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
23rd Sep 2024 5:27pm
23rd Sep 2024 5:27pm
A Legacy
for my granddaughter Varley
I open my arms to receive you.
Cradling your tiny head,
I gently kiss the soft tufts of your hair.
A rush of sweetness envelops me.
Powder and lotion, long-buried memories
of holding such a delicate life in my hands.
Buried but not forgotten.
To hold you feels right;
to hold you feels like love and home
and Hope.
I marvel at your miniature fingers and toes,
how such a small thing
can make me want to live so much.
I burn silently with love and tenderness
for you.
You are...
I open my arms to receive you.
Cradling your tiny head,
I gently kiss the soft tufts of your hair.
A rush of sweetness envelops me.
Powder and lotion, long-buried memories
of holding such a delicate life in my hands.
Buried but not forgotten.
To hold you feels right;
to hold you feels like love and home
and Hope.
I marvel at your miniature fingers and toes,
how such a small thing
can make me want to live so much.
I burn silently with love and tenderness
for you.
You are...
#birth
73 reads
4 Comments
DARK POEM
Published
23rd Sep 2024 5:21pm
23rd Sep 2024 5:21pm
abandon
(Hi. I hope everyone is doing great. I'm sorry I haven't responded to comments yet. My daughter gave birth to my first grandbaby and I've been busy with her... But I'm so excited today. One of my poems has been accepted for the next issue of Rogue Agent. I'll post links when available. But for now, something I've been working on... It's a work in progress. Thanks so much.)
And maybe we were a little too much
in love with decay. The sensuous
slowness of entropy. Everything
frayed at the edges and dust falling
in our mouths as we slept.
The way...
And maybe we were a little too much
in love with decay. The sensuous
slowness of entropy. Everything
frayed at the edges and dust falling
in our mouths as we slept.
The way...
#dark
#grief
118 reads
1 Comment
EROTIC POEM
Published
27th Aug 2024 10:58am
27th Aug 2024 10:58am
a dream
At midnight, she wanted his hands all over her. The tall, hard tower of his body behind hers. His hands cupping her breasts, his lips on the pulse between them. How she ached for his filling in every pore of her being. His fullness which would obliterate her own waiting emptiness. She wanted to let go and lean into his power, his superiority, his answers that were infinitely better than her own. She tasted his name on her lips, savoring its sweet poison. Her love for him, what would surely be her undoing. But she wanted to fall, fall down, down, down, and let him catch her.
#crush
#FallingInLove
#lust #passion
#lust #passion
343 reads
6 Comments
STORY POEM
Published
26th Aug 2024 11:55pm
26th Aug 2024 11:55pm
house of empty women
(a work in progress)
All the women's lives were wasted. Sadness collected in the corners of their eyes. They could find nothing to do with themselves but clean for hours, then sit in faded armchairs, crying. Listening quietly to the ticking of the clocks, the slow rotting of their bones. The ineptitude of their frail, small bodies, all the dust constellations in the light fixtures they couldn't reach.
In silent houses, the women wait. For the water to boil, for the dinners to cook. For our husbands. We awaken to rooms scattered with debris. You can't get rid of the dust...
All the women's lives were wasted. Sadness collected in the corners of their eyes. They could find nothing to do with themselves but clean for hours, then sit in faded armchairs, crying. Listening quietly to the ticking of the clocks, the slow rotting of their bones. The ineptitude of their frail, small bodies, all the dust constellations in the light fixtures they couldn't reach.
In silent houses, the women wait. For the water to boil, for the dinners to cook. For our husbands. We awaken to rooms scattered with debris. You can't get rid of the dust...
#dark
#depression
#despair #emptiness
#despair #emptiness
116 reads
3 Comments
SELF POEM
Published
15th Aug 2024 6:12pm
15th Aug 2024 6:12pm
On Nesting
I’m becoming a grandma soon.
I nest more than my daughter does,
throwing crochet blankets over chairs,
arranging the hummingbird pillows just so,
symmetrically placing perfume bottles
next to framed pictures.
Hoping to be clean and ready.
And hoping to erase the dirt and grime
from my own mind.
I hope I can hide the sadness
from my grandchild that has chronically
marked my days since childhood.
The fact I am now old and alone.
And I remember my own grandmother,
once so beautiful, how she lurked quietly
in...
I nest more than my daughter does,
throwing crochet blankets over chairs,
arranging the hummingbird pillows just so,
symmetrically placing perfume bottles
next to framed pictures.
Hoping to be clean and ready.
And hoping to erase the dirt and grime
from my own mind.
I hope I can hide the sadness
from my grandchild that has chronically
marked my days since childhood.
The fact I am now old and alone.
And I remember my own grandmother,
once so beautiful, how she lurked quietly
in...
#dark
#death
#hope
104 reads
4 Comments
LOVE POEM
Published
12th Aug 2024 8:22pm
12th Aug 2024 8:22pm
Ultrasound
My daughter returns home,
bringing black and white pictures
of the new life growing inside her.
You are waiting to emerge
from her womb; it is only weeks now
before your birth. In the pictures,
I can see clearly the liquid outline
of your beautiful face
–you, strange little alien from
a place I've never known,
some faraway planet
of purity and perfection.
I can almost trace
with my unworthy finger
the soft, angry flare of your nostrils,
your tiny fist curled
and...
bringing black and white pictures
of the new life growing inside her.
You are waiting to emerge
from her womb; it is only weeks now
before your birth. In the pictures,
I can see clearly the liquid outline
of your beautiful face
–you, strange little alien from
a place I've never known,
some faraway planet
of purity and perfection.
I can almost trace
with my unworthy finger
the soft, angry flare of your nostrils,
your tiny fist curled
and...
#birth
94 reads
0 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
11th Aug 2024 9:43pm
11th Aug 2024 9:43pm
Alone
flowers so crimson it makes your mouth ache
the deeper the cut
the greater the satisfaction
cobwebs sewn into the light fixtures
as I walk on the ceiling
something so delicate and heartbreaking
while snow coats the trees in Kyoto
like powdered sugar
is there nothing I can't get addicted to
if only
my fractured, hummingbird mother
as in a film
every color
of every dress
never by chance
because the broken are the beautiful
the deeper the cut
the greater the satisfaction
cobwebs sewn into the light fixtures
as I walk on the ceiling
something so delicate and heartbreaking
while snow coats the trees in Kyoto
like powdered sugar
is there nothing I can't get addicted to
if only
my fractured, hummingbird mother
as in a film
every color
of every dress
never by chance
because the broken are the beautiful
#WritingPoetry
97 reads
2 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by toniscales (Lost Girl)
