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
19th Jul 2024 7:29am
19th Jul 2024 7:29am
Cooking with My Daughter
I didn't want to say
how times have changed.
I knew you'd roll your eyes
at that.
But I was happy
just to bask in your presence
while you feverishly texted your fiance
and turned up the volume
on Gordon Ramsay.
I carefully washed each celery stalk,
trying to dice each piece
symmetrical to the other,
taking my time to stare
out the window
at wind ruffling the trees
while you laughed
and threw vegetables
into the pot with gusto,
saying how slow I was.
Though I...
how times have changed.
I knew you'd roll your eyes
at that.
But I was happy
just to bask in your presence
while you feverishly texted your fiance
and turned up the volume
on Gordon Ramsay.
I carefully washed each celery stalk,
trying to dice each piece
symmetrical to the other,
taking my time to stare
out the window
at wind ruffling the trees
while you laughed
and threw vegetables
into the pot with gusto,
saying how slow I was.
Though I...
#daughter
#love
#motherhood
127 reads
1 Comment
SELF POEM
Published
18th Jul 2024 8:24am
18th Jul 2024 8:24am
Once, There Was a House
Haunted and abandoned.
All the windows broken,
glass and detritus
covering the floor sensuously.
Everywhere, the beauty
of slow entropy, rooms
inhabited by dust and debris,
by ivy and silence.
And I forgot that the house
was actually my own self,
full of dark and neglect.
All the windows broken,
glass and detritus
covering the floor sensuously.
Everywhere, the beauty
of slow entropy, rooms
inhabited by dust and debris,
by ivy and silence.
And I forgot that the house
was actually my own self,
full of dark and neglect.
#dark
#depression
#despair #emptiness
#despair #emptiness
155 reads
4 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
8th Jul 2024 9:47pm
8th Jul 2024 9:47pm
Escaping Beryl
We will leave before the storm comes.
I talk with my dad on the phone,
listen to his stories
how my grandfather at fifteen
became a hobo
and jumped railroad cars
for he couldn't bear his father
to beat him with a razor strap
for standing up to the kids
who bullied his brother.
I listen in wonderment
to how my grandfather
became a carnie
a genius at building games
that only let a player win
if he wanted them to.
I imagine him piecing together
parts that would trick ...
I talk with my dad on the phone,
listen to his stories
how my grandfather at fifteen
became a hobo
and jumped railroad cars
for he couldn't bear his father
to beat him with a razor strap
for standing up to the kids
who bullied his brother.
I listen in wonderment
to how my grandfather
became a carnie
a genius at building games
that only let a player win
if he wanted them to.
I imagine him piecing together
parts that would trick ...
#family
#nature
113 reads
1 Comment
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
24th Jun 2024 10:38pm
24th Jun 2024 10:38pm
My poem and audio recording featured in The Pedestal Magazine
https://thepedestalmagazine.com/toni-scales-a-haunting/
#LifeAsAWriter
196 reads
6 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
20th Jun 2024 10:11pm
20th Jun 2024 10:11pm
One more acceptance
I think I've been on a lucky streak lately. I'm honored to have a poem accepted for the next issue of Trigger Warning Magazine... Again, I'll post links when they become available. Thank you so much to everyone who has given me support. ❤️
#LifeAsAWriter
136 reads
5 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
19th Jun 2024 7:55pm
19th Jun 2024 7:55pm
My author website
Hi. I hope everyone is doing great. I wanted to say that I've been working on my author website, and I'm inviting anyone to check it out if they feel like it. Any suggestions or recommendations for improvement are more than welcome. Thank you so much. You can find it at toniscales.com.
#LifeAsAWriter
147 reads
4 Comments
SELF POEM
Published
19th Jun 2024 5:34pm
19th Jun 2024 5:34pm
A Day at the Beach
(written for gothicsurrealism's competition)
There is the heat,
the ubiquitous and sad
blue umbrellas,
the water and the gulls.
The beach
is dedicated
to a dead man. He died
the year I was born.
I've gained
so much weight,
I must use
the beach chair as a walker.
The salt I taste
in my mouth
from the sea
is soon replaced by
the salt of my tears,
face burning in shame
as I push myself in agony
towards our destination.
Every ounce of hatred for...
There is the heat,
the ubiquitous and sad
blue umbrellas,
the water and the gulls.
The beach
is dedicated
to a dead man. He died
the year I was born.
I've gained
so much weight,
I must use
the beach chair as a walker.
The salt I taste
in my mouth
from the sea
is soon replaced by
the salt of my tears,
face burning in shame
as I push myself in agony
towards our destination.
Every ounce of hatred for...
#depression
#despair
#sadness
142 reads
0 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
15th Jun 2024 8:27pm
15th Jun 2024 8:27pm
Accepted for publication again
Thank you so much to everyone who has left encouragement and support on my work. I'm deeply thrilled and honored to have a poem accepted for the upcoming issue of The Pedestal Magazine... Will post links when available. I hope everyone is doing great!
#LifeAsAWriter
139 reads
0 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
11th Jun 2024 9:34am
11th Jun 2024 9:34am
Accepted for publication
I hope everyone on the site is doing great. There are some amazing poets on here, and I've been lucky to meet some of you lately. I wanted to say I just had a poem accepted for publication for the summer issue of TALES OF THE MOONLIT PATH. Thanks so much to everyone who has left feedback on my work. It means so much to me...
#LifeAsAWriter
228 reads
24 Comments
SELF POEM
Published
11th Jun 2024 8:57am
11th Jun 2024 8:57am
The Key
(For Fia Naturie's Keys Competition)
I walked into the attic room.
The black door stood
with seemingly nothing
behind it.
I felt inside my pocket
for the key I instinctively knew
would be there.
It felt warm and electric
in my pocket.
I fit the key into the lock,
and held my breath,
opening the door.
Inside was me.
But a completely different me.
I was thin and beautiful.
I could walk
without the help
of a walker.
I was normal.
I didn't have...
I walked into the attic room.
The black door stood
with seemingly nothing
behind it.
I felt inside my pocket
for the key I instinctively knew
would be there.
It felt warm and electric
in my pocket.
I fit the key into the lock,
and held my breath,
opening the door.
Inside was me.
But a completely different me.
I was thin and beautiful.
I could walk
without the help
of a walker.
I was normal.
I didn't have...
#choices
149 reads
1 Comment
FICTIONAL PROSE
Published
7th Jun 2024 4:46am
7th Jun 2024 4:46am
The Pug
Her name was Linda.
She was 48 years old. Most people would tell her that she was still young, that she had so much life left to live.
They didn't realize that, what she couldn't say, was that in so many ways, she had already given up.
She was morbidly obese, and her health was failing. But it wasn't so much that. She was severely mentally ill, and the medication didn't do much to help. A life-long predisposition towards sadness and hopelessness was her fare in life, and it had never changed.
She lived with her beautiful 22 year-old daughter...
She was 48 years old. Most people would tell her that she was still young, that she had so much life left to live.
They didn't realize that, what she couldn't say, was that in so many ways, she had already given up.
She was morbidly obese, and her health was failing. But it wasn't so much that. She was severely mentally ill, and the medication didn't do much to help. A life-long predisposition towards sadness and hopelessness was her fare in life, and it had never changed.
She lived with her beautiful 22 year-old daughter...
#abuse
#dogs
#DomesticViolence #hope
#DomesticViolence #hope
225 reads
8 Comments
SPIRITUAL POEM
Published
3rd Jun 2024 11:53am
3rd Jun 2024 11:53am
Night Worship
The porch is my sanctuary.
The inky darkness, holy.
My cigarette breathes incense
into this hallowed open chamber,
its peace only broken occasionally
by cars on their way to work.
Spiders perch in the rafters,
spinning silent prayers.
Crickets sing against
a backdrop of starlight.
June bugs flit and hit the walls,
fat guardian cherubs,
sacrificing themselves.
I am surrounded by sacred objects.
The translucent line of water bottles.
The broken aquarium.
My broken self.
I...
The inky darkness, holy.
My cigarette breathes incense
into this hallowed open chamber,
its peace only broken occasionally
by cars on their way to work.
Spiders perch in the rafters,
spinning silent prayers.
Crickets sing against
a backdrop of starlight.
June bugs flit and hit the walls,
fat guardian cherubs,
sacrificing themselves.
I am surrounded by sacred objects.
The translucent line of water bottles.
The broken aquarium.
My broken self.
I...
#nature
#night
#spiritual
209 reads
8 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by toniscales (Lost Girl)
