Long Self Poems
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Personal poetry about the way you feel about yourself
Long poems (300 words or more), most recently posted poems first.
Nevermindthegaps
Poem Published
2nd May 2025 6:28am
2nd May 2025 6:28am
The Aches Of Carrying The Dead
my wrist shakes
carpal tunnel
from that time the post in the back yard
broke it and my father beat the shit
out of me
for crying because men don’t cry
and hospital was days away
from the heavy bag
honing knock out shots
throwing with the fury of an arrow riddle berserker
as if my last deeds in life will be echoed
through the ages of wrist-spraining-shots into dented leather
I’ve been taught so often how little
I matter unless I’m doing
so I bury it using an excavator
my tears now
just...
carpal tunnel
from that time the post in the back yard
broke it and my father beat the shit
out of me
for crying because men don’t cry
and hospital was days away
from the heavy bag
honing knock out shots
throwing with the fury of an arrow riddle berserker
as if my last deeds in life will be echoed
through the ages of wrist-spraining-shots into dented leather
I’ve been taught so often how little
I matter unless I’m doing
so I bury it using an excavator
my tears now
just...
#emptiness
#sadness
#shame
87 reads
4 Comments
WillowsWhimsies
Poem Published
1st May 2025 12:05pm
1st May 2025 12:05pm
endings become beginnings...
1) right where I am
dragging failures...
hopes...
dreams...
2) everything
the baggage unpacked
the debris of memory
from haunted days when...
3) I felt so beautifully alive
a doll fresh from her box
wide eyed & untouched
...innocence still intact
4) it's the little things
details hidden in lowered eyes
nails bitten to the skin
unnoticed evidence
5) as so often happens
what isn't seen is the most...
dragging failures...
hopes...
dreams...
2) everything
the baggage unpacked
the debris of memory
from haunted days when...
3) I felt so beautifully alive
a doll fresh from her box
wide eyed & untouched
...innocence still intact
4) it's the little things
details hidden in lowered eyes
nails bitten to the skin
unnoticed evidence
5) as so often happens
what isn't seen is the most...
#confessional
#DeepUndergroundPoetry
#memories #MyInspiration
#memories #MyInspiration
107 reads
9 Comments
thoughtsdie
Poem Published
29th Apr 2025 9:53pm
29th Apr 2025 9:53pm
Endless Self Torture
It’s that same song again, the one I imagine playing at my funeral.
A funeral I’m late to everyday.
Lying in bed,
I wait for someone to notice the dead body and have it removed.
But no one does because I’m not good enough to be dead yet.
I still breathe and bleed.
I’m still here, like a ghost stuck in a body.
Sometimes I wonder if I possessed this body because my soul was going to hell.
That instead I’d rather torture myself and create my own hell.
The truth is what I desire the most is to never have existed....
A funeral I’m late to everyday.
Lying in bed,
I wait for someone to notice the dead body and have it removed.
But no one does because I’m not good enough to be dead yet.
I still breathe and bleed.
I’m still here, like a ghost stuck in a body.
Sometimes I wonder if I possessed this body because my soul was going to hell.
That instead I’d rather torture myself and create my own hell.
The truth is what I desire the most is to never have existed....
#depression
#despair
#emptiness
#StreamOfConsciousness
#suicide
74 reads
0 Comments
george4man2box
Poem Published
27th Apr 2025 8:29pm
27th Apr 2025 8:29pm
An unexceptional turning point in our marriage...
#marriage
27 reads
0 Comments
Mrd
Poem Published
26th Apr 2025 10:36pm
26th Apr 2025 10:36pm
My day so far
Of course they think I'm
Just a wee bit daft
Or crazy or strange
I keep telling them that
I am writing poems
About all this shit that's
Coming down and they say
That's nice or really?
As in they're really not interested
But politely say, about what
And I say
Person man woman camera TV
And the person is me
And the woman is Gaia
Just yesterday finally legal
And the man is the patriarchy
And the woman is the Venus of Willendorph which elicits squat
And the...
Just a wee bit daft
Or crazy or strange
I keep telling them that
I am writing poems
About all this shit that's
Coming down and they say
That's nice or really?
As in they're really not interested
But politely say, about what
And I say
Person man woman camera TV
And the person is me
And the woman is Gaia
Just yesterday finally legal
And the man is the patriarchy
And the woman is the Venus of Willendorph which elicits squat
And the...
#aging
68 reads
3 Comments
Mrd
Poem Published
26th Apr 2025 3:30am
26th Apr 2025 3:30am
dreaming of mother
it did not happen that way
or I would have remembered it so
you were always so fond of the lie
which put toe into truth, cold truth,
and fashioned straw snowmen
which didn't exist
can you not rip that memory
from that cardboard covered thing
you recorded all those shall we say
delusions? No one wished to kill
you as you slept so why the mawkish dummies that you made
of clothing beneath the spread--they
would have fooled no one
as you sought trembling sleep ...
or I would have remembered it so
you were always so fond of the lie
which put toe into truth, cold truth,
and fashioned straw snowmen
which didn't exist
can you not rip that memory
from that cardboard covered thing
you recorded all those shall we say
delusions? No one wished to kill
you as you slept so why the mawkish dummies that you made
of clothing beneath the spread--they
would have fooled no one
as you sought trembling sleep ...
#addiction
#anxiety
#disability
#illness
#MentalHealth
41 reads
3 Comments
Mrd
Poem Published
26th Apr 2025 00:47am
26th Apr 2025 00:47am
Lost in Translation
Mr Yang on the other side
of the curtain speaks no English
but the nurses and aides still try
Do you know where you are, one asks, to which Mr Yang replies,
"$%#4&^^!" The nurse doubles down, slowly and loudly enough to drown out CNN (which I count as a blessing)
DOOO YOOOOUUUU KNOOOOW
WHERRRRE YOUUUU ARRREE???
to which I add beneath my breath, "In the grand scheme of things..."
@@@##@#$#$##$%<=, he says equally slowly, as loudly as his...
of the curtain speaks no English
but the nurses and aides still try
Do you know where you are, one asks, to which Mr Yang replies,
"$%#4&^^!" The nurse doubles down, slowly and loudly enough to drown out CNN (which I count as a blessing)
DOOO YOOOOUUUU KNOOOOW
WHERRRRE YOUUUU ARRREE???
to which I add beneath my breath, "In the grand scheme of things..."
@@@##@#$#$##$%<=, he says equally slowly, as loudly as his...
#disability
#illness
#MentalHealth
#PTSD
#vulnerability
40 reads
3 Comments
DevilsChild
Poem Published
24th Apr 2025 6:25am
24th Apr 2025 6:25am
I am a husband/I am a father
met my wife online at 17
we used to send dirty letters to each other
because we didn’t have cellular phones
and logging online was, well dial up
she sent me a throw away camera the one day
told me to develop the photos
I remember the faces of the workers
the one said a remark then handed them over
the pics were of her in her underwear
a first of wild moments
when we met in person was at the airport
I was walking up the ramp when I saw her
it was the weirdest feeling
like a best friend I’ve know all my life
wasn’t...
we used to send dirty letters to each other
because we didn’t have cellular phones
and logging online was, well dial up
she sent me a throw away camera the one day
told me to develop the photos
I remember the faces of the workers
the one said a remark then handed them over
the pics were of her in her underwear
a first of wild moments
when we met in person was at the airport
I was walking up the ramp when I saw her
it was the weirdest feeling
like a best friend I’ve know all my life
wasn’t...
#father
#marriage
123 reads
4 Comments
InDreamz
Poem Published
22nd Apr 2025 7:08pm
22nd Apr 2025 7:08pm
inner demons
my inner demons incarcerated
in the prison of my mind;
i let them out on a parole
for they seemed tranquliized.
the only rule to follow
that they would roam in solitude
without in the company
of their other inmates-
be just mute
i thought i had tamed them
and a little freedom
was served them as a treat,
but the moment they were released
they ran like wild hogs
stamping and trampling
those...
in the prison of my mind;
i let them out on a parole
for they seemed tranquliized.
the only rule to follow
that they would roam in solitude
without in the company
of their other inmates-
be just mute
i thought i had tamed them
and a little freedom
was served them as a treat,
but the moment they were released
they ran like wild hogs
stamping and trampling
those...
#LifeChangingMoment
#LifeStruggles
#MentalHealth #SelfReflection
#MentalHealth #SelfReflection
114 reads
14 Comments
Mrd
Poem Published
22nd Apr 2025 6:32am
22nd Apr 2025 6:32am
of popes & kings & weird-ass things
mr leong lies mouth agape
on the other side of the curtain
here in room 552
92 years old with wrinkles
converging on the sinkhole
ravaging the center of his face
the nurse comes and runs the protocol,
do you know where you are, she asks
home, he whispers, maui
no, no, she says, you are in hospital, honolulu...
on the other side of the curtain
here in room 552
92 years old with wrinkles
converging on the sinkhole
ravaging the center of his face
the nurse comes and runs the protocol,
do you know where you are, she asks
home, he whispers, maui
no, no, she says, you are in hospital, honolulu...
#aging
23 reads
4 Comments
BeautifulDisaster7
Poem Published
19th Apr 2025 1:38pm
19th Apr 2025 1:38pm
The house that swallowed me whole
I was born into a house,
already full.
Full of silence dressed up as survival.
I was born already unforgiven.
The product of her regret.
A product of a man whose name curdled in her throat,
every time she looked at me.
I was his mirror,
And that meant I could never be hers.
I was the reminder,
of a mistake,
of a man she regrets,
of a night she doesn’t speak about.
I was not the one she held close.
Not the one she prayed over.
Not the one she loved.
I was tolerated.
Raised on scraps of affection, ...
already full.
Full of silence dressed up as survival.
I was born already unforgiven.
The product of her regret.
A product of a man whose name curdled in her throat,
every time she looked at me.
I was his mirror,
And that meant I could never be hers.
I was the reminder,
of a mistake,
of a man she regrets,
of a night she doesn’t speak about.
I was not the one she held close.
Not the one she prayed over.
Not the one she loved.
I was tolerated.
Raised on scraps of affection, ...
#anger
#daughter
#mother
#SelfWorth
#suffering
77 reads
2 Comments
BeautifulDisaster7
Poem Published
19th Apr 2025 12:58pm
19th Apr 2025 12:58pm
Reflection that unmade me
I was eleven when the ground beneath me cracked.
When truth spilled out of her mouth,
like it wasn’t a bomb,
wrapped in casual conversation.
I was old enough to feel the tremble,
when truth finally speaks.
It wasn’t a sit-down,
wasn’t gentle.
It came in a slip of the tongue.
A careless comment,
meant to hush my parents,
not to shatter me.
But just like that,
My world split down the middle,
between what I thought I knew,
and what had always been hidden.
I wasn’t who I thought I was.
The...
When truth spilled out of her mouth,
like it wasn’t a bomb,
wrapped in casual conversation.
I was old enough to feel the tremble,
when truth finally speaks.
It wasn’t a sit-down,
wasn’t gentle.
It came in a slip of the tongue.
A careless comment,
meant to hush my parents,
not to shatter me.
But just like that,
My world split down the middle,
between what I thought I knew,
and what had always been hidden.
I wasn’t who I thought I was.
The...
#SelfReflection
#SelfWorth
#suffering
79 reads
1 Comment
DU Poetry : Long Personal Poems. Poetry about Self Reflection and Self Awareness.
