love ties me up and binds with a rope of shame slowly I fade away until Iβm nothing I donβt recognize who I am Friends tell me Iβve changed I tell them theyβre crazy messages appear in dreams Iβm living a fake life who am i? who am i? who am i?
it was another boring night at work I was stuck on aisle 10 between stocking and my racing thoughts a 90s dance song comes on the speaker and just when Iβm about to sing I heard footsteps behind me I turned around and there he was- my favorite customer 5β10 ,curly black hair, full red lips and a body built by some Greek God he was looking at pots and pans I quickly turned my back to stock the tupperware and sneaked glances and admired him from afar hoped he didnβt notice me in my Kroger garb I looked like too much of hot mess to flirt but still my dead and jaded heart was resuscitated and my imagination took flight as fantasies of him surfaced to my mind and just as Iβm imagined our first kiss he approached me, -OH NO! of course he asked for a specific type of pan we didnβt have I told him no and apologized in my best customer service voice and he told me βno worriesβ as his voice cracked and walked away quickly and I wondered, am I imagining things, or is he also attracted to me?
that cabinet also brings purpose to my life- it holds almost all of my stories
Open mics, family, karaoke nights, dance parties, Tarot readings, poems written on sticky notes, Epiphany after epiphany about how I have always been worthy, Long conversation about life in coffee shops, Trips to my dadβs hometown, sharing silly verses with friends making dumb videos, coffee cups that say main character energy dancing in car while I drive, taking picture of the moon and everything else that brings me joy, and every single experienced Ive lived, every single person Iβve loved is what my lifeβs purpose is about Itβs joy,hate, love, anger, empathy, envy it all brings purpose to my wretched everyday existence
while Iβve been obsessed with everything that has gone wrong with my life Iβm learning to finally acknowledge everything that went right always been blessed to have a community of friends who loved and accept me as the crazy and creative mess that I have always been for that I am most grateful to the universe the ultimate gift of friendship
sheβs gone to the other side leaving us in a state of mourning no tears, no words soften the emotional blow canβt take back how we took her for granted and now anger, regret, and remorse becomes who we are until we accept the passage of time is our biggest ally in healing from her absence
Shadows of past sorrows came to visit me tonight they were triggered by that Taylor swift song on vinyl I poured myself some Hennessy to cope made a toast to what could have beens as tears fall on my paper trying to understand the journey is sometimes shitty and full of nails I had to step to get here on the other side of madness and chaotic living Living life intentionally and no longer just for the moment
In bridging the gaps of my story that have remained unresolved every story, every poem leads to pieces of healing and closure Iβve been desperately search for since I can remember Whatever my child self , my teenage self couldnβt voice back then My middle age self brings to the surface and while at times itβs difficult and terrifying itβs needed in the process of healing and evolving
nachos and cheese makes my tummy oh so happy satisfies my craving for something salty my taste buds are greatly aroused as the cheese melts in my mouth and I grow dizzy with glee becoming a victim to my gluttony my taste buds grow greedy for more even my blood pressure soars
we gather here tonight to share the most vulnerable parts of ourselves through poems written on a whim, in cars, inspired by dreams and tragedies and everything in between some of it will be meaningful some of it will be nonsense most of the time, it will be someone trying to make sense of the world with a few phrases and sentences clumsily strung together and calling it poetry
that time I was too distracted thinking about my crush that I had a little fender bender
You must be a magician because you make me feel things Iβve shut the door to, you make me want to write the most terrible and cringy poems about love you must be a magician because I canβt stop thinking about you because even though I said never again here I am obsessing over another man
take me on a tour of your utopia the one you always talk about the one where mental illness doesnβt exist and we all go to sleep without the need of meds and sleepytime tea the one where everyone is respected and being different is celebrated and not used as fodder for insults or war
you donate to endless non profits, sit on boards of organizations that want to bridge communities together, you volunteer at the soup kitchen or as a mentor for underprivileged at risk kids you share your stories of trauma and you do all of this telling yourself I want to help others I want to be a healing light this cesspool of a world desperately needs and despite dozens of explanations Iβll ask you are you doing it to help others or are you doing it to fuel your ego? are you doing out of the purest of intentions to make a difference or to make yourself feel better about your mediocre first world privilege existence?
Reddit wants to make sure Iβm real and not a spam bot and even I ask myself this today as I feel completely numb as I feel like my emotions are turned off And Iβm a new kind of mellow the kind of mellow thatβs a zombie functioning and existing with a stoic demeanor feeling completely detached from who I truly am over medicated and toned down to barely subtle static and white noise Is this what itβs like to be normal?
blankness spills across her pretty face no distinction between her and the marble her hands and feet are still watches herself say the right words and make the appropriate gestures nothing makes sense in this moment rage burns inside of her she smiles and nods politely as they talk about the weather