POETRYLove Conquers All
I am sure tomorrow will be different.
I won’t upset him,
I won’t speak out.
Turn the volume down to a whisper.
I will smile.
Let the smoke seep in
And stain my skin.
I will learn to sleep without dreaming
in case he needs me to be awake.
I will smile.
The dinner will be ready.
My days will be empty.
I will take photos.
I will learn to walk without moving.
I will learn to breathe through my nose.
Stop crying, stop crying,
It doesn’t hurt.
I love you, don’t forget.
The dinner will be ready.
The heart will be broken.
I can draw pictures and write poems
When he has a good day.
I can watch flowers grow
And stars collide.
Nobody will love you like I do.
So open your mouth.
I will learn to thank without wanting.
I will learn to live without feeling.
I will smile.
I am sure tomorrow will be different.
spider up her thigh in the dimly lit room
held down, stared down
embers of the abyss snap around her
My father sexually abused me.
When I got married,
I hyphenated my name.
No one questioned it at the time.
But in the middle of my parents’ late divorce,
everyone wants to know about names.
Nietzsche warned us not to look
long into the abyss, or it will look long
into us.
It was finally
his home until
abruptly
his mind flashed
all the times he had entered a
boy
i was depressed,
and i wanted
to take a
walk;
you said you'd join me—
didn't mean i wanted
netflix and chill,
it happened before words came
to tell me how to feel about it
newly connected neurons torn apart
or perverted—
forever firing blanks into the microbiological air
As a child
The lessons taught
Can bring a pain never thought.
The lessons on trust
And heartache
Sear the soul.