To laugh, ask questions

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1

She's shaking in her teenage tears
Life is waiting with its claws
I'm looking, it's not perverse really
Just breaking the fourth wall
Instant gratification grips us
Ten thousand kisses inside a group chat
But the kisses are so small
She's wondering where she can go wrong
Sifting crowds for lessons to learn from
It's scary and exciting,
She is meant to fall
I smirk at this, I'm such a cynic
It's so clichéd, not even thrilling
Keep crying, doll.

2

Where is the little man who fell in love with me?
I was stuck with him, playing the lover
Returning his kisses with my cold lips, barren
I couldn’t love him as long as I was sober
He didn’t complain once, not even a little.
I needed to be the silhouette woman
“She was too hard to keep”
I laughed (and then cried) when I left him,
When he said he needed me
Where are you, my little man?
With your songs and letters and eyes of sheep?
Here I am, a little woman (surprise)
But you have no more love to give.

NOTICE

I gaze at a man who never looks at me
An amused grin hanging over his thin lips
(Like a curtain I’m supposed to uncover)
I lie down on the grass, counting my piecemeal joys
Wondering if the day is over
Sighing, nodding, humming a tune
Waiting for my sacred moon

He pays no attention while he smokes rings into the
air
I wish he were a gentleman with flowers
He doesn’t look at me, yet
Life is so unfair

I’m sure he’s up to something
He lectures at the empty sun but I catch his shy breath
I look at him, for hours on end
A nasty tiktok song stuck in my goddamn brain
How long will it take for him
To kiss me in the dusk?
Before it’s too late, I might have to ask

What did you mean when you hugged her
What do you mean when you hold my hands?
Look at me, face my eyes
Or I’ll leave to look at another man.

December

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Before the month end meets another mouth
Speak the unspoken
The sky was too blue so I couldn’t say it
And you didn’t mean it
What’s the difference between see you
And goodbye?
I hugged a sweater and curled up in it
Some warmths are trees, deciduous
If their arms contract some day, they spring back
Outstretched
Loves that might wane but never disappear
If nothing, you can always plant dreams
Evergreen, forever blooming
Enough with nature and its metaphors
You must be bored
Like I am.
I’m catching up with my words
Before the month end meets another mouth
And they spill over, too soon
We like to repeat ourselves, after all
My city has no snowflakes so I make do with tears
I gulp down the past because the month will end
The year too, so funny.
Nights crawl around me, begging me in hushed tones
Join the end, it is near
The future is too far away!
But I know it’s only the cold
I shut my eyes and scold them to sleep
Achieving peace needs such violence, so funny.
At dawn I’m up again chiming words
Dragging the end of a chewing gum until it’s dry
And there are no tears to gulp down
Only white, fresh snowflakes around the bright green
tree
Pink flowers
Joy
Inside my dream garden
I know even you are tempted to join me
We will wave farewell soon
To meet new ends which must begin
Should I say goodbye
Or
...until we meet again?

Unforeseen

It was only a dream
You had only stopped once
A glance that asked, are you alright?
I could've stopped at no
But I spoke for ten minutes straight
Words gushing out of my lips
Making them busy
To forget that I can't kiss you, yet
A smile danced on your face
My complaints amused you, didn't they?
If it were a different city afternoon
A different sky
A different room and a different dress
I would've been angry
At a man laughing at a rambling woman
Instead I fell in love
How did I die for an insolent grin?
You made it worse
A light touch of your brown fingers
On my restless hands
You tried to stop me but you only made me race
I can't forget your face
I want to chew your brain alive
I want to wipe off your smirk with my lipstick
I want to grab your hair and shake you until you love me back
But it was only a dream, I promise,
And if you ask me if I'm alright
What can I do but say yes and smile?

Narcissist

As the nights grow cold
I plunge myself into my narcissistic depths
It's easier than losing grip on my heart
And giving it to you
I love myself harder to unsee your longing for me
I relish my pain and pleasure of solitude
Face to face with a mirror, I shine.
But over my shoulder you stand tall
With a hole in your heart so big it daunts me
With a love so desperate I cower like a coward
I am too small for you
My kisses cannot fix your eyebrows bent in gloom
So I unsee you
I unfeel your shadow resting on my back
I unknow you and focus on myself
Narcissism, my shield of arms,
Covers my lonely heart as the nights grow cold
I stifle tears, I watch you go.

Flow

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How can I hate myself
When I smell the city in dusk
The green trees
Naive nobodies stuck in jams
I lay my feet to sleep
My ears clouded with music
I close my eyes and rivers ripple
Through my toes
Through my bones
My ribs are open in my dream

I keep speaking of dreams
But I cannot hate the reality
It’s cruel but it made me
And I cannot hate myself anymore
Without a reality, there’d be no dreams
No stories, no songs, no lore
I make peace with the real
Even if it’s not ideal

And the river flows.

Keep to Myself

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The wind whispers in my ear
It knocks against my window
The trees nod in agreement

I keep to myself

The sun shines warm and red
Blows me a kiss
Before it’s about to set
I sweat and I glow

I keep to myself

The neighborhood bursts into sounds
Everyday noises turning to music
The birds, the leaves
Clinking of utensils
I hum my favourite tunes

I keep to myself

The world moves and dances in my heart
I cannot keep to myself
You are moving and dancing in my heart
I cannot keep to myself
I will reach you
As you have reached me
I will love you
As you have loved me

We will keep to ourselves

We’ll weave a little tale for us
Or write a whole omnibus

And look for nothing else.

Superimposed

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When the summer is over
I will be dying
I'm ready to be her
And I'll take a new name

I want to break off
But I'm still tied
I'm trying to be special
But I'm just an image
Of her

I am a princess
You wanted a queen
My wings are stunted
My attempts, too weak

Will you give me the time to grow
Or will I write poems, with nowhere to go?

A song for the bored

Give me a melody, I'll find the words to sing
I'm not giving up hope

I'm just a nobody, life's not a tragedy
And I'm not just a joke

I'm walking alone, nowhere to go
I'm working but I have no goals

Is this life, is this who I am?
Is this fine, or a useless sham?
A useless sham!

Take me to the moon, I'm not feeling good
The city is crowded dust

I'll be an open book, you can take a look
We can stare at the stars

Is this life, is this who I am?
Is this fine, or a useless sham?
A useless sham!

I'm escaping all these blues
And I will be taking you, too
We'll play songs old and new
And we'll dance on the moon, ooh

Even if life's a useless sham
I will be who I am
And you will be you!

Close

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I’m lying through my teeth
You think that I need you
I want you close to me
It’s because I need to
Watch what you say,
Hear when you’re speaking
I know yesterday
You said that you hate me

Are you not my friend?
But you talk behind my back
I know I’m not flawless,
There are virtues I lack
But now you’re my enemy
I’d like to make more!
I will be thriving
And I’ll keep you close.