artifice

we speak in riddles and doublespeak
and half-finished glances
i am tired of never saying what i mean
and hoping you understand
me:
coy but ready
you:
distant but yearning
everything is artifice
and we are just playing parts


Day 3-Write about interpersonal relationships and the games we play to avoid vulnerability.

Tensions

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I am beginning to name my knots.

Let one in my neck be Wanting

from every time I clenched my jaw after breathing in her scent.

Let the tightness in my shoulder be Disappointment who is also called Shame

a product of still wanting him to touch me

even though we both know he shouldn't

and being caught between recoiling and not.

Finally, the chronic ache in my back will be Distance

from consistently loving people that are too far away.

In the same way one muscle contracts as the other relaxes

these pains are interconnected

and I know that all these names mean the same thing:

I hold on for far too long and I need to learn to let go.

Dear Beloved

An open letter to
everyone I’ve ever convinced myself I loved.

I.

I am still sorry.

I fear that you were just the

first in a long line

of men I will be

all too willing to bury

my loneliness in.

II.

 Now that I’ve figured

that you wronged me, I am not

ready to forgive.

III.

I loved you more than

you knew, but you were still right:

it was not enough.

IV.

I have learned what the

infinite tastes like but

I still haven’t learned

that people can’t be

 fixed because they
aren’t broken,

or that I deserve

better.

Going The Distance

Have you ever gone through your personal poetry archives and stumbled upon an old piece that, at the time of writing, you were convinced was absolutely awful, but now that you’ve given it some space, it turns out it wasn’t too bad after all? This piece is one of them. It’s almost a year old and no longer personally relevant, but I hope you like it.
Distance pulls heartstrings taut
While memory taunts
Sighs go unanswered
Empty promises fill
Where your touch should be.
Silence breeds disquiet:
I quietly wonder
If it’ll be worth it in the end.