Poetry That Doesn't Suck

because this is what you do. get up.
blame the liquor for the heaviness. call in late
to work. go to the couch because the bed
is too empty. watch people scream about love
on Jerry Springer. count the ways
it could be worse. it could be last week
when the missing got so big
you wrote him a letter
and sent it. it could be yesterday, no work
to go to, whole day looming.
it could be last month
or the month before, when you still
thought maybe. still carried plans
around with you like talismans.
you could have kissed him last night.
could have gone home with him, given in,
cried after, softly, face to the wall, his heavy arm
around you, hand on your stomach, rubbing.
shower. remember your body. water
hotter than you can stand. sit
on the shower floor. the word
devastated ringing the tub. buildings
collapsed into themselves. ribs
caving toward the spine. recite
the strongest poem you know. a spell
against the lonely that gets you
in crowds and on three hours’ sleep.
wonder where the gods are now.
get up. because death is not
an alternative. because this is what you do.
air like soup, move. door, hallway, room.
pants, socks, shoes. sweater. coat. cold.
wish you were a bird. remember you
are not you, now. you are you
a year from now. how does that
woman walk? she is not sick or sad.
doesn’t even remember today.
has been to Europe. what song
is she humming? now. right now.
that’s it.

Marty McConnell

(Source: foxandthefawn, via commovente)

1 day ago -

1426

(Source: another-death, via smallestgoal)

1 week ago -

51467

(via misguided-gh0sts)

2 weeks ago -

86

ao-oa:

I am a childhood toy, with my
arms broken off,
kept for so long in nostalgia;

I am your favorite song from high school,
but I don’t quite sound the same
now.

I am a tattered souvenir
shirt from a friend,
buried deep in your closet because
it would be rude to throw me away;

I am a tarnished nickel,
green with corrosion, lost
in the dust between
your bed and the wall, and I
never was worth much to you.

2 weeks ago -

1124

(Source: theperksofbeingaband-whore, via fragileminded)

3 weeks ago -

22726

(via mindelsewhere)

1 month ago -

179397

THINGS I KNOW TO BE TRUE TODAY

kaitrokowski:

Dropping out of college resulted in forced life experience
& terrible grammar
My mother is a flawless mother
this does not make her a flawless person
I hate doing dishes more than I hate going to work early
When I am out of cigarettes I do not blame the man I bummed one to
I blame myself for picking up the habit
A lung is a terrible thing to waste
I hate spending money on clothes less than I hate doing the laundry
Writing is the hardest thing I do not have to do
No, self love is the hardest thing I do not have to do
Those pizza boxes aren’t going throw themselves out
Those clothes aren’t going to fold themselves
I am out of clean forks
I am out of good ideas
The sun will still come up
Forks clean or otherwise