I scream at the gods, but they laugh as I trip over my two left feet.
No one is as good as me at admitting their own defeat.
Even when I stand up for a second or a moment more,
Fate crushes my modest medallions in the heavy mahogany door.
I swear I once ran ahead of destinies and all the lives to come.
My foolish demeanor turned the milky dreams in plain rum.
The light is temporary, but my soul is a bright red warning.
And if the chaos I rain is not for you, turn away, darling.
-JW
In the dawn your brown eyes seem fleeting and bleak.
I scare myself with the words I speak.
You, only you, deserve the truth more than the others.
For you I betray my oldest friends and closest brothers.
My neck bends the way you breathe.
Still, I refuse to agree when they howl as I speak.
You wrap around me like the greenest vine.
We agreed years ago that for you I will cross the line.
-JW
Excuse me as I become a bad example.
They tried to fit me into a mold,
They tried to make me into a sample.
But I questioned everything I was told,
And for that I was called sinister.
The status quo laughed at me,
Tried to heal me with their best ministers.
They turned my name into a legacy.
Accidentally, completely unprovoked
I became the very thing
Most were told to behold.
My weakness became their king.
-JW
“I will grow into my name.”
The courage builds up in my chest,
It does not respond to shame.
Leave the selfless thoughts with all the rest.
I will grow into my name
As it rings across these silent waters
With no one to take the blame
Except all the disgraceful fathers.
I will grow into my name,
Make it mine, with no exceptions.
Let me taste the limelight and the fame,
Let me shatter in seven directions.
-JW
Come in, don’t you hesitate, push over the papers.
The room hasn’t changed since they moved in this April.
Her laptop’s slowly drowning in a red pool.
The dead plants break their necks, dissolving all proof.
Ignore the putrid smell, the windows won’t open.
He nailed them shut as he trapped her like a rodent.
The carpet’s still bruised from the many stab wounds,
And the walls bleed crimson, ready to be in the news.
Come in, don’t hesitate, step over her remains.
It’s been a few months but no one’s noticed a change.
She will slowly rot away until late September.
No one will remember ‘til they hear she’s been dismembered.
And the mail will pile up as the seasons keep changing,
The excuses in their minds will stop rearranging.
So they’ll have to come in and face the truth –
She was always right when she called him a brute.
-JW
The river tried to lick my wounds
But they were too sour.
As the cold water drowned my words,
I counted down the hours.
Stars sighed, hiding on the horizon,
And I burned my apologies.
The sound of the sirens
Broke my painted-on serenity.
I allowed it to become a part of me –
But now the stream is stealing it.
It is sealing shut the honesty,
Opening my flesh wider,
Destroying instead of healing it.
-JW
I looked through the oblivion,
And the rage I found still follows me.
It encapsulates my rotten core,
It drowns me when I fall asleep.
But I can never keep my secrets,
Even with the blades nearby.
Right at the corners of my mind
Muck monsters sing me lullabies.
My vessels punch a hole in me
Right when the darkness reappears.
The oblivion looks back at me,
Inflating all my sharpest fears.
-JW
Every thought dripping out of my bleeding head falls onto the pavement.
It keeps getting lost in translation,
Keeps getting intertwined in noisy brawls for cheap entertainment.
Maybe it is my imagination telling you to listen up,
Even though I know you will ignore it.
So, I will drain your memory in long ruptured cups.
But I will not pass your house without swiping away an inky regret –
There is something about us I still hold dear…
Do not wait me to spill it, do not hold your breath.
You know we made bridges crumble with the acid rivers we cried.
Remember when they used to call us inconvenient?
Even though I could swear to the heavens we tried.
And now I am smearing my thoughts on the sidewalk where we said our farewells.
I know you come here too when they are not looking.
(Do you also daydream you could go back and choose hell?)
Give me a sign and I will make the booking.
As usual, I will never tell.
-JW
You set fire to the hills I nourished back to life,
You poisoned the rivers and sharpened the knives.
In the grand confusion, I gave up all my reason
And watched as the smoke turned darker each season.
The greenery grew paler with each word you spoke.
I knew there was no escape, so I became a ghost –
A fantasy, a tale to tell kids in winter evenings.
You liquidated my story, changed its real meaning.
As I stood in the dust of what was once a garden,
You said those undying words:
“One more chance to ask for a pardon.”
-JW
The tree lines become crooked
As I step in their direction.
I know my crimes have been lurid
But I could use some protection.
The moss hides from my boots,
It crawls away and screams.
My hair entangles with roots
As leaves hide the light beams.
I still carry on, I fight them,
Yet – the thorns gash my ankles.
The bags feel ten pounds lighter,
Still, the air bites and rankles.
The exit must be close,
I can hear the river floating nearby.
Branches hold onto my clothes,
But I push forward
With one last battle cry.
-JW
The Daily Writing of Jackie Wright 