Pure cherry kisses lost between the winds.
We hide the red in our cheeks
And blood on our chins.
But the sun won’t raise again if we stay,
If we silently wait for our shins
To get stuck in the clay.
So your eyes well up with muddy waters,
My chest is full of sharp pins
As I’m cursing the fathers.
And then we’re torn apart by the sinking sand.
Still – we know that it’s better
Than laying down roots in this land.
-JW
The silver in your hair fades with the dawn like ghoulish memories.
I wanted you to save the world but now wars are my legacy –
And you never mentioned how you love parting the seven seas
Only when the crowds are cheering, only when they’re here to see.
I gave all my days away to labor for your bleached love,
You cheered for my naivety because it fit you like a glove.
Now our bedroom walls are crusty with the guts you spilled for me
And I’m left with broken wings still screaming “you would kill for me”.
But it’s almost dawn so your tricks grow translucent yet again.
I thought you’d be my enemy but now they brand you as my friend.
So pack your things and walk the merry way you took to chase me down.
The silver in your hair was just another crooked paper crown.
-JW
Can’t help but wonder again – how many more
Pounds of flesh do I have to give away for free
To meet the norm?
And there’s nothing normal about this –
Shattering at 6 AM on a Monday morning,
Closing in on the dark abyss.
The pressure gets heavier each afternoon
So I stay inside to pity myself,
To curse at the moon.
But it reflects my chants like sunrays –
And there’s no way it ever gets better
If I stay.
There’s no way this story has a good ending
If all I grow to know
Is silence and pretending.
When my lips are shut, they grow stronger
On the power I gathered myself –
Until I can’t go on much longer.
Can I even go on from here, can I move?
Their tentacles strangle me
But what do I have to prove?
So I swallow the bitterness and resign the “sorry”s.
I don’t need a tougher skin,
I need to extract myself from your stories.
You can tell your greedy mirror image
To bear one more storm.
My part in this narrative is finished,
Recall your swarm.
-JW
And the birds drop dead on the ground before my very eyes.
It’s nothing but a sight of someone sacred getting patronized.
Isn’t it nice to just watch yourself outlive them once more?
Yet – I’m scared I can’t carry on without my wings getting sore.
So the winds keep rushing us towards an eternity tonight.
The air is hushing us but we’re drifting like loose kites.
And I know the time and place to drop is nearing way too fast.
It’s nothing but a fleeting memory of world not meant to last.
-JW
I hide away in the buzz between your lips,
Touching your fingertips,
Amending all the rips.
You hold my hair back while I burn out bright
But only during the night
While lost in this blight.
The oxygen in my veins sings for you, too,
Perhaps I’m your Waterloo,
Yet – I feel your blues.
I hurt for every bullet you take in self-defense.
One day we’ll make amends,
And meet where the sadness ends.
-JW
Sometimes I feel like screaming is not enough,
Their backs turned against us,
Their words vile and rough.
And my heart breaks, it breaks time and again
About their ignorance
Drowned in stale champagne.
I could recollect all the stories one more time
If it meant anything more
Than the sound of chimes.
But the wind is passing through the town today
And I must follow the road
To chase what I crave.
To those staying back, watching me pack up –
Remember my face
When the times got rough.
I burned my feet for them and never gave in.
So call my absence a save,
Don’t call it a sin.
Because no one’s gonna pull me out of the fire,
I have to do it on my own,
Have to walk the spire.
Even if you think it’s not what you’d desire,
The faith will tie us together again
Just like haywire.
-JW
Wish I could cut you off like my own tangled hair,
Wash you out of my blood with one bright flare.
But even the color yellow reminds me of you
As I search the streets for someone new.
My lucky star has long given up on my heart.
You could burst it open with one well-aimed dart.
And I still think your touch was that much different –
Yet all it did was make me weaker and sicker.
I’m not a sticker that would hold as you please,
You owe it to me – let my pride die in peace.
But your head has long branded me as worthless
So I pray to the gods
That I never worshiped.
-JW
The little rainclouds are growing into a thunderstorm.
Right under the place we last fell apart
The ground is burning, nice and warm.
No one knows the lengths I’d go to dissolve you again.
No one knows the shame I carry around
In the ink of my pen.
But I’d rebuild silver cities if it meant I could be free.
I’d paint the sky navy blue if it meant
That I could finally sleep.
And my arms would lift mountains just to clear the dust
Which you brought into my view with pain,
Masked as a fiery lust.
Yet – I know well that your footprints cannot be erased.
No matter how hard I swing,
They keep showing up in a new place.
This shame might linger for too many eternities to count.
And even my spite might not be enough
To beat the next goddamn round.
-JW
And once again I pick on myself until I bleed,
Rashes behind my ears let the demons feed.
The red trickling down my back is too warm.
I’m done voiding myself to save others from harm.
Though the heart drums beat dangerously loud
I manage to raise my voice over these crowds.
They turn their heads to catch a brief glimpse
Of this pulled apart soul, covered in safety pins.
For a moment they listen as I raise my hands,
They see my anger trickling into the sand.
With roaring applause their faces turn to dust,
I bow to myself in the mirror, covered in rust.
And maybe you weren’t right when you said
“These ghosts will only cheer over your deathbed.”
-JW
One day the sun will shine for me and not for you.
You’ll beg it to stop like I once begged you
Too many moons ago.
But, honey, we’re on top
And you’re no longer latched onto me.
You’re free fall will be just a flop,
But you’ll still mix crudeness with honesty.
Go ahead and drag me on their sharp, grinding teeth.
Laugh in your palms quietly
As you’re struggling to breathe.
Because it was always you, dear,
Headed for the mighty fall.
Hide your shaky hands as it nears,
Don’t fear their anger, just stand tall.
I might’ve put you in the sun one too many times.
Now that we know there’s no place for you,
I won’t hide away the crimes.
And one morning the light will come for me, not for you.
Today feels like the second to last chapter
Of you ever mouthing
“I’ve got power over you.”
-JW
The Daily Writing of Jackie Wright 