Take me to through the fields of silver
Where all fates float like rivers.
Take me down the steepest hills
Where they hide away our wills.
Let me risk it, let me be saved
When I take the road less paved.
Let me stand up and let me fall
When my ego grows ten feet tall.
Run me over if I disobey you,
Pull me apart unless I pay you.
Run me like a show, bright and loud.
Call me from the dark to kill the crowd.
-JW
My skin is taking your form.
It adjusts to every edge.
The vessels are blue and scorned,
Feet hanging over the ledge.
What did I expect, truly?
Your words launch like rockets.
And your tongue is unruly,
Asking me to empty the pockets.
But you never seem to mind
When I put my life on the line.
You curse out my breed and kind,
Rotting everything that is ripe.
(Still, I tell them it is fine.)
-JW
The lights on the ninth floor are trembling tonight.
I know you are waiting,
Building your appetite.
The hair on my back stand up when you whisper.
Your breath fogs up the windows,
And my vision grows crisper.
The left foot is moving, the right one stays still.
I know I am late,
But you have time to kill.
The candles on the ninth floor leak wax tonight.
My chest lifts the elevator
As I hold myself tight.
The door is about to open and show me your face.
I know you keep waiting
For me to find my pace.
The darkness from your eyes engulfs my senses.
I walk beneath the stars
And drop the defenses.
-JW
The carousel ride never ends.
We spin with the Gravitron,
Spilling glitter on our intents.
And they call us graceless,
They stomp on the lights.
The kaleidoscope covers us
As hungry fire ignites.
Once the sparklers cover the sky,
I hold your hand tightly,
Knowing this is the very last time
These memories will find me…
But our carnival never ends,
Even if it kills us nightly.
-JW
My body sinks into your peaceful waters
Until the pale lips no longer need air.
The oxygen I cherished
Disappears in a flair,
And my longing flesh feels perished.
My fingers sink into your wavy hair
As ship horns blare in the distance.
I open my eyes
To your loud persistence,
And I know it has all been lies.
-JW
My scalp gets mixed with the greyest gravel.
They laugh and watch as my spine unravels.
I am forbidden from screaming out loud,
But my chest growls louder than a furious crowd.
The tension is high, and I let it simmer.
They cannot drown an innocent sinner.
So, I bow my head, let it touch the sharp rocks,
As they double check every single lock.
No, there is no way out, do not even bother.
Welcome to war, my rotten sisters and brothers.
This is where it all starts, in my bloody palms.
“Be careful about who you keep on your knees,
Be careful about who you harm.”
-JW
I write about you as a ghost story from my past
Even when you are a part of my future.
I act nostalgic, hoping this will pass,
But nature can never beat nurture.
When I try to run away, the map changes,
The road spins underneath my feet.
My compass hides between sages,
It misdirects me toward defeat.
And I still write about you in past tenses,
I pretend it is my sentiment talking –
Even when I still wear your rosy lenses,
Even when you catch me sleepwalking.
Yet, I still sneak out every evening.
The tree line twists and blocks my way.
Despite my legs once again bleeding,
I reach for the sunset and scarlet red rays.
Anew I write like you never existed.
The words mourn my disoriented truth.
I wish I could run but my path is twisted,
I know it is always tied to you.
-JW
Your voice felt like ice water on my warm skin on a summer day.
As you were approaching me, they warned you –
But you still found a way.
Your words untangled my worries, they soothed the burns and aches.
I kept on wondering whether you made it in time
Or was it way too late.
Your scent wrapped around us like an ungodly string, indestructible…
Little did I know back then –
Even promises can turn cold and corruptible.
Your eyes gave me shelter but the winds were still way too biting.
My fingers held onto your cheeks for hours.
Still, you let them take me without fighting.
-JW
Once again, I am burning alive between two gospels and a lie.
Your eyes tell me adventures I wish I were naïve enough to try.
The heat engulfs my left lung when you ask if I am ready.
To spite my consciousness, I drop into the flames, hot and heady.
I heard they used to call you unsteady, what a loud falsity.
They probably confuse every fire with misunderstood honesty.
And my palms shiver as I reach out but the heat is shaking too –
Cannot help but wonder if you ever knew
How I incinerated for you.
-JW
The cold water never truly invigorates me.
I keep comparing everyone else to you.
After a month they get tired of my company.
But, baby, believe me – I do too.
Somehow it is always your opinion
That stays much closer to the truth.
I counted your mistakes and got to a million.
I still miss the way you played a brute.
But even though the hope is fading,
My head is still under the water, so frozen.
They said my lips were not for waiting,
They called my heart an endless ocean.
Somehow you knew it was a lie.
Still, you watched as my face turned blue.
The cold water never got me high.
But, baby, believe me – never did you.
-JW
The Daily Writing of Jackie Wright 