Dignity

Photo by piers olphin

I broke your heart on a Saturday morning

Between sweat-drenched sheets,

And I did not give you a warning.

You tried to chase after me and change your tune,

But I finally saw you,

Yet your eyes were bigger than the moon.

I broke your heart between casual words

That formed into violent vigilance,

And I was the first to draw a sword.

Your morals vanished at the thought of losing me,

But I finally saw you.

You had lost your dignity.

-Jackie

Storyteller

Photo by Enes Ersahin

The cabinet in my living room creaks open at night.

Pages burns and twists turn,

And heroes give up their light.

Seven ounces of rage bleed through my red nailbeds.

Pennies drop on the floor,

And my agony is fated.

I am a drop in the ocean, I am the dust between sand.

My head dreams of castles

And starcrossed lands.

But the candle on the table drips stories yet untold.

I cannot put them down,

Do not give me your gold.

-Jackie

Vapor And Smoke

Photo by Emmanuel Hernández

You hang on the wall in the back of my mind like a pretty picture,

And the frame does not burn, so I try to numb myself with green mixtures.

You float over me as I finally crawl into my bed in the morning.

The vapor and smoke remind me of all the love that I am mourning .

-Jackie

Onion

Photo by Aa Dil

Wicked faces search for motives in my distracted head,

But I feed my thoughts to the vacuum cleaner.

The mystery will follow me until I am ice cold and dead,

And they will argue whether I was a people pleaser.

Chants rise over the horizon as I grow even more layers.

They despise these secrets I keep burying alive.

The money rolls in but I do not obey the eager payers.

As long as I provoke them, I will survive.

-Jackie

Feed The Pride

Photo by Mariana Montrazi

My phone autoreplies to your messages with “fine”,

But you don’t even notice.

You assume I’m here for your entertainment,

And behind my back you call me a novice.

Your superiority, it crushes my lungs,

But I don’t even flinch, I don’t make a sound.

Treating me like an option must feel thrilling.

You didn’t notice when you dropped me on the ground.

Nothing broke, but it hurt for seven days.

The wind begs me to shatter your pride,

Yet I know my attempts will feed it even more,

Therefore, I make my intentions hide.

My skin twitches when you slide your palm across it,

But you don’t even care.

Turns out I ran away from the hungriest wolf,

Still, I ended up befriending a bear.

-Jackie

Treason

Photo by Claudio Siracusano

I dance on my tiptoes and spin on the roof.

My past mistakes take a seat in a room.

They deliberate, trying to find a reason,

Seeking proof that I committed treason.

I dance in the dark as the gods observe,

And I scream when a blessing hits a nerve.

Perhaps my rage is an unyielding flame,

But my senses are pets ready to get tamed.

-Jackie

The Sickness

Photo by Ibraim Leonardo

The sickness I feel when I see my own reflection haunts me.

Some days I check if the mirror isn’t shattered,

But it seems like even the shards don’t want me.

Devastation is a simple poison –

It only kicks those already on the ground.

Each time I stand up with broken ribs there is nobody around.

Still, I’m no martyr, so hold your pity applause.

The storms keep finding new ways to shake me.

I get no breathing space, no break, no pause.

But the sickness, it sticks with me like a faithful dog,

Not letting me forget the past slip ups,

Not allowing me to know what I did wrong.

-Jackie

Better Human

Photo by ALLAN FRANCA CARMO

Perhaps I would be a better person

If my blessings did not come with curses.

Perhaps they would hold me in high regard,

Perhaps they would simply clutch their purses.

I wonder if everyone wants to change me.

I can’t help but notice the rotten looks.

Perhaps I would be a better human

If they didn’t rig every rule in the book.

-Jackie

Some Longing

Photo by Maria Eduarda Loura Magalhães

I count down reasons, but they don’t speak in your favor.

I might regret writing these lines twenty years later.

I wish there was a spark, I wish there was some longing,

But you will be out of my mind when I awake in the morning.

There is not enough strength in me to say I am sorry,

And I am glad you found your own way to adore me,

But I must close the door, I must leave you here alone

Because I will never crave you,

Will not build you a home.

-Jackie

My Fury

Photo by Roman Kaiuk🇺🇦

There is this fury I hide under pleasantries and visors,

It carries shipwrecks to its cave and eats the survivors.

The flame in its eyes burns with a charcoal black flame,

And no soul in this city can know its middle name.

The things it smashes and crumbles turn into ashes.

The grey particles stick to my trembling lashes.

Do not say the name, do not give it back the power.

All my fury knows is how to slay and devour.

-Jackie