The lines I drew in the sand are starting to erase my limbs.
I hold onto the frame, but it feels like dancing on a rim.
The moments I shared with you keep rewriting themselves,
And I wonder whether the ghost stories will fade
If I just ask for help.
-Jackie
Tiny claws scrape my knees with surgeon’s precision,
They leave marks I am too scared to show my friends.
I cannot hold down time, I cannot make the decision.
These black and blue nights have only violet ends.
-Jackie
My name is spelled out in the backyard,
And it’s burning in purple flames.
The grass is turning into poisonous gasses,
And I shrivel up in pale shame.
-Jackie
The symptoms are kicking in this evening.
My throat is burning, yet you call my pain mild.
It’s been a minute since I’ve been with a sinner,
It’s been a while since I’ve felt like a child.
The devil left you on my doorstep like a gift,
But now I wonder if it was just a warning.
The sheets wrap around me like tentacles,
And you suffocate me by calling me “darling”.
-Jackie
Do you think the final punishment will match the crime?
I light up maroon matches and I melt your bloody dimes.
Those who branded me vengeful should cover their ears.
The head only respects what the beating heart fears.
-Jackie
I chose to believe that you adored me,
Now we’re both caught in the bitter middle.
The temperatures are nearing double zeroes,
And your fiery tongue plays me like a fiddle.
I chose to believe just one single truth,
Now the lies are threatening an avalanche.
Would you give up the cold if I begged?
Would you waste your warmth on a pretty chance?
-Jackie
The hot summer rain rolls up its bloody sleeves
As masks fall off your face like autumn leaves.
The layers you keep building from stained glass
Form an emerald church for the midnight mass.
-Jackie
The song plays on a loop in my new apartment,
And the sound surrounds me like a circle of hell.
Those missiles I aimed at your cast iron skin,
They must have convinced you to kiss and tell.
Intentions are dull like the weapons you used.
Now I justify my love to the worried masses.
What if giving up is our safest option?
What if the goodbyes broke our finest glasses?
-Jackie
The tree branches scratch my roof at midnight,
Waiting for blue flames consume the leaves.
I beg the stars to grant me three wishes,
But they are not givers,
They are colorless thieves.
-Jackie
I remember the scolding looks they gave away freely back when I built this dim lair,
Back when I used to think that I should just tolerate whatever love someone could spare.
Those days are now gone, and many moons have passed since I last fought fair,
And perhaps I would consider stopping this madness if they took the crown out of my hair.
-Jackie
The Daily Writing of Jackie Wright 