Even when we understand each other wishes,
We don’t respect them,
We curse them out as worn-out clichés.
Even when my bright red gaze meets your stare,
We pursue the war,
We cut open the flesh of our love like a pear.
Even when all we got is disgust, deceit or fury,
We clash over each thing,
We call in our worst fear to serve as the jury.
-JW
Nobody dared to save my life that silky moonlit night.
No one cared to check for a pulse, no medics in sight.
The body next to mine is bleeding out just as fast as me
And I would do anything to stop the pain
But we’re trapped in this fantasy.
Nobody saw when we ran out of oxygen and body heat,
No one told us to wait or to run, no one told us to bleed.
I hold the love of my life in my weak and bruised arms
And I would to anything to treat the pain
But we promised to do no harm.
Nobody noticed when we painted the sidewalk karmin red.
No one prayed where we trembled, where we sacrificed and bled.
They buried two empty hearses with a hundred made up hymns.
And I would to anything to ease your pain
But my tears can’t heal your broken limbs.
-JW
The trajectory of our fall changed right in front of my eyes.
I tried to grasp the passing meadows and fields
But no surprise
We were out of blessing and shields.
The moon lays heavy on our chests and we fear the dark.
Our bags are dragging our souls to the ground,
Leaving a mark,
Letting the predators know we can be found.
The surfaces below are muddled, they’re awfully senseless.
Nothing to soften the inevitable collision.
Our eyes are defenceless.
They take in the blur, confuse it for a vision.
-JW
Dear, come out of the shade, step into the burning limelight.
Don’t linger there promising me paradise, come take a bite.
You’ve been chasing normalcy too long to recall the special,
The extraordinary and the empathetic,
The way we used to revel.
No matter how many throw their eyeballs at us, we persevere,
We rush towards a steep cliff, it’s much closer than it appears.
You’ve been hiding honesty so deep a razor won’t really do
But if you hold on for a moment more
I’ll paint the red sky blue.
Climb with me through the rugged hills, chase me along the way.
Your two feet are struggling to follow me another tiresome day.
The arms of the sea are willing to receive us, aren’t we ready?
Dear, take a step forward, don’t stay still
When the world feels heavy.
-JW
You creep up one me from the hills,
Stalk me through the keyhole,
You steal all of my pills.
I can’t hide that you’re making me ill.
No loopholes in your intentions.
I’m standing perfectly still.
You sneak up on me through drains,
Grab my hands and kiss them
Leaving slimy prints and stains.
You call me your own dame.
But chivalry’s dead so back off.
I’m not the one to tame.
You pull my clothes, you shriek.
The air you breathe smells like sulfur.
My perfume is making you weak.
Don’t you follow, don’t you act meek.
Don’t creep up on me from the hills.
Please don’t waste your wishes
As I’m reaching the peak.
-JW
A delay in my response, my brain’s on a break.
I pause all the sound, we’ve done take after take
Of this never-ending story.
And I’m tired to the bone, I can’t fake the laughs.
I’ve written three thousand broken paragraphs
About this love I hold before me.
When I see you, my forth wall turns into dust,
My head buzzes in neon from dawn until dusk –
And I am hardly sorry.
But the cameras are rolling, the crowd is electric.
The tension in your chest evaporates as I whisper
“The others also bore me.”
A delay in my response, my brain’s on a rise.
I pause all the sound. There’s only your eyes
Dictating this never-ending story.
-JW
I’m so worried I can’t fall asleep, mind’s still scrambling through the shame.
Our house is slipping under ground, crushing those who spoke the name.
I’m too afraid once we collide, we’ll walk the line like a hurricane,
We’ll spin the necks and move the concrete, we’ll rein through heat and acid rain.
The books I read are burnt in places, it’s funny how mind lets things slide,
How I’d root for you through murder trials, even if it’s me who died.
And confessions never come that easy, I guess pretend is a parasite.
I’m so worried your face will be the last thing I see
Before my long gone form is washed away by a mourning tide.
-JW
Keep your foot on the cheating pedal, hit the gas.
Drive faster, let the chills and shock pass.
Give me your torn up hands and please pray
That they don’t find your blood on Joanne’s ashtray.
Miss all the green lights and left-turn signals.
To the right, over the bridge, keep it simple.
They can’t trace our steps unless you confess.
I’ll do the talking, you can deal with the rest.
And I still smell your mother’s perfume on me.
Your father’s favorite song is making the view gory.
The lives that we spilt chase us through the roads.
Drive faster, let the image ahead split into codes.
Ones and zeroes,
We’re never alone.
-JW
The light in your window is still on, it’s blinking and fidgeting.
A candle’s lit on your bedroom table next to the piano and your drink.
The branches hug your window so tightly, it’s almost hard to see.
The closer I go, the faster my heart beats; I almost struggle to breathe.
Your friends are gone for the weekend so I’m curious – are you lonely?
Do you have anyone back in the city, was my invitation too phony?
Yet you dance around the place like you own it, the candles cheer you on.
My nose is almost touching the glass, my chest now weighs a ton.
One more careless spin and you waltz straight into the backyard,
I boldly invite myself into the house while you’re getting charred,
Puffing your seventh cigarette of the day, you’ve really changed a lot.
But I’m still as trustee yet not as sweet,
Smart enough now to cut down the flowers who rot.
-JW
I launch my teeth in your smooth right wrist,
Call it self-defense, but don’t call my thirst selfish.
Salty blood on my lips, they trickle down the neck.
You branded me evil for having some self-respect.
There’s nothing you hate more than disobedience.
You slap my face, I know you enjoy the experience.
The rope tightens around my waist and my ribs.
You slash my confidence like a fig.
I no longer hear the birds sing when I drift away.
The death licks its lips and picks up the tray.
-JW
The Daily Writing of Jackie Wright 