Schemer

Photo by Ekaterina

I tipped off the driver

I made the wheels turn

It was me all along

Let the confessions burn

I rigged your numbers

I paid off your debts

Was I the love of your life

Or just a petty regret?

-Jackie

Leaving Heaven

Photo by Manjari Singh

The charcoal clouds above her head parted

just so that the lightning could hit her twice.

She did not take joy in leaving heaven,

but she preferred it over getting compromised.

The ground beneath her feet got muddy.

She was sure that the gods will drown her out.

As she opened her lips to curse the black sky,

the rain muffled her furious shouts.

-Jackie

Remains

Photo by Gonzalo Carlos Novillo Lapeyra

The remains stay silent in their shallow graves

And the curtains stay closed as the sun rises.

These days I collect fresh skulls, not names,

And I do not cover up my demise.

-Jackie

Good Spirit

Photo by cottonbro studio

I loved writing the ending of this story more than I could love you,

And maybe it’s for the best that we split before we had anything in common.

The moon echoes my crooked cries, but I’m unsure who I should be grieving.

Maybe you were a good spirit that I was just not able to summon.

Maybe our first waltz under the stars was meant to be our last dance,

But I don’t trust fate more than I trust people who claim to adore me.

The moon dives towards the green planet as I watch in slight horror,

Cursing myself for not being kind enough to tell you my bitter “sorry”.

-Jackie

Someday

Photo by Kirill Seleznev

Someday I’ll learn to deface the things that hurt me most.

Someday I’ll defeat the urge to assign my problems meaning.

Someday I’ll admit that my worst angles deserve a toast,

And someday I’ll be happy just because I’m still breathing.

-Jackie

Misused

Photo by Marina Gr

Step on that line, cross that bridge,

Smudge the paint, pull out the stitch.

I dream about your ice-cold singes

And being stuck in a misused glitch.

Kill the messenger on their path,

Break their neck in seven places.

You bleed me dry in a bubble bath,

So dry I don’t even leave a trace.

-Jackie

Envy

Photo by NIKHIL BOMBATKAR

I envy the humans who have another cheek to turn

Because vengeance is the one thing keeping me alive,

And if I didn’t have bad blood in my veins,

I wouldn’t sit here all charming and well-spoken.

I envy the souls that don’t have to keep doing this.

Yes, perhaps that sounds morbid and bitter,

But I know my honesty doesn’t make a difference,

So I keep spilling words like cheap drinks at a bar.

-Jackie

Unphased

Photo by Tolga Aslantürk

These memories taste distant and blissful.

They dissolve like sugar in hot water

Until I no longer miss you.

These tiny eternities we are setting ablaze,

They cry for the moon,

But it remains dark and unphased.

-Jackie

Red Red Red

Photo by Yana Sichkar

Affluent neighborhoods shake in horror.

Bile drips down necks and silent lips.

I did not push you to do the worst thing,

Yet you pushed me with your red fingertips.

-Jackie

The Rat King

Photo by ἐμμανυελ

The bridges warm me up as they’re burning down.

It was your decision to stay in this cursed town.

Papers float in the air, and they prove you’re guilty.

Come and get me, Rat King.

Make sure that you kill me.

-Jackie