They ensure that we’re kept alone during the nights
Because during the nights time stands still.
It never, ever flies.
It’s a simulator ride through the paths of our brain
That should’ve been kept under supervision,
Locked in the chains.
They ensure we can hear each other screaming at night
Because at night the sound travels faster
And it dims the light.
It’s a haunted attraction we paid for with our last morals
But we never agreed to participate
So why are they giving us back our dollars?
-JW
A new foggy moon rises above the city, it burns like acid
And it runs on pain we’re swallowing to keep ourselves gaslit.
There aren’t any blushing faces, only grey wooden sculptures
Carved out of those of us who forgot when to unfollow the culture.
Enchanted silver surfaces set out as traps –
We do know better but we still give in,
We burn the books and the maps.
A new Gravitron sun spins around us making the city dizzy
And it runs on the acid we’re spitting up to pretend we’re busy.
No eyes looking up in the streets, just crowds blending together,
Dragging their feet towards the buzz of heads being severed.
Enchanted silver surfaces set out as traps –
We do know better but we still give in,
We burn the books and the maps.
-JW
There are abandoned factory buildings as far as I can see,
There are leaves red as blood on a knife after a killing spree.
There are winds as cold as sin, but warmer than my hands
And there are shackles on my ankles, imported from France.
The city I’ve long forgotten stands before me so tall.
The city that branded me rotten, the place that shrunk me small.
Each wall explodes dust and it colours my skin oddly grey.
Each wall in this city views its visitors as an overdue prey.
I’m shoved into my room, put under a neon microscope lens.
The gates, doors and bridges are shut behind me
And I’m back in Ante.
No memories, no joy and no friends.
-JW
I’m taking back what I gave you,
I’m breaking my own fingers
Because I betrayed you.
The cuffs on my wrists dig into skin,
The chain on my neck lingers
And my head’s made of tin.
You’re looking through the screen, ecstatic,
You’re laughter falls flat on deaf ears.
All I hear is static.
There’s something evil in your grin,
There’s a melody I find dear…
It’s just me against your eyes
And I can’t win.
-JW
I’m waiting for the authors to take me out, to save me
Before I drive too far down the road of undeserved misery,
Before they can blame me.
I kick the walls but the anger doesn’t help my chances
Of getting out alive, before my heart rots too far
Numbing all romances.
I cut open the pillows, I paint over the gilded walls
With cheap crayons and lipstick, with blood
As screams echo in halls.
I’m pleading with whoever wrote it to stop this
But the fog keeps entering through cracks in the window
And I’m inhaling hubris.
I dig my nails into the freezing skin and I wait, wait…
With the sound of the door unlocking comes my dead end,
New love emerges from all the hate.
-JW
Put your hand on my chest,
Dance with me through the waves
And listen to how my skin sheds
From the agony of your flames.
Put your hand on my ribs,
Feel how they greet you with ease
Don’t pull away, don’t make any bids
To crown me the queen of peace.
Put your hand on my chin,
Shake out the shadows of shame
But don’t let my hot breath win
Unless you’re okay to be tamed.
Put your hand on my lips,
Pull it away with fright.
Touch my skin where it rips
In this cold, forbidden night.
-JW
We saw each other after months of mourning and poorly hidden pain.
It was never the same but it tasted even better out there in the rain.
You’re the addiction I can’t get over, and I’m making you obsessed.
Perhaps this path we’re going down is only a way we confess?
I don’t mind being honest around you but the parties involved don’t agree.
The distress I hid to make them like you is a treason in first degree.
And I still want you so tear me apart with all the dull insults and fear.
They reach for me and they beg me to stop,
But I don’t hear when you’re near.
-JW
He takes a step closer and puts his arm on my waist.
“All the time I’ve spent with you is truly a waste.”
He wraps around my thighs unleashing butterflies.
“Each time I sink into your eyes, another dream dies.”
He presses his nails into my chest and I must confess.
“I was forced into this narrative, don’t yell or call the press.”
He takes a step back and I fall on my knees, out of breath.
“All this time I thought it was love,
Turns out it was future regret.”
-JW
The door is too far for me to reach.
“Please come and save me,
Please, baby, preach.”
The bed is too warm, it burns like hell.
The head is so heavy,
It’s empty as well.
And I want to crumble in your arms
But the verdict’s in –
You can only do harm.
My left shoulder’s numb under the weight.
… So I can’t move on.
I have to lie in wait.
My eyes watch the time slowly pass.
I imagine you next to me,
Barefoot on grass.
But the door is too far for me to reach.
“Please come and save me,
Please, baby, preach.”
-JW
Her locks are golden when she passes me in the beach.
“Have I seen you around, or is this a bit of a reach?”
She smiles without joy and offers me her dying trust.
I swore I’d find her again. She seemed a bit fussed.
Her standards were loose, I’ve noticed her bad habits.
If I make sure I fit in enough, we both can wreak havoc.
Her boyfriend’s too soft for her taste and I make a joke –
She laughs in everlasting fear of becoming a trope.
The house she lives in has high windows and pale doors.
They hid the ladder one night, they even locked the drawers.
I tried to be cautious, hoping she understood the pressure
Of getting to know a person and leaving an impression.
Her guard’s coming down, I can almost look through her soul.
A few more light touches and I swear, I can make this girl whole.
Her locks smell of ocean when she confides in me one evening.
“Do you mind seeing me around, even if you’re not the one
That I’ve been seeking?”
***
Her guilty gaze angers me, her kisses are stone cold sober.
I don’t recall what happened next, can’t remember what I told her
But she rushed away, dread in her gate. I didn’t follow.
The silence snapped me as the wavering ocean wallowed.
I had nothing to do with her tragic end, she made me alive.
Swear to God, I’m not the jealous type, I never took her out for that drive.
Wish I could help with more detail but I’m afraid I must leave.
The night is calling my name. Don’t you judge the way I grieve.
-JW
The Daily Writing of Jackie Wright 