I’m not sure I’ll make it through the final grater.
What if I lose this empty head seven pages later?
The main hero of this tale has mastered deception,
And maybe one day I’ll know she is my reflection.
Today is not the day so I just pick up the pace,
Plaster cheerless smiles all over this darling face.
I see the cutting edges moving in the distance.
What if I lose this story and no one ever listens?
-Jackie
You slipped the words in my pocket as the door was closing,
And I knew that the weight might pulverize my knees.
You tripped me up, then painted indigo thoughts rosy,
And a chuckle spread across the city like a disease.
I took the words and dripped velvet thoughts around them,
Knowing all too well that tomorrow they might be gone.
Even if it is true, even if I bleed out like a fountain,
I still get to cuddle your confession until the dawn.
-Jackie
What is the point of fleeing this ship?
I can take someone’s joy and live with it,
So, tell me –
What is the point of escaping?
Seven wounds on my back,
Seven battles in the making.
I heave from the weight put on my shoulders.
I keep breaking backs,
Keep growing bolder.
What is the point of going home?
My palms try to grip the dying foam,
And I know these moments must be fleeting.
So, honey, what is the point of fleeing?
-Jackie
I dream about boats crossing stormy oceans
Filled with lust driven poets seeking their deaths.
I reach for the salty breezes like a child,
And there is no one to stop these future regrets.
Waves crush over heads and crush our bones.
I worry that this story will end in a scene.
Barrells float in the air like spellbound birds
As the sky vomits colors, purple and green.
-Jackie
Why does falling in love feel like photographing ghosts?
Why does it feel like chasing after translucent clues?
I have no proof, just a sad demeanor and joyless toasts.
Maybe the pain will go if I turn on the local news.
Why does the iridescent sheen in my eyes drip water?
I could write a hundred endings, but I crave just one.
My skull will let me fall, yet it will not let me barter.
I can make my excuses,
The fate has already won.
-Jackie
I wish I could tell you a tale, but now it is all just a blur.
Finding my old self was much harder than losing her.
The roads I took still wait for me to pay them back.
I wonder if they will curse my spite and my hidden tracks.
Months pass and I stay glued to a screen at midnight,
Trying to overrule my thoughts, so tranquil and benign.
I know that she is still out there dripping paint on paper,
And I wish I could remember,
But my memory wavers.
-Jackie
I stand here like a granite statue,
Immortalizing your fears.
I’m the blood on a stained glass,
The deadly breath you hear.
I lurk in nightmarish shadows
And I prey on good deeds.
I’m the judge and the punisher
Tying you to your seat.
-Jackie
My youth gets wasted on grimy streets,
It cries for mercy on two bruised knees.
I don’t know how this cruel cycle started,
But I lost the map and got outsmarted.
I used to fight for the bridges I built,
I used to cry if the hero got killed.
Did my values get lost between the pages?
Did I lose my value when I built this cage?
Friends from my past still sing me praises,
They’re quick to bring up the better days.
But I see the bruises on my self-respect,
The bruises those careless people left.
My youth gets wasted on dirty streets,
It begs me to hide underneath the sheets.
I don’t know why I keep chasing the winds.
I lost the maps and I missed the hints.
-Jackie
Gasping for air,
It’s such a faithless affair.
You’re trying not to drown
As they drag you down.
You talk to yourself
Because no one can help.
The water is quiet,
Breath doesn’t defy it.
And nobody hears
As they break your spears.
Your throat is gone,
Ripped out by a swan.
-Jackie
The red lights glisten like rubies on my street
As I pass them singing,
Swinging my hands like a careless creature.
The crowds stand still, cursing my innocence,
Shooting muffled screams my way,
But I was never their god or their preacher.
The tires screech, trying to scare me into silence,
And I wish I could be afraid.
I wish I had a bone I would not be willing to break.
Only one more light and I will be done with this,
Only one more scarlet lantern
And I will sit down at the old muddy lake.
But the concrete sighs and crashes like a wave,
Trapping me in its skeleton,
And I know I will not make it out alive.
The crowds lighten up, their faces red and fearful,
As the grey sky swallows me whole,
And its teeth feel like the cruelest knives.
-Jackie
The Daily Writing of Jackie Wright 