My neck breaks hands that once choked me
And dodges words that used to matter.
You sharpened your swords in the darkness,
Then blamed me when they finally shattered.
My back aches like long forgotten phrases,
But it never once goes along with the winds.
You closed deals in your crystal palace
Complaining about how the bad guy always wins.
-Jackie
Those vague promises of a marble fountain at the finish line,
They melt in the July sun like ice cream palaces
And the rosy shades turn into looking glasses.
The reality tends to be harsher to those who denied it once.
I must wonder how you see yourself right now,
Out of the forests of lies you grew so cautiously.
You know that every soul you passed is now just lying in wait,
Using your full name only in vain on the weekends
And painting walls with your bad reputation.
Those broken oaths and porcelain egos only carried you so far.
Here we both stand as the heat rises in your chest
And your emerald shades turn into dying stars.
-Jackie
These crowded streets and these crowded bars
Paint me yellow and bitter like dying stars.
These endless journeys and buzzing tales
Fill my stomach with acid until my eyes turn stale.
-Jackie
The bridges must burn before the moon loses warmth
And I must confess my love while I still carry wrath.
Times untangle themselves in these mirages and visions,
And stones cast shadows that cause great division.
I have no place in my pockets for moments or hours,
And my lips spill secrets that make my friends sour.
What if I downsize this life and sell pain like portraits?
The bridges must burn if they cannot afford it.
-Jackie
There is no sun to silence my sorrow with its rays,
There is no wind to lure in my dark and hazy days.
I dream but I know that I should keep it at bay
Because hope is an ocean destined to break my dismay.
-Jackie
The paper flowers on the windowsill died of thirst,
And I crumbled under my own raindrops every evening.
Ghouls danced on the metal roof until the red dawn.
The sun rose from the meadow,
And I forgot what I was grieving.
-Jackie
He stares at the gate like will could change the times
And bring my ashes back to where we once began.
The rain puts him in rusty shackles of pain,
But no amount of faith can make him a good man.
He bows his head and bids his farewells each morning,
And each night he buries another dead hope.
There is no one to tell him, no one to notice
How he keeps me trapped in his velvet ropes.
-Jackie
The coat hangs by the wide wooden door
And even its smell can’t make me stay.
I was your ground and your marble floor,
Yet you burned our home every other day.
-Jackie
The framed photos of us lasted longer than the promises
The sweet nothings spoken too soon
And bullets dodged too late
The framed photos of us survived seven house fires
The flames licked the stained glass
But did not dare to touch fate
-Jackie
The thorns drew blood
As I walked through the hills.
I quit the chainsmoking,
Threw out the white pills.
The sky broke down
While I reached the peak.
My gaze was angry
But my legs were weak.
-Jackie
The Daily Writing of Jackie Wright 