You put a fresh dahlia behind my ear last night,
And I have been waiting for it to turn to ashes.
I came to you to save myself from new harm,
But the flowers grew through the lightning flashes.
My soul ran for the exit, yet you chased it home.
I told you the truth, but it made you smile.
Through red roses, my dying freesias and rust,
I killed the darkest depths of borrowed denial.
-Jackie
I fight the words you never spoke,
But I daydream about forgiveness.
I spill wax on my old cloaks,
Hoping you won’t mind your business.
The final letter does not arrive
And these grapevines stay silent.
My skull is but a fuming hive,
My hopes get crushed by lost giants.
Do you even plan to find me?
Have we burned the bridge for good?
The dark voices stand behind me,
Telling me to burn these woods.
Do I let you go alone?
Will the hounds find your cold flesh?
I fight a feeling in my bones,
Screaming that I should confess.
-Jackie
I read this dusty story where the heroine lived
And the kingdom came apart in a single strike.
She stretched the spaces between her own ribs
So that she could outbreathe everyone she liked.
They called her a traitor but never a menace,
And they summoned ghouls just to kill her rage.
Their petty thoughts made them look too jealous.
She had no choice but to turn to the next page.
As they were reaching for their sharpest knives,
The walls collapsed around their blue bodies.
I read a dusty story where the heroine survived,
But the trail she left behind always stayed bloody.
-Jackie
Maybe it isn’t all bad.
Maybe this isn’t mayhem.
You made me lose your affection,
But I’m still falling in love this December.
I’m meeting a lonely stranger
And calling their plot holes mine.
Maybe it isn’t all bad,
Maybe I should’ve sold you for a dime.
-Jackie
The bile churns in my stomach
As I watch the sea rise.
One more foot and I’m a goner.
The devil gets his final prize.
My neck is covered in cuts
And my fingers bleed seaweed.
I question my humanity
While waves drown all my misdeeds.
Is there fairness in surrender?
I can’t help but wonder.
My legs dance with sparks
As I laugh through the thunder.
The grief swallows my head,
Then spits it out in seven slices.
One more day of pure terror
And I will loose my last vice.
-Jackie
Bite my head off and barter it for some peace of mind,
Tell yourself it’s never too late to kill off my kind.
Your legs crawl up my spine with divine affection.
I can’t look back,
Can’t take another resurrection.
Spit out my past kindness like it’s poisonous licorice,
Stare right at your mistakes and talk pure gibberish.
You crave the warmth I poured right onto your bones,
But I can’t do that now.
You have to die on your own.
-Jackie
My thoughts, the very same you used to love,
Now twirl like the first November snow,
Erasing the existence of the path you paved,
Allowing the little light inside to glow.
My shadow, the very same you left for the dead,
It knocks on the glass until I lose my grip.
One day the rays will rid me of the memories
And bring ease into my fingertips.
My neck, the very same you wanted to snap,
Now bends under a gentler touch.
You branded me too demanding to love.
Turns out I did not even ask for much.
-Jackie
The grey tones in the clouds and on the cobblestone streets
Protect me from the ghouls perched somewhere underneath –
Under my skin, under my coat, under each one of my lashes.
The ghouls try to seduce me, but it’s hard to reignite my ashes.
The grey city cries an old name that seems to ring a bell.
I see pale creatures climbing out of the nine circles of hell.
Some greet me like a friend, some snarl and gnash their teeth.
I point a bloody finger and send my demons out to feed.
-Jackie
Nobody wants to see me tearing up
Or losing my temper in a taxi,
But you made me furious enough to do so.
I was suffocating,
But you didn’t even ask,
And I guess that’s what you think I deserved.
You were the best thing I could get,
At least that’s what you made me think
When loving you felt like I’ve lost some bet.
Nobody wants to hear me admitting it
Or losing my youth to you
But you made me smitten enough to do so.
I was breaking in two,
You said it was expected.
You couldn’t possibly believe I was such a fool.
So I burned my promise,
Then broke your ground
Until every tear you cried filled my chalice.
-Jackie
I light candles and watch them warm up my room,
I spell out curses that will outline your doom.
You asked if I’d turn your life into a tragedy,
If I’d slice and dice your struggling legacy…
But you’re no longer the ruler of this disaster.
Watch me spin like a hurricane, faster and faster.
I sprinkle hot sparkles on our graying story,
I hex you and your reasons, excuses and sorries.
-Jackie
The Daily Writing of Jackie Wright 