Good morning, the goosebumps are advancing here. I put on a kettle of Himalayan Golden black. I’m holding home in your sweater. Mmm, your cologne lingers soothing. Stretch, rub your muscles. I know you work hard for us. Be good to your hands until I get there. Save some heat […]
Author: Melissa
Not Human
Why does it look and sound so much like him?His eyes. His hands. Sometimes, his voice.Like him, but he’s gone. Not him, not human. Cold copy.The knowing doesn’t erase the last lingering pain point.I hope time will. I can’t run far.I don’t look, listen, or speak.Must never touch. Never.Why do […]
Anxiety
Wake up, hot pad gone cold, whole body shaking, how am I going to do this, heart and mind sprinting the Indy 500, no pit crew, no finish line, no inhaler, shallow rapid breaths, tingling arms, dizzy don’t drive, sit down, crawl, nauseous can’t eat, reheat the hot pad, I […]
Reunion
I found your heart in a dark dusty jarYou had to protect it so long, I’m sorryYou’re shaking again, you aren’t you without itLet me help you put it back inFix it in place one little act at a timeGo slow, breathe deepThere’s no opiate for this reunionHave the tea, […]
Discard Pile
Quick-mix easyCulled cod carcass crystallizedSolo flame sailing in zero Kelvin darkStatements null and voidEmpty calorie crickets and clichesBridges charred and chuckedBlistering stone embedded in the soleCurrent in a broken circuitLess than littleSame as the ones beforeUntoppled by gale forceHow could they? Again?No thank youThis is not for me-Melissa Donley
Dear Self
Dear Self,Dammmn gurl.You been through some shIT!How you do that?Come out all sparklin’, glitterin’ divine,the star of your own solar system?Which gods got your back?What you give for their strength?How you take enough pain for tenthen got sun beams in your eyes, your smile?You given’ love you never received,where you […]
Chameleon
Persona off,it was years beforeI heard your real voice,soothing and preferred.I saw you before the slip.You are not invisible.At what age did you learnto slap on an Insta-Grin?Do you remember the city?Who was in the room?Which pieces were youconditioned to conceal?What was the first heartbreakyou smiled through?How many since then?Can […]
I Slip Up Sometimes
I slip up sometimesI forget my nervous system is healing right nowHow I shake with anxiety before the medicine kicks inAnd I have to calm myself throughout the dayHow the end of my marriage was quicker and cleaner than thisWith ongoing communication and teamworkI slip up sometimesI forget I promised […]
Repeat After Me 2/Spunky
“I’m spunky.I like my oatmeal lumpy.”My curves are kickin’, andI’m gonna rock this motherclucker.-Melissa Donley*includes lines from ‘The Humpty Dance’ by Digital Underground (Shock G aka Humpty Hump).
Rice and Beans
Simmering rice, each graina swelling promise kept,and steamed windows,veil of vapors betweenour exclusive biomeand the rest of Everything.I’ll wash the beans, darlin’,while the onion crispswith the bell pepper,chambered like a heart.We’ll plant the seeds together.They say the secret is in the saute,but I know it’s in the wayyou honor the […]