Right side up, your key doesn’t fit.There’s no space for your self-importance.No beer in the fridge. I threw out your stash.I fixed the sink and sold your bike for cash.I changed the photos in the frames,Split our sides laughin’, playing games.The kids don’t ask when you’re coming home.We got us, […]
Author: Melissa
How To Call The Insurance Company
2:10Write down the questions to ask the insurance companyArrange the easel pieces to assemble laterPut trash in the bagGrab a snackOrganize the snack binStart the kettlePut away the clean dishesSteep yesterdays leavesAdd dirty forks to the dishwasherShake out the rugOpen a document to jot down these side questsOpen another piece […]
I Spoke With Your God
I spoke with your godOf what I gaveOf what you tookMy anemic veins splayedLife pouring into youSplashing in your mouthSticky in your poresA special blendSlow to coagulateFresher, longerBottomless vessel, you lapped it upUnworthyThat’s okay. You keep it. You need it.I always make more.Empty, cold silence, refusedThat was too much.On your […]
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 […]