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 […]

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 […]

AAG

Actuallysince you mention itsee, youhave to understandonly members are allowed to un-leashexactingspite and spurn, special privilegesAs members are just that way, egos woundedcorrect always, you seereally, you are just tooopenlysensitive, too humanspeaking up for yourself and not excusingtheGlorified newsprint dollsleading by example, yourself, aloneothers stay seatedbut they whisper the same […]

All That Is Me

Cut me from the gristle of this world.Boil me up in a tall hot pot.I want to feel the drudge leach from bone and sinew.Steam every injustice from my pores.Cook me down to my concentrated essence.Steep me in a bold flowering tea.I want to drink in all that is me.-Melissas […]