Untitled - Nayyirah Waheed

do not

put

your hand

in the mouth of loneliness.

its teeth are soft

but it will scar you for life.

-- do not be seduced by the lonely ones

"In the desert" - Stephen Crane

In the desert

I saw a creature, naked, bestial,

Who, squatting upon the ground,

Held his heart in his hands,

And ate of it.

I said: “Is it good, friend?”

“It is bitter—bitter,” he answered;

“But I like it

Because it is bitter,

And because it is my heart.”

"Some people don't need much to live on" - Henry Rollins

Some people don't need much to live on

Hell some folks live on pennies a day

I was right about to wrap my arms around that girl

But at the last minute

I jumped back and wrapped them around myself

"I want to take a screwdriver" - Henry Rollins

I want to take a screwdriver

Mutilate my face

Find a beautiful woman

Make her love me for what I am

Then say I don't need it and walk away

Untitled - Warsan Shire

I'm sorry you were not

truly loved and that it

made you cruel.

"My mind and I had a meeting, and we came to the conclusion that you're going to let us down." - Henry Rollins

My mind and I had a meeting, and we came to the conclusion that

you're going to let us down. We are here every minute of the day

getting ready for the let down. So when you push me away, I'll just

say ok, because we came to that conclusion a while ago. Like I said,

we were ready for the let down. If you're ever walking down the

way and you see me on the side of the road lying broken and scat-

tered, you keep walking right on by.

"Her eyes" - Henry Rollins

Her eyes

Her touch

Her voice

Takes my breath away

She's nice enough

To give it back

Thanks friend

I needed that

"I've got no romance left in me." - Henry Rollins

I've got no romance left in me. I know I once had it. I have no need

for love. You might have something to say about that, you might

have a few names to call me. I'm not that desperate anymore. That's

not to say that I've slacked off in the desperation department alto-

gether, far from it. I have less time and less things in my mind to

convince me of the need to support and perpetuate a lie.

Some will tell you that they need love to live. Well shit, people will

tell you a lot of stuff, like how you owe a stranger your life to

uphold the lie he's selling this week. Weakness is painless. Like

sliding down a razor so sharp you wouldn't think to look down on

the floor and see all the blood. The other night I looked down at her

and almost forgot her name. It's just flesh. Put your tears in an enve-

lope and send them to Hitler. They mean as much to his dead ass as

they do to me.

Intrusion - Denise Levertov

After I had cut off my hands

and grown new ones

something my former hands had longed for

came and asked to be rocked.

After my plucked out eyes

had withered, and new ones grown

something my former eyes had wept for

came asking to be pitied.

"There were things I wanted to tell you" - Henry Rollins

There were things I wanted to tell you

I couldn't get it together

I couldn't get past your eyes

After you were gone it hurt to have kept quiet

So easy to not say what you think

To not do what you want

Hard to take rejection

Easy to hurt someone else and not know it

Easy to make it hard

"They left like you knew they would." - Henry Rollins

They left you like you knew they would. They went away and you

fell like a stone. All the way to the bottom of your room. I see you,

yes I see you. Sitting in your chair, hating every minute of it. Falling

like a stone without even moving. It hurt you to know that you were

right about all the shit you wanted to be wrong about. They always

leave you. You put yourself in the right place to get left.

The Uses of Sorrow - Mary Oliver

(In my sleep I dreamed this poem)

Someone I loved once gave me

a box full of darkness.

It took me years to understand

that this, too, was a gift.