Rules
The rules for the Daily Poem are simple, and are as follows:
Submissions must be entirely original.
Submissions must be in proper English.
Submissions must have appropriate content.
Submissions must follow the Daily Poem Format.
Submissions must not be more than fifty (50) lines in length, minus empty lines.
Submissions per person must not exceed four (4) at any given time.

Failure to comply with these rules in two (2) sequential submissions or in four (4) total submissions will result in an indefinite ban from the Daily Poem. Choosing to violate this ban will result in immediate entry removal as well as a warning from the Elftown Guards. To view a list of members who are not permitted to submit to the Daily Poem, please see Daily Poem Violators.

Entry Processing
The submissions are processed in the following manner:
Entries are sorted for possible feature candidates.
Feature candidates are chosen at random to be featured on Mainstreet.

This means that the Daily Poem Bosses reserve the right to deny any poem from being featured based upon the quality of work. Those poems which are removed from the list of candidates will be deleted without question. Therefore we suggest that you make sure that you submit your best work as well as make copies of what you do submit!
These rules are very strict. However, it helps cut down on the number of featured submissions, allowing for a faster, more efficient Daily Poem process.

For more details, please see the pages Daily Poem Rules and Daily Poem FAQ.

Advertisements
Nominate poems at Daily Poets' Choice!
View old featured poems through Mainstreet!
Join the Daily Poem forum and discuss featured poems by clicking here: <joinforum:225:Poems> (Daily Poem forum)
The Town Herald is running a Poetry Corner. If you want to see your work appear in the Town Herald, take a look today.
The Elftown Academy is looking for a new poetry teacher to instruct in the Literature department. Please see [Master Darius] if you are interested in the position.
Want to discuss poetry but can't, because one of the Bosses shooed you off the comment box? Now we have a solution: Poetry Discussion.
Not sure about the grammar and/or spelling of your poem, but don't have any friends to proofread it for you, either? Try Editing Assistance - Elftown!



News
2005-10-08: The Daily Poem has been reopened! A page for submitting extra-long poems will be set up soon.
2006-06-11: There will not be an XXL Daily Poem. The line limit of the Daily Poem has been raised to fifty lines per poem, however.



Please submit entries to the bottom of the page!
If this page is full, please use the Daily Poem Extension instead.

---

Stand

Stand your ground in mud
Wet covered clothing and styles
Get ups destroyed by force
Of dirty will
Stand your ground with determined
Crossed looks and angry faces
Don't give up
Never give in.
Stand before the might of god
And laugh
In wet, mud covered clothing
Stand and laugh because
Even dirty and stained,
Breathless and beaten
Cold and alone
At the very least you are
Still standing.

Written by [Akane Ice]

---

Trinket

It's Like Water Everlasting

 And My tide Has Come

How Beautiful The Rays of Sun

 How cruel the Cold of Snow

Walk barefoot down A Quiet Lane

 Alone

 Contemplate Sweet Kindness

Fed upon by Days Of Old

  How Odd

And Trivial the Might of one plus Two

 Kneel before The Mighty Gods

And Bow your Life -

       A new.

Written by [Akane Ice]

---

The vampire lover

It dripped down your cheek
From your nose, smeared in your hair
The blood - sweet - sticky
White flash of something kind
Yet harsh
Rolled on the bed, in my clothes
  -Staining lace
On your face
In your mouth
 Water falling in between teeth
Cold against flesh
- Fear of what’s to come
The blood - sweet - sticky
On the floor, barefoot
Black boots overlapping cut jeans
Shredded pillows
Red messes
 Heat everlasting
Bite, bite, nip nip
Sounds like heartbeats fading
Nor hear nor there
 Lay necklace on the TV
Don't get caught
The Blood - Sweet - Sticky
 All that I can give
Stained mirrors with hands
 And fingers and flesh
pulled down bath curtains
 Forever, together
Suck, suck, slurp slurp
It's funny with a vampire
Being with a vampire
 Cold on warm
The Blood - Sweet -Sticky

Written by [Akane Ice]

---

The Dark Prince

A burning passion from an icy soul,
A charm was all I had and it’s all he desires,
Awakening the life from a darkened soul
Churning emotions and deep-seeded fires.
I stare into his darkness and can easily see
My grateful fawn smiling back at me.

Written by [wicked fae mage]

---

Terminal Love

It's like a disease, this feeling within
Almost dying, but really so much worse
Pulse pounding out a harsh staccato
Stomach fluttering like gossamer wings
Mouth going dry, faintly sweating
Symptoms of something more fatal
Than common illnesses, common deaths
This cancerous emotion that eats away at me
Until all I can think of is you
This, yes this, is my terminal love.

Written by [Nuriko-kun]

---

Simplicity

The sun and moon
Both,
Danced upon the morning dune
And,
Swaying peacefully in the breeze
Were dancing palm leafs,
To the glistening echo
Of a dreamful state,
We dreamt we lived
And we lived to dream.

Written by [Infinity Hypothosis]

---

Standing Alone

The sun is like a hug,
And the wind gives its strength.
The grass offers a place to lie,
While the tree offers its shade.
The sky lets you know that you are not alone,
For everyone is below the same sky.
The thunder validates your anger,
And the lightning makes you feel alive.
The snowflakes bring out the childhood innocence you once knew,
While the rain cleanses you.
The ice makes you get out your skates,
And the mud provokes a dirty game.

The weather is with you,
And changes to help you.
You can count on the sun in the morning to bring you joy,
And the moon at night to be your flashlight.
The clouds and the stars decorate the sky,
And when they’re gone, the sky has chosen to stand alone.

Stand alone, and your beauty won’t be appreciated.
“Why is she alone?”
“Where is her wind to make her strong?”
“There must be something wrong with her if she’s by herself.”

I am alone with beauty you cannot see.
All it’s gonna take is one to see,
Then I will have my
Sun, wind, grass, tree,
Sky, thunder, lightning,
Snowflakes, rain, ice,
Mud, moon, clouds, and stars;
I will not be able to ask for more.

Written by [Isis Leigh]

---

Fairytales Have Nothing On Me

Went to the land of fantasy,
And lived to tell the tale.
I had no dragons to fight;
Instead, there was my prince charming.
"What are you doing here if not to save me?"

Simple conversation,
That's what the prince and I had.
Deep conversation,
That's what the prince and I had.
Laughing, laughing, laughing,
That's what my prince and I did.

Fairytales only mention the big things,
Not the little things that make life.
Who wants to go from one big thing to the other with nothing in-between?
What's a love not tried?

I'll keep the exhilaration of a love won,
And resent the word "perfect."
Fairytales have nothing on me.

Written by [Isis Leigh]

---

Forever Safe

I look in your eyes
There's nothing to hide
I see all the pain and anguish inside
I'll take all your fears
Wipe away all the tears
And show you a brand new world that's inside

You’ll be safe in my arms
Kept free from all harm
So kiss all those scars from your life goodbye
You’ll never know pain
The sun will shine again
And warm up your soul from high in the sky

written by [The Last Dragoon]

---

Yesterday will never change.

I am running out of energy.
You drain it, like blood, from me.
I've wasted so much time on you.
I am an addict to everything you say and do.
I am hanging on your every word.
They are the coldest things I've ever heard.

I look into your eyes and scream "save me".
You sigh and reply, confessing that you hate me.
I turn away in shame, wondering why you blame me.
You say its because you could never tame me.
I cry and tell you its your fault....

Because you would and will never claim me..

Written by [She cried WAR]

---

Final cut

Through the doorway though
A bit hazy now thy silhouette does not escape me,
So I evoke thee to come forth and enjoy the show.
Thou know it to be quite funny as well as me,
As thou stand there I can even on deaf ears hear
The whispers of thy happiness and fears that thou try to hide
By shutting thy eyes so that I may not get a peek inside.
These little rituals are finally getting the best of me.
Like when I call thee just to hear thy voice,
Then thou hang up once more capturing the best of me.
I just want thou to know that I love thee
And I really did not mind the lip gloss.
These days are cold and stale now that thou art gone.
The cold wind hits my face changing the paths
Of my ground destined tears,
And my only solace is at the bottom of the ocean,
The ocean of gaffer and disgruntle disparity.
So come forth not wishing to dethrone me from my
Coffin where I lay eyes open weeping as death looms
Ominously closer for it is too late,
My vision slowly fades consoling my agony
With freedom from the misery
That thou have caused me,
Freedom From the suffering that has entombed me,
But rather come forth as the labyrinth figment of my imagination
That I have always known thee to be,
Bearing the final razor that will be inserted into my heart.
Let thy excitement not exceed my apprehension my dear,
For I am doing the cutting this time.
Do thou swear thy love for me?
Then where is thy will to thrive within my heart
Where my guilt resides?
Very well then my love,
No beseech shall be laid upon thee,
But canst thou do what hath besought of thee?
Where is thy love now?
Or the razor I have besought thee to bring?
Forgotten like thy love for my bleeding heart.
A love that I once possessed like I now possess death,
Like hate on my heat,
And for thee…

Written by [shadow69]

---

Rose-Tinted Glasses

Your eyes are red tints
Of roses, pretty, sweet and mad,
Fearing only truth.

Written by [Chimes]

---

The Season

Watching spring's first birds seeking shelter in the bay
leeward of the wind; usually whispering sweetly,
she's roaring today.

Sitting at the window with a cup of tea and a heavy book
after a cold, sunny day outside: winter finally gone,
giving more than she took.

People passing by, wasting time waiting for summer's return
overlooking the spring sunset, bringer of colours:
not seeing her burn.

Of the four seasons, the present is always the most beautiful;
spring, winter, summer, fall: their songs different
but always a lull.

Written by [maalik]

---

Worldy Routine

You were born into a world with strict rules and
a binding law.

You sought to find the truth within this world,
and it made no sense at all.

You felt your heart build and break over and over,
a sickening cycle of growth and pain.

As you slowly seperated yourself from it,
accepting that you might just die in vain.

If no one will fight for you then...
you give up the ghost.

And this tragedy repeats in history,
at least it does for most.

Written by [She cried WAR]

---

Silent Memories of Former Days

A freezing sprite has been following me,
Making sure I would never forget,
One single night, that funereal night,
I lost everything because I dared love.

The clock pointed the eleventh hour,
As my heart pumped its last bit of blood.
My soul has been mourning ever since,
But I’ve ignored the insult and ridicule.

We have wandered though deep woods,
Wondering about eachother,
And I gave you all I could give.

You took everything without hestitation,
Kept me in wait in deep desperation.
My heart wasn’t mine anymore,
As your breath brought me to life.

But the woodlands grew thick,
As the night slowly passed,
And I lost hold of your hand,
Before you were lost from sight.

A flock of vultures started circling above,
Ready to destroy the carcass you left behind.
The sun quickly fled as you left,
And summerstorms started dancing in my veins.

You left me in tears without a hint of release,
Kept me captivated with the sound of your now faint voice.
The cold stone in my chest refuses to beat,
If it can’t beat for you.

I sometimes think to see your silhouette walking the horizon,
But there’s no need to guess, you’ll never come back,
To cut me free from the forest that has overgrown me,
To bring me back to life like you have done before.
This casket hold no fire, not even the smallest bit of life,
But a rythm of useless breath.

Written by [Tableau Vivant]

---

For Alice

The rabbit hole was deeper than you thought,
so I climbed down and tried to get you out.
You did not want to come; I tried to change
your mind but you refused to hear my words.
Each night I stay up late to see if you
will come back home, and then I think of all
the fun you must be having there, wherever
your ‘there’ may be. My dreams are full of your
adventures that you carefully described:
blue skies and crazy mice with hatters all
in one fantastic world; and now I can-
not save myself from your amazing place.

Written by [Tickle Me Emo]

---

Immortal

A breath that is not a breath
But a whisper of air from your dead soul

In a night that is blacker than my heart
My crystal teardrops roll

No heartbeat and no saving warmth
Can I claim from your embrace

But in your arms I will fade into forever
And leave this life without a trace

Written by [wiccanmaiden]

---

No room

Inside of me
there is no room
for rules
of a game
I don't want
to play

Written by [Easterling]

---

Junkie Virus

I watch the junkie give it a try,
since he is the furthest
star in the galaxy, but I
am clean and don’t dare
start a share in his obsession.

No Junkie, you. Your
teeth chatter and hands shake like an epileptic
with his seizure, and then you

collapse: narcoleptic dog at the vet,
a pulled string in a woman’s
sweater, an old citizen at night.

You wake to doctors separating the addict
from the person: it highs, lows,
makes for higher ground.

Written by [Tickle Me Emo]

---

Trumped

Deal out the hand,
let luck have a try.
First round about,
is fate on your side?

Hearts, or diamonds
Spades, maybe clubs
Call what you will,
Where do your loyalties lie.

We take our turns
I guess we will see
when you make your move
will you trump me?

Written by [tenshi-ryuu]

---

Mask

Why do you hide
What purpose, what reason
Why do you seek to be
The person behind the mask

Who are you?
So cold, so indifferent
the impassionate act of being
the person behind the mask

Come out of your shell
the whole world awaits
to discover the inner beauty
of the person behind the mask

Written by [tenshi-ryuu]

---

Would You?

I want you to come with me to the edge
to feel the wind rushing at your pale face
to spread your arms; open your mouth
and taste the rain pouring down

it's so cold, so biting cold
and you are dying, I know
and lightning is flashing
across the sky
and memories are flashing
across your mind

you grip my hand tightly,
telling me you love me
without words

and your eyes shine like moonbeams
that I want so badly to dance in forever

I want to count every star in the sky
and tell you that you outshine
all of them combined
but they are falling, falling

'time is of the essence,' you always told me.
'it is something you can never get back.'
now time is running out.

the night is unfurling, opening its wings.
the cool wind whispers over your small frame,
skin stretched tight over translucent veins

'you are beautiful', I think I hear myself say
but a minute later I cannot be sure
if the words ever really escaped my lips

I want you to come with me to the edge
to hold my hand on the last night on earth

would you?

Written by [speakyourwords]

---

Glimpse the Unthinkable

I’ve seen time
Flowing in a reel
Slowing
Frame by Frame
Truth appears
Amongst the Vacant Lots
Amongst the Tears and Burns
Brilliant White
Gods.
Walking between the raindrops
Listening between thunderclaps
Feeling Nothing but
Platitudes and Bibles
And the water stops an inch above my skin
The shadows dance in lapse time
Momentarily Fleeting Reality
Flickering Euphoria
Stop Start
Cold moisture at my fingertips.
Long nights on my mind
Oblivion and omnipresence
Lightning in ¾ time
A streak of divinity
Before Silence

Written by [Dark_Bard]

---

Poets Don't Cry.

I've locked myself out again
such a pity, I had been doing so well
working my way with the ups and downs
and making my own hell.

I've caught myself in another landslide
of could shoulders and self doubt
so I have to burn the records of my progress
and figure all this out.

Never mind the agitation,
I guess it comes and goes that way,
that instantaneous rapid fire
of another damned bad day.

I know I'm holding back again
and it's gonna ruin everything
but as soon as I start trying hard
I'm thrown so far off game.

So I'm locking myself out tonight
and I'm taking acid to the key
I've ruined every chance I've given
of ever knowing me.

Written by [Rainbow Dragonflies]

---

A Notion

There's a chance,
just maybe,
that words will empty
and all thought disappear
into moonlight.

There's a notion
that love,
a most powerful potion,
can sink into calm waters
and take you with it
for a blissful night's dreaming,
in a place where you can only
smile.

Written by [Chimes]

---

As I await

I await my final breath,
My cold-crusted execution,
My few last rites are all I've left
To grant me absolution.

I do not want to haunt and hound,
With washed-out face and ghoulish eyes,
But by my gravelly grave is found
My battered, broken body's cries.

If I could live for one more day
My persuasion would not stutter,
For I am key to where secrets lay
That e'en heaven may not utter.

Written by [Chimes]

---

Undoings

When your mouth moves I remember
what it felt like as I rushed to flip a page
and sliced my hand on the edge of words.
Every syllable you murmur in my ear stings
salt-lick strong.

I am four again. I will not breathe
until you untangle me slowly
from you, from your own undoings
that have become the paper wrappings
around the bird-cage of my heart.

Written by [elf_fu]

---

Expressions of Inarticulacy

On my own beside you
I hear the clicking of the
Keys beneath my fingers
As I type the words I cannot
Say to define emotions that
I cannot express with any sort
Of clarity or accuracy when
We are face to face.

Written by [A Phoenix Rising]

---

Summer Inferno

Glaring down, the sun and the atmosphere
Playing furnace with your skin.
Connect the dots and colour inside the lines;
Red is the new tan.
Next day: peel off flake by flake, then start anew,
Pale complexion be damned.

Written by [Triola]

---

The Girl Who Lived In My Room

Do you still remember the girl
Who two years ago used to live in this room
Safe at home surrounded by family
Smiling happily on her graduation day

I heard she got into university
Moved out to live on her own to study
Met the first man who got all of her love
Saw an end to that joy and was left with a broken heart

I know that girl so well
We’ve always been so close
I thought she was with me, as always
But now I suddenly saw she was gone

Here I am, standing in her old room
Staring into the depths of the mirror
The face is same from before
But the person inside
Is that little girl no more

Written by [-Orion-]

---

Doubt

A single petal drifting down a stream
Divided from her sisters, it would seem
She’d been torn away and left alone to rot
But the question is, for the sake of love—
Or not?

Written by [Triola]

---

A Dreamer's True Face revealed

Cradled in the arms of sleep and grace
our Rose, her mind without sin, without blight
but her dreams revealed a different face
betrayal beneath pale moonlight

a libertine's spirit exhumed craving to be free
from the dark abyss of this dreamer's soul
the perverted thoughts, the start of a demon's spree
as a deathshead o'er her innocent eye closed

throughout this holocaust of cruelty, spite
her mind a'dreaming weaved and created
over formless black chaos, her true face ignite
only her frantic laughter rose, her conscience sedated

behold, the howling hag rides!
cursing archangels as she envokes fear
tearing down stars from the skies
this dirge, a hymne, a symphony to her ears

then morning, and as sunlighu wakes this pure soul;
an awoken dreamer is never true, it's their dreams which make them whole

Written by [Teufelsweib]

---

The Defender

I am the heart that beats with fire.
I am the voice that sounds with anger.
I am the sword and shield.
I have fought the smallest of factions and the mightiest of armies.
My armor is strong.
My steed is fast.
My blade is sharp.
My arrow is true.
Whenever you are in need I will be there.
The horn of war is loud with me.
I will not forsake those who are weak.
I will not leave those who are oppressed.
I will bring justice to the wicked.
I will bring peace to the downtrodden.
I will be your white knight.
Rest withing my cabin for you will have serenity.
My blessing will be with you.
I will give you food and shelter.
I will be your guardian.
I will be your defender.

Written by [Thunder Cid]

---

21st Birthday

Little girl, little girl,
Unclench your fists;
You'd never hit him as hard as he deserves, anyway.

Little girl, little girl,
Look away;
He does not exist.

Big girl, big girl,
Control your emotions;
Do not destroy yourself.

Big girl, Big girl,
Put that down;
Do not have it on hand just because you can.

You are now a woman.

Written by [Isis Leigh]

---

Torn Sunset

It's hard to keep you by my side,
Haunted By Your memories
Day By day you fade,
Till' distant and torn You have become.

Is love an emotion or something else,
I feel it inside me tearing me apart,
Your fading from my sight,
Like the sun you sink below the horizon.
And signal the end,

Is it the end of our love?
Or just the end of the Day?
I know now when it's over,
That I'll always be alone.

Written by [Black14]

---

The Liar

He Hears,
but has never truly Listened.

He Speaks,
But Spouts only Lies.

He Sees,
Yet He Denies The truth.

He Smells,
but Declares it False.

He Feels,
But Recoils from Honesty.

He Walks,
But Runs from Himself

He Lives,
And Dies Alone.

Written by [Black14]

---

Fireflies of Summer

Gently the twilight settles on the shoulder of the mountain,
The cloak of dusk drifting in the valley.

Quiet all round the shadows broken,
Owls speak and night jars croak.

Soon the dancers rise from their hiding places,
Each a tiny yellow lantern flashing.

Whirling in the dance of procreation,
Each seeking a pattern of light synchronicity.

Tiny wings a whir in graceful loops and dips,
The mating of the light bearers continues into the night.

Written by [Skydancer]

---

That feeling, again

Sitting warm and dry in a bubble
of metal in a November rain
As curtains of glass-like pearls
fall, and spell out my name

On this old train ride again,
on these same, rusty tracks
Passing frozen stagnation,
that, which time itself lacks

But maybe, when quietly asking
just one of those pearls
She'll say, 'I know you' and ask
where I've been all these years

And I cannot say, I cannot be certain
in this short moment of bliss
For as she falls down the curtain
I know there's something I've missed

Written by [maalik]

---

She trusts me

The Ocean loves me,

She made me a bed on her shore

where the warm wind, the soft waves
and the singing birds
create the symphony of symphonies;

where the generous sun, the hiding moon
and the red rocks
make immortal paintings.

She gave me the low shores
so I can enter her;
a billion diamonds on her face.

She made me the islands,
so I can rest in her embrace;
she softened the rock, to show me her dreams.

Written by [maalik]

---

How Do You Feel?

There is not a word to describe this feeling.
I do not feel empty
...or regretful
...or confused.
It's not strong enough for angry,
But not weak enough for sad.
It's not apathetic,
Because I definitely do feel.
Certainly not happy,
Nor content.

It feels like my throat is closing up,
And I can't breathe.
Oxygen, I need you.
I'm so lost in thought,
And I can't see;
I'm running on a merry-go-round.
My world is spinning,
But it's not upside down
(Leaning on sideways).

Perhaps the word I'm looking for is everything.

Written by [Isis Leigh]

---

Thin Man's Exit

In the house of the flies there
are no victims, only--
--those that fall down and
won’t hold themselves up.
When you’ve become a myth as I
have you will learn it is so.
All my friends have died here,

In trenches they dug with glee---
only the cynic lives to see this now.
Pity is wasted here,
Still, after this I struggle on.
Decadence once ruled this pit, till
I allowed it to be killed off---
---shamelessly.

But is it shameful to become what I
was? am now?----
Only if you find it unbearable to
let reality take cues from vanity.
The swarm migrates here and there,
to cover one’s eyes or leave--
--a trail of un-godly noise.

And the house is then a place of solitude,
where I fall back and wonder at how--
--my foothold in paradise was
thrown down, gave way so fast.
No carnival surprises me now, it’s all a
lie we can’t help but tell---
--to give us release from reason.

Can I hide away for long?---it seems
I can’t, I beat the walls--and--
--claw my veins.
My extreme ways choke me and
don’t allow sighs or regrets.
---and the flies tire of my
bewitching moods.

When making an exit, one must plow
through---ignore all warnings---plunge
into a void that refuses communication.
When making an exit (as I’m sure to do)
be sure it’s the last, anything else---
-----is just stupid.
Thin Man knows the truth.

Gray lightning and my face converge,
and I’m struck dead again.
When unsure of these things it’s best to
set aside grief.
Thin Man will tell you now------
Be sure, Be sure,
(---and a mime will laugh on).


Written by [Ethan Leon]

---

The Dawn of Reckoning

These wings of black shed their feathers,
And blood shall rain from the sky.
Not of the innocent, but the wicked will weep.
For the streets shall be soused in crimson.

As darkness falls, we shall rise,
And in horror, they will run.
Teeming with fear shall they be.
An irony so sweet.

As they cower in the night, we will revel.
Revel in the light that will be brought forth
From the cries of malignant men,
And the cheers of the auspicious.

So arise my brothers, arise.
For we knock on Hell's door tonight.
Fly into Apollyon's abyss
With thy sword and spear raised.

Pierce this heart of darkness.
Bring peace to the fallen.
Bathe in the blood of evil.
Bathe in it's blood, tonight.

Written by [Badger Badger Badger Taco]

---

Boxers

What are we
But boxers in a ring,
Dancing around in some obscene ritual,
Twisting, bounding left and right,
Avoiding each others' throws,
Taunting one another into a corner,
Preparing for the knock out.
Hop left for the jab,
Right for the hook,
Low blows that don't count
But pain us just as much.
And in the end we'll see through blood
And glare and think our dirty thoughts,
But somewhere in the middle
We fall against each other,
Clinging for dear sweet life in the midst of it all
Before we both retreat
And start the dance again.

Written by [Nite_Owl]

---

Grave

If I must die and sleep into the darkness,
Dig a shallow grave, that I may taste the sun
Past the stale and dampened earth,
Through the thick wood and canvas.
Allow me the beauty to feel the warmth of light
Upon these withering bones,
Chilled marrow,
Sallow flesh;
To hear the songbirds passing by,
Nesting in the branches of great oaks
That drop their offspring to sprout above my head,
Eternal guardians.

And if I must perish, let me reach death young,
For if I must endure an endless darkness,
Why must I first wallow in the darkness of mankind,
Suffer before suffering,
Blinded before blinded?
His darkness permeates the world
And turns it black,
Makes it indiscernibly churn like molten ink.
What waiting room all earth should be amongst them,
Only to be thrown into another blacker blackness--
How unfair.
How cruel.

Then make me like the earth itself,
Embedded within it,
Flesh within flesh,
Life and death within living and dying,
Breathing.
For if all the earthworms of the world
Have rights to sun and soil alike,
Then what have I?

Written by [Nite_Owl]

---

In the Valley

Hourglass sands
Falling from the pits of sky--
They run with fleeting hearts,
Gripping grains of gold in their hands,
Even as they slip away
To fall and die in the valley.
They mourn the sands,
They ponder their defeat,
They watch their children, mystified,
Uncaring,
Unmoving,
And begin again their unending game of catch
Into madness.

Written by [Nite_Owl]

---

Red at 7:10

The scorching sands that scourge the trees,
The darkness of the evergreens
This time of night, or after-day
When shadows come to dance and lay
Hypocrisy at sullied feet,
Do nothing but a soul defeat.
All the words, the drunken rhymes,
The messages in perfect time,
The faceless movement, sullen eyes,
The pacing toward and through demise--
All again for nothing won,
Nothing gained, nothing sung.
They ask the whys, the whens and hows,
The questions fast, the answers now:
Why fire burns as bright as this,
Why sickly people still exist,
How worlds were overturned today,
How life extinguished still remains;
When will the eyes of angels see?
When will the hate inside them be
The strength of future breath and life?
Life--I know enough of life
To know this only truth:
The skies are red at 7:10
Each night or after-day,
When bloody battles fuel the pens
And angels come to slay.

Written by [Nite_Owl]

---

Nightwood

Each time I walk I find my footsteps
are each becoming smaller.
---and my strides toward you are
always becoming longer.
---every time I speak I find my voice is:
becoming weaker with every word.
And that every sentence I say to you is,
becoming so much smaller.
My life inside of your life, is a dark one--
---spent gathering flowers and practicing your name
so that when you touch me one day, I can say it like
you say it---when you live your life inside
of mine, and fine it lonely.

Written by [Ethan Leon]

---

Half Empty

My greatest dream is to inspire
Like the reaching spire of the Eiffel Tower.
Incubating Desires
In the shell of your fears and doubts

Peel away your layers
To find the technicolor paintings underneath
Kiss your insecurities good bye
And tell them you've got a better philosophy to preach

There's a book of lessons to be learned
By finding your dreams have burned
Right in front of you while you fanned the flames
Leaving your cup half empty

Written by [Captain Rachel Black]

---

Intellectual Intercourse

Speak to me, openly
Carefully, intentionally
Reveal to me your prowess
What I should fear and yet do not

Every word said, spoken
Bled from the core of me
A gift for humanity, sent
With your name, selfishly

Voices entangle, torn and
Sewn together with ideas
Thoughts stolen and remodeled
Swollen to the point of ejaculation

Now slumber stumbles in, headlong
Breaking our words into a plea for
Another time, another moment to
Intertwine, unequivocally divine…

Your mind there inside of mine.

Written by [*OGD*]

---

The Wolf

I see him, and i know he sees me.
His eyes glinting in the darkness,
I see the hunger behind them
And feel the hunger inside me.
Those eyes look away, and he's gone
But I know, he's still hunting me.

And i follow, playing my part
In a game that we koow will break hearts,
The elusive prey that craves to be caught.
Craves for dark eyes falling on bare flesh,
For his suggesting wolf grin;
so much more than a smile.

I'm lost in dangerous games,
Fighting myself to get out.
Gripped by longing, but hating
every
minute.

I feel him stalking me
but i cant run.
His eyes on my back, hot hands on my waist,
his breath on my neck but still, i dont run.
I turn to him, his hunger mirrored in my eyes,
And my life unravels, with that big, wolf smile.

Written by [((lost))]

---

Don't Ever Regret

Don't ever regret
the choices you've made
or the laws you've broken,
or the ones you obeyed.

For in the end,
it's not what you chose to do
but the life you lived
after you made the choices that make you,
you.

Written by [Akayume]

---

Raven's Song

Raven's song,
An undying ember,
Laden with sorrow and solitude,
Long since forgotten,
Best left where time ceases,
Best left where sorrow eases,
Uncertain,
Denied,
Left to be as it's brethren art,
Feeding upon the rotting,
Decay, cruelty,
Feeding its passions,
Love, kindness,
the crux of all who know it,
Breathing, dying,
Calling out to those who know it,
Raven's song,
So sad and lonely,
Raven's song,
Passionate with envy.

Written by [Ravendust]

---

Drowning in Sorrow

I am the sickly child,
Drifting on the Ophelian rivers.
Hands are reaching from the surface,
Trying to embrace me into the flow.

We’re the dancing souls,
That stand beside your bed at night.
Crying because we can’t touch you,
Crying because you’re happy where we suffered.

The sun is pouring down,
Sweet rays of deep mourning.
My eyes and finally closed,
No longer hungry for a still breast.

Our arms are blindly searching for each other,
Through the veils of night and day.
No angels ever watched over us,
Our screams never echoed as far as we thought.

So now we’re silently sinking into the ground,
Where flocks of birds fill the graves with their melodies.
My dear sister grief comes forth from the mist,
To cradle me into the deep and dreamless sleep.

Written by [Tableau Vivant]

---

Selfish Girl

The sun shines through your eyes,
Day in and day out,
You make it so hard to say goodbyes,
I could stay up all night,
Like a stake out.

Your beauty is divine,
Something so surreal,
Your like a fine wine,
I want you with every meal.

If I had my way,
I would want you all to myself,
That would be the day,
I really turn into an elf.

You see, I could write all day,
Tell you how your smile,
Is as bright as the milky way,
Or how waiting all day for you,
Is so worthwhile.

But everything must come to an end,
Something you learn in preschools,
Something I could never comprehend,
Because I dont play by the rules.

Going a day without talking to you,
It's as if the day never happened,
Thank god those days are very few,
I guess I could say your my bestfriend.

But that would be an understatement,
For what we have is much more,
More powerful to any extent,
Your presence leaves my jaw on the floor,

I'm selfish beyond definition,
I'm so sorry,
But I crave your adoration,
Love me?

Written by [LIL_ELF_GURL14]

---

Night, My Mistress

The stars shine so bright,
Enhancing your beauty:
Savage shadows promising peace.
The sun has balked my existence,
Harried my skin with its brutal abuses.
How I yearn for your cares,
For your tingling caresses,
To put my body, my soul to rest.

So I came out to greet you,
Scantily clad to feel your full embrace.
But you're such a liar,
Bitter, frost-hearted orb!
Curse your glittering freckles,
Though they shine so bright!
Oh, nothing about you is chilling tonight.

The evidence rides with you,
Traiterous wench!
You're singed and sooty, full of betrayal,
The fires of the day burnt into your air.
A silver sheen advertises a cool breeze,
Yet here I sit, sweating,
Drowning in a humid dream.
Such a heavy darkness,
No matter how light it seems.

You beckon me out,
Tantilizing candy of midnight,
Luring me to my death -
And these evil insects!
Why do I bother loving you?
Here, I'm such a coward, a pansy, a wuss!
As I run back inside - a victim, so hurt.
Safely back in my room, securely under roof,
I gaze back out at your un-truth,
Cold glass line remembering the touch
That used to be you.

Written by [kamisch]

---

Frankie & Larry

I'll bring you down, down into darkness
So black and haunting, like a cruel old crow.
You say you need me and I'll believe it
Whether it is, maybe, or isn't so.
I seek the truth,
You keep me honest, you pull me through.

My soul!
Just a broken, beat up raven's wing,
Too old and worn to fold.
Stuck out here in the cold!
So far yet so close -
Fighting back demons, looking for ghosts.
Oh we all have our demons, though I've met more than most...

And maybe he just doesn't get -
She'll stand by him,
Even when she can not stand the journey.
For he's persistant in his passions,
A rapturous mind on the loose again -
Boy who let you loose again?!
I'll shine the light on down this tunnel,
You call on me, you tell me when,

and

I'll follow you down, down to the darkness
Though it's fright'ning, oh, and I don't want to go.
You say you need me and I'll believe it,
Whether it is, maybe, or isn't so.
You seek the truth,
I'll keep you honest, I'll pull you through.

Poor soul!
With your broken little raven's wing,
So loyal yet so torn.
Come in out of the cold!
I'll hold you close -
Chasing down monsters, hunting for hope.
You find your damn monsters! I'll hold out for hope.

She wears a fire on her shoulders - we can all see her burning!
But that doesn't mean that she's stone- or cold-hearted.
And he knows just how to rev her up -
Oh yes, he'll get her started.
Together they'll confront the darkness:
For we'll always be found, but let it try to unwind us!
I'll take you out, fly you over the oceans -
With your broken little raven's wing,
You'll let me know.

Written by [kamisch]

---

Willow, Willow, Willow...

Desdemona's dove is singing, "Willow, Willow,"
In shades of green and purple
Paint the world in abstract swirls
Dance all cares away
The sun is shining bright for you
Sing, "Willow, Willow, Willow."
Tip a nod to a Druid cove
The trees are old
With tales unknown
Looking on high for Llew's soft road
Passions seared in shades of gold

Dance to your dreams,
Sing for the stars -
A canvas room and soggy rusks:
The twilight's drawn for dawn and dusk.

Stop and hear the dove, it's calling, "Willow, Willow."
Lady, won't you come to play?
The sky is dark for the night ahead
Silver rays to lace the grass
Sing, "Willow, Willow, Willow."
Explore the ancient, fading stones
The walls are old
With tales unknown
Bloddeuwedd smiles from floral places
Dreams painted in a blue glow

Dance for the stars,
Sing to your dreams-
And it's, "Willow, Willow, Willow..."

Written by [kamisch]

---

Next Week, Darling

Are we bored tonight,
Or merely lazy?
Both or neither, in between.
You know,
I would so love to go dancing…
Have you heard a word I said?
Never mind, forget about it – 
It’s nothing worth repeating.

I am not your savior,
But I can save.
Wrap yourself up in my wings,
Poor little thing,
I’ll give you life,
Share my breath –
Show you off to the water’s edge.
I’ll make you swim,
And then jump in…
Well, weren't you gonna take me dancing?
Next week, darling,
As next week starts,
And next week ends.
You still refuse to say you’re sorry,
Maybe that’s just me, absorbing blame.

I found myself in a dream today,
And you never listened to it.
Stand there acting like I know
The strange things that you’re saying.
What was that?
Something about dancing…
Forget I mentioned.
Forget caring.

My beautiful boy,
My child – no, a man.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference –
I feel centuries older than you.
Stop and do the math, I know, it’s wrong –
I am the younger, ancient soul.
Have you ever stopped to think about it?
It doesn’t matter.
I won’t preach your faults to you,
Poor fool, oh so human and naïve...
My feathers still cling to your face,
As I leave our fond embrace –
Bare as the wall you once were.
Looks like we never will go dancing.

Written by [kamisch]

---

Event Horizon

Swimming in a pointillist sky,
Treading celestial oceans,
Through galaxies of probability,
Supernova guide me to shore,
I long for singularity's possibility.

Written by [Dark_Bard]

---

Quiet Dragon

If I scream will I be heard.
This shape I am put in as a punishment.
I see her descendent
Holding the amulet close
Only to have questions with no answer
But you see she is wrong
For I have all the answer she needs
But I can not speak
I, in the shape of a dragon, can not answer
Even thou I can clear the skies.
She will sit there
Only to have questions
That shall only be answered when the curse is broken
Until then I shall love her quietly
Just as I watched her assertor
Trying to find a place
Only for her

Written by [Eyden]

---

The Escapades of 1903

Sit back and relax while I tell you my tale
of how I became so soulless and pale
I sailed on ships and crossed the wide sea
encountered the worst, my family and me

But a plague struck aboard in 1903
stealing my consort and children of three
and with them I watched the crew fall, too
spreading the sickness on through and through

The stench of disease polluted the air
and yet, I lived on through this time of despair
but the downfall was quick, and in less than a day;
I saw each of my shipmates all fade away

Their bodies fell hallow and limp to the floor
and I wept for the loss of my life long before
but a man soon emerged from the bottommost deck
he studied me closely and gazed at my neck

"Of all that have fallen, you're here and alive!
healthy and strong, you were made to survive..."
he approached me with an unusual tread
and instinctual warnings swarmed in my head

Something was off, was it the eyes?
those bottomless pits held secrets and lies
his smile was feral, hungry and cold
but I glimpsed at his teeth and the truth was unrolled

"Survive here with me!" he insanely exclaimed,
"You're whom I've been searching," he spoke unashamed
he grabbed on my shoulders and I held his gaze
but cringed from his touch with his eyes so ablaze

"Never!" I cried when his touch became pain
he lifted my wrist and traced down my vein
"Really?" he chuckled, dropping his eyes
his nails grew sharper to my own surprise

Rivulets of red then flowed down my arm
I yanked myself free, stumbled back in alarm
"You're a monster" I breathed, "The devil!" I cried
"A vampire" he snarled and spoke with great pride

That wretched day was when I came to be
the one he so desperately wanted to see
he took me with force, so that we'd never part
but when I awoke, I staked his heart.

Written by [Ɲyx]

---

My Demon

My father is my demon.
He will haunt me.
He is my curse.

I've watched him give life
I've watched him give death
I've watched him give love
and I've watched him give pain.

You are my demon
You are my hate.
You are my love but I cannot wait.
Forgive and forget you will not
I will not wait.
I have said my dues
I have given you the bait.
Bite damn you or I will not wait.

Curse you
Damn you
Stop causing your pain.
You do not have much longer.
For this to I cannot wait.
It will crush me
It will hurt me.
It will tear me and eat me.
I will cry and scream,
I will kick and hit.
I waited so long
But you will never let go.
Stubborn man
Evil man
Sad man.   My daddy
Can't you see I love you?
You will not let go
this will be your deliverance.

Free you from your soul now
I hope to see you once again
When the time has come,
When the time is at hand.
We will meet again
In our lords land.

Written by [Cillamoon]

---

Sparrow

This is flying past me at an alarming rate
And I think that we underestimate
The time it takes to move around on this world
The ultimate countdown in which I’ve long since lost count…

The sparrows are daring this time of the year and I find
This lack of divinity in me intriguing maybe
I’m losing my dignity, or perhaps finally believing in someone
I’ve never met before and never have I given so much credit
Where credit is due and then there’s finally you
Wading there in that sparkling mourning dew

Ultimately I can stand on my two legs, but it is too easy
To fall and the sensation of gravity carries me
Past a place in my mind that I’d forgotten to let open the door again
Let me it, let us in and I’ll show you where to begin

The sparrows are daring this time of the year and I see
More than what is expected of me and yet I find
This lack of impression of a kind to displease
I wanted to say all of those words but I was afraid I’d catch your eye
Running back around into the furrows of your brow I
Am afraid of where these roads take me and what I will see

Once more I tell you as I tell myself of the coping which
I have a tendency to inflict upon myself in part
For the misdirection and there I follow my heart it has all but
Let me astray, and here I stay in this nook of my choosing

Those sparrows are daring this time of the year but you know
They probably see somewhat like I do with the radiance of the free 
Yet chained to that very privilege, stuck to the clouds aglow
With pride and ignorant satire peering around corners waiting to be struck
By the price we all pay for the air we grace, spinning awkwardly
Alive with that passion that will someday take me in tow

I am as the sparrow, I am, I am,
I will fly farther than anyone with
Nowhere to go and nowhere to land

Written by [*OGD*]

---

American Angle

------nosedive on the city with
our skin slicked back,
then crashed through the clouds
with my silhouette laughing madly.

------caught in the last act before
we call out to one another in rhymes,
skewed our profiles sideways for a
quick look up at tonight.

---brought back here with ease
to do it all again
----sent back in a hurry
(We’ve forgotten our eyes and our lighters)
-------gentle kerosene flare that burns us
to cinders
-----then a nice cold current that helps
us settle into something----

------See? I told you it was nothing.

Written by [Ethan Leon]

---

In the Shallows

Water was a lonesome man who lapped upon the shore
And when he saw Sand’s lovely form, he lusted for her more.
Tender waves he sent to her with gifts of shells and foam
But Sand rejected Water’s love and clung to her dry home.
For Sand was good and wise and knew the stories others told
Of treacherous Water’s actions, for he was forceful, powerful, bold.
So she ignored poor Water’s gifts and loving adoration
Thus as Sand slept the murmuring liquid made his declaration.
“I’ll be with you someday, my love,” he whispered to sweet Sand,
“For though you may not know it yet, I’ve got something special planned.”
Dear Water had conversed with Sun and begged a special treat
That all the next day Sun might bring an unbearable heat.
And so he did and so they came, these people with their toys
Of plastic buckets, shovels and such, hundreds of girls and boys.
They filled their buckets up with Sand and poured her right on in
To Water, whose excited smile faded quickly from a grin
As his darling Sand’s soft sun-bleached grains fell gently to his floor,
Now heavy, darkened, slimy, damp, she was a beach no more.
For foolish Water had not learned where sea and sand may meet
More often than not one can find pairs of stamping, muddy feet.
So these feet play where wet meets dry and seashells litter shore,
Where water reached up to his lady and kissed her hand once more.

Written by [A Phoenix Rising]

---

A Thieves' Fortune

I never understood why I stand in darkness and stare blankly into the windows
Of so many possibilities, a looking glass spinning fruitlessly like a wheel
Stuck in the mud, or in the past, or in crippling indecision of how to move forward
Each new pane shows a vision of the hereafter, a Sybil’s orb that traps the soul
The echoing screams of my will bid me tear my gaze away, but they are spectators
To my frozen body, my flagging ego, my raging id, and every pulsing beat of my heart
A thieves’ fortune of life, love, and happiness lie within horrifyingly close reach
But fear is more than chain, it is silken cloth, only cutting when one resists its push
So I cling to the terra firma of my bondage, and never breathe a word of dissatisfaction
Dilution of hatred to hope, an opiate if I ever knew the taste of such an intoxication
Leaves me rooted at the nexus of living lives I touch only as a distant whispering voyeur
Thus I am no more man than mouse, stealing my larder from those who offer nothing
And for this moment I am sustained, healthy, hale, and tormented by complacency
The menagerie is exultant beauty, yet one day must be shattered into a thousand tinkling rebukes

Written by [Dark_Bard]

---

Hope

Hope In The Dark Leads Me
The Light Is Dim, I Cannot See
Blind As I Am, My Hope Leads Me
Through The Dark, To The Light

With The Light I Can Hope For More
Hope For A Change
Hope For The Best
For It Is All I Have At This Time
My Precious Hope

Written by [Cillamoon]

---

Goodnight

You captured me with your uneasy smile,
So sudden and secure.
I thought the violence was worth the while,
That somewhere you were kind and pure.
While you get tangled up in someone else’s web,
I am left to face this hell, alone.
You sold me like a slave,
Your victim of twisted mayhem.
The morn’s rays never touched my side,
For you never let them.
You tied me in heavy chains,
And let me plead for freedom!

I followed you home, like Mary.
You killed my little lamb.
I came to praise you on my knees,
You told me you did not give a damn.
You are no longer beautiful,
For that mess you’ve made.
You spun her ‘round your finger,
And then pulled the rope tighter.
Her whisper still remains.

The pistol lay heavy in your hands,
Nothing left to oversee.
You left your will to bother them,
And yet, you left nothing to me!
I hate you for all that you’ve done
And all that you were.
I loathe you for the rhythm you left in my head
And what you did to her.
I hate the way you stare at me,
With eyes casing over white,
At least now I have the strength to bid you
This final and fare-not-so-well, goodnight.

Written by [dancingSHEEP]

---

Valkyrie

This is not a battlefield.
And this is not a war.
Pick up the pieces
Left behind by the gore.

Velvet wings soar high above.
Ultimate and darker than death.
In song and merriment they point,
At those who will spend their last breath.

There is no hall of heroes,
Built by the chooser of the slain.
Only ashes as white as snow
That hope to bury the pain.

So put down your sword,
And put down your shield.
There is no glory here.
No honor to yield.

Close your eyes now, to rest.
And be taken on this bed.
May your spirit now be at peace,
If there is any peace, for the dead.

Written by [Badger Badger Badger Taco]

---

Maralim

Imagine four short years
We've grown and grown up closer dear
And now we're splitting up
You're leaving me alone back here
I'm all alone with no one left for to comfort fear
Who am I kidding now?
For losing you was all I feared
I can't keep thinking this
You've got go your separate ways
Just know I'll miss you dear
I'll wait for you through longer days
This distance aches my heart
It's breaking, broken, piece and part
Perhaps my loneliness will give me, grant me a new start
Just lookie here I've got a few new words, from us apart
I'll look on brighter days, and brighter smiles for miles away
I know you'll come back home and everything'll be okay
Yeah you'll be coming home and nothing, no, will be the same.

Written by [davis van]

---

A New World Tree

Embers dance merrily to the moonlight sonata
Setting my soul ablaze, a pyre to forgotten gods
I hear the melody of old ditties at my fingertips
Spinning, turning, twisting, wrenching my arm
Often do these maniacal persuasions come to call
Laughing eyes scatter the ashes to the named winds
Thought and Memory, scavengers by my reckoning
Archaic are their calls amidst the black murder
Relics from a world bygone by man and dust
Witness the roots take hold inches in the skin
Yggdrasil’s boughs bear fruit of poison and pleasure
Each orb beckoning with the whispers of the fae
Innocence these dead worlds demand in sacrifice
But such succulent flesh is beyond me to deny
My hands covered in the bleeding nectar of the feast
I fall to my knees in ecstasy, an epic ballad fulfilled
Doubt is the consequence of premeditation here
But given the choice to walk these hallowed halls
Or to forever wander the labyrinth in my nightmares
I choose to forge my dreams anew against the anvil
So armed, part the veil and cut the lucid fantasy asunder
Life need not submit to the frigid hand, the timid mind
It must only breathe deep the smoke of expired moments
And fill its cup from the fountain of nascent adventure

Written by [Dark_Bard]

---

Toby

He reeked of cigarette smoke (or
maybe it was pot... I could
never tell the difference) as

he took a seat across from me in
the garish florescent Metro bus
lighting, this kid at that awkward
stage between adolescence and
adulthood. There was this friend,
too, and they kept themselves
to themselves until

he violated bus Social Norm No. 1:
Talking To Unknown Passengers.
First he just tumbled over to the seat
next to me, then gave a little introductory
wave. Finally, (I'm not sure, but I think)

he said something like, "What
are you listening to?" and asked
to share. It was definitely pot
because he was pretty unintelligible.

And what is better for a high
kid than Basshunter?

He disembarked a little
ways down the road, long
before I would ever get off.

Written by [Tickle Me Emo]

---

The Lone Song of Sadness

Fighting to keep the reality of the situation
While waring off the spectral fascination
Making sense of both our decimation
And aging myself into degeneration

Trying to talk from the bottom of my urn
While nothings left of you but connotations
What we felt would now and forever burn
Keeping to our own autocratic intentions

An almost aligning of our heavenly body
The gravity and meanings lost when told
Nearly perfection, lost as just an anomaly
Simply not good enough for a world too cold

On the horizon is the dark zenith rising
Honour of what should be done is dying
Pride rapes us when time is draining
Learning your teachings as your lying

A promise for your satisfaction
That brings me my decimation
Beyond the blank black horizon
Milky eyes rot away the blissful Stygian

Sitting on your throne in my realm
Touching upon things you once were
With a conduit to everything that was
But never really knowing what is

You were my good thing to die for
You made it beautiful to be alive
My path of life became your lore
We could sustain the pain no more

What could be, we won't ever tell
The apogee is long since past
We have gone into the great null
Now there is nothing but the last

Legacies and an odyssey of the titanic
The love other people can but only wish
Morphed into enmity and despair
All just sacrificial offerings as we perish.

Written by [BlackLordTitan]

---

No Prison Holds Me

I am a convict, 110218.
They tell me I'm not human...
Just a number on a page....
What do they know of me?

No prison holds my spirit,
Nor can one hold my love.
No prison holds my mind,
Nor can one steal my freedom.

I am David, free man,
And I will live again...
I am individual....
No prison holds me.

Written by [Daemeon Arkenyon Zane]

---

The word for...

I am walking through icicles in the mist

searching for the right negative descriptive


What is the word for “walking-through-icicles-alone-in-the-mist-at-night”?

This is not a poem, because I am not a poet

I am dramatic, insomniac, thirsty

(always with the thirst)

And the empty shape where the word should be

follows me like a shadow,

like a bird,

like a longing I’ve forgotten

Written by [little flag]

---

Need

Are you only as worthy as you are needed?

There is only enough me for me, not even that
There is not enough of me to go around,
to be your world, too. I cannot mean that much to you.
It scares me. Because I cannot hold you and I am
spread thin and shallow already.

Sometimes, on bad days, I think how perfect
a poem would be. Then I turn on the radio
until I forget
about anything but mediocrity again, because--
it's too painful. Too real.

What we used to call soul. Now we mean
"my boyfriend's across town probably with that other girl again"
but we used to mean "I need
something more than two a.m. streetlamps and used condoms."

I am distantly interested in this break in society.
This is the break in me.
In the moment of ecstasy when the ecstasy is me.
I mean words.

I cried when I heard it on the radio, the Elton John song
I will always think is about death. I lied,
it wasn't the radio. The internet.
I searched it out, I typed in lyrics, I clicked play.
Button after button. Pure sap. Pure lies.

Your shallow breaths make me want to be hollow inside,
but all I really want is enough distance from this to think,
until your breaths are no longer in sync with mine.

Was I once rejected this way? I must have been, to know
so intimately the details of destruction, to have perfected
so early the cold gazes and dull disinterest in this red heart.
I am the perfect conductor, the fork in the electric socket.
Given, I give. Pulled, I push. Action and reaction, link
in the chain. Chains. How appropriate. Lust and love rusted through.
Guilt, oily and thick with smug tones of voice, tying me here
to this bedpost.

Your worth does not need my need. My need.
Is undeserving of your worth. How much of this can I tell you?
Never tell you.

Needlessly, I apologize. Words cannot fix silences and
amateur psych-philosophy. Go back to sleep, love. I will
watch over your dreams,
keep the radio low,
words to soothe and slumber.

(Echoes of ecstasy in need.)

Written by [little flag]

---

Ugly Words

Need is such an ugly word, like
a bleeding heart in a fist, or
a heart without a fist to clench it.

I loved you wrong but still I loved you,
and if you had been like me and
had no other love, that might have
been enough,
mightn't it?

Grief is a deep word, full of screams
and thrumming drowning, so this must
not be grief, this silent shredding
of soul and burning inaction.

I never wanted to take it back but
once taken back it seemed everything
must be taken back, so put it all into
reverse and leave it clean and neat and
empty: heart, gift, life.

Lonely is a shameful word, like shame
itself. Denying sin we seek repentance
and ask every shadow, Is this the way?
Is this the way from nowhere?

Ugly words burn in potential as the pen
hovers over the page, like photographs
in flame, and silent exploding cars from
the muted action movie in the background.
Flickering t.v. screen trembling in time with
the false, tense air. Helpless.

Regret and rage.

Written by [little flag]

---

Alone

Says he: "I hate you!"
At that I wrap my arms
around myself to find
comfort and warmth.
But I find none. I do,
however find myself
shattered and cold.
So cold I shiver, like
Death himself is running
a single finger down
my spine.
Says me: "Why do you say
such a thing?"
He, he just stared, like
he was looking in a mirror,
he shrugs his shoulders
and walks away. I watch
him go and as I watch, I can
feel my heart breaking into a
million little pieces, like
shattered crystal on the
ground. Never to be
fixed again, but thrown away.

Written by: [ladynightengale]

---

That's Outlandish Behavior

I said I'll be fine
But I was hoping you'd find
That it wasn't alright
That I told you a lie
And I know it seems wrong
But I've waited so long
And I've tried to be strong
I just want to belong
I'm telling you here
All my secrets and fears
So I'm begging you dear
Won't you lend me your ear
I can't go on like this
I'd rather not exist
I feel alone and amiss
Even though you resist

I don't have you
Or her or him
So I'm reading the signs
And my chances are slim
I've got no one to care
My fire's grown dim
So I'm ending it all
With a countdown from ten

Written by: [davis van]

---

Gone With Luck

I swam through the current
watched it dry beneath my form
climbed the highest mountain
then it crumbled in a storm

Traveled through the forest
as the trees withered to dust
resided in a solid home
that swayed within a gust

Caressed my lovers face
as he sputtered for a breath
then gently kissed his lips
and he died a sudden death

Shouted toward the sky
and the sun froze overhead
so I left my luck to fate
but only turned up dead.

Written by [Ɲyx]

---

Frog

Hey,
You’re probably too drunk
To hear me.
But,
We took you out of your "pond,"
soaked you in ethanol; anesthetized you,
Because…
We need you.
Well, not you. Your parts.
Your skin. Your nerves.
So we can squirm while you twitch.
And run electricity through you.
And measure.
Why?
Because we’re too valuable.

You’re probably not going to a better place,
Sorry.
Ethics is preventing us from lies and deception.
But
Hey,
Think on the bright side,
This will probably be less painful than the hangover.

Written by [Doormat]

---

Nighttime, Mr. Libertine

Sometimes-------I see you as you are,
fresh from a bath and naïve like a
young dandy off to a love affair.
-----other times I could care less.
Except that with you around I’m not
the only-----rakish thing in town.

Between lavish dates and sprawled legs,
or hair flipped over a pillow: a portrait
of two people in bed, reminds me
----more and more of a melodramatic play
that I’m tired of repeating¡

So goodnight, I think I’ll say:
-----when you peel off your clothes
and beg for desirable things.
I’ll spend more time watching you leave
(only to come back again) and counter-act
your gaze by turning away---

Written by [Ethan Leon]

---

Mirage

Startled in the darkness, she reaches out and cries
She touches her reflection, the mirror a surprise
Her wet eyes find her dry ones, and she gazes steadily
The face inside the mirror not what she thought it would be.
She found herself a stranger, this image unexpected
The strength she saw inside herself was hardly recollected
Especially by her, and especially in this moment
While her head hung low with cheeks still damp with the tears of her atonement.
But in that very instant she saw the reason for her power
A Goddess lived inside her, ready to rise up in that hour
Within herself she saw the need to release all of her fears
She glanced into the mirror and swiftly wiped away her tears
And from that very moment she knew that she only had to live
To do the best she knew she could and give all she could give.
And so she takes her first step and heads into the night
She's the only strength she'll ever need, she now makes her own light.

Written by [A Phoenix Rising]

---

Losing Time

Darkness comes and goes and time holds no meaning.
Shadows are cast upon your face and are arranged
Beneath your kind eyes, across your exquisite chin
And in the corners of the room we lie in.
Shadows spread and silhouette;
They brighten and darken and blur all things irrelevant
And I am struck by the realization that
Days have somehow elapsed within a few brief moments
Spent here in your company.
Within your presence
Time stood still and flew by too quickly all the while.
Time became immeasurable
And I believe in shadows.

Written by [A Phoenix Rising]

---

Balance Me

Is it not a negative
That attracts a positive
Is it not a Ying
That loves the Yang?

Is it not a right
That makes up the wrong?
Is it not the good
That holds back the bad?

Harmony, unison, balance
Perfect symmetry
Simbiotic assemmination
Two, four, six

Patterns, shapes
And symmetry
Of the face you love
Two, four, six

A working eye, just one
And make sure I can cry, I want to cry
Give me two eyes, I want to blink, with two
I want you to see,
My insides, my inner mechicnisms
Through my eyes

Assemble me
Take my diodes
And my circuits
And switch them on

Give me eyes, two
Give me hands to touch, four
Give me lungs to breathe, six

Give me emotions, let my hands move
Let me feel, hot and cold
Let me move, let me love
Let me age, let me hate

Give me a mouth to taste
Even though the taste may be
Unpleasant at times
Oh,give me a heart, just one


But please, balance me


Written by [Infinity Hypothosis]

---

Portrait of a Lady


I.
What is truly a portrait of a Lady;
That which makes men swoon,
Drunk with lust; and which verily,
sets him up for his eternal doom?

II.
So we sat there beneath the sky,
Hand to hand, and eye to eye,
And in that moment we could never die,
Hand to hand, and heart to heart.

Such days are gone long past now;
(And how I think, how my hand has grown cold)
and between us, there is barely a sound
(And how I think, my heart has grown still)
The love that you killed, and both our sin
(And how I think, our eyes have grown dim)

And to think, how we may (must) say farewell,
And each depart our own way (Our own hells),
As I think, my hand tightens,
As I think, my heart frightens,
As I think, my eye darkens.

III.

The Mind: She is your Delilah, take flight while you may!
The Heart: She is your Sophia, how I beg thee to stay!
The Mind: Ignore the flames of passion, embrace the reason, or your doom!
The Heart: A life which has not love is not a life to it's full!
The Mind: The Seeds of your undoing you have now sewn!
The Heart: But what theme had the poets but tragic Loves?

IV.

“How I miss the days we laughed and cried,
The days we did nothing at all but gaze at bright skies,
How I miss loving you,
How I miss seeing you.

But you made your choice, and it I must respect,
Stealing yourself from my humble tenements.
But if your heart ever leads you to the overwhelming question,
I will be where I have always, within my hearts bastion,


Serving tea to friends.

Written by [Sorin Markov]

---

Sin Eater

Living in sin, it is in
Living in lust is a must
Take what you want
You can lie all you want
Go and sleep
At the feet of corrupt
Laugh as the blind, lead the blind
From the skull of a saint
Take your wine
But for a nominal fee, you can eat
From the hand of the Lord
In a light, devine
O' you must

Pay for Absolution
Pay for your Last Rites
Pay for your admission
Pay to walk into the light
For a pretty penny
You can feed your sins to me
Put a price upon Salvation
And infernus you will see

Creating strife, it is nice
Discord, begats a reward
Go and steal from the rich
You can rob all the poor
Make a crown from the spoils of war
Dance on a holy man's grave
Beg at the hem of a knave
But for a nominal fee
You can live like a king
In the spilth of a lecher's lave
O' you must

Pay for Absolution
Pay for your Last Rites
Pay for your admission
Pay to walk into the light
For a pretty penny
You can feed your sins to me
Put a price upon Salvation
And infernus you will see

A Tuppence, A Tuppence
A Sixpence for your sins...

Written by [Mikhul, the Bard]

---

The Art Resurrection

Words waylay the dust folk
Geometry flickers
And numbers sizzle
Inked letters run away on a papered storm.

She hears the glasses chink
But watches the notes
And treble-clefs
Roaming past the restaurant window.

Youths blindly attack
A wall as blank as brick
The lexis flows through hands on strings
The puppets leave the message.

Written by [Fifi McFu]

---

Ducks by the Dell

All of the ducks down by the dell,
Do dabble in the puddles.
And waddle dawdle 'neath the willows,
Where they quack and cuddle.
The cheerful mothers dilly-dally,
With their ducklings hither.
And scare the fish with flap and splash,
While dancing in the river.
Beneath the reeds they splash and play,
But leave for warmth come fall.
And what I envy of them most is,
They've not a care at all.

Written by [Kenseto]

---

Colorless

As sweet as blue
In the sunflowers eye
The red rain falls
Out of the deepest sky

As purple as the moon
In the dead of night
The green bark of the tree
As passed with fright

As the yellow tears stain
The wounded earth
White waters run cold
With the stillness of birth

As the black sky leaves
No light to be seen
I find myself awaken
From a colorless dream.


Written by [I am missing him]

---

Don't leave me

You are like an angel from above
Drifting on wings of golden white
Coming to me to save me from pain
Going straight to my waiting heart

In the dark of night
You come to me
To keep me company
Making me happy

Then one day you leave
Without telling me why

With my aching heart
Leaving me so sad
I finally give up on life

I hoped you would come back
But you didn't

So I leave a note saying she was the angel of my life
Then it was that I thought I heard your voice
But it was just the wind, although it gave me hope for us.

-A few days later-

Now you come back to me
I tell you I love you so much
And I would do anything for you.

Written by [Rising Death Dragon]

---

Fall

Imprisoned by Everyday,

in a world full of tight scheduling
of happiness and duties
of regulated freedoms
and hidden, veiled beauties

an Urge comes by to remind me
of how it feels to break out
to explore what it all is about

to feel the storm against my bare skin
to hear the raindrops fall on burning leaves
and to see the sun break through dark clouds
heavy with autumn rain.

Imprisoned by Everyday,

the Sun comes by and takes my hand
walks me out through prison bars
out on green fields sprinkled with colour
where for once the air, the soil is ours

I run into the wet, cold grass
jump in every puddle I see
climbing every colourful majestic tree

to shower in the rain of the highest splash
to jump into soft moss from the biggest tree
and to roll and dive in the highest grass
where my life is truly found.

Imprisoned by Everyday,

the people look at me with dismay
and cover their children's eyes
protecting them from dancing delight
whispering, in jealousy, poor advice

about manners and proper behavior,
in truth about false restrictions,
spite and suffocated objections

to keep them imprisioned, close to home
in their fight to keep loneliness away;
and I pity them, I pity the world
for with their disapproval, life and beauty dies.

Written by [maalik]

---

Shoo

Sandy escape,
drift off,
no more rape,
the crash burns,
go so deep,
make blood stop,
make me weak,
make me stop,
light no pyre,
I've been dead,
soul's on fire,
just let me rest,
make me stop...

Written by [Danboo]

---

Flying

I roll, I burn,
I thrash, I crash,
I run...
I'm numb,
I puke, I hurl,
I look, I lurk,
I lie, I cry,
I run...
I'll run,
I reject, I spurn,
I'll lash, I'll crash,
I'll dash, I'm rash,
It's fast, make haste,
It's slow, let's go,
lets fall, I'll fall,
falling,
falling,
falling,
falling,
falling,
falling,
falling,
falling,
falling,
falling,
falling,
falling,
falling,
falling,
falling,
falling,
falling...


Written by [Danboo]

---

The wolf

I see him, and i know he sees me.
His eyes glinting in the darkness,
I see the hunger behind them
And feel the hunger inside of me.
Those eyes look away, and he's gone
But I know, he's still hunting me.

And i follow, playing my part
In a game that we know will break hearts,
The elusive prey that craves to be caught.
Craves for dark eyes falling on bare flesh,
For his suggesting wolf grin;
so much more than a smile.

I'm lost in dangerous games,
Fighting myself to get out.
Gripped by longing, but hating
every
minute.

I feel him stalking me
but i cant run.
His eyes on my back, hot hands on my waist,
his breath on my neck but still, i dont run.
I turn to him, his hunger mirrored in my eyes,
And my life unravels, with that big, wolf smile.

Written by [((lost))]

---

Welcome Home

That town, that place, where I was somehow born
Is it lost to the time and my white noise?
Enveloped in life, and so forth, in death
A wheel of fortune slowly devouring
The water which turns it; oh sad, sad times.

If I went to my town, what would I see?
The bridge that flooded in rain so often
The hollow school where we used to play
Echoing now, not with laughter, but quiet.
Too quiet. Is that my hometown?

I may meet my friends along the way
Or did time devour them too? I don't know.
If I knew him when I saw him, I'd smile
Shake his hand, and then walk on, unaffected
Primary betrayal, when I met someone new.

Written by [Fifi McFu]

---

A Stupid Wolf In Sheep's Clothing

I'll teach these fingers to touch cold hearts
These lips, this tongue, to taste cold skin
I'll train these eyes to see beyond
Your sad horizon, looming on

You've run me down a hundred times
A hundred times we lied for you
Won't lie down on this concrete floor
Won't feel your boots stampeding, more

I let myself give in too quick
I should have known, I should've stopped
My head's on wrong, I'll screw it right
I've no regrets, you're alone tonight

Given the chance, I'd see you fall
Given the chance, I'd take what's wrong
And throw it back, battered and bruised
Given the chance, I'd make you lose

For once, just once, I'd like to be
That one person who kept dry eyes
Give me just one good reason why
That I should be the one who cries

You're blind and whine " Oh why, oh why?"
I'll tell you now, you foolish boy
See past your lust-filled, hazel eyes
It's time to accept that you're just a whore

Written by [davis van]

---

The Last Gate

I am inside of myself,
Bearing all that aches, all that is beautiful.
And time, like a father, scolds and does not renew
But casts imaginings in false direction,
burning hope, burning the pale.
So my hands, so worn at youth,
pluck the petal-flesh of flowers' shells
They mourn, they whither, they bear new children
And I prolong to murder even them.
Their thorns are not my own, and yet they linger
So sore and bruised against my chest,
Heaving,
Striving to break loose the vines
that are the devils in their worlds.
Bleak and sensitive, we possess familiar
lyrics
For, when stripped bare of our own armor,
What is left?
But a simple, helpless seed.

Written by [Rain Poet]

---

You Are the Weapon

How can you hurt that which does not feel?
It's not as hard as one might think, reading such a sentence.
Because, most of the time, it's impossible for one to be truly apathetic.
Not so unattainable when all that's left is deceit and rage.
There are many different ways, but the surest is as simple as
Finding the one thing that matters, and take it away.
But to be sure of the hurt you cause,
You must become that one point of weakness, and
Use yourself as the blade you plant in the target's heart.
Only then will barriers come crashing down and the truth take hold.
All that you love.
All that you need.
All that you pray for.
All that you beg for.
All that you lie, cheat, hurt, and steal for.
Is nothing more than misfires in that thing you call a brain.

Written by [Nuriko-kun]

---

No one

No one understands,
as I lie about my scars,
covering up the truth
just to protect the one I  love.

No one knows
what I hide underneath my act,
the pain and secrets underneath
because I don't want them to.

No one accepts me,
because I'm a freak.
And even if they don't know it
they sense it...

No one will save me,
because they can't.
I was cursed at  birth
and only I can change my fate.

Written by [Danboo]

---

Your name

I wrote your name in the sand
but the waves washed it away
I wrote your name on my hand
but I washed it the next day
I wrote your name on a piece of paper
but I accidentally threw it away
I wrote your name in my heart
and forever it will stay

Crashed down
No you,
and you never will feel what I feel,
to have your life crashed down,
and not have any cover, to fall,
and find the person,
that was supposed to break your fall,
left.

Count on you
To count on one person,
to find that they were counting on you,
to have your mind on one thing,
and find its set on two,
to know you have no one there,
no one to say its okay,
just to find out no one would ever be there,
and that it would never be okay
so when you say you know how it feels,
think again, you don’t

Written by [Danboo]

---

---

Go or return to:
- Index
- Daily Poem Extension
- Daily Poem Bosses
- Daily Poem Format
- Daily Poem Violators
- Daily Poets
- The help Index