I see myself sitting poolside, my pool boy in his tiny shorts skimming the cool blue water, and I ring a bell for someone to come bring me another iced tea. It’s so Gatsby. Though I am nowhere near the glitz, and nobody knows my name, don’t underestimate me. I’ll publish five books a year and be a millionaire before I’m done with this life.

Today’s poetry prompt words were: poolside, underestimate, and five.

_{Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash}

It’s over, I say.
Fast forward a few weeks later:
yeah, not quite.
We didn’t break up.
We were just cleaning up
the most recent mess.

Today’s poetry prompt words were: fast forward, not quite, and cleaning up.

_{Photo by Todd Mittens on Unsplash}

The frequency
with which you hurt me
surprises me still. 

I really put up
with all that
for so long? 

I have a
dilemma of self,
because now,
who am I
without you?

I’m the girl
that keeps going,
nose to grindstone,
making the grade,
getting her heart broken
every single day.

Today’s poetry prompt words were: frequency, dilemma, and making the grade.

_{Photo by Deepak Gupta on Unsplash}

The fight’s gone out of me, taken flight.
You’re here but not here, you’re there and gone.
I’m left empty, and why not? I deserve it.

Today’s poetry prompt words were: empty, flight, and why not?

_{Photo by Adil Sattarov on Unsplash}

You always take care of the dirty dishes. Always. I can’t remember the last time my hands slid in slimy, sudsy soap water. You always take the trash out. You always bring things down to the storage space so I don’t have to go down the scary stairs full of cobwebs. We were so close to making it, but not close enough. I’ll never know what glue I was missing that could have kept you here, but I think I was the one lacking, and I will blame myself for everything until my last breath. I’m taking the jump from … Read the rest