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
I’m going to take my name
off the list of the ones waiting
for their person.
I’ve found mine.
The hunt has come to an end,
because this one makes me feel
like a baby bird under a wing,
like the air we need to breathe.
No wonder he leaves me
breathless and tongue-tied.
When he holds me,
all I want in the world is him.
Today’s poetry prompt words were: list, the hunt, and tongue-tied.
Photo by Igor Rodrigues on Unsplash
I’ve always wanted to see
the skies of Montana, or even
Wyoming, wherever that is;
can I find it on a map?
I’ll check the forecast,
pack up my medicine and
toothbrush and clothes,
and I’ll just fucking go.
Set out on the highway
With “head west” being
the only thing I know,
a road that may or may not
be lonely, and my cat,
she comes, too.
I’m going to die
if I don’t get away from you.
Today’s poetry prompt words were: Wyoming, forecast, and medicine.
Photo by Neil Wallace on Unsplash
If only things
had worked out
the way I’d wished they would
We’d be opening gifts and
taking photos in front of
our first Christmas tree
But now I wish you
weren’t here, and instead
I’m planning my exit strategy.
Today’s poetry prompt words were: if only, dinner, and exit strategy.
Photo by Andrew Abbate on Unsplash
It’s Christmas Eve.
I wish more than ever
that this wasn’t happening.
I wish we could have lived
a life together from the start,
like you had with her,
like I’ll never have
with anyone.
I wish you were like your dad
who kept walking past your mom
to see her through a window while
she worked, and he wouldn’t
give up on her, he’d never give up.
Our love, if you could call it that,
went up and down like the
elevators your father worked on.
You said elevators can’t really crash
like they do in the movies, but… Read the rest
I wanted to be a part of your family at the Fourth of July picnic that’s crazy like a circus, at your sister’s table on holidays, by your side on Christmas morning. I had dreams of all of these things in my life, and now I look past tomorrow and see nothing but darkness. I’m spaced out in shock, still not wanting to accept it’s over, regarding re-entry into real life as an assault, because how do I live without you? How I go days without talking to you? I won’t be going to your niece’s wedding next year. I … Read the rest
We said it so many times we called it 10%, because it felt like “I love you” was 10% of all we say to each other. Every day, I love you, I love you, I love you, a balm I’ll never grow tired of but, underneath it all, became a noose around your neck. We’ll stick to easy games; no tag, no red rover, no hopscotch, nothing that involves touching or thinking about you. Finger painting, maybe, that’s an activity we can do together now that cuddling and sex are off the table. My best friend has a sex painting. … Read the rest
I was once told that when you love someone, to you, they’re the most beautiful thing in the world. That gave me hope, and now it will give me comfort the first time I take my clothes off in front of a new man. Not that I really think or expect any new man to love me, but I still need to get laid either way. So for now I am not a beautiful or loved thing. All the love I ever had can be spoken now in past tense. The present is talking freedom and second, third, and millionth … Read the rest
You are not special. You think I made you my world, but my world is built with words and dreams, and I’m not dreaming about you anymore. Surely this was to be expected after years of swimming in your toxic waters; there should be no surprise. I dreamt you had the face of an angel, the ass of David, and a heart soft enough to feel safe inside. But these dreams turned out to be wishes, there is a difference, and either way, they never come true.
Today’s poetry prompt words were: not what anyone expected, swimming, and David… Read the rest
