Tag: poetry

i never asked to be immortal. 
i never asked to be a hero. 

all i wanted was to help someone
so that perhaps 
     for a moment
the ghosts in my mind 
could be quiet
                drowned out by the beat of my blood
                                        by the rush of my rage.

but you see
legends never die
and heroes never grow old.

but you see 
never dying 
           or growing old 
           or fading out like distant memories should
does not mean that you live forever.

but you see
they say heroes always do what’s right 
but they do not say that 
what is right by the world 
     is not always right by you 
                                  or by your heart
                                  or by your lover––

i wish i had known before 
i leapt up into the sky and became a star
but i suppose
                          that is why 
                                               they never say it

so that their heroes do not go insane ( j.p. ) || immortality, insanity, “doing what’s right” for @daenerystargaryensass (via pencap)

i know somewhere there is a hero who loved her friend
and was allowed to go home with her
in peace
without a swarm of angry ghosts chasing them down 
into an early grave with no name. 
 
i know somewhere there is a boy who loved the sun
and was allowed to soar next to him
in light
without the drip of melting wax sliding down his back
into a cold hungry ocean with a frothing mouth.
 
i know somewhere there is a god who loved a mortal
and was allowed to live and die together
in silence
without the stench of poisoned ambrosia hissing down his throat
into an unwilling body with withered bones. 

and even if they are not here
        even if i do not know their names
        even if i have never seen their faces or heard their voices
i know that they are out there
                                     somewhere 
 
because sometimes
     when i hold you close 
          and pray into the vast darkness of the universe
i can hear the whispers of their memories
     echoing in the silence after my prayer dies
and i can taste the shadow of their pity 
     lingering on my tongue after my prayer dies
 
and i know that somewhere
someone like us
was once happy –

even if we can’t be ( j.p. )

they wanted to set you on fire 
and call you a sun
and build a shrine to your name
     to praise your warmth and your light and your strength

but love,
you refused to burn
 
so instead they encased you in ice
buried you ten feet deep in snow until you forgot what warm felt like
made a moon of your skin
           and stars of your teeth
           and ice comets of your eyes
 
and now
they look up at the night sky
and they talk about the one who died to light it up
and they call you guardian, protector, sentinel
 
and they forget
that they are the ones
who froze you
in the first place

and they still made a hero of your tragedy ( j.p. )

there’s beauty in her eyes
and it’s her kindness 
there’s power in her hands
and it’s her strength 

and I think 
I am braver because I know her
and I know
I am brighter because she believes 

and crowning her is an easy task
but choosing to crown her in stars or in gold or in violets
that’s difficult because she deserves all three 

and if I could I’d plaster her words across my skin
and if I found myself in the ancient ruins, she’d be who I think of

because she is a phoenix, rising from the ashes
and she’s the one who first taught me that the sunlight 
can be better than any sort of storm 

and I don’t think she knows
she held my hand and let me save myself

thank you by Abby S (via fireandsteelofangels)

you yourself know 
that when I look for beauty 
I do not find it in glory

for the one thing that makes this black earth
worth all this pain and sacrifice
is you 

I love you, I love you, I love you 
that is the song the muses will sing 
whenever I find myself led to the ground below

and I will wait for you
because I swear, someone will remember us
even if it is only through the stars

and I will carry you through the dark by Abby S (via fireandsteelofangels)

The first time I saw you
my heart leapt in recognition
and I closed my eyes
    against the visions invading
    into the edge of my sight
    like stormclouds.
  
The first time I touched you
my skin sang with fulfillment
and I choked
    on the prophecy rising
    in my throat
    like bile.
  
The first time I kissed you
my lips trembled with promise
and I stopped breathing
    to escape the blood-stench swimming
    inside my mouth
    like poison.
  
And the last time I see you––
    with my hand upon your skin
    with your lips pressed to mine
I will open my eyes wide
       breathe deep with gaping mouth
and watch the promised future crashing around us
      like the crumbling columns
      of a forgotten temple.

the Oracle’s love, or why Cassandra never had a lover ( j.p. )

every wildfire was once just a spark
every glacier was once just a droplet
every marble was once just sand
  
that is to say:
it is the wind that made a wildfire of a spark
it is the cold that made a glacier of a droplet
it is the pressure of the earth that made marble of sand
 
that is to say:
it is the world that turned something innocent
   something small and sweet
   something soft and quiet and beautiful
and turned it into something hard and deadly and frightening
 
that is to say:
we have only ourselves to blame
for the monsters
that haunt our footsteps

this is why we call the monster Frankenstein – after his creator ( j.p. )

God should fear girls with battle scars.
Pretty little things with knives hidden in their smiles,
blood red lips and poison-painted nails. 
They’ve been to the gates of Hell – 
and the Devil sent them back,
armed and ready to fight.

God is so obviously a man, so the Devil protects her sisters – c.k (via widowbitesandhearingaids)