
How many times do I have to snuff out the candle of hope in my chest because my heart refuses to accept that you are incapable of being who I need you to be?
-gws

How many times do I have to snuff out the candle of hope in my chest because my heart refuses to accept that you are incapable of being who I need you to be?
-gws

I looked out from the promontory of life
Across a vast hinterland
The turbid quagmire miles behind me
The frisson of trepidation abated for now
I wish to tracklessly caper in those hinterlands
Beneath a lustrous azure sky
Vesuvian days released to the past
Gossamer hopes eddy about me like a corolla
Hopes of enduring eudaemonia
No longer needing to latibulate in darkness
Before me stands my Elysian dreams
Filled with halcyon days
And tranquil gloamings
I will alight in a new and unblemished existence
A ruderal redeemed
Awaiting rich and fertile soil of a new life
Under the radiant zenith of a new day
-gws
In more common language:
I look out from the overlook of life
Across a vast unknown
The confusing, unstable ground behind me
The sudden fear of trepidation abated for now
I wish to tracklessly revel in those unknown lands
Beneath a shining blue sky
Explosive, volatile days released to the past
Delicate hopes whirl about me like the swirl at the heart of a flower
Hopes of enduring happiness
No longer needing to hide in a corner in darkness
Before me stands my dreams of paradise
Filled with idyllically happy and prosperous days
And tranquil twilights
I will land and settle in a new and unblemished existence
A plant growing amongst the concrete redeemed
Awaiting rich and fertile soil of a new life
Under the radiant height of a new day
-gws

I have worn my tear stains like war paint
The flush of agony, despair, and rage, too
I have unleashed keening so potent
The gods stopped to answer
With a path to deliverance
-gws

Even in the deepest darkness
You will not reach for the light
You would rather drown in your pride
Than consider you may not be right
-gws

He was a brown-eyed boy
Freckles on his cheeks
He shared his gummy Coke bottles
And always picked me to play at recess
He was a little misunderstood
But not by me
I saw him as kindred
He helped transform the gray playground
Into space ships and fantastical landscapes
It didn't matter I was an icky girl
Or that he was a yucky boy
He was comfortable with me
And I with him
My heart broke when he moved away
I never meant to lose contact but we did
We found each other for a minute
Just after high school
He sent me a letter and a picture
A man's version of the freckled face I once knew
Adorned in dress blues
I think I responded too enthusiastically
I never got another letter
And my heart broke a second time
I hope that wherever he is
He is happy
A brown-eyed boy
With freckles on his cheeks
Sharing gummy Coke bottles
With someone he loves
-gws

How did it feel when I was finally arrested?
Did it bring you glee to know I was handcuffed and taken away?
Were you happy your long standing desire was finally fulfilled?
Were you satisfied with yourself?
Did you celebrate?
Did you pat yourself on the back triumphantly?
Did you rejoice knowing I was forced into the company of actual criminals?
Did it make you giddy to know I experienced the humiliation of being strip searched?
Were you finally satisfied to get the mother of your children arrested?
Was it all you hoped for?
Who does that?
Who plots plans premediates such things?
Who bates and berates?
Who starts a fire and fans the flames?
Who then pretends that they didn't create the inferno?
Who has no remorse?
Who shows love like that?
Who did I marry?
How soon can I be free?
-gws

Among my dark tresses
Magic is sprouting
So many threads of silver tinsel
Adorning my head like glittering filaments
Filling my hair with starlight
-gws

You gave me scars deep below my skin
So I keyed this poem into your car
A parting gift
A reminder of the damage you've caused
Easier to repair than what you did to me
-gws

The first time I saw a ghost
I was looking in a mirror
I didn't recognize
The eyes starting back at me
-gws

Some bridges are better off burning
Leaving the past buried beneath ash and embers
Smoke drifting away from the devastation
Like fading memories
-gws