i look into people’s eyes everyday,
wanting to know their story, wanting to pull out the string of their memories.
i want to know people as i know myself. and yet, they scare me.
because part of me believes that everyone else is so different and strange
that we would never relate to each other,
and another part of me believes
that we are so fucking similar that it would terrify me to know the true extent of it.
and i would like to know you better than anyone.
i want to know what makes you light up. i want to know the words that could heal you.
maybe i’m the one that needs to be healed.
maybe, by loving someone else, we are really trying to heal ourselves.
it’s barely eight and it’s already dark,
summer has faded and passed--
i need these nights to give me something more.
i need new words to create, to give breath to voices almost dead.
i need more than empty days that trail across seasons, bleeding together without punctuation.
i need to breathe ocean air because it would heal me, because this midwest landlocked field is crushing, suffocating.
i want to be a tree, able to shed bark and leaves every few months, ever-changing.
reborn. and yet able to stand by itself and stay rooted, firm and resilient.
i'm so tired of pretending--
i just need you closer.
i need you here always;
so let's open wide to the midnight air,
forgetting that time exists and
remembering how to be real.
Author notes
n y x .
A contest entry
- Let these clenched fists open wide, to see where all the answers lie by whiterabbit..
1200 points, ended October 1, 28 entries
Bronze trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
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Truthful and raw
I was left in awe... I often find myself thinking this. How similar are we? How truly diffetent are we?
"i look into people’s eyes everyday,
wanting to know their story, wanting to pull out the string of their memories.
i want to know people as i know myself. and yet, they scare me. "
People find it aberrant that I actually do that. This stanza speaks loud of how much we sincerely need personal understanding and closeness. No man is an island and when we stray too far from our goals, our loved oned or happiness, we lose a part of ourselves.
"i need these nights to give me something more.
i need new words to create, to give breath to voices almost dead.
i need more than empty days that trail across seasons, bleeding together without punctuation."
When routine begins to suffocate us, this happens. It is so poetic, these well-frased lines. I understand that 'bleeding together without punctuation' as feeling nothing worth feeling... Nothing to call exceptional.
"i want to be a tree, able to shed bark and leaves every few months, ever-changing.
reborn. and yet able to stand by itself and stay rooted, firm and resilient."
What lines, what philosophy. You speak for many. Awesome metaphor!
"i'm so tired of pretending"
I hate myself for doing that so well. But it can be changed, honest.
"so let's open wide to the midnight air,
forgetting that time exists and
remembering how to be real."
Yes! Poetry, well caffeinated, fermented and perfected. Clever and insightful.
Bon chance in the contest, and powerful writing.
Warm regards,
Kristy
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I love this.
There's so much truth in this, especially the first stanza.
I know I repeat myself by saying this, but I love the way you write. You're so fucking talented.
The imagery and metaphors in your writing are amazing. I adore them. I love love love that everything you write has so much emotion in it.
"so let's open wide to the midnight air,
forgetting that time exists and
remembering how to be real."
^^^^^^^That ending is perfect. I'm seriously in love with it.
You're brilliant, dear.
♥
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truly beautiful and raw. i think we (people) are "so fucking similar that it would terrify us to know the extent of it." the biggest lie, the one thing that makes the most money and the most despair is the perpetuated belief that we are alone. i love love love the last lines.
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i love this, so much.
this is a lot to copy & paste but i'm going for it anyway because i ask myself think about this all the time:
want to know people as i know myself. and yet, they scare me.
because part of me believes that everyone else is so different and strange
that we would never relate to each other,
and another part of me believes
that we are so fucking similar that it would terrify me to know the true extent of it.
& you've summed it up beautifully.
i need more than empty days that trail across seasons, bleeding together without punctuation.
...phenomenal
this is honest, raw, insightful and so very human.
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