🦋 dependence 🦋

free verse, from month 1: dependence 🦋

"close to you"

by Rei Avenir (@reiavenir)

a stream of reflection follows an absent-minded evening

an exhale of tea steam

blowing smoke into the confines of what was leaving

I tried not to hide.

I look for people, but the world is dry

a stream of thought follows my absent mind

asking to be close to you

unconventional, I assumed, but it works

usually I'd interrupt myself with a rhetorical question

but this time, I don't think it's worth it

speaking into the void hoping something will surface

that's not how that works

I framed a lot of my journaling in reflection

I dreamed of inspiration to bring resurrection

to times that died

instead, every time

I found myself

checking up on a week old conversation

you told me a lot

doubts, fears, moments

but I'm still not too sure...

if I was ever that

"close to you"

in your darkest times

at all.

regrettably, even if I wasn't then

I'd still be there now

asking for you to "trust" me to be

close to you.

"In over my head"

by Gravel (@gravel._.)

Sometimes I feel like I'm a detective, stumbling across a conspiracy that's too much for little old me

Clues of your heinous acts can be found in all kinds of places

Footprints can often be found in the silence that follows certain songs

Glimpses of you, spotted on the backs of my eyelids from time-to-time

Fingerprints in between the pages of my favorite novels, when I'm reading alone at night

A witness claims she saw you narrowly avoiding my gaze, so close yet so far

Your weapon of choice pierces my heart when I'm most vulnerable, alone at night.

The case has gone cold.

But, without fail, another hint is always left for me to find.

Always enough to make me feel hot on your tail, the cat is closing in.

Your schemes keep me grounded, I can't give up now

With my spyglass and pistol in hand, I've finally spotted you!

I've dreamt of this moment all my life, finally turning you in

Nearly there, this lifelong chase is almost complete!

But, before I even know what you've done to me, my resolve begins to crack

Thoughts of your despicable acts send the butterflies in my stomach into a frenzy

Just the sight of one so tormented makes is making sweat pour from my palms

The unrelenting heat brought on by such despair is making my cheeks burn red with fear

Your terrible presence ties my tongue and my shoelaces into knots with one simple act

Its too early to approach, I need to signal for backup. Regroup and pounce later.

The case has gone cold.

But before I can scramble to my feet, to run for my life

You're already helping me up, and dusting off the anxiety that covers me

I know I'm a terrible detective, but you're not really a villain, are you?

Maybe its time to turn in the badge, and raise my voice to thank the one in front of me.

But, by the time our eyes meet, my heart warns me that I've fallen into something far more sinister.

One case closes, another begins.

"Pork Life Pt. 1"

by Yes100donutsgood! (@yes100dountsgood)

Pigs will want to ham you down

Fry your mind up like bacon

Til your body’s greased out

Then leave you in mud

Leaving you to drown

Never give pearls to pigs

They don’t care if you live

They don’t even appreciate the jewelry you give

They will keep hogging all your treasures

Just to trample them will their hoofs

Tearing all the valuables and wisdom you once held forever

Til they consumed everything that you have

Leaving you in a bath of filth

Swine, Sausage, Salami

All pork has a delicious taste

Until you see of what they’re made

They’ll hog on to you

Leaving pork parasites piercing holes into your mind

Making your mind go insane

Sucking out all the nutrients that you need to live life

Leaving your stomach empty

Leaving your stomach swelling inside

Leaving you wanting throwing up

Leaving you regret giving up your life

Just because they left a good impression in your eyes

When they touched your taste buds for the first time

The more you consume pork

The more it consumes you

The more you feed pigs

The more they are fed up with you

Stop living in a “pork life”

Just because feeding them seems right

Cause in the end they’ll pig on you

It’s all swine suicide

"phoenix"

by Eli (@nyu2k)

my lost love

i'll trudge

in the footsteps

of your cold feet

i have a thousand wants

out of sync with yours

making our final impasse

an indescribable ache

i watch our torn petals dance

before the dust takes their place

but i know that the future

can grow a flower in its wake

after i wait

"Rain that never fell"

by Atila (@atilapolis)

In dreams, beneath a rain unseen,

I walk you home through streets serene.

You sit, unwind, so close, so near,

I pour you tea that’s never here.

You smile and ask, “Are you all right?”

I laugh and nod—though it’s not right.

I read you poems—words take flight,

I place white blooms in vases bright.

I reach for you—could it be true?

To hold my hands that don’t hold you?

The time has come—I plead, “Don’t go,”

Tears fall on steps that never show.

You fade away—the house stands bare,

Alone with ghosts that aren’t there.