Better on Paper Than Bottled Up Inside

[aubriestar]

butterfly dance

dawn edged across the top of the firebush

enlightening sparks

i wanted to be the butterfly

she flits once upon a daydream

visiting her favorites with a kiss

hello

resting in a sunbeam

surviving metamorphosis

egg to caterpillar to chrysalis

to let her wings unfold to beauty

woven through summer’s stages

and oh the freedom to fly

tour jetes on a breeze

a ballet from milkweed

to purple coneflowers

an arabesque to thrive

in the waning gold of august

©️-Aubrie-2025

[bluesandbarebones]

Rain

I walked in the rain today. I saw a dying bird, a marigold misplaced.

A rusty mailbox leaned on its neighbor like an old woman missing her cane.

A pine tree dropped its tiny pearls into my hands as my fingertips brushed the branches.

A shirtless man nodded and I noticed how the cigarette hung precariously on his lips, while his eyes undressed me as I passed.

I saw the pavement shimmer and curls of steam floated up and vanished in the storm-cooled evening air.

The trickling stream became bold and licked the underside of the wooden bridge then ran away laughing.

A lonely goose cried and I recognized her sorrow.

I walked in the rain today. No one saw my tears.

[v-a-r-m-a]

My mind, a storm I cannot tame, A restless beast that bears no name. It races wild, it weaves and spins, A labyrinth of should-have-beens.

I seek the calm, a steady shore, But thoughts crash in, a ceaseless roar. They twist and turn, they pull me under, A ship unmoored, torn asunder.

I grasp for peace, but it slips away, Like shadows at the break of day. The weight of worry, the chains of fear, They bind me tight, they hold me here.

I try to breathe, to still the tide, But doubts arise, and hope subsides. The echoes whisper, cruel and low, Of all the things I’ll never know.

Why can’t I reign this inner storm? Why must I ache, why must I mourn? But still, I fight, I seek the light, A fragile spark in endless night.

So here I stand, though bruised, alive, A soul that struggles, yet will strive. For even in this fractured state, I’ll learn to heal, I’ll learn to wait.

The mind may wander, wild, unbound, But in its depths, some peace is found. A quiet strength, a hidden grace, To face the storm, and find my place.

[ad-wills]

[betterthannonfiction-deactivate]

I met desire this morning as a wild cat sneaking out of the bush dishevelled and cautious momentarily out in the open looked at me with wide eyes bright as diamonds, as if to decide if I were friend or foe I held my breath and smiled a little smile as it slinked away towards its own mischief.

[sanddollarpoems]

At the end of the day

When all your endorphins have been used up

And it's all you can do

To keep yourself from crying

Remember

Sleep brings tomorrow

And a sunrise full of hope

You will wake up

In a world that is lighter

And with heart ready to try again

Let the night hold you tonight

Let the quiet soothe your tired mind

And bring silence to your thoughts

Open your arms to the moonlight

As it falls across your bed

Let it clear your head

And find your peace tonight

Sleep away the dreams

And wake to a new day

Give your body rest

And tomorrow you will find your way

[fernwehandhiraeth]

the calm of me slowly moving the mists

parting them ever so gently

to reach and trace the outline

of these lips, to follow the stubbled curve

of your chin, to graze your jaw with

my sleepy mouth, to whisper

this longing into your ear

as you draw me into you closer

your body nestled beneath my

thick draped velvet thigh

this deep darkness unveiling

my flesh beneath your hands

slowly slowly

like the delayed dawn

of winter

as I shiver with

this need to be devoured and warmed

[bell-honey-well]

The Song

Commit me to your memory

Like the lyrics you sing in your car

Going down the highway

Don't know where or how far,

But we're driving and driving and driving

Windows down, blasting the song

Commit me to your memory

And maybe I'll, too, sing along

[pigeonheadsmumblngs]

LETTING GO

I threw my heart out

to the sea,

the words I never can say.

The secrets I keep deep inside

carried on the wind today.

If the ocean can carry words

than maybe you can know,

I opened up my mouth,

and I let all of it go.

In a whisper and a cry

with a tear upon my face,

all of it flew out…

I left not a trace.

It’s lived in a pocket

deep inside my heart,

it’s beaten me down,

and it’s torn me apart.

I sent it to you

with love and with a sigh,

then I turned away,

and I told you goodbye.

~pigeon head~

[tomoletters]

Letter #4

It rained in my head for years But look at all the flowers that bloomed from it As they grew I thought of us Our resilience created such beauty Now, as they come to wilt I find myself thinking solely of you

Date Written: 7th of August, 2023

[thorns-in-daisy-fields-deactiva]

The poets wrote,

"Find what you love and let it kill you."

and

"Maybe I deserved someone else, but I wanted you."

-

They wrote,

"What is the point of lukewarm love? If it is not drowning me, I have no desire for it."

They wrote,

"Grief is the souvenir of love."

-

The poets wrote warnings,

and we awed.

They wrote tragedies,

and we dipped them in romance.

This pain is not sweet.

This pain is not romantic.

The poets were right.

They were right about

everything

[iglovequotes]

[poppiesandpromises]

A sun-soaked room

I laze, cat-like, love

I'm waiting

In the stillness I seek

The thunder of your voice

You dwell inside like

Every good memory

I plant you in my garden

Take root in me

I will give you water

I will keep you warm

[divina-rosa-deactivated20200730]

“The sea is the element of love. The Greeks say so. Aphrodite emerged from the water.”

— Uncle Yanco, dir. Agnes Varda (1967)

[fernwehandhiraeth]

…and I knew it…I knew you were my love

the way the light dripped off you

into my hands to pool, sweetly in my palm

how I could sip you from my hand

so effortlessly, endlessly…I knew

the way your heart sounded

as I pressed my ear to your chest

how it didn’t startle me that it was there

every time I listened. how each time you

were simply right there, comforting

serene, wildly loosed inside your veins or

is that my veins, I can’t tell or feel the

difference anymore, but there you are

fiercely alive so willing to match my wild

…I knew it…without ever saying any word

I could feel this stretching strand of

thin thin thread binding me to you

like golden spider’s silk, so strong,

so unbreakably

do you feel this? did you always?

that at some point this would be found

and that it would bind in its own

strange way, that suddenly

you’d be consumed in each and every way

did you always know

this strange creature would

come for you then

devour you…

—The Hollow Quiet

[mybeautifulbleedingpieces]

when i grow up

i want to be

an astronaut,

an author,

a magician

as a child, it was

easy to dream

of anything

a doctor,

a scientist,

a teacher

the world is vast

and full

of possibilities

now a grown woman,

my heart just wants

to be happy

but disappointingly,

happiness is elusive and

life is a sadist

that takes pleasure

in my agony

so in a world where

we can be anything

i became a masochist

-katie

[escapingthroughword]

The Raven (Rewrite)

Created from darkest hues,

Blackest of blacks,

With plumage that writhed

With emeralds,

Sapphires and amethysts,

Like oil on water.

The final touch,

Crimson eyes

That turn towards me.

Peeling itself from the canvas,

Out “stepped a stately raven.”

A painting come to life.

The ethereal figure

Ruffles its feathers,

Splattering ink around the room.

Then, obsidian wings

Take to the air

Stealing the breath from my lungs.

Soaring to the open window,

Black wisps trailing in its wake

As if fashioned from smoke.

The essence of my soul.

Tethered to my onyx creation,

We soar away,

Melting into the shadows outside

Vanishing back

To “the saintly days of yore.”

[escapingthroughword]

Bringing this back around because it's spooky season and Edgar Allen Poe has once again, become prominent in my life! This is also still, one of my favorite poems I've written!