Open Poetry

A curated blog committed to poetry and arts. Share us your pieces.

[open-poetry]

2019, damn, I’m just grateful that I didn’t die, cuz I swear my mind doesn’t want me to survive. some demons I put at bay are now starting to become alive and this pain started to plague my brain that had me thinking I had already died. cuz it’s hell on earth, or maybe my perspective is just hell cuz we all came from the dirt, I was struggling to excel. school just kept getting worse and bullies always prevailed, but then I found a light in the darkness and used it as a shield. I didn’t know it was just a mask and that the devil was revealed, my parents divorce made me grow cold, blaming myself it started to drain my soul so I used the smoke to reseal what was no longer whole. said fuck school and friends too, I only needed me. started hitting the weights because it was the only thing that made me feel free; then I started reading poetry, finding out what love and friendships should really be. Started actually communicating problems instead of being quiet and it ending tragically. Told people I loved them, even though they did bad to me because at the end of the day it’s all about the LOVE you bring..

[open-poetry]

Love

There is something major about romantic love that I cannot grasp or maybe it’s the fact that I have never seen anyone in my family express their love for someone without malicious intent. Angry parents often expressing their love after overreacting and doing something out of line and were in need of your understanding and forgiveness. A family member only telling you they love you due to your success in school and their burning desire to tweet or insta post your results to let everyone know that they have smart relatives and they too might be smart by association. Maybe my lack of respect for romantic love also stems from the copious amounts of cheating in my culture and the numerous ‘I love you’s that was thrown at their seemingly faithful partners. It might have been the college culture in which nobody wanted a serious relationship or the hurt high school boys that did not know any better but to project the hurt and trauma they went through on young girls. Maybe it would be better to blame absent fathers, not showing a daughter how she is to be loved, treated or respected by a man. Maybe the real problem is blaming others when the only persons responsible for our actions are ourselves. The only person that can change how we view the world, the only individual that can truly make something amazing out of all the trauma we have experienced is to be blamed. Maybe if we started blaming ourselves and evoked change within ourselves, then we could finally take control of our lives. If we stopped thinking about the hurt that has resulted from the past events but to own that hurt and trauma and become the best version of ourselves for ourselves. Maybe the answer lies within us, and the only way to truly have respect for romantic love and appreciate others in that aspect is to place our own limits on love. Disregard what we have observed as children and create our own boundaries and our own view of love. Maybe then the world will be a happier place where trauma is accepted and able to be healed so we can be survivors who are not tainted by our experiences. Maybe then I can say I love you to someone because I actually love them and not just to receive love I think I deserve. Maybe this is bigger than I am and the truth is I will never love and that’s that. All these possibilities but which answer leads to the greatest possibility. 

Submitted by: @daydialogue

Day Dialogue

[open-poetry]

Then to now..

Love is you is an fresh start for me, from meeting you when you first to got to the duty station. To chilling and talking about anything and everything that you comes to your mind. By me being open to you and honest starting to let me know that i really vibe with you. We started to spend more time with each other, cooking , drinking, watching movies together started having me on a pedal floating out in the clear blue water. As more time goes by, seeing waking up next me while the sunshine comes sliding thru the blinds bouncing off your brown sugar skin. Years went by since the last time I see you, since the last I held you, since the last time I felt you pressed against me under the sheets. As we both are now back in the sight of having each other. As, I’m noticing that you are my beginning and my end on my story. I can only see you being my wife. Only time will be the factor that will stop when I get you. My love, my peace and happiness.

[open-poetry]

Red Flag

If only my body was able to give my thoughts red flags. Indicators of importance, you'd think I would be able to stop the spiral of mental illness by now. Is it the insomnia or do things seem different? The further I fall, the less I can distinguish between rational and red flag.

[open-poetry]

The love

I don't need nothing but your love,

I don't want nothing from you but only your love,

I don't mean to hurt or try to change the way you are but only with love,

So let you help me and guide me to be a great man only with your love.

I love you and always will love you.

You always ain't got to say many words but long as you love me the way I love you will always be a great feeling.

I love you, I love you, I love you.

[open-poetry]

I’m just saying

I’m just saying everything that come to my mind, listening to some slow music while building my passionate playlist. The playlist to slow stroke you to and reaching for maximum pleasure without trying. To tell you I love you with every breathe that I let go , chasing thoughts thru my mind in its own mind. To sit back and realize that I’m dreaming so why I am I running when I can be flyin. Rising up to the level I set myself to for total satisfaction, on your body feeling it pressed against me looking in your eyes to let you know I’m not lying. Looking straight into your eyes creating a bond with your soul as I let my soul inter twine with yours like snakes mating. Gently guiding my hands across your body , feeling your body twitch and jump just to let you know that we now sexting. In person and not over a phone. Not being worried about your secret side but opening up to role playing the movie taken. Every scene is a sex scene just walking around naked. High drive is in gear, four play is Devine, fuck faces as I stroke is something that cannot lie. Changing positions as we know the neighbor can see and as we do so I can feel your body tension is at max letting me know the she’s total happy. Climax after totally happiness equals body is a rest of min.

[open-poetry]

Regret

I’m sitting here still thinking about you, about all the laughs we shared. How we became the best of friends senior year and then I acted as if you were just an object. Something I picked up and used and then would throw away. You were in love with me and I with you, but I was too afraid to admit it. Commitment wasn’t something I fully had a grasp on, you can’t get hurt if you never fully commit, right?? This is my karma, my hell...my reality. I never told you I love you and how sorry I was for everything I did, I know that’s why your parents hate me. You’re married now and I can only hope that you’re genuinely happy. I know I broke your spirit because I didn’t know how to deal with my own emotions. I’m better now, but I’m still learning how to deal with regret..

[open-poetry]

“FREE”

Go ahead, ask me the question you’ve been dying to since I told you. They always do, always hit you with that “oh you don’t drink, what’s that about bro?” I usually just say it’s not my thing because well, it isn’t and it get’s me out of the conversation quickly. Instead I say, well it started when I was a child and grew around an alcoholic. I can count the amount of times I’ve seen him sober on one hand, which is to say that he lived in a drunken state. I remember seeing him turn into a person I didn’t even recognize, stumbling into our home at 4am eating animal crackers. I asked if he was gonna go to bed, he replied with “I’m too drunk to sleep” then drove off to who knows where. Some nights I prayed for him to stay others I prayed he didn’t come back. I see alcohol as an addiction and I told myself early on that I’d never pick it up. I know those that use it as a way to cope, hidden behind the bottle, sipping to ease the pain, but in the morning nothing’s changed. The problems are still real and relevant, your memory of the night is the only thing that went missing. Isn’t it crazy how we’ve normalized it, raising a glass as celebration when I know some raise something far more harmful towards their head; they just need a little something to take the edge off. Something that’ll ease their pain, so they take their final shot..

submitted by: 6rowski submit here: open-poetry/submit

[open-poetry]

Ghosts

And he won’t smile 
And I won’t wave 
In the same room but we couldn’t be farther apart
 He looks at me but I feel his eyes pierce straight through 
I remember when I gave him life 
I remember when I ended that life
 No sign of life
No sign life ever was 
No sign life ever can be 
He walks quickly past me as if I’m danger
 He’s right there but it’s not him I feel 
He’s long gone it’s just his presence haunting me 
We are more than strangers
We are ghosts
 Existing 
But not in the same world

submitted by @sandralidell share your poems here

[open-poetry]

Thorns

Starting from its roots. Strong to the core keeping its body implanted in where it is meant to be Feeding it to keep it feel alive Travel to the branches stretching in each direction Covered in leaves to temporarily soak up excitement only for those leaves to eventually fall As more branches grow the more it weighs the stem down The weight of these branches pulling in all directions leaving this plant unconsciously swaying when all it wants to do is grow up Some of these branches grow thorns the branches with the most thorns have the most beautiful flowers And as the wind blows these rugged thorns cut deep into the flesh of this innocent plant Why keep the these thorns. These thorns keep this plant safe, the miniscule amount self pain is worth it in avoidance in losing a whole branch After all the branch with the most thorns has the most beautiful flowers When you look at this plant you notice the flowers You notice the luminous colors of the petals You notice the ravishing scent At first glance you notice a strong, sublime plant You notice life thriving as life does But as get closer, inching in to get a strong whiff of these flowers you begin to notice more You see the stem swaying with the weight of its branches You see the intimidating thorns Most importantly you see the deep scarring implemented by the sharp growths That's when most people turn away When your eyes gaze on the negatives you forget how elegant that flower was You then only the see this life as a sharp hazard You forget how connected you were to that flower The radiant beam once given off by its petals is now dim The smell is now masked by fear that if you get to close you could end up with the same everlasting scars You turn away never looking back with the idea in your brain that you will one day come upon a flower just as beautiful You will put one foot in front of the other and walk away from this pure life form As you walk away i want to remind you The plant can't run away This plan is rooted in the ground with no possible chance of escape This plant lives in fear that it will never escape its lonesome fate and be rooted here for eternity receiving new scars everyday while growing more thorns Little did you know all this organic being needed was someone to pick the thorns.

[open-poetry]

Against the World

You didn’t asked me to love you but my heart still did. You never told me to endure this unending pain but still, I conquered it all. You didn’t asked me to fight for what we have but I still courageously went to war just for you, bleeding and surviving. You didn’t asked me to stay despite of all the danger but still I never left your side, not even once. You didn’t told me to wait , but still I am here for you & down,only for you.

[open-poetry]

“growing pains”

a girl sits in her room, with her cat pawing her stomach. she’s crying and doesn’t know why. things are overwhelming her, even though nothing is happening, close friends are a 15 minute drive away, shes feels so small. if you are anything like her, you are everything like me. i’m a knight in shining armor with a child whimpering inside of it, my parents are downstairs. i am visiting them and sleeping in my childhood bed, i hold onto people after they step out of my life like i cling onto these sheets that were given to me, but were never actually mine, there is something beautiful about that. i am given endless opportunity to grow into and out of old things like a child. i have growing pains, even though i am in college, and i don’t think i’ll ever be taller than 5’8. my mom kept some of my baby clothes so i could give them to my children some day, holding onto things only to give them away for someone else to grow into is how i live. and if you are anything like me, you are everything like a child, who doesn’t know that her shoes don’t fit anymore until her toes are sticking out of them like overgrown trees with roots that stick up through the sidewalk.

Submitted by @surrrrealism

[open-poetry]

I imagine myself as a projector slowly flickering in and out of focus. My eyes glaze over but there is no panic, no fear. I vanish into thin air, They move on, as if I was never here.

[open-poetry]

Usually

Usually I fall asleep to the sound of the water crashing against the shores outside my window, But tonight I only hear your steamy whisper on my neck as we swim underneath the waves of my sheets, The ocean does not compare the floods gushing from what feels like my soul, As you drown yourself in the depths of the sea just to caress my pearl with your tongue Usually I fall asleep to the sound of the water crashing against the shores outside my window, But tonight I lay with you, a boy of the marina, hugging my hips and gulping me down, You say I'm essential to your survival, The siren song escapes my lips, I pull away like the tide and you reel me back with in with fisher's technique, You've got me on a hook Usually I fall asleep to the sound of the water crashing against the shores outside my window, But last night I got water in my ears from our swim making it hard to hear anything but my stormy thoughts, They say we are made up of 70% of water, But I believe people like you are made up completely of it, capable of every state of matter, Last night you were like liquid, Taking the shape of whatever was holding you, We fit perfectly together, filling up each other's empty spaces, Today, you've evaporated into the sun leaving a salty taste in my mouth, Still a week later I will continue to crunch down on the words "why haven't you texted back?", When I finally see you again you will be solid, cold like ice, You will no longer see me as something to survive off of, Very few living things inhabit the arctic, Your words are like an ice pick, As you tell me you're too numb to ever truly have feelings Tonight I will fall asleep to the sound of the water crashing against the shores outside my window, It's comforting to hear again, Once in a while I see you, the water boy, on the field of our football games, I will meet many more of you, another person made of water, Waiting for one who will stay consistently liquid, But for now I am my own source of hydration, I am the ocean, drowning in the comfort of my own company

Submitted by @cellblockmangoes

[open-poetry]

I tried not to write about it, but you came to mind when he asked what was on it. The un-removable memories painted in my brain made me realize I ain't shit, but they also made me realize that I was always better when with you. I thought I knew love until you came along with sad songs and run ons, always closing the book because you never wanted to know the ending. I think the people watching me type probably think I'm writing an essay or something boring and un-relatable. They sit and stare with their coffee's full of emptiness, blinding by education rather than learning. School books that never get opened, yet all the books in the library are missing pages. He to now doesn't finish the endings because he knows how it ends, always in tears and death. No longer young and full of love, but now cold and heartless. Torn down by a broken system that only cares about what will profit them, that's why I stay secluded. They won't catch me off guard and disrupt my painful silence. Forgive me for getting off topic, but that's exactly what she does to you, has you forget about all the importance in things and turn it onto her. They will always have that power, the power to destroy what was once beauty and turn it painful poetry. I write because it's the only thing that calms me down and no matter if it rhymes or not, I still feel the power it has towards whatever comes to the mind. We spent hours talking, crying, laughing, and now I feel like we don't know what words to say. Like the story is almost at its end so you close the book...

submitted by @indigopro

[open-poetry]

Eulogy- For the love that died between us.

I dint believe it was over

Till i saw your name etched on the tombstone

In memory of all the guys i loved before..

May our love rest in peace

As we take our final bow.

For what it’s worth,

We did put on a great show.

So, i take this opportunity to  write you this eulogy,

for the love that died between us,

for my need of wanting a closure

for it’s time to finally praise without disgust.

To be honest

At first, i couldn’t muster up the courage to utter these pretty words,

for a breakup is anything but pretty, and it fucking hurts.

Especially, when i saw you cheating on me with her.  

Was the  day i lost  all my faith in the world

So here it is… 

My last step towards moving on.. 

For i ’m giving it  all up with this last song.

I miss the moments we had together.. 

Sweet words that were sweeter than sugar..

Your  brown eyes that were a constellation of stars in a  galaxy..

The color of coffee..

Or maybe  more like honey..

That got me attracted like a honeybee.. 

I loved the way you rolled your eyes when you  got all grumpy…

Or when you twitched your lips, before saying something funny. 

Getting drunk and talking slurry

Your little bad  habits that made me worry…

Your endless fuss over  hotel menus

Or how you obsessed over the way you tied your shoes. 

The way you talked about your family issues

A list of words you overused.

The way we danced in your bedroom

And blamed our mistakes on the booze

The way we sneaked out of boring parties, just to make-out in the washroom

All those inside jokes, and silent stares

The way you smiled and played with my hair..

Those silly games and adventurous days

Awkward family dinners and memorable birthdays.

The art of changing topics.

or flipping a coin , to call in sick

Subtle taunts followed with a wink

Fighting over stupid things

Your songs that were always on repeat

Dialogues more cliche then a movie scene

You are the best  thing that happened to my poetries

But a fish can’t survive in a dead sea

So with death followed a legacy..

A bunch of bittersweet memories. 

A whole lot of trust issues

And endless misery…

It takes time to heal they say..

And i am just about ready…

For all the sadness that i have endured..

I have finally chosen to be happy..

Read more poems on - 

TheMonicaShastri

[open-poetry]

I woke up this morning

Feeling weak and worn

Having no anger left

No power to exert

Because when we’re together

I can feel my words evaporate

The second they spin off my tongue

And I wonder if they’ve ever reached your ears

I wonder if you know what you’re doing

When I say “no”

And you hear “not yet”

I wonder if you realize

That saying no gets harder

When you keep pushing

And pushing

Until no’s turn into silence

And silence turns into reluctant

And drawn out

Ok’s

I wonder if I’m crazy

To think that sex shouldn’t be prompted

By just “ok”’

To think that “yes!!”

Should be a more appropriate ignition

And I can hear myself thinking

I don’t want to call it rape

Because rape

Is such a strong word

But I just wish no

Was a strong word too

 - c.n.