Breakup

Back To Strangers

We started as strangers.
We fell and became lovers.
We started with a, “Hi,”
Ended with a lie.

The time ran so fast.
Now we’re just part of the past.
The butterflies I once felt in my belly
Turned into a feeling of melancholy.

Those dreams I dreamed won’t come true,
For we fell apart out of the blue.
There will be no such thing as “we,”
Because starting from now, it’s just “me.”

We ended being lovers.
Now we’re back to strangers.
We ended with a lie.
Now we couldn’t even say, “Hi.”

By Rocelyn Amante

***

Breakup

And cigarettes and bad decisions stained into bedsheets
A good idea gone rogue in a moment by the chase and retreat
Words bitten off before they emerge and a sudden sense of regret
The ins and outs and turns and twists confined to breakup.

What feels good can’t hurt you until its not good anymore
Reality doesn’t touch the bedroom until someone opens the door
Grasping to skin like it’s what we had and reluctantly letting go
The push and pull of dumb ideas and a lack of self control.

An awkward smile all the while thinking that this was a mistake
A peck of a kiss, barely a touch of the lips, and sanity far too late
Stains on the skin that the shower can’t wash, they’ve soaked down to bone
The knowledge that gasps and quiet laughs doesn’t mean we aren’t gone.
And cigarettes and bad decisions stained into bedsheets
A good idea gone rogue in a moment by the chase and retreat
Words bitten off before they emerge and a sudden sense of regret
The ins and outs and turns and twist confined to breakup.

By North Carolina

***

Broken Love

Sometime life takes a spin…
we learn how to laugh,
cry and try to stay competent so we don’t hurt again…
When he said he loved me…
I thought that was the key…
not only to my heart,
but to a new beginning…
We met on several occasions…
sometimes for fun…
but all and all…
I thought it was a start to opening our hearts…
We shared our sorrows…
sometimes for hours,
but I realize he is not the same…
only when he is ready to play the game…
I’m not a game player…
and never will be…
he came to me to fill a void…
but then I fell in love with him and he walked away,
what can I say…
I can’t fix him nor will I try…
I guess we will never know what love we had even though we had a great time…
So here’s to you my love…
I wish you only the best…
cause you will never find anyone as good as what you had..

By Natalie Gronner

***

Change

Scared confused mindless clone,
Delving deeper into the unknown,
my heart is bruised my soul crumbled
The deep despair of lovers rumbled.

Control abuse delete forget
Feelings once shared are now reset
The chains you hold are now released
My soul is free my mind deceased.

What once was hate is now empowered
for this empty shell to be devoured
Your need for me has been replaced
My thoughts of you have been disgraced

The time has come to change the pace
Look ahead, erase, embrace
The change has come upon my sorrow
The tears will wait until tomorrow.

By Connie Davidescu

***

Disappearing Love

What happened to our love?
It used to be so bright
Loving, laughing, caring
Then soon caught the night

You were my one and only love
Cared for you too much

Then something happened
And slept with that man
You deceived me
I never felt so desperate

But I try to forgive you now
And try not to think about before
I love you so much
It just hurts to ponder now

Everything I have
Is because of you
Everything I bought
Was because of you

I just love you so much
I’m scared to lose you

By Gary R. Hess

***

Drowning

I’m drowning.
I look around at everyone going past and suddenly I can’t breathe.
It looks so easy for them,
Going about and laughing,
Having the time of their lives.
Why is it so easy for them?

I’m drowning.
But then,
Then I think of you.
I think about our times spent.
I remember walking together,
I remember nights together,
I remember movies together,
I remember how it all started.

I’m drowning.
But then I think of you.
I begin to wonder,
Am I really drowning?
Not when I have you.
Then I realize,
I’m losing you,
And these pleasant memories?
They turn to bitter reminders of once was.
So maybe,
Maybe I am drowning.

Because without you,
I can’t breathe.

By Madison A. Wakfield

***

Fake Drug

I shed too many tears and wasted too much time thinking of you.
I devoted so much time to you.
In return, all I got where my own tears,
Nights I couldn’t sleep.
I ask over and over
What am I doing wrong?
But then I realize that it was you the whole time.
I gave you my smile and you almost gave me a child.
Every time you needed me, I gave into you like a drug,
And I suffer the side effects alone in my bedroom,
Where you last left me without a sound.
Was this another hit it and quit it?
Cause I haven’t heard from you in a minute now,
And it’s getting pretty late.
I’m just surprised you haven’t checked up on me.
Should’ve thought twice before I overdosed on you
Cause you were the fake stuff,
But since I’ve already opened you up and saw what was really inside,
It was too late.
I was ripped off, but now I’m screwed cause there’s no refunds.

By Kindall Perez

***

Goodbye

Goodbye to love,
A love that used to be my life.
Goodbye to dreams,
Dreams of one day being your wife.

Goodbye to memories,
Memories of you, both good and bad.
Goodbye to time,
Time we spent together and the fun we had.

Goodbye to you,
The man you were when you were with me.
Goodbye to tears,
The tears I used to cry, most you didn’t see.

Goodbye to the reoccurring fights,
I was unable to sleep at night.
Goodbye to future plans,
Surely you will make new ones, right?

Goodbye to happiness I once felt,
The happiness that is now for someone else.
Goodbye to your charming ways,
You always thought it would make me come back to you.

Goodbye to who I was when I was with you.
I now am the person I’ve always been.
Goodbye to the glaze that was over my eyes.
Now they see more than ever, sharp and keen.

Most of all I want to say….
Goodbye to us!
Goodbye to us!
The us we used to be and the us we were going to be.
Goodbye to us for eternity!

By Jennafer Nolan

***

He Is Hurting Too

He’s tired of the pain.
He’s tired of every lie.
He’s tired of the countless nights
When all he does is cry.

He’s pretending not to care.
He said that he is fine,
But really he is hoping
Someone will read his mind.

Everyone’s sad for her;
No one knows what he’s going through,
And not even his friends can see
That he is hurting too.

By Leah Williams

***

I Crave Your Mouth, Your Voice, Your Hair

I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair.
Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets.
Bread does not nourish me, dawn disrupts me, all day
I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps.

I hunger for your sleek laugh,
your hands the color of a savage harvest,
hunger for the pale stones of your fingernails,
I want to eat your skin like a whole almond.

I want to eat the sunbeam flaring in your lovely body,
the sovereign nose of your arrogant face,
I want to eat the fleeting shade of your lashes,

and I pace around hungry, sniffing the twilight,
hunting for you, for your hot heart,
like a puma in the barrens of Quitratue.

By  Pablo Neruda

***

I Miss You

I search for the right words to say.
I wonder if you do the same.
I found myself thinking of you every day.
It hurts to feel this kind of blame.
I never thought I could feel this kind of pain
from just hearing the sound of your voice
for knowing you were the only one who stopped the rain
and knowing I shouldn’t have let you walk away,
let you walk away as far as you did.
My heart tells me not to be selfish,
to just pray for your happiness,
but when I hear your sad voice telling me you’re scared and confused,
it hits me this is what I mostly feared.
To be so close with you inside of my heart but yet so very far.

By Tiffany Kromer

***

I Sit And Cry Over Broken Love

I sit and cry,
all alone.
Wondering why,
I don’t belong.

When we first hooked up,
we couldn’t keep our hands off each other.
Now it’s like all we do is
fight and argue,
And say hurtful things,
we regret later.

Why do we hurt each other so much,
if we’re supposed to be in love?
Why do we get so upset and angry,
to the point of exchanging hurtful
words that we say out of anger,
They could jeopardize the relationship completely.

It’s like we totally forgot how to be in
love and act respectful,
Instead we’re rude, hateful,
and just ungrateful.

By Missy Tremblay

***

I Will Love You

With all of my heart I love you.
I honestly, truly do.
But with every angry word spoken,
I become more resentful of you.

It’s like we’ve forgotten our history.
We’ve forgotten what we had before.
And now I’m ever closer, it seems,
To packing up and closing the door.

I imagined having your children,
And what a beautiful thing it would be.
Thought we’d find a house and settle down.
Make four where there once was three.

But now those dreams are distant,
Filled with a fog made up of fear.
My body is fighting through the mist,
But the doubt is all I hear.

Hostile hands and heavy hearts…
They join together here.
And in a flash, as quick as that,
I’ve hurt you, and you me, my dear.

There is not much left that’s not been broken
In our path of hurt and despair.
Broken glass and broken souls
And disappointment reeks in the air.

Our spirits, once bright and so hopeful,
Are now lost in the seas of regret,
And when I reach out my hand to save them,
My poor heart begins to fret.

The smiles we once wore as medals,
To show the world we’d both found “the one,”
Are now tired, and fake, and phony.
They are sure that we are done.

I lie awake and search for an answer,
But my head and my heart are at war.
Long gone are the days of no tears
Say my eyes that are swollen and sore.

I believed that we’d work through it somehow.
I hoped our love was stronger than it all,
But I guess when you’re up so high, my love,
There’s only a lot further to fall.

I try and remember all the good times,
But they just seem so far away.
Now I’m just tired and bitter,
And I don’t have the strength to stay.

I wanted so much for a miracle.
I tried so hard to change my view,
But it shouldn’t take a miracle
To keep me from leaving you.

For all this time, I have loved you,
Even when my heart feels filled with hate.
When I raise my voice and spew vile words,
I still love you so much that it aches.

And I will continue to love you always,
Even when we’ve both moved on.
Even when we have our own families,
I will love you, even when it’s wrong.

By  Larah J. Davies

***

I’m Not Turning Back

Every time I would ask, you said I was tripping.
I trusted you boy, but now I am quitting.
You broke my heart, took it and tore it apart.
You promised to me never again.
But maybe I’d be better if we were just friends.
I never really had the proof.
But now it hurts cause I know the truth.
You make me promises that you didn’t keep.
But now it’s your time to moan and weep.
I stayed true and faithful to you.
Something you couldn’t.
I wanted to let go, but I just wouldn’t.
You said you were mines, evidently you’re not.
She already told me what happened.
Yea that’s what I thought.
I knew you was playing, but I still loved you..
I had a lot of feelings so what could I do.
But now they are gone..whose fault is that?
You took a knife and put it in my back.
You didn’t know what you had.
But now you don’t have it.
Isn’t that sad.
I loved you with all my heart, and still do.
But how could you play me for a fool.
Baby I trusted you, why did you do that?
But now I’m leaving, and I’m not turning back…

By Angeline Richards

***

Just Not Meant To Be

Admiring her beauty
When we first met
Her blond hair and body
I just wanted to get

The good times were many
The worries were few
We fed upon lust
Then love began to brew

As time together passes
The lust starts to fade
Life’s chores become hectic
You question decisions made

First there’s complaints
Followed soon by contempt
Love is then questioned
As sex is exempt

You get so frustrated
And full of dismay
At the things that are said
Marriage isn’t meant to be this way

Maybe it’s me
Have I changed in some way
Not that I can see
No, I think I’m OK 

Then you realize one day
That something’s amiss     
The love is not there
No more sharing a kiss

With your heart now broken
You lay there at night
Your eye’s wide open
Thinking this isn’t right     

My attempts to discuss
The problems I see
Only create a fuss
Between her and me

In your heart you now know
How this story will go
Another failed marriage
With three kids to show

All the love and the dreams
Once shared are forgotten
Instead they’re replaced   
By actions all evil and rotten

Any good deeds of past
And efforts once made
Are erased in a moment
With consent orders laid

By Wayne Barry

***

Last Piece Of My Heart

Let me say the words today
to have him here by my side.
Let him be the one for me to
have and hold for all time.

Now he’s here for me to share my love,
to hold and show me I’m the one.
He makes me smile, he makes me laugh,
my life with him is something I feel I’ve won.

I feel I’m mean but my heart I blame,
for it’s been soiled with so much pain.
But now I’m ready to let this someone in,
the one who brightens my day,
The one I speak of is him!

He turns his shoulder, I think its too late,
No! Please don’t speak those words of my fate!
Tears fall but words I have none.
What’s said is said, what’s done is done.

He says his goodbyes and then he parts…
But with him, if he only knew, goes the last piece of my heart.

By Leslie Rodriguez

***

Led On

You had me wrapped up in your fingers,
Like a spider knits its web.
You taunted me with mind games,
All just to get into my head.

You tossed them into the water,
A few stepping stones.
You knew which one just to throw,
The one that I would never let go.

You used me just like a painter with a brush
To illustrate a landscape,
In which I would feel lust,
Just to dip me in water and wash it all away.

Under a spell is where you had me,
One that would never break.
Unless you spotted a new prize,
Who would be naive enough not to realize your ways?

By Isabella A. Arden

***

Left Heartbroken

Stood by the window
watching him go away
last thing I saw
was the way
he turned his back on me
didn’t even say goodbye
more and more I was feeling the misery
and I just continued to cry
holding with him so many stuff
meaning that he won’t come back again
haven’t I gave him enough
he shouldn’t walk out on me but be a man
I stared at him getting into the vehicle
hoping he’ll turn back and see me cry
please God give me a miracle
let him look deep into my eye
there’s no reason left to wait
he had already drove away
it was obviously too late
but I’ll never forget this day
the day I got dissed by the man that I love
is there really someone watching me from above

By Marielle Hayek

***

Lies

All those promise are lies.
I thought you said you weren’t like other guys.
I gave you my heart,
And you broke it apart.
Everything was a great big lie.
I think of you and I sigh.
Everybody warned me about you,
But I was too in love with you.
Now I know that love was lust.
Feels like my head might bust.
I can’t believe you were the one.
I’m sick of boys, just done.
Now my heart is bleeding.
I regret me and you meeting.
Sometimes I wish I would die,
But all I can say now is bye.

By Raelynn Deanne Pena

***

Love Is Rare

I remember the good things we used to share,
The happiness we endured, the deep love and care.
The air was as light as a feather;
I looked at you as you were my forever.

But it all came crashing down,
Then I realized I’ve been a fool, a clown.
My heart in anguish as your eyes avert my gaze,
All the love fading from your eyes these passing days.

My heart cracked as you pulled away,
Telling me that today was the day.
I know that love is often rare,
But your love is a loss I cannot bear.

So I breathe in the cold, cold air,
Sitting alone in silence on a wooden chair.
The tears I cry each and every day
Seem to fade as my mind wandered astray.

I would never force you to stay,
Even if it meant my world would be gray.
Your happiness is my only hope,
So without you, I must try to cope.

By Martina D Garza

***

Love Is Sad

Love is sad, and love is cruel.
To find it again, don’t be a fool.
My flower was young,
And my flower was sweet,
When we were together,
Our passion was heat,
We travelled together, never apart,
And I knew that forever she would be in my heart,
I would look in her eyes and I would hold my breathe
To lose such a treasure would mean certain death,
This sweet little thing that I used to adore,
I never thought  we would be no more.
The sun went away and it started to rain,
The joy in my heart soon turned into pain.
My little flower that I adored,
My absence was long, and she got bored
My flower has wilted from the lack of the heat,
Resentment took over, and our love was beat,
If only we planted more of those seeds,
Our garden would flourish and not the weeds.
Wilted flower don’t be sad,
Another’s garden is not so bad,
Always look up and never bend,
And soon you will find that your heart will mend
Love is sad, and love is cruel,
To find it again, don’t be a fool.

By David Strong

***

Mad Girl’s Love Song

I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;
I lift my lids and all is born again.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

The stars go waltzing out in blue and red,
And arbitrary blackness gallops in:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed
And sung me moon-struck, kissed me quite insane.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

God topples from the sky, hell’s fires fade:
Exit seraphim and Satan’s men:
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.

I fancied you’d return the way you said,
But I grow old and I forget your name.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

I should have loved a thunderbird instead;
At least when spring comes they roar back again.
I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead.
(I think I made you up inside my head.)

By Sylvia Plath

***

Never Give All the Heart

Never give all the heart, for love
Will hardly seem worth thinking of
To passionate women if it seem
Certain, and they never dream
That it fades out from kiss to kiss;
For everything that’s lovely is
But a brief, dreamy, kind delight.
O never give the heart outright,
For they, for all smooth lips can say,
Have given their hearts up to the play.
And who could play it well enough
If deaf and dumb and blind with love?
He that made this knows all the cost,
For he gave all his heart and lost.

By William Butler Yeats

***

One Step At A Time

I can’t help but see what you are thinking
You wonder what happened to us
You thought that you owned my heart and soul
You thought that you had me wrapped
around your finger so tight
But there’s something that you should know
You don’t lose someone over night
It shouldn’t take you by surprise
It may be too late when you realize
You lose a heart one step at a time
I’m not trying to make excuses
There are no simple answers to explain
I never meant to hurt you this way
I never meant to cause you any pain
I can’t put it into words
or tell you why it happened this way
It wasn’t any one thing that you did
It was all those little things that you didn’t do
I know it may be too late to realize
but you lost a heart one step at a time.

By Melanie Edwards

***

Our Many Never Endings

You entered the bedroom and fell to your knees.
I wait the rest of my life to hear you say, I made a mistake.

Inside my chest, a mangle.
Inside yours, a deflating balloon.

You took the vacuum cleaner, the ironing board, the dish rack
and left me some lint, an iron to scorch shirts, one chipped plate.

I would like to say at least we perfected
entrances and exits, like professional stage actors

honing their craft, but even that’s a fantasy.
Mostly on TV the lions ate the hyenas

but sometimes the hyenas
formed a posse, and tore a lion up.

Occasionally you came in out of the rain
and I was glad to have you.

By Courtney Queeney

***

Pretending

I’m tired of pretending
Everything is okay,
That it does not pain me
When I hear your name.

Tired of pretending
I’m not dying inside
Every time I see the smile
That reaches your eyes.

Tired of pretending
It does not hurt
Now that I know
I will never be yours.

Tired of pretending
I do not care
That you will never again
Run your fingers through my hair

But I pretend
I don’t know your name,
Just to keep
From going insane.

I pretend
You mean nothing to me,
In hopes that
I can finally breathe.

I pretend
That I do not care
When I see
You standing there.

The reason I try to pretend,
Rather than hurt instead,
Is with the hope you will
Actually get out of my head.

By Gina Petersen

***

Pushed Away With Tears

“I’m not good enough
for you” he said.
With tears in his eyes.
“you put to much pressure on me,
I need to live my life.”

How horrible I felt,
So scared and small.
I loved him for him.
I felt so stupid and alone.

“I’m giving up now,
please try to understand”
“I loved you once but
Never again.”
I wanted to cry
But tears wouldn’t help.

“Please don’t leave me” I said.
Falling to my knees,
“I’m sorry for my mistake,
I’m sorry for everything!”

As the noise slowly died
Silence sipped in.
I could hear his foot steps,
Gently walk away.
“He’s gone..” I said,
I pushed him away.

By Elizabeth McCrorie 

***

Red Ghazal

I’ve noticed after a few sips of tea, the tip of her tongue, thin and red
with heat, quickens when she describes her cuts and bruises—deep violets and red.

The little girl I baby-sit, hair orange and wild, sits splayed and upside down
on a couch, insists her giant book of dinosaurs is the only one she’ll ever read.

The night before I left him, I could not sleep, my eyes fixed on the freckles
of his shoulder, the glow of the clock, my chest heavy with dread.

Scientists say they’ll force a rabbit to a bird, a jellyfish with a snake, even
though the pairs clearly do not mix. Some things are not meant to be bred.

I almost forgot the weight of a man sitting beside me in bed sheets crumpled
around our waists, both of us with magazines, laughing at the thing he just read.

He was so charming—pointed out planets, ghost galaxies, an ellipsis
of ants on the wall. And when he kissed me goodnight, my neck reddened.

I’m terrible at cards. Friends huddle in for Euchre, Hearts—beg me to play
with them. When it’s obvious I can clearly win with a black card, I select a red.

I throw away my half-finished letters to him in my tiny pink wastebasket, but
my aim is no good. The floor is scattered with fire hazards, declarations unread.

By Aimee Nezhukumatathil

***

Shattered Dreams, Shattered Heart

My days are long, my nights are cold
Without you here for me to hold.
The moment we kissed, I knew it was right
To love you & want you with all of my might.

The hopes that we shared, the dreams that we dreamt
Then you turned around & said nothing was meant.
The memories we’ve got, the joy & the pain
Are finished, forgotten – you wont try again.

You said that you care, that’s no longer enough
So you just up and leave – the man that I love.
You want to be free, to chat up the girls
The tall ones, the short ones, with straight hair or curls.

You never told me these things you were feeling
You’ve broken my heart & I cant see it healing.
I hope that you’re happy in all that you do
That my pain & my hurt YOU never go through.

You weren’t just my lover but my best friend as well.
I gave you my all when in love I fell.
If I meet someone else, and I’m not sure I will
This hole in my heart he never can fill.

With you all my dreams looked like coming true
You’ve robbed me of those, what can I now do?
You said that you loved me, that we should get wed.
We then bought a house, new kitchen & bed!

But now its all over, you want me no more
Swept out of your life like the dust on the floor.

If you want to re-live the great times we had
Just give me a ring, I’ll be only too glad

By Alison Drew

***

Sonnet 139

O, call not me to justify the wrong
That thy unkindness lays upon my heart;
Wound me not with thine eye but with thy tongue;
Use power with power, and slay me not by art.
Tell me thou lov’st elsewhere; but in my sight,
Dear heart, forbear to glance thine eye aside;
What need’st thou wound with cunning when thy might
Is more than my o’erpressed defense can bide?
Let me excuse thee: ah, my love well knows
Her pretty looks have been mine enemies;
And therefore from my face she turns my foes,
That they elsewhere might dart their injuries—
Yet do not so; but since I am near slain,
Kill me outright with looks and rid my pain.

By William Shakespeare

***

The End

No one told me about this pain.
Everything hurts, even my pride.
It’s these emotions I am forced to contain.

Tears have fallen from my eyes like a steady rain.
Nothing can take back those nights I’ve cried.
No one told me about this pain.

My feelings I cannot even explain.
To you, my heart was open wide.
It’s these emotions I am forced to contain.

I’m at the point where I feel nothing but shame
Because I thought you were going to be my guide.
No one told me about this pain.

With you is where I wanted to remain.
Now I have to continue on with a long stride,
It’s these emotions I am forced to contain.

Please tell me our relationship was not in vain.
I hope to not regret having tried.
No one told me about this pain.
It’s these emotions I am forced to contain.

By Tynea Lewis 

***

The One That Got Away

Every day hurts as much as the last.
If I could turn back time, I’d return to the past.
A past where things were lovely and true.
A past where I know I could be with you.

With the future, it is still unknown.
I thank you though for the love you had shown.
My world has been turned upside down.
Each day gets harder from what I have found.

I try to be strong, but I always fail.
At times I can’t believe that this is real.
Many a night I have dreamt about you.
I wonder, have you dreamt of me too?

You were my heart; you were my soul.
You filled me with joy and made me whole.
You will always be within my heart.
Love can be cruel, but it can be art.

You truly mean the world to me.
So because of love, I’ve set you free.
You’re beautiful outside and within.
On top of that, you’re my best friend.

I’ll always have you on my mind.
It’s sad, as real love is hard to find.
I’ve always believed you were my soulmate.
Now the decision may lay with fate.

Things have changed and there are different paths.
Now we are separate and different halves.
You hold my heart forever, I hope.
I pray that one day I’ll be able to cope.

You made me happy all of the time.
I only wish that one day you’ll be mine.
If there’s anything I can do, please be sure to let me know.
It’s times like these when true love grows.

One eye on the future, one eye on the past.
I will try to make these memories last.
I will always remember what we once shared.
I need you to know that I always cared.

If there’s a future where we will be,
It’s something I’m sure I’ll look forward to see.
I can never get you out of my head.
I wish only happy things be there instead.

I’ll cherish every moment until the day I am gone.
You, my love, have always shone.
I wish, I wish you were by my side.
It would fill me with lots of pride.

The truest love is hard to find.
After losing you, I’ve lost my mind.
You were me and I was you.
I hope you know as I do too.

Love’s not a feeling but something you give.
Without the love, it’s crushing to live.
Until and if we meet again.
My love for you will always reign.

Take care, my love, and don’t forget.
I’ve a lot of love here, I’m sure of it.
Please never forget me, remember the good.
Think of me always as I know you should.

I hope our paths connect again one day.
I will always dream you’ll come back to stay.
I love you, I always will.
The love we shared was such a thrill.

For now, my love, I must say goodbye.
It breaks my heart; I shall not lie.
God bless you; God bless you good.
Please love me always as I know you could.

By Ciaran P. McGreevy

***

This Was Once a Love Poem

This was once a love poem,
before its haunches thickened, its breath grew short,
before it found itself sitting,
perplexed and a little embarrassed,
on the fender of a parked car,
while many people passed by without turning their heads.
It remembers itself dressing as if for a great engagement.
It remembers choosing these shoes,
this scarf or tie.
Once, it drank beer for breakfast,
drifted its feet
in a river side by side with the feet of another.
Once it pretended shyness, then grew truly shy,
dropping its head so the hair would fall forward,
so the eyes would not be seen.
It spoke with passion of history, of art.
It was lovely then, this poem.
Under its chin, no fold of skin softened.
Behind the knees, no pad of yellow fat.

What it knew in the morning it still believed at nightfall.
An unconjured confidence lifted its eyebrows, its cheeks.
The longing has not diminished.
Still it understands. It is time to consider a cat,
the cultivation of African violets or flowering cactus.
Yes, it decides:
Many miniature cacti, in blue and red painted pots.
When it finds itself disquieted
by the pure and unfamiliar silence of its new life,
it will touch them—one, then another—
with a single finger outstretched like a tiny flame.

By Jane Hirschfeld

***

To The Unforgettable

I know we’ll never be the same.
Behind my love,
I’m filled with shame.

In my head it’s become so loud.
These intruding thoughts
Have begun to crowd.

What did I do wrong?
Just give me a reason.
Don’t lead me along.

I try to make sense of it,
But you were my only hope.
Now I have not a bit.

I try to remember our brighter days.
I don’t want to associate you
With the sadness that remains.

When I felt as whole as half,
You knew how to turn any cry
Into a laugh.

But now you’re not here.
I’m so confused.
Why is this so unclear?

In my dreams we’re okay again and you still love me,
But alas those are just dreams
Because I know that will never be.

Missing you hurts enough to kill.
I know you don’t care,
And somehow I love you still.

By Lily Rae

***

Waiting Out A Relationship

You said that you loved me
And I said that I loved you.
We are not together anymore
But boy I wish we were.
Because its killing me now.

My heart is falling apart,
I don’t know what to do
All I can do is think about you.

I asked you not to get attach with another girl,
but it looks like you already started to.
My mind is telling me to go left,
but my heart is saying to go right.
And it’s all confusing me to.

You told me two years ago that your heart
belongs to me and mine belongs to you.
But the real question is will that ever be true?

We let things get in our way,
we let people get between us,
and now I wish that it wasn’t that way.
All we can do now is wait and see what happens.
But the question is, will I ever be able to wait for you?

By Chrystal Starkey

***

Walking Away

I’m tired of dreaming.
I’m through with trying.
Tired of living, yet scared of dying.
Maybe things are good for you,
but look at all that I’ve been through.
Look at all the pain I’ve won.
I bet you think that it’s been fun.
You never thought I’d turn away.
You never believed you’d see this day.
Look again because here I go,
leaving behind all I know.
Changing it all as I must do.
Not daring to stop and think things through.
Wanting to run as fast as I can,
not stopping until I understand.
Like why did I let things get this way?
Why didn’t I leave yesterday?
How are things going to be
since there is no more you and me?

By Vanessa Brown

***

What my Lips Have Kissed, and Where, and Why

What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why,
I have forgotten, and what arms have lain
Under my head till morning; but the rain
Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh
Upon the glass and listen for reply,
And in my heart there stirs a quiet pain
For unremembered lads that not again
Will turn to me at midnight with a cry.

Thus in the winter stands the lonely tree,
Nor knows what birds have vanished one by one,
Yet knows its boughs more silent than before:
I cannot say what loves have come and gone,
I only know that summer sang in me
A little while, that in me sings no more.

By Edna St. Vincent Millay