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Every bump is part of the ride

It'd probably be smoother

If I stop running red lights
Long morning roadtrips quite quickly turn introspective
Kalliope May 29
I don't sleep anymore
I haven't slept in days
Bliss doesn't find me
in dreams anymore
So I just stay awake
5 am
Kalliope Jun 1
What's the price on sanity these days?
Could I doordash it?
noon
Kalliope Jun 2
Why do I turn a rain drop
into a hurricane?
Why do I let myself drown
in streams?
Why do I let one needle poke
unravel all my seams?
Its 3 am and my heart hurts
Kalliope Jun 2
I'd have to **** part of myself to live the life my mother wants
And the worst part is she really
believes that's best
It's 8 am and I'm searching for comfort
Just to be treated like disappointment
Kalliope Jun 3
Over 100 poems
dedicated to you

Is that love
or
Am I crazy
2 pm
Kalliope Jun 5
When I was young
I was scared of ghosts,
Now I greet them every night
in the mirror
11 pm
Kalliope Jun 6
If I can't unlove you
                Surely I can write myself
                                                  Out of love
4 pm
Kalliope Jun 5
I'll know when I've healed,
For I'll be able to
reach out my hand
and not fear no one grabs it
1 am
Sleep reaches for me
But I'm held down
Everything I've never done
Everything I need to do
Grasps me tightly
Bruised and clawed
I lay here flawed
Sleep reaches for me
But I can't reach back
Have you ever rearranged your living room at 2 am?
Kalliope Oct 2018
It must be beautiful to not be jealous
To just feel happiness
And joy for others
Not that small pain
In your stomach
The little shocks
In your brain
The ache
In your heart
Help me please
Or I'll have to leave
My brain won't ease
I don't know what to believe
Kalliope May 9
Once I was a caterpillar,
Curious but often naive,
Observing from the ground,
Waiting for my time to leave.

Then I was a luna moth,
Silhouette whispering to the moon,
Drawn to the heat and fleeting warmth,
Of men who did what they wanted to do.

When I was a black widow,
A man eater they'd say,
I lived recklessly in my villian era,
Until my empathy got in the way.

I think I'll try again as a hermit,
Not very brave but tired of bleeding,
I traverse through this sand,
Longing for a shell that won't demand meaning.
You'd call this an easy retreat,
I call it surviving what's left of me.
Kalliope Jan 18
I walked through your doors and it was cold,
Cathedral walls made of stone.
Everything towering over me,
Intimidating and exciting.
It was midday and the light through the windows cast rainbow lights, hues of blue and yellow against cold stone floors.
Mesmerized I couldn't move, desperate to study every intricate detail.
But now the day is done, darkness so thick it's suffocating.
So quiet and still the only thing I hear is my fear, I don't know how to get out.
I lost the entrance studying your walls, and now I pace in silence.
Everytime I get closer to the exit, the sun shines again.
And I'm drawn deeper into your maze following the beauty, until it's night and I'm lost more than before and craving your daylight.
I had to close my eyes and seek escape with my feet,
'For if I'd looked at you again I would never be free
Kalliope Jan 2019
I love knowing what red feels like
How painful blue can be
The sting of green
Even the bitterness of jet black

I love myself on days of lilac
And question myself on nights of turquoise
But I can't visualize this empty
My heart hurts
Kalliope Jun 23
I had coffee and tea,
just the way I like.
I played music all day,
some loud, some quiet.

I didn’t panic once-
no shame, no crying.
I washed my face,
took care of my skin,
was gentle with myself.

I chose strawberry cheesecake body oil
over bed-rotting despair,
I deep conditioned and
re-dyed my hair.

And tomorrow I might do less,
or maybe more-
but today I loved me
in every pour.
Maybe it's silly but,
I think I'll be fine
I loved me so much today,
I deserve a glass of wine 🍷
Kalliope Nov 2024
Maybe it's time to go,
But I don't know how to leave.
There's always something to say, you never just let me be,
This house raised me with anger but also made me, me.
How can I walk away when it's all I've ever seen?
The children here I protected, the adults I witnessed fall
I can't relive this past anymore, I'm almost 30 after all.
This room holds so many memories, there's secrets in these walls.
How can some place be so comforting, yet keep my life on pause?
There's hatred in the air, masked by family dinners and decor, nothing can be out of place, you may only cry behind closed doors.
To feel sadness is to show weakness, and these people are out for blood, I've learned survival all these years, but sometimes I let the feelings flood.
Use your hands to be helpful, and your mouth only to smile, don't show your cracks, the answers no so don't ask or be prepared to be shunned for awhile.
As a child I was treated too grown,
As an adult I've been treated like a child,
What an interesting mix of generational trauma,
No wonder at times I went wild.

But now I have a daughter
I dont want to raise her madly
I want her to grow happy
And not walk this earth so sadly
Kalliope Mar 27
You asked me to jump in the river,
Last I was here I nearly drowned,
You assure me it's safe, like a dip in the lake
But I just stand here and stare at the ground
You're tugging and pulling and teasing and mocking, it's all such good fun for you
But Im stuck in a daze, reliving the ways the current swirled and looped
You're starting to get impatient, we're hand in hand,
My feet stuck firm in the sand
You're disappointed I couldn't follow through
I'm disappointed too
Once an avid aquatic, till that river turned me neurotic
I'd love nothing more than to be at ease swimming with you
Kalliope Jul 6
Heat waves rush my body,
Warming my skin,
Threatening to blind me,
But I just breathe it all in.

Sunglasses on,
Two hands on the wheel,
We’ve got somewhere to go,
And I want something to feel.

She plays in the park,
Discovering more every day,
And I watch her quietly,
Realizing I’m the same way.

I thank the moon
For all the guidance she’s given,
But I want to live now
That the sun has risen.

So I’ll play the monster,
And swing on the swings,
Chase my daughter around
For the joy that it brings.

It feels so good,
Being free in the sun-
I can assess my thoughts later,
Right now, I’m having fun.
Sometimes moments not centered around healing can heal too
Kalliope Jun 8
Like a broken machine
my mind tries to shut down,
but the cogs keep spinning
round and round.

Completely overheated,
the oils run dry—
you overthink and worry
‘till one day you die.
If to sleep is to know peace,
I'll never sleep again
Kalliope Jun 29
She would trace flowers along my
warm skin, her nails sharp yet gentle

You couldn't tell me loving her was a sin, a shot in one hand and
in her other a menthol
So I got her favorite tattooed on my thigh,
And within months she told me goodbye
But for a time I lived life on a high
And I keep these memories of a version of me not so shy
Kalliope Jun 2
In every gesture, repost, or rhyme
The universe sends me conflicting signs
I try to avoid them but I have been chosen,
To search for a meaning till my heart is broken.
Sometimes I think I’d rather gouge out my eyes,
maybe then my heart would stop searching
for signs it was never meant to find.
Kalliope Jun 9
So tell me love, do you feel better now?
Have all your questions been answered, will you let it die out?

Tell me love- did it fix your pain?
Is your chest no longer aching? Are you finished storming rain?

Tell me love, can you really accept it? You're not just a lighter you're
also a match stick

Tell me love what have you learned?
Did you really learn your lesson- will everyone get burned?

Tell me love will it make a difference? You want to change but you're never good with this

Tell me love you think it's all fate? That a few months of work can replace all your hate?

Tell me love- for you know it's true, you're a star burnt out and he's too good for you

Tell me love- can you stay this course? Or will you stop arguing with me once your voice is hoarse?

So tell me love did your mind untangle? Or did you just ramble on wishing your own neck you could strangle?
When everything goes quiet,
I begin to argue with myself
She sits with her silence,
Bound by her thoughts.
Life continues anyway,
But join in, she does not.

Though she would like to,
It takes time to decide,
And once she gets ready,
There’s no room in the ride.

So maybe she’ll start walking,
Or she’ll stay frozen in fear.
She wants to go somewhere else,
But she seems to be stuck here.

She’s found a doorway
Just a handful of times,
But every time she moves closer,
Further away it flies.

There must be a lesson
In this self-aware prison,
A continuous torturous cycle
From which she hasn’t risen.

Swirling and thrashing
In circular motions,
Part of her must like
Being breathless in the ocean.

Yet there’s a small part
On the left side of her brain
That hates this **** cycle,
The suffocation insane.

But she doesn’t control movement
And barely steers thoughts,
So here she goes again,
Busting down doors that should remain locked.

She’s scared to read new stories
With endings untold,
When all familiar tales
End predictably bitter and cold.

There’s bite to the freeze, though,
And pleasure in pain.
Echoes fill her mind’s chamber:
“Free us from these chains.”

No, she doesn’t need saving,
She’s working out the clues.
You say she’s isolating,
But it’s what she has to do.

So very easily distracted,
Hypnotized by honeyed words,
She falls in love so quickly,
Abandoning her puzzled curse.

And when it surely fizzles out,
She’s back here at square one,
A couple days of crashing out,
Erasing all the work she’s done.
Twenty seven years of this and it's surely lost it's fun
Kalliope May 15
My feet move forward but my mind stays stuck,
I walked this road alone before, I tried to stop picturing you with me, no luck.
Though I know you're long gone, I still see you peripherally,
A shadow seeped into the corner of every memory.

Everyone I've ever loved has a home in me,
I let go in body, but in spirit you're weaved.
A tasty snack, an even better smell,
You're in my air, in this breeze, embodying a perfect  nostalgic hell.

I have new goals, new friends, new skills
From time to time I still think of our thrills,
Sometimes it's quiet reflection, sometimes its tearful and loud,
It's wild how I can still find you in once familiar sounds.

I can't bring you back but how I wish I could, if I could do it all differently believe that I would,
If I found you now would the spark remain the same?
Souls are so fragile, and who knows what time has changed.
I watched an anime recently Frieren: Beyond Jounery's End,
And it just really struck a cord with my soul
Kalliope Apr 2018
Every time I get comfortable
Without you
You show up again.

Every time I get used to sleeping
By myself
You crawl into my bed.

Every time I fall in love
With you,
You leave me again.
The way we love hurts my heart.
Kalliope Jun 15
I read a book once-
a story so captivating I couldn’t put her down.
Her edges grew tattered, her pages creased.
I etched my name into her front cover
so long ago you can barely see it.
I recite her words to myself even when she isn't near,
My favorite pages covered in notes only in my mind because I'd never ruin her that way,
Her paper so worn,
it’s as if I sharpened a blade that now cuts my fingers,
simply because I refused to stop reading.
I read a book once-
a story so captivating
I couldn’t accept its ending,
so I reread her, again and again,
like my heart could change the ink.
I think it's time to read another book
Kalliope Apr 2018
I don't know what it feels like to be someone's first choice.
To be a priority.
To be special to someone.
I'm tired of aching for things
That I won't receive.
I'm tired of hurting for people
Who can't even remember
What color my eyes are.
My heart hurts.
Kalliope Dec 2024
Everything is blue,
There's no air left in my lungs,
The weight has crept out of my soul,
It's seeped into my bones,
Now I'm sinking faster,
There's nothing near to grasp,
I don't have it in me to make a life saving decision fast
But I knew summer was coming,
And everything's melting quick,
Maybe this is the downfall,
That makes everything in my brain click
Kalliope Dec 2020
Never will I learn
To stay away from fire
Aware that I will be burned
Yet still I crave its heat
Pass the alocane please
Kalliope Apr 22
Three years a mother
                       Look at you so tall!

Three years a juggler
                        Be careful don't fall!

A mother, a lover, a nurse, a friend
                        Go on now baby let's hear you count to ten!

A sometimes yes to the invite
                           Poor baby has the flu!

An often last minute cancelation
                           The sitter has something else to do!

I feel so tired, exhausted, and lonely
                           Wake up little baby let's get dressed for the day!

Not welcome in spaces where once I was praised
                            Come on goofy girl we've got a busy day!

But I can be a mother and love you just the same
                            Good job my baby you said your own name!
A woman, a lover, a nurse, a friend
Im all these things at once,
So why did adding mother complicate it for you in the end?
Kalliope Apr 2019
So I cut my hair
And changed my barbells
Switched out my hoop
And bought new clothes
Rearranged my room
Changed shampoos
But still I feel the same
Kalliope Jan 2019
You've got an idea of what life is
What your life should be
It's always been there
Since you were 8
Creating the future with barbies and sims

You turn 15
Your view changes
You're gonna be cool parents
With tattoos and leniency
Married to the guy you just met
You're so in love

You turn 18 now
You decide you don't want this life
Or any life
If it's not the life you pictured
It can't be a happy one
So you pull away from all the things that made you happy

You just turned 28
Surrounded by friends
A decent job
You're smiling, laughing
Reminiscing even
Only remembering the good
Life's weird y'all
Kalliope Jul 9
I shine my armor and sharpen my sword,
Leaving the castle on a quest once more.
I save some damsels once in distress,
I put raging dragons to a permanent rest.

My intentions are pure – to save them all,
But I won’t be the hero everyone wants to call.
Perhaps those damsels never wanted to be saved,
And dragons slain leave cities razed.

There’ll be legends whispered about me at night,
Each storyteller telling it slightly right.
And though their tales may change with the years,
I’ve made my peace with how I appear.
Even with the best intentions someone can still get hurt
Kalliope Jan 2021
And in times when she felt so
Alone
Unlovable
Overbearing
She had friends to fight along
Her side
Platonic love is valuable
Kalliope Jun 20
I cradle hurricanes in my ribcage
while words swirl around my head.
I try to catch the good ones-
but mostly, I wish I was dead.

I do everything too much-
the joy, the sorrow, the dread.
Yet somehow, I’m never enough-
what a curious truth to be force fed.

If I laugh, it’s always too loud;
my mouth too sharp to make anyone proud.
Crying is a dangerous game,
I could sob away a city, drown in the blame.

My rage leaves no survivors,
as if I line people up on personal pyres.
When I vent, they hear preaching-
a sermon no one wants, a fear of my leeching.

I don’t love, I dissect-
obsessively search for the trap I expect.
I can’t just leave; I burn it all down-
the bubbly, funny girl wears a permanent frown.

I do too much and my inner child feels seen,
She's acting out, we aren't this mean
I just get scared when the vibe is off, and ruining the mood makes the blow more soft.

Despite the chaos I still crave love, an equal partner, wearing fireproof gloves.
If I weather your storms, could you handle mine?
Storm chasers have never been easy to find.
Kalliope Apr 2018
Our good days were good but our bad days were **** near catastrophic.
Kalliope Apr 2018
****** coffee,
Sleepless nights,
Broken hearts,
And drunken fights.
Kalliope Aug 2024
And still I look back
On the bad days
The ones with the fights
And the yelling
Cant forget the tears

And still I look back
On the good days
The ones with the love
And the affection
Can't forget the feeling

And still I look back
Before I met you
And my heart wasn't broken
Can't forget how you changed me

And still I look back
But do you?
Do you think a brace would force me to live in the present?
Kalliope May 15
Just like every cliché
You showed up too late to care ,
I gave you a decade of grace
But you never could meet me there,
Now you want me to come home
But I'm trying to start a new life,
My feelings have started to roam
Yet you keep pushing this knife,
The texts and calls are incoming
From I miss you to I hate you,
I can't find words I'm just humming
You made my world every shade of blue,
I stay strong for our daughter
I wish you'd do the same,
But you keep dragging me backward,
I'm tired of carrying the blame.
I cried oceans
To try and teach you the motions
To keep me in your depths,
But I've made it to the shore now
And of this I am sure now
That I'm better off on dry land.
Kalliope Jun 3
I've got this blanket wrapped around me
While I sit here on the floor and I just can't shake the feeling- I don't want to do this anymore.
I don't want to be quiet, and mousey, and small
I want to be the kind of woman who can have it all
I want to wake up and embrace this pain,
I don't want it to trap me- make me insane
I want to say what I need to say, and live how I feel day after day
So many people I'm trying to impress and it's making my mind a horrible, unorganized mess
I'm drowning in these expectations, sinking in these rules- no one ever asks me what I want to do.
I am not selfish.
I am not dumb.
I'm done living for you,
And I'm done being numb.
I can't be the glue holding everyone together,
I want to have purpose not just as a tether
Uno
Kalliope Nov 2018
Uno
Your promises mean nothing
Your words the same
Not quite lies
But never truthful
I don't know how to play this game
You've got me beat
For once I'll say it
I surrender
You win
A handful of cards I don't understand
You have one and know just when to play
Kalliope Apr 2019
I don't write very well
I can't find a flow
All over the pages
Every word goes

I don't write very well
The words don't make sense
Sometimes it feels better
To write in past tense

I don't write very well
But I need to express my emotions
And separate my thoughts
From this world's commotions
Kalliope Apr 2018
I never fully understood why you felt the need to beat me into submission when I'd already surrendered myself to you after you said you loved me.
Kalliope Jun 20
You're quiet thunder
I hold storms behind my teeth
Still you heard the rain
If the sun never shines again,
And these clouds never clear?
Well, I've always loved the rain
And someone else will love it here.
Kalliope Jun 6
I'm walking in the rain.
My hair is wet.
My clothes are drenched.
I'm not running.

I'm walking in the rain
With no umbrella,
Pulling a suitcase
Of baggage I can’t seem to get rid of.
There’s mascara all down my face.

I'm walking in the rain.
The thunder is loud.
The lightning is blinding.
The wind tries to push me fast—
But I'm walking in the rain.
I hope it washes me away
Kalliope Apr 2018
I remember bottling up the beach for you since you've never been.
To you it's just sand.
It was more than just sand to me
Kalliope Aug 2024
I'll write you a letter
That you'll never see,
I hope to feel better,
Go back to being me
It's written in invisible ink
With tears splattered on the pages
So I can never go back and think
I could have made all the right changes
Kalliope Jun 7
She tells me, “You should have five kids with your face, you’re beautiful,” after she asks how many kids I want and I tell her I think I’m stopping at the one I have. I laugh, because I’m not beautiful.
But I feel seen.

She always calls me beautiful, and I know it’s not my looks. It’s my compassion, my bedside manner. I ask about her day and sometimes I tell her about mine.
She says they don’t talk to her like I do—and that makes me sad.

She’ll tell me about her granddaughter while I prep my supplies, and I’ll remind her to go easy on the girl while I flush her tube.
Her daughter pops in. She knows me by name, wears a look of relief because I’ve already done oral care and tucked her in for the night.
While I clean up, her daughter tells me about her week.
They both say they wish I worked through the week.

I’d like to stay longer, but I’ve got two more rooms.
So I say my goodnights and push my cart along.

She’s on hospice. I know how this goes. I’ve been through this before.
But when she goes, I will miss her.
I’ll hope she finally gets that Bud Light she’s been asking for when she crosses over.
And I’ll think of her every time I prep that room for a new patient.
Sometimes you get the opportunity to take care of someone that makes you remember why you're so passionate about Healthcare in the first place
Kalliope Sep 2024
Yesterday's here again
Tomorrow never comes
I lay around and daydream about old love
Yesterday seduces me
Day after day
Soon I'll see the future
But probably not til the grave
Yesterday loves me
And has a grasp on me so tight
I'd give Tomorrow a chance
But it doesn't feel right
Yesterday is unfinished
A story untold
An ending I'll rewrite
Until I'm grey and old
But tomorrow could love me
It's trying it's best
It's waiting so patiently
For me to put Yesterday to rest.
But Yesterday was certain
Tomorrow is new
Yesterday was comfort
And Today?
Well it's blue
Kalliope Jun 25
The concrete cools, no longer burning my feet as the sun slips away for his evening retreat
Sometimes there's fireflies and other bugs do sing, but I'm waiting on the moon and the tranquility she brings.

The street lamps will highlight small places in the dark, but the moon and her stars did it better from the start,
She makes a liminal place feel serene, mapping constellations and discussing what they mean.

In this silence I feel so free, the air is not heavy when she's looking at me, I just admire the way that she glows, intergalactic wisdom pouring over my head to my toes.

I could stay out here for most of the night, from the suns purple goodbyes to his pink morning highs, when they switch shifts I'll return home, until it's time for my iridescent friend to show.
I'd like to think she waits for me too
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