L: Poems - Hello Poetry

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Mississippi Goddam

L Jul 2015

Mississippi ******

The name of this tune is Mississippi ******
And I mean every word of it

Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi ******

Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi ******

Can't you see it
Can't you feel it
It's all in the air
I can't stand the pressure much longer
Somebody say a prayer

Alabama's gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about Mississippi ******

This is a show tune
But the show hasn't been written for it, yet

Hound dogs on my trail
School children sitting in jail
Black cat cross my path
I think every day's gonna be my last

Lord have mercy on this land of mine
We all gonna get it in due time
I don't belong here
I don't belong there
I've even stopped believing in prayer

Don't tell me
I tell you
Me and my people just about due
I've been there so I know
They keep on saying "Go slow!"

But that's just the trouble
"do it slow"
Washing the windows
"do it slow"
Picking the cotton
"do it slow"
You're just plain rotten
"do it slow"
You're too **** lazy
"do it slow"
The thinking's crazy
"do it slow"
Where am I going
What am I doing
I don't know
I don't know

Just try to do your very best
Stand up be counted with all the rest
For everybody knows about Mississippi ******

I made you thought I was kiddin'

Picket lines
School boy cots
They try to say it's a communist plot
All I want is equality
for my sister my brother my people and me

Yes you lied to me all these years
You told me to wash and clean my ears
And talk real fine just like a lady
And you'd stop calling me Sister Sadie

Oh but this whole country is full of lies
You're all gonna die and die like flies
I don't trust you any more
You keep on saying "Go slow!"
"Go slow!"

But that's just the trouble
"do it slow"
Desegregation
"do it slow"
Mass participation
"do it slow"
Reunification
"do it slow"
Do things gradually
"do it slow"
But bring more tragedy
"do it slow"
Why don't you see it
Why don't you feel it
I don't know
I don't know

You don't have to live next to me
Just give me my equality
Everybody knows about Mississippi
Everybody knows about Alabama
Everybody knows about Mississippi ******

That's it!

Nina Simone

**
Leigh

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Miss You

L May 2015

Miss You

Maybe the stars aligned
or maybe I just changed my mind

Alabama Shakes

**
Leigh

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mixed signals, mixed emotions

L Dec 2013

mixed signals, mixed emotions

why do you do the things you do?
your body says,
"Come hither."
but your eyes say
"Why bother?"

so which is it, boy?
surely,
if you didn't want me in the slightest,
you would have left me years ago...
just like the others.

yet here you stand,
as beautiful as ever.

I call you Beatiful Boy...
but those are just
words.
do you believe you are beautiful?

your hazel eyes full of insecurity say
"No."
they are full of memories and
taunts from bullies of the past...
but they aren't here anymore, Beauitful Boy.
they're long gone.
the only one that remains is me.

can you see me?

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Mom

L Nov 2014

Mom

I'm sick
of being hit
with your
sharpened daggers.
What makes you
think that
my heart
is protected by an
impenetrable
shield?
It's covered in scars,
bruised and damaged.
The slightest mention
of an insecurity
and I'll break,
crash,
and burn.
You don't even care.
You don't even *see.

**
Leigh

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Mom

L Mar 2015

Mom

I take you for granted so often
that I weep when I realize
how much you actually care.

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Momentos

L Apr 2015

Momentos

I kept everything

perfumed letters
a dated Polaroid photo
words of love on index cards
a half filled journal
stitches in material
a braided bracelet
several "I love you" notes
a birthday card
comedic Valentines
a photobooth collage
forever-perfect flowers
a get well soon card
pennies in an envelope
a fortune cookie wrapper
dried up sunflowers
an apology

And I can't bring myself to trash, deface, rip, burn, or forget any of them

Please don't forget me and what we had

Happy birthday, Ray

**
Leigh

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Morning Glory (10w)

L Sep 2014

Morning Glory (10w)

Every morning,
I awake with
your name
on my lips.

**
Leigh

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Mother

L Apr 2015

Mother

You have no trouble joking about boyfriends with everyone else,
so what's wrong with me?
Why can't you be that way with me?
Now that I have someone I can share with you, I want to be able to.
But you ignore and scream and become paranoid.
What's wrong with you?

I've never been close with my mom, but more recently, she's been making my life miserable.

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Music

L Mar 2014

Music

A lyricist can hide her heart in the metaphors of her lyrics.

A musician can hide his mind in the chords of his guitar.

A fan can find solace in the combination of both.

Just a little musing about music.
**

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Music

L Oct 2015

Music

I felt a rush of tears
flooding my eyes
and an unseen force
pushing gold through my veins.
It was then that I realized --
I will be in love with music
for the rest of my life.

**
Leigh

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musical musing

L Nov 2013

"As soon as you're born, they make you feel small
By giving you no time instead of it all
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all"

a working class hero is something to be...
is it?
maybe.
but wouldn't you rather be free?

"Working Class Hero" by John Lennon

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My Accidental Muse

L Feb 2014

My Accidental Muse

I never meant to look at you this way -- as a muse...
But you're mine.

You inspire me every day.
Your smile alone makes me want to write, to pour my thoughts and feelings and love into a poem like this.

What have you done to me?

I've begun seeing the world differently.
The sun is brighter.
The sky is bluer.
My heart is happier.

I've begun speaking differently.
Words are more articulate.
Sentences are more refined.
My mouth moves with grace.

I've begun acting differently.
Hugs become expected.
Random touches become unconious.
My hands become unforced.

**You've become more than a muse.

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My Fears

L Dec 2014

My Fears

Abandonment
Resentment
Embarrassment
Harassment
Replacement
Punishment
Imprisonment
Detachment
Torment
Misjudgment
Sentiment

inspired

**
Leigh

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My First Kiss With A Boy

L Apr 2015

My First Kiss With A Boy

It was terribly awkward.
He wrapped his arms around my waist and without warning,
placed his chapped lips on my virginal ones.
I pulled back and scrunched up my nose.
"That wasn't too good, was it?"
"No, not really."
"Can I do it again?"
The second time was better.
He had run his tongue over his lips this time.
It didn't matter anyway.
He wasn't the one I wanted to be kissing.
It was always him.
Maybe it always will be, in some part of my mind.

Thought I'd follow the trend with this one

**
Leigh

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My First Kiss With A Girl

L Apr 2015

My First Kiss With A Girl

It was rushed.
I was so nervous that my hands wouldn't stop shaking.
She didn't seem to notice.
As soon as we rounded the corner and I was up against a wall,
her lips were up against mine...
Rather haphazardly.
She tasted sweeter than church wine.
I placed my hands on her shoulders and pushed her away gently.
"Let's try that again, yeah?"
The second time was better.
Her lips fit between mine like a plug to an electrical outlet --
Instant electricity.
It was nice while it lasted.

For the lovely R, my first for everything.

**
Leigh

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My Love

L Sep 2014

My Love

I could write
sonnets to her lips,
love poems
to her tongue.

a little phrase I woke up to this morning...
For the beautiful R.

**
Leigh

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My Personal Statement

L Oct 2014

My Personal Statement

I found myself in the music of
the Beatles --
In drastic rise and sultry fall of
John Lennon's voice.
In the rhythmic sound of
Paul McCartney's bass.
In the hauntingly beautiful chords of
George Harrison's guitar.
In the solidity and beat of
Ringo Starr's drums.
They helped me find
the life
that I thought had
drained out of me
long ago.
All four of them
pulled my heart
out of my chest,
patching and healing it
until it was whole again.
For them,
I am grateful.
Because of them,
I am alive.

For Berkeley.
For R.

**
Leigh

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Necessity

L Feb 2014

Necessity

It's 4 AM and visions of you are keeping me awake.
My mind is cluttered with thoughts I shouldn't be having...

I want to hold your hand in the backseat when my parents can't see.
I want to kiss that spot on your neck that I've been dying to.
I want to map out your body with only my fingertips.
I want my name spilling out of your mouth incoherently.
I need you.

Oh, please understand that when I said
"Stop..."
I really didn't mean it -- by no means did I mean it.
But I needed you to.
God knows what I would have done otherwise.

and the wants aren't only physical

****, have I become bold with this one
**

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Next Girl

L Sep 2015

Next Girl

The look of the cake
It ain't always the taste
My ex girl she had
Such a beautiful face

I wanted love
But not for myself
But for the girl
So she could love herself

My next girl
Will be nothing like my ex girl
I made mistakes back then
I'll never do it again
With my next girl
She'll be nothing like my ex girl
That was a painful dance
Now I got a second chance

A beautiful face
And a wicked way
And I'm paying for her
Beautiful face every day
All that work
Over so much time If I think too hard
I might lose my mind

My next girl
Will be nothing like my ex girl
I made mistakes back then
I'll never do it again
With my next girl
She'll be nothing like my ex girl
That was a painful dance
Now I got a second chance

The Black Keys

**
Leigh

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Next Girl

L Jan 2016

Next Girl

My next girl
Will be nothin' like my ex girl
I made mistakes back then and
I, I'll never do it again

The Black Keys

Leigh

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NHS

L Mar 2016

NHS

You lack character
Poise, responsibility, honesty
And they all know it

Leigh

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Nightmares

L Jun 2014

Nightmares

Every once in a blue moon, I have nightmares.
Usually reoccurring.
Usually confusing.
Especially terrifying.
But tonight's was -- by far --
the worst.

I had you.
I had you in my arms and love was bright and I was yours.
You pulled away.
I let you go, thinking you didn't want me to hold you anymore.
You cried.
I questioned.
You held out your arms.
What I saw was something I hope to never see in reality -- your beautiful arms, a ****** mass of torn flesh and broken spirit.
I tried to heal them with bandages, tape, and my love... but they bled on.
You bled out.
And I bled tears.

The only thing on my mind was you when I awoke.

It's funny that I worry about things like that.
I worry that you're slipping through my ice cold fingers and there is nothing for me to grasp...
But then I remember how quickly you changed my life and my heart.
I learned to love again.
And with that love, I will hold onto you.
Hopefully, you won't pull away.

2:52 AM is not the ideal time for writing, no?
Sorry if it's **** because of it.

**
Leigh

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Northern Star

L Sep 2015

When she was my Sun,
you were my Northern Star.
You stayed in the background,
but you were there --
Listening, advising, but never pushing.
You saw, didn't you?
You saw that I, Moon, would come crashing down.
You watched as she scorched and burned.
You, my Star, waited until the Moon came to you.

I don't think this makes any sense

**
Leigh

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not necessarily a poem

L Dec 2013

not necessarily a poem

psychology is my favorite class.
not because I love studying about what makes people tick,
but because I am the only sophomore.
and since I am the only sophomore,
no one talks to me.
so I sit in my desk,
uncomfortable as hell,
and listen.
I listen to the gossip being told from ear to ear.
I listen to the lies being spread like wildfire.
I listen to the teacher telling the class to settle.
but most importantly,
**I listen to the words in my head.

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Oceans // Hillsong United

L Apr 2015

Oceans // Hillsong United

So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Fine

**
Leigh

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Oct 13, 2014 - 2:17 AM

L Oct 2015

Oct 13, 2014 - 2:17 AM

You are stronger now than you ever were before.

Wrote this to myself last year to read on my birthday.
Little did I know how true it would be.

**
Leigh

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Oh, My Love...

L Feb 2014

You make me believe in the kind of love I thought only existed in the novels on my bookshelf.

You make me want to lasso the stars and pull them down to earth, just to see your smile.

You make me want to thank whatever god there is for bringing you into my heart.

*You make me believe in me.

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Olfactory

L May 2015

Olfactory

My favorite uniform shirt smells like you.
The first time I kissed you, I was wearing this shirt.
Did you know that?
Do you remember something so minuscule as that?
Probably not.
Suddenly, everything in my room smells like you.
My bed sheets -- how? I've washed them seven times
   since you were in them last.
The doorway -- but only when I'm leaving, never entering.
My favorite Beck album -- makes sense. I brought
   it to your house one time so we could play it, love, then sleep.
Your smell, vanilla and the crook of your neck, permeates the corners.
I can't tell you how many sticks of incense I've burned
   in the past month.
Their musk does nothing to clothe yours.

I'm probably doing more harm than good at this point

**
Leigh

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Olfactory

L Jan 2016

Olfactory

Lavender makes me sick
Vanilla makes me cringe
Set me free from olfactory memory
The smell is much too thick

I don't know
it worked in my head

Leigh

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One or the Other

L Oct 2015

One or the Other

Genius in one way.
Idiot in another.
Which one will make you happy?
Which one will take you further?

For one of you

**
Leigh

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or am I?

L Dec 2013

or am I?

sometimes, I think I'm rather obvious.
all it's takes is someone with open eyes.

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Pardon the rant

L May 2014

Pardon the rant

I'm sick of having to defend my feelings.
You make me feel like **** for having someone I can call mine, for loving her.
It's because she's a girl.
It's because she's your best friend.
NEWSFLASH.
She's my best friend, too.
We can have the same friends.
You're just like mom -- believing that anything not like you is odd.
You don't have romantic feelings for a girl, so it's ******* sick to you.
I heard you telling our cousin what you thought about us.
You think it's wrong.
You think it's "weird".
You think it's disgusting.
Well, it isn't.
It's beautiful beyond recognition.
Such beauty could blind a person.
But you don't understand that.
You don't want to.
So you blink, hoping it will disappear.

Go ahead and tell all your little friends about us.
I just hope you feel like **** afterwards.
Our business is our own.

**
Leigh

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Pa·thet·ic

L Aug 2014

Pa·thet·ic

If someone even dares to say your name around me,
only one word comes to mind.
It's the best word to describe you.
The basic definition?
Miserably inadequate.
Synonymous with your name.
I pity you.
Truly, I do.
I cannot imagine what it's like to not be able to help yourself.
Isn't that the goal of humans?
"Help yourself in order to help others."
But you can't.
How sad, how miserably inadequate.

"She wakes up, she makes up
She takes her time and doesn't feel she has to hurry
She no longer needs you"

I should be writing about love...

**
Leigh

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Personal Mayhem

L Apr 2014

Personal Mayhem

Here's the thing about panic attacks:
At first, they slowly peel back the edges of old wounds...
Then rip them off like a bandaid.
They leave you bleeding from the heart.
They leave you questioning every single thing you've done.
By the end, you're left cowering in your bed sheets, silently seeking solace from yourself.

If they think I'm suicidal, why do they keep leaving me home alone?

**
Leigh

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Photograph Smile

L May 2015

Photograph Smile

And I wait sitting here by the phone,
With the hope that your heart isn't stone
And I wish that you'd call me and cry,
So I'd know how you feel deep inside.

And she's waving goodbye with that photograph smile,
Under the heavenly blue,
I'm never gonna be closer again,
I'll never know,
I'll never feel you, ever again

Julian Lennon

**
Leigh

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Poetic Freedom of Speech (10w)

L Aug 2014

Poetic Freedom of Speech (10w)

You don't have to read what I write, dear friend.

Whether it be about religious beliefs or mental illness or physical love,
a poet writes about what they feel...
Sometimes, those writings can get very personal.
But who are you to tell a poet "No, you can't write about that"?

**
Leigh

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Porcelain

L Dec 2015

Porcelain

You once told me that my skin was that of a porcelain doll
and now I feel like one that's been thrown against a wall,
skin cracking and waiting to be glued back together.

**
Leigh

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Porcelain

L Aug 2015

Porcelain

Porcelain
Are you wasting away in your skin?
Are you missing the love of your kin?
Drifting and floating and fading away

Porcelain
Do you smell like a girl when you smile?
Can you bear not to share with your child?
Drifting and floating and fading away

Little lune
All day
Little lune

Porcelain
Do you carry the moon in your womb?
Someone said that you're fading too soon
Drifting and floating and fading away

Porcelain
Are you wasting away in your skin
Are you missing the love of your kin
Nodding and melting and fading away

Little lune
All day
Little lune

RHCP

**
Leigh

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Prevail (10w)

L May 2014

Do you ever question why you are still alive?

*Stop.

...You'll forget to live.

**
Leigh

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Progress (10w)

L Feb 2014

I am no longer afraid to say "I love you."

And it feels great.

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Pusher

L Apr 2016

Pusher

You tap the vein and push love into my bloodstream

Leigh

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question

L Nov 2013

question

today, a friend asked me what I liked about you.
I gave them the generic answer
"he's a great guy"
but looking back on that question, I began to think...

what do I like about you, love?

I like the way the skin around your eyes crinkle when you smile.
I like the dimples in your cheeks.
I like the music you ask me to listen to (now just listen to mine).
I like the way we can give each other a look and instantly know what's up.
I like when you send me pictures of your cats, as if I really care (which I do).
I like the way you say "*****" and "****".
I like when you tell me that I'm beautiful.
I like when you feel insecure and turn to me for help.
I like the fact that you've never left me, not once in 16 years.

but I hate that I love you.

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R (12w)

L Mar 2015

R (12w)

I will sing my song
for you
and I will carry on

With fondness

**
Leigh

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Radiate

L Mar 2014

Radiate

Whenever you walk into the room, my eyes have to adjust.
The light you produce is blinding -- a torch in the middle of a dark cave.
What is that light?
Is it the light of happiness? The light of love?
Whatever it may be, don't let it extinguish.
You're the light that illuminates my eyes and my heart.
I would surely be lost without you.

not much, having a bit of writer's block... anywayyy
I love you, Rach <3 Thank you for being my personal sunlight.

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R, a liar

L Dec 2015

R, a liar

***** you and your moral high road. Don't pin that **** on me. Nine months later and I can still see through you like you're a ******* window. Did you want what was best for me in July? How about August? Or January? Or March, when you thought that I opened my legs in order to open my heart? *******. I don't want your God-given *******. Take what He gave you and stay out of my life.

I have to hear about your ******* from other people and I'm **** tired of it.
STOP reading my posts.
It's obsessive and sick.

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Ramblings

L May 2015

Ramblings

Why do I have this unexplainable need to be around you at all times? It's like you've defied everything I thought I knew about love. You're the first thing I think of in the morning and the last thing I think of as my head lays upon a mascara stained pillow. How did you become such a vital part of my life so quickly? I told myself I was never going to call anyone else "my love", but here I am saying it. How did you do it, vanquish all of my demons? I thought this would make you flee, that would make you run. But you haven't budged. If anything, you've shifted closer. I could say that I've fallen for you, but I haven't. I started to fall, caught myself, leaned backwards, got pushed, and slipped into this love. Is that what this is? Love?
*Have I found love so soon after losing it?

**
Leigh

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Ray

L Jun 2015

Ray

The first night without you, I cried like an abandoned child and bit my fingernails for the first time in years. I drank straight from a bottle of wine I snuck from the pantry. I spun violently around my room, letting an angry record spin. Later, I hit my fist against the wall of the shower as I washed off all my shame and anger in ice cold water. Then I spent the rest of that godawful night shivering in my bed like the shattered heart that I was, my skin shaking and rising over my fragile bones. And no one knew, and no one knew...

Three months later and my heart is still breaking

**
Leigh

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Reflect

L Jan 2015

Reflect

You're forgetting the meaning
of love behind a relationship.
You're making everything
related to
making love
rather than
creating love.
Don't confuse the two
or you'll lose it all.

Am I sub-poeming?
Yeah alright I am

**
Leigh

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Rescue Me

L Nov 2015

Rescue Me

Drag me down to the river and throw me in
Aint talkin bout the shallow but the deepest end
Take me down and hold me under
Don't let me breathe
Until you know i'm good and ready
For you to rescue me

Andrew Ripp

**
Leigh

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Right Hand Man

L Jan 2016

"Dying is easy, young man, living is harder."

Not mine
Hamilton
Lin-Manuel Miranda

Leigh

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