Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
Archer Jan 31
Blank pages
Scattered brain
Even greater scattered words
Slurry falls out of my skull, into my mouth
Like tumbled rocks
Schrödinger’s paragraphs
Both written and not
Until I decide to sit down
Pen in hand
Pencil in hand
Paper staring
Blankly
Eyes staring
Blankly
Scattered brain
Even greater scattered words
And thoughts
A fateful night,
I was restless,
Sleep fleeting my young eyes.
So I rose from bed,
And to my desk I sat.
My pen curled in my fingers,
I wrote.
I wrote of a girl,
Made of spare paper,
And discarded ink.
But never did I guess,
My writing would come true.
Yet come next morning before me lay,
A paper girl with inky eyes.
An ode to a character I made many years ago.
A girl, made of paper
She blows in the wind
All her thoughts, written on her pages
Creative and calm and curious and careful
She sings, shyly, softly
In the middle of the night
She doesn't want to be heard
She wants to be heard

A girl, made of stone
She stands steady in the storm
Her face, emotionless, expressionless
Strong and stony and stoic and silent
She writes, fluidly, fearfully
In the middle of the night
She doesn't want to be seen
She wants to be seen

A girl, made of light
She shines in the dark
Love glistens in her eyes
Luminous and loving and lighthearted and loyal
She glows, boldly, beautifully
in the middle of the night
She doesn't fear being seen
She doesn't fear being heard

Girls made of paper
And girls made of stone
Hurt too many times by those who claim to care
Hiding from the world no longer
Girl made of light
Hope is her name
Burns like a spark in their hearts in the night
Whispering softly, gently
It's ok to be seen
It's ok to be heard
Found this SUPER old poem, pretty sure I was 12 when I wrote this. Randomly unearthed it when going through a box of old stuff (I'm a bit of a hoarder), and decided it wasn't terrible.
Cyril Jan 14
Let the paper remember everything I ought to forget.
Read the newspaper,
Read a book.

Scrolling through these videos,
Gives my soul a headache.

I'm just gonna make some chicken n' noodle soup,
And use a paper, or as a modern stance, pauper cook book.
I don't know exactly what's different here, but I like it. It just seems different from the rest of my poems.
Kiernan Norman Dec 2024
LOST:
A dream about a staircase with no top step.
Last seen circling my brain at 3:14 a.m.,
with no place to land.
Reward: One uninterrupted night of sleep.
Contact: [email protected]

FREE TO GOOD HOME:
A laugh that doesn’t fit anymore—
sharp, too loud,
like it belongs to someone braver.
Please take it before it cuts me deeper.
Contact: [email protected]

MISSING CONNECTION:
You—on the other side of the street,
waving like it was still 2015.
Me—too slow to cross,
too afraid to shout.
If spotted, please circle back.
Contact: my number’s the same, but maybe you deleted it.

FOUND:
A treasure map to nowhere, folded into my coat lining.
No roads, just dotted lines,
and an X I’m scared to dig up.
No need to claim; it’s already mine.
Contact: (don’t.)

MISSING CONNECTION:
You—wearing a yellow raincoat,
laughing like the storm was yours to own.
Me—stuck in a doorway,
too afraid to step into puddles.
If you see this, let me borrow your courage.
Contact: [email protected]

FOR SALE OR TRADE:
A reflection that doesn’t belong to me.
It moves slower, smiles at things
I haven’t thought of yet.
Will trade for a mug that doesn’t drip.
Contact: [email protected]

LOST:
The way my name sounded when you said it,
soft and certain,
like it was the only taste there was.
Reward: The strength to stop listening for it.
Contact: [email protected]

FOR SALE:
One fractured moment in time.
It split clean down the middle—
half yours, half mine—
and hums like static when held.
Warning: Reassembly not guaranteed.
Contact: [email protected]

LOST:
The ability to distinguish between a memory and a dream.
Last felt in a room full of books and musty yellow light.
Reward: A map with all dead ends marked in gold.
Contact: [email protected]

MISSING CONNECTION:
You—crossing the street as if it didn’t exist,
leaving footprints in the air.
Me—watching from behind a pane of glass that wasn’t real,
wishing I could step through.
If you see this, tell me if the other side is softer.
Contact: [email protected]

FREE TO GOOD HOME:
A mirror that only reflects your mistakes.
It’s cracked but still works.
Perfect for someone braver than me.
Contact: [email protected]

FREE TO GOOD HOME:
A scream swallowed too quickly,
leaving the weight of what it couldn’t say.
It hums at night, sharp enough to cut silence,
soft enough to still feel human.
Contact: [email protected]

FOUND:
A version of me I didn’t know still existed.
She’s smaller, softer,
but hums with the ache of wanting something bigger.
No one’s claimed her,
but she feels too familiar to let go.
Contact: [email protected]

FOR SALE:
A jar of lightning,
trapped mid-flash, flickering faintly.
Warning: It won’t light your way, but it might set you on fire.
Contact: [email protected]

MISSING CONNECTION:
You—standing in a crowd of people who looked like you.
Me—shouting a name I wasn’t sure was yours.
If you see this, tell me which one of us got it wrong.
Contact: [email protected]

FREE TO GOOD HOME:
A shadow that moves faster than I do.
It drags me to places I swore I wouldn’t revisit.
It’s loyal,
but it doesn’t listen.
Contact: [email protected]

MISSING CONNECTION:
You—just out of reach,
your voice fading like a star going nova.
Me—chasing echoes through rooms I don’t recognize.
If you see this, tell me how it ends.
Contact: [email protected]

WANTED:
A gas station map that folds wrong.
Not one that shows the way,
but one that erases it completely,
leaving only the thrill of getting lost.
Payment: Breadcrumbs I don’t plan to follow.
Contact: [email protected]

MISSING CONNECTION:
You—at a bus stop,
Me—watching you disappear before I could prove myself.
If you’re still waiting,
I swear I’ll catch the next bus.
Reward: a Metrocard, but refilling it costs more than it’s worth.
Contact: [email protected]

FOUND:
A photograph that doesn’t make sense—
faces blurred, the room stitched from dreams:
a log cabin leaning into splinters,
a Vietnamese superstore where shampoo and morning glory
share aisles with áo dài and gnocchi,
my first-grade classroom—pine-needle air,
metal chairs sparking against old carpet.
The photo shifts,
but the context stays the same.
Contact: [email protected]

FREE TO GOOD HOME:
A moment of clarity that burns too bright to keep.
It sees everything,
even what you wish it wouldn’t.
Take it before it blinds me.
Contact: [email protected]

FOR SALE OR TRADE:
A clock with teeth.
It eats seconds like they’re starving it,
but spits them out just wrong enough to notice.
Will trade for a moment that doesn’t bite back.
Contact: [email protected]

WANTED:
Someone to tell me if it’s too late.
If the road I’ve walked is the only one I get,
or if there’s still time to take a left,
a right,
or turn around entirely.
No qualifications necessary—just say something.
Reward: My charge to pay attention; ***** coins and all.
Find Me: I'll be wearing a yellow rain coat.
Contact: [email protected]
Maria Etre Nov 2024
Fatten my papers
with poetry
your name
is dense
it inks it
differently
Ember Nov 2024
guillotine of dried tree pulp,
with eloquent insults adorned,
beheading reputations one by one,
in a single sharp-written bite.

when the pen-wielding executioner drops the rope,

even the mighty end in baskets

at the hand of paper blades.
Valentin Eni Nov 2024
I don't recognize it anymore,
I can't decipher it from the words,
From the letters black as lice.
Its wings are broken,
its body was torn and frayed,
Its face is stretched like a puddle on the asphalt.

It's broken into pieces,
Tangled and knotted,
And ugly.
And it stinks, indeed, it reeks...
Of printer's ink
And yellowed paper,
Moldy
And damp.

It's not mine anymore,
I don't recognize it,
It's a stranger to me,
It's mute.

And it can only cough,
And whimper,
And rattle,
And wheeze,
And howl,
And scream,

That it wants to be read,
That it wants to be seen,
Wants to be heard,
Wants to be known,

Felt, grieved, lived, loved.
Whispered, shouted, but most of all:
Sung,
And reread and recited...

And I think
That it might have remained
A beautiful
Unwritten poem.
The poem reflects on loss and disconnection with creation. The author no longer recognizes the poem, describing it as broken, lifeless, and foreign. It’s portrayed as something that once held potential but is now flawed and decaying, longing desperately to be noticed, understood, and loved.

The final lines express regret, suggesting that it might have been more beautiful if it had never been written, leaving readers with a bittersweet reflection on creativity and the unattainable perfection of unfulfilled ideas.
Next page