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Joshua Phelps Apr 15
i. descent

three years of
trial and tribulation

three years of
self-pity
and regret

i kept asking:
is there something
wrong with me?

am i my own
worst enemy?

am i my own
biggest threat?

three years ago,
i thought
i lost it all

a fall from grace
that put me
to the test.

ii. decision

i had
two options:



fail


or


try my best


to not be
a part of
the problem

to let the past
be the past

and
lay it all
to rest.

iii. healing

as the years
went by,

i learned
to break free

i learned
to forgive my
past

so the bad dreams
could finally
drift away

and i
can finally

be at peace,

at last.
a soft rebellion against who i used to be—
this poem is for the nights i almost gave up,
and the mornings i didn’t.
Gracie Anne Apr 15
The stars didn’t align like how I thought they would.
I used to sit on my stoop late at night
Gazing up at the stars and begging for the universe to take me.
Fill my lungs with stardust instead and let me go to the home
My heart never ceased aching for.
I equated their twinkling to laughter,
I imagined them trading bets on how long they could wait
Until I took matters into my own hands.
How many times I would fail until one of them took pity on me.
Shooting stars like shooting dice and passing satellites
Like the scrolling KENO screen at the celestial casino.

I shouldn’t have survived those nights.
I was their underdog racehorse beating the odds again and again and again.

I felt the universe looking down gently upon me,
Pulling out an ancient coin in their heavenly hands
To finally flip and decide once and for all if I shall stay or go.
And as the coin flipped, my world imploded.
Wrapped in a cosmic blanket I stood face to face with the sun.
Bright, warm rays enveloped me, a light more beautiful than I’d ever known before.
He said to me “it hurts to become” and I knew what he meant but
I wanted to be as powerful, proud, and warm as him.
The coin landed.
And courageously,
I became.
Joshua Phelps Apr 12
i was lost,
battered,
bruised—

lost in
a cyclical
spiral,

a downfall
i told myself

i wouldn’t go
through again.

life was on
autopilot,

and i did
all i can

to weather
this storm.

i was struggling
to see the other
side,

then you
came in
my life,

picked up
the pieces,
and

helped
a broken heart

mend and
repair,

so i could
cross over

and finally
see the light.

because of
you,

i believe
in love again.

because of you,

i’m learning
to be a better
person,

so i can
fight for another
day,

just so i

can be with you
for the rest
of my life.

i once was
lost in myself,
but now i’m home.

life is better
when i spend
every waking

moment with
you.
the final piece in a three-part series.

“lost” was about survival, “unwavering” was about inner strength, and “found” is about healing through love.

inspired by avril lavigne’s “keep holding on.”
Megan Apr 7
Passion drives poetry
Aligning my imagery

With truths deep inside of me
I’ve longed to break free

From suffering and hate
From chucking dinner plates

I reflect sipping nectar
Seeing how I got better

Feeling all I’ve conquered
All I have sobered

Now I glow, illuminate
Engrained in this trait

Growing never knowing
Destinations all fake
She came to me, with a vial of dust.
A means of a healing, the taste was like rust.
Her wings, her secret. Her halo gave no light,
As my desperate song found her ears in the night.

I knew what she offered. I knew the whole game.
And yet, I moved forward—a moth to a flame.
Her vial sparked flares that pierced through the black.
I knew in that moment; I’d never look back.

An ember lit the dust, its smoke filled my being—
An offering to the soul, to keep it from leaving.
Each grain was a vow. Each breath was a sin.
Yet a life that laid to end, now stood to begin.

But when the dawn broke, she was no longer there.
Just poison on my breath and dust in the air.
I did find the vial, but no other trace.
Just a void in the air and a numb, rusty taste.

I walk the dark path. Her whispers, my guide.
Chasing silence, so me and my demons can hide.
She gave me the calm in a handful of ash.
For once, I have laid down the guilt of my crash.

I'm addicted. I still sing that desperate song.
Here to stay, where I may, or I may not belong.
A forbidden solace, that keeps me in the calm.
My shadow that still tries to pull me along.

I remain tormented, so this dust stays near.
Angelic in essence, how it banishes fear.
This angel didn’t save me. For this, I have sight.
But gave me the will to outlast one more night.

By day, perceived evil. By night, purely good.
Should I alter my state? For a will to live, I could.
Might someone judge me? Who’s to say it's not right?
To choose life one more time and keep carving out light.

♦ Đerek Λbraxas ♦
C Mar 29
I wonder if I will let myself eat cake on my birthday?
I don’t want 25 to be the year that I waste away.


Every sprinkle

is a number,

every morsel

fuels my hunger.


In the mirror,
stands my executioner.
Day three of swallowing the guilt
Blue Flask Mar 29
45 degrees to the left on a two lane road
Would stop the screaming
Stomach no longer boiling in its own acid
Just drowning in black coffee and take out
Sweat no longer leaving a cartoon outline on the sheets
Just need a cool ring pressed against my palate
They said it would be cheaper
Coffee quickly out spends the rot gut
Staring through gleaming glasses
Rather than the amber round, looking up
Smiling and swirling around
A dancer in the dark
My own symphony
Playing for me, just me
As I shake shake shake
It was always either the DTs or the cold
A ***** soaked cocoon of the moth I am now
Not right
Never quite
Roll the dice
Let the monthly chips fall where they may
Collect like them a thousand purple hearted liver spots
Build a castle of coins
Circular towers, thrown stones in miller’s glass lighthouse
Addict yourself to getting better
Its the only way forward
Even when you are being pulled backwards
aryanalynae Mar 29
I gave too much, I see that now—
My time, my light, I don’t know how.
But now I choose to call it back,
And seal the holes that formed each crack.

They took my softness, stole my peace,
Demanded more, and gave no ease.
Their chaos isn’t mine to bear,
Their wounds aren’t ones I need to wear.

I’m not your friend, I’m not your crutch—
This soul is sacred, not a clutch.
From now, my light is mine to keep,
You’ll haunt no more the way I sleep.

I felt the drain, I felt the cost,
But now reclaim what I had lost.
No more will guilt or shame remain—
You’re not my burden, not my chain.

I cleanse the time that left me frayed,
The debt unpaid, the trust betrayed.
I take my power, my love, my fire—
I rise above, I climb up higher.

This wound will close, and I will shine,
This soul, this work, this light is mine.
And never will I serve once more
A weight that shakes me to my core.
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