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They bore thee not in ease, but in crucible flame,
Nine moons of tempest, no laurels, no fame.  
Mood-swung maelstroms, spine cleft by steel,
Yet she bore thy breath no barter, no deal.

Anesthetic hush, then blade’s cruel hymn,
Scissor-born silence, backache grim.  
She sits not in solace, nor lies in grace,
Her vertebrae chant thy name in trace.

Father, the silent steward of coin and creed,
Barters his breath for thy school-need.  
He eats last, dreams less, buys none but thee,
Yet thou trade his love for a boy’s decree.

We, the heirs of sacrificial lore,
Sell legacy for lust, and ask no more.  
Hide truths in shadow, veil hearts in guile,
For a fleeting flame that lasts a while.

Doth he thy paramour, thy fevered muse  
Know thy soul’s ache, thy silent bruise?  
Will he rise at dawn to fetch thy cure,
Or vanish at dusk, love insecure?

Parents primordial poets of pain
Are cast to margins, cold disdain.  
We rage at their rebuke, spit at their plea,
Yet kneel to a lover’s tyranny.

When mother weeps, we turn our face,
But for a boyfriend’s silence, we lose grace.  
We beg, we bend, we break, we bleed
Yet for our parents, we sow no seed.

Shame be thy shroud, betrayal thy crown,
Where womb-born bonds are cast down.  
No lover’s touch, no whispered vow,
Can match the love they gave till now.

So let this verse be thy dirge, thy flame,
For children who forget their name.  
Return to the roots, the sacred tree
For none shall love as endlessly.
This poem is a dirge for forgotten roots — a lament for children who trade unconditional love for fleeting romance, who rage at parental care yet kneel to the whims of temporary affection. It honors the pain, sacrifice, and silent devotion of parents, especially mothers whose bodies bear the cost and fathers whose dreams are bartered for their children’s futures. A call to remember, to return, to revere.
vik Sep 7
dark boughs contrive to curtain off the sky,
their whisper’d frith avow what i’d enshroud;
my seat lies waiting, yet i pass it by,
for languor thickens where i’d have mistrowed.

once did i knock, and pled at thine own gate,
though all my words fell hollow at thy feet,
now dumb i stand, lest asking breed thy hate,
the sugared lie thy pity makes too sweet.

the tide upclimbs, my garments drinks its brine,
my corpse turns leaden with the sea’s command;
so love, once sweet, is ballast made of thine,
that drags me deeper than my feet can stand.

  my sovereign, smile, i think thy reign is true;
  i gasp in rout and drown myself for you.
and drown i do
I gave you the shirt off my back,
You were upset to only be half dressed

I gave you my pants,
You didn't like me naked

But hey, at least you were dressed.
I guess I'll start digging through my dresser
Glen Gormley Sep 22
I cannot hear the silence nor the deafening gales of war.
I cannot hear soft crying, or the shelling’s wailing roar.
I cannot see the dying, or the warriors strewn around.
Their uniforms and memories cast across the bloodied ground.
I cannot smell the wretchedness of dead and dying men.
Or sense the sickly smell of fear when “going over”, once again.
I cannot feel the coldness nor the damp beneath my feet.
Nor taste the bitter taste of blood in the summer's clawing heat.
My senses cannot tell me what those many men went through.
To grant the gift of freedom and peace to me and you.
Their senses fuelled their nightmares, and woken hours as well.
The first days full of eagerness, turning soon to hell.
Fathers, sons, and brothers left loved ones far away.
With cheery words and singing as they left and marched away.
No whistling now or cheering from those mouths that cannot sing.
Their kin back home familiar now with tears that eyes do sting.
Now it takes so very little to give thanks for such a lot.
For the only thing they asked us was, that we forget them not.
Jasper Sep 21
My love, -
(You've done everything that you should do
For me. You made me feel loved. Warm.
Held me against the forces of night.
You listened to my heart,
And let that songbird out its cage.
You never hurt me, you never bruised me,
You never cut me, you never made me bleed.
You were always there for me, and you sacrificed yourself
For our love, instead of me. You've done everything for me,
Everything imaginable, because you, you love me.)
                 - my lie.
Samuel Sep 21
maybe it is tragedy
maybe it is fate
but till Time itself bleeds as sacrifice
it is us
who must pay
with the debt of life
“I swear to you that to think too much is a disease, a real, actual disease.”
Arii Sep 20
And I think ‘bout
Everything
More than just
Anything

That the universe could
Give,

Sometimes it means
Everything
Sometimes it means
Nothing

At all.

A man would give all of
Him
Just to lose most of it,
Just to get some of it back,

Or nothing

At all.
Marwan Baytie Sep 19
They pour water on the white goat’s head,
pretending it nods in consent
before the priest opens its throat,
clean as a hymn.

But me
I am stripped of ritual.
No water, no priest,
no crowd to sanctify my undoing.

My altar is a quiet room.
My prayer, a broken promise
that falls back into my face like ash.

Only a rusty knife,
and the tender cruelty
of a trusted hand
pressing the blade
to where my breath
still trembles.
Parisha Sep 11
Isn’t it strange?
How the world pretends, all the way—
Everyone’s childhood, dreamy, tender, full of love.
But somewhere, somehow, we changed?

We grew up…
Grew up with stereotypes.
Grew up to be “mature.”
Grew up to sacrifice.
Grew up to never return to our inner child.
Grew up to stop hanging out carefree.
Grew up to lose people.
Grew up to face the harsh glare of reality.
Grew up just to become—something.

But in becoming something,
didn’t we forget what it meant to be everything?

Lucky are the ones who could still be the one.
But what about the ones like me—left somewhere in between?
redberry Sep 11
The first needle
stung
Eyes closed to wince
The charming prince
stinks

The second needle
tore
Heart clenching the pieces
hope decreases

By the third needle
numb
The carriage came
to pick up it's claim

Miraculously,
The crane took it's basket
back to the womb
Returning it gently
to a shadowed room.

Needles 1, 2 and 3
came again
But by the fourth
I prayed

by the fifth
I prayed

And by the tenth
I poured
my being, my soul, my love
my child



I think I always knew
before my bones even grew

My mom left me
a miracle

I didn't understand at first
I just felt something
brewing

So I poured
like my mom did
But I didn't have a cup
so I gushed and bled
everywhere

I would sit
and wait for someone in need of thirst
I would water the flowers
even though it rained

because it was written in my bones
before I could even object

Even though I'm fully grown now
I don't know how to get off the carriage
a second time

But as I look out the window,
I thank you mom
for carrying me
in your miracle womb

Thank you mom
for carrying me
in your miracle womb
This is for my mom, for birthing me despite all odds. Thanks mom, I love you.
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