alone (2 ways)- haiku

as a phantom limb

I can only imagine

the warmth of your love

~Melanie Thomason

9/6/2017

 

finally alone

dancing beneath the moonlight

she is free, to be

~Melanie Thomason

9/6/2017

 

 

a living death

her existence is a living death

she questions each and every breath

 

is it,

is she

even worthwhile?

should she dig her own hole in the ground?

6 feet is the going rate

 

or maybe

at least

for just a little while

she should think about sticking around

and do her dance with fate

 

 

her existence is a living death

she questions each and every breath

~Melanie Thomason

5/28/2017

You can read more of my poems in my book:

Moonpies and Naugahyde

A Childhood Survived

Get it here!

Failure

his sense of failure

is palpable

seeping from his pores

like booze

the morning after

a hard drunk

it permeates

his being

choking any chance

at happiness

real or imagined

~Melanie Thomason

Tune in

Listen closely my friend

Do you hear voices

in the falling rain

and the whispers

on the wind?

Tune in with your soul

find some comfort there

in their sweet refrain

before the nothingness

eats you whole

~Melanie Thomason

let my soul shine

dirty, dark urges

stole all of my firsts

I was too little,

too young

to fight

how could I

let my soul shine

bruised and bleeding

doubting

my worth

feeling deserving

of my poor,

white

plight

how could I

let my soul shine

foul, muscled hands

muffled my cries

in the night

somehow I knew to

let my soul shine

living in darkness

that tried to

smother

all light

I had to try to

let my soul shine

i couldn’t make them love me

try

as I might

still, I had to

let my soul shine

from my family’s cage

at fourteen,

this bird

finally

took flight

to freely

let my soul shine

⊗

~Melanie Blackwell

To say I felt an emotional connection with Maya Angelou’s poetry would be an understatement.  

The above poem is my meager tribute to a phenomenal woman. I leave you with a quote.

“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”

― Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter

beach-hued rejection

I waded into the brisk blue water

despite of

or because of

my inability to swim

sun-swept memories

prove too sparse to rely on

for warmth

and I’ve been cold

too long

so I kept walking

slowly

until my toes no longer touched

the ocean floor

finding my body

if not my spirit

buoyant

i continued

to inch further into

the deep

thoughts of drowning

entered my mind

yet did nothing

to deter my progress

I turned to see the shore

far behind me

the beach speckled

with what i assume

were once people

if I went under

no one could reach me

growing tired, I waited

for one last sunset

and as the sun met the ocean

I stopped all movement

willing my existence to pass

I closed my eyes

as i felt the water

closing in

over my head

waiting for the searing pain

that comes from breathing saline

yet

suddenly I was floating

the ocean had spat me back out

it seems even Death didn’t want me

~Melanie Blackwell

 

 

Corrosive

Photo by Ray Laskowitz of STORYTELLER who was kind enough to let me reblog.

 

somewhere along the way I took a wrong turn

but then again

any turn I took would’ve been wrong

thoughts of you prove corrosive

eating away, eroding cerebral tissue

acid leaks from my eyes

burning, blurring vision

but then again

the rain doesn’t help either

so much love given

so much

taken

that my heart has grown anemic

it doesn’t have to be the end of the world

but then again

…

is it?

~Melanie Blackwell

 

 

 

 

some-thing

countless midnights

unsleeping

spent walking quietly 

in the darkness

enjoying the comforting solitude

the night affords

but this night

something

earthbound

some thing prowls

shadows rustle

haunt and growl

nerves jangle

shivers careen down my spine

panicked 

I run 

alone

in the black

imagining a stampede

of horns and teeth

of maggots swarming beneath skin

some thing grabs hold

squeezing

screams

from my unwilling throat

chocking

sobbing

I strain

I break in two

sins run red

–

mutiply my body into darkness

–

~Melanie Blackwell