Ruins
are memories
broken
into little
tiny
pieces.
Small
fragments
with sharp
serrated
edges.
You have
to be prepared
when you
connect
them back
together.
Or
you
will just
get cut
all over
again.
And so,
I learned
to cast
my hands
in steel.
Now
I am
finally
ready
to make
my new
castle.
I am
sad
no more
for The Queen
has
arrived.
©2021 Jai Lynn
I am
enough.
All my
gifts
you’ve given
have made
me
the happiest
person around.
I am
enough.
There is
no more
I need
to feel
wanting.
I am
enough.
You
made it so
my other half
was always
myself.
Thank you.
Even when
there is
no one
else around
and I am
alone
my life
is still
full.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you
©2021 Jai Lynn
You know me.
When the wolves
are howling…
I’m taking
the blows.
When the world
is falling…
on my shoulders
it goes.
So why
are you
saying
I’m not
good
enough
When we both
know
in a duel
to the death
I would be
the only
one
left.
©2021 Jai Lynn
Red cardinal,
black feather,
storm clouds,
sunny weather.
Nerves of steel,
back straight.
They may laugh
but it’s too late.
Red cardinal,
black feather,
broken bones,
red strings sever.
Feelings high,
the rest low.
Queen’s don’t always
dress in gold.
Red cardinal,
black feather,
heart of ice
with a liquid center.
So many
broken bones…
and children laughing,
throwing stones.
Red cardinal,
black feather.
Lopsided crown
never looked better.
She’s too good
for this world.
Straightened rose glasses
from a vision once twirled.
Red cardinal,
black feather.
She decides
to be better.
©2021 Jai Lynn
This post “Red Cardinal, Black Feather” appeared first on Jai Lynn.
Shutters closed,
floors bare,
dark house,
your kingdom of despair.
Halogen lights
watermelon rinds
your real kingdom
has straight lines.
Two sides,
two yous
one heart
shaded in dark blues.
It’s so obvious
to those who care.
Your soul’s in need
of desperate repair.
Tired eyes,
silent cries
you are
dead inside.
(Why don’t you change?)
(How do I fix you?)
(I shouldn’t have to fix you.)
When
will
you
realize?
©2021 Jai Lynn
This post “Heartbreak Boy” appeared first on Jai Lynn.
“You have met with a horrible destiny, haven’t you?”
The devil in the mask held the dagger out, the handle towards me and blood from the blade pooling in its fist. Still as stone, its unmoving eyes bore into mine.
I tried to keep trained on the blade but couldn’t help but let my stare wander back to its face. Not like it had changed the whole time. The same macabre expression of a grin slitted with pointed teeth and a forked tongue hooked out of the right corner of its mouth were still all I could see. Some part of me was trying to see a crack to the monster underneath but masks existed for a reason.
“Horrible destiny….” I laughed, but brokenly. “I think I’ve heard that somewhere before.”
It drummed its claws along the steel, a little ting sounding every time a nail made contact. Then one scratched down a little too far and I flinched, a little too noticeably. So… the devil did it again. And again.
Just to break the cycle I took a step closer, and it mirrored me. When I took one to the left, it took one to its right. Step by step bringing us closer and closer together. Only when I took one back did it not move in turn. It stayed still, that smirk forever painted on its mouth.
It wanted me close. But couldn’t it see that this game was irrelevant? With my posture hunched, and my breathing hitched there was no way it didn’t see how exhausted I was. I didn’t even have my sword anymore. Then there was that dagger… just out for me to take.
If I wanted to survive I needed it. But, the one offering it was someone who wanted to drag me down at the end of all this…. something that would never want to hoist me up.
“All heroes have heard that before.” It bounced the blade in its hand, and the moonlight above glinted off the red steel.
I bit my lip. “I’m not a hero.” Then, I reached out and took the dagger. The devil didn’t let go though as my grip tightened.
It chuckled, low and grating. The sound like nails on a blade. Then it put its free hand to the edge of its mask and tipped it off.
“No, you’re not a hero….” the monster whispered, my own face reflected back at me like a mirror where its own should have been. The expression was familiar but crooked, and hungrily grinning at me underneath the shadow of the mask. “are you?”
I would have taken those pointed teeth and forked tongue for anything now… but they weren’t visible any longer since now I was the one wearing the mask.
The shards were scattered all over the floor.
Each edge was jagged, and unlike any of the others. Of course they would all be different. They all came from different experiences.
The shard closest was derived from the boy who pushed her into the sandbox when she was five, just because she had been born a girl and for no other reason more.
The one to the right was one of the bigger ones. It was from when she was seven and her father had left. She thought it had been her fault. It was not her fault.
All the way to the left was a tiny chip, nearly in the shape of a heart. Nearly. It was from the eighth grade when the boy she liked had tried to set her up with his best friend.
Then all the way in the back, that piece with the most uneven sides… the piece with the sharpest angles…. that was the one from her first job out of school when her boss had tried to sand her down. That boss hadn’t liked the bumps on her skin, the angle of her eyes, or the color of her hair. That boss had balked at the smile she wore to work every day no matter how many backhanded compliments and disguised insults were said to her face. That was the girl’s favorite piece. That was the piece that cut deepest from her skin and made her never look back or question who she was ever again.
All of these shards on the floor were an important piece of her soul. So the image left standing in the mirror, after it was fixed once again, was a smarter and stronger girl.
