Eschatology
I’ve always taken solace
In the ending of our days
I do not picture vast destruction
Or the earth gone in a smoky blaze
A celestial occurrence will unfold
The moon and earth collide
Planets slip out of orbit
A gravitational ribbon finally united
And once the dust has settled
I will be resting underground
My mind will be clear
My heart will make no sound
I don't crave disaster
Or find joy in the prospect of dying
I only crave for my mind to be silent
For I’ve spent my whole life trying
- Zoe Bradford
Inured
A choice to remain
Within an abyss;
Reasoning not reasoned with.
A spasmodic spark smoldering
Draws one closer
Until the darkness returns.
Distancing gains more distance,
Yet the light’s diameter isn’t disregarded.
Knowing what behooves;
Denial still prevails.
The switch flicks,
That light hebdomadally cast,
Paralyzes with charm.
Dazed, enchanted.
The only memories grasped
seen with bright eyes;
An obliterated remembrance of the void
- Charlize Andrews
The Most Dreadful Companion
By far the bleakest of all companions
is that of which is bitter,
pathetic, and unwavering.
A companion that will not release
the smothering grasp
it holds on a life;
Loneliness.
- Charlize Andrews
.08
On crack-filled paths, you watch your step,
but caution can not sheath the unforeseen.
Map in hand, you strictly follow,
the safer route, cemented neck.
It is better this way.
Yet here you stand,
a twisted tree.
Damn your vigilance, damn your mind,
as all that walking
comes down to a straight line.
Breathe in.
was it all
done in vain?
Breathe out.
A cruel sense of humor, a marvelous silence,
a sunken head;
Your white flag drawn.
Chosen restraint as shoes come unlaced,
they will be okay.
An untangling, not an unraveling.
A beginning, not an end.
Falling,
you no longer fear the fall.
It is better this way.
When you step on a crack,
it is bound to spread.
But it is better this way.
- Riley Bradford
Nothing Makes Sense
I wrinkle apace lovely displays blur,
Once glowing sunsets cloaked, now Doctor, Sir.
A curse, the lightest sounds no longer heard;
My favorite soft frequencies I miss,
I beg you, grant my ears this divine bliss.
The aromatic whiff of dearest scent,
Now vague, my once undying skill is doomed.
My recipes, out of pity, are consumed.
And concoctions foul, now I cannot taste.
This bleakness in truth, made eating so bland -
Everything now most certainly is sand!
Soon, tenderness I fear will recede too,
What immense hugging I must do!
- Charlize Andrews
Haunted House
Ghostly etchings line this place
Depravity lingers in every corner
Each event has long been forgotten
My mind the sole mourner
Time pretends to ease the remains
A new paint job covers the ache
Yet the foundation is far too damaged
Eve’s callous revenge on the damned snake
My body broke the chains and fled
This house that was never a home
Im afraid my spirit forever roams those halls
For a haunted house is all i've ever known
- Zoe Bradford
Tarakanova
Of course, I’m to blame
I’m a threat to your reign.
Go on, lock me away
‘till the end of my days.
Someone so sensitive
should not hold power.
Don't forget, by calling me a fraud
you’re calling yourself a coward
I won’t deny it now,
but I denied it when it mattered.
Win the battle, lose the war,
Have you outplayed the master?
So, here I must stay,
here I must die.
Watch me lay down my life
because you have something to hide.
- Riley Bradford
A Secure Insecurity
Look at the dust on my records
loose thread on my sweaters
the dreams in my catchers
successors of successors
let’s talk about trust
who knew gold could rust
nothings immune
not me, not you
let’s talk about trust
who knew gold could rust
I fear it all fades with time,
because i play both sides
- Riley Bradford
The Colors We Were
Now that I sit here, thinking it through,
I’ve never been anywhere as blue.
Yet I stood there, cold
With you.
Now that I sit here, using my head,
I’ve never seen anything as red.
Yet I stood there, heart throbbing
With dread.
Now that I sit here, memories I unpack,
I’ve never opened a life as black.
Yet I stood there, time wasted
Without being able to go back.
- Charlize Andrews
I Do
A child’s ear against
a door locked from the outside.
Infinite amount of rope,
but the knot comes untied.
Nevertheless, it is a binding thing,
which the poets make sound pretty.
But the child with a salty face
feels nothing but pity
- Riley Bradford
Sixteen
Adolescence: Untouched by the void of irrevocability.
Where there are unbalanced priorities,
there is unwavering belief.
The saving embrace of expectation;
The misleading abyss of abundance
Following their guidance,
concealed apathy, false perceptions;
Running toward what I am running from.
Forgive me for verbalizing the unsensible
Simplicity, so often framed as small-mindedness
Clinging to my confinement,
Wasting my free will.
In theory, preferable to in vain
Do not break the fatal alliance:
A falsified sense of reality,
My secret fondness for fallacion.
An inescapable blessing, kindhearted reassurance;
Oaks trees, red wine
ascension, vertebral subjugation
paralyzation; an inexorable fate
For where there is gain, there is loss.
But no one ever dwells on that.
My indifference: my greatest diffidence.
My unwanted wish
To limit the limitless
- Riley Bradford
Balanced Unbalance
A want, not a need, rises up
as mass shoves and gravity pulls.
A slope created outside of self - unwittingly
Charity teeters, its weight composed of compassion.
Tit-for-tat, tilting lessens.
Laden, shamefaced, horizontal again.
Balance brought - unwillingly.
Unrelenting consciences;
Swaying brought by the heart that saw misfortune,
Swaying that continues by the hard heart of vanity
Stricken, a strike presses downward.
Extracting the value,
reversing the act.
But the worth isn’t monetary
The decline doesn’t portray debt.
Yet the liability lingers
Until it’s parallel.
- Charlize Andrews
Feelings
Beyond my glass intermediary,
amidst the incandescent quietude;
I am mocked by the heavenly hands of time.
Brick’s static impotence, Ivy’s exploitive assail;
I can feel it.
coiling each individual rib
Tighter, tighter, tighter
Contrary to expectation, it does not spread.
It does not overwhelm, does not beg profession.
A politeness which suborns my silence;
A blockaded anchorage.
Verbalization: An underused synonym for redundancy.
Seen, not heard.
Exploit a thought and it becomes a delusion.
Perhaps upon neglect, it will retreat.
Perhaps it is no longer there.
Maybe it was never a thought, always a delusion.
Maybe it has never existed at all.
but i can feel it
- Riley Bradford
Glass Enemy
enemies
a word we all know
what once was a blossoming flower
killed by the chilling embrace of snow
friends turned foes
a classic cliche
the rich amber glow of a sunset
faded into somber gray
i had memorized your features
precise shade of your eyes and hair
attempted perfection on the surface
ugly when stripped bare
you changed as we got older
features I could not recognize
the “beauty” I had once worshiped
i now began to despise
my hatred a burning fire
stoked by who you had become
a girl who desired attention from all
yet was loved by none
all my time spent scheming
how I could hurt you most
i approached you head-on
you watched as i drew close
you’re eyes so full of hurt and anger
to me, it didn’t matter
my fist made its first blow
but was met with a loud shatter
recoiling in pain
everything was suddenly clearer
my worst enemy was made of glass
and she lived in my mirror
- Zoe Bradford
Man of Music
Music - his favorite thing.
Instruments and lyrics,
bands and albums,
the bass player, the lead singer, the drummer.
It's how he tells someone he loves them,
how he remembers where he's been,
how he believes in the uncertain,
how he moves forward.
Music is what he knows.
In the driver's seat, he hears a familiar sound:
He turns it up, an unconscious smile.
His passenger seat, his daughter;
her admiration dressed up as embarrassment.
He plays into the cliche,
wanting more than anything for her to know him,
Know he loves her,
Know where he's been,
Know he believes in the uncertain,
Know he's moving forward.
Drumming on the steering wheel,
he finds comfort within the melody,
feels the vibration through his seat.
The chorus approaches, he longs to sing,
But he has forgotten the words.
His favorite song, a man of music, an unfair reality:
Music is what he knew.
- Riley Bradford
Childhood Friends
I haven’t seen you in years,
and I don’t really think about you that much.
But i know that dent on the back of your head
is from accidentally running
into the handle of an oven when you were 3.
I know you still sleep with a teddy bear named Rosie,
but it's not the original Rosie,
because that one you lost in a strawberry patch.
I know your favorite band is Queen,
but i think that's only because
It's your dads favorite band.
I know you only kissed him
to hide who you really wanted to kiss.
I know why you wore long sleeves that week,
why you resent your mother,
why you let me cut your bangs.
I probably know more about you than anyone you've met since.
But i haven't seen you in years,
and I don't really think about you that much.
- Riley Bradford
The Hourglass
To cease the perpetual…
Throw me under multicolor nylon
– A comfort unlike four walls and a roof –
Thin walls impenetrable by life unkind.
To climb oaks amidst air less lonesome,
No longer going out looking spruce, suffocating
I ran toward what I now run from,
Seeking God in the paved paths before me,
Yet I trip over roots as they grow too long.
The ridden trails behind me show no sign of intention.
To be pulled back from what I once longed for;
A paralyzation of my ascension.
…that is what I desire
- Charlize Andrews
Mirrored Projections
A torrent ricochets, an unnecessary retaliation against the undisclosed.
Believing shards to be held within your skull,
Yet they pierce others relentlessly.
Bonds broken by burdens borne,
Those kept together now distant fragments.
Their selflessness dejectedly turns to auto-infliction
Until a void remains; helpless
Broken glass; a reflection unrecognizable
Loneliness fills the gaps between shattered thoughts within,
A sonorous silence unwittingly seizing a life once sound.
- Charlize Andrews
Birthday Dinner
Forgive me
for not getting the appeal
of half-hearted “Happy’s”
and a half-finished meal.
Sing, if you must;
I’ll smile, unfelt,
as I blow out my spark,
and watch the wax melt
- Riley Bradford
No Title
Faded amber sky of dreams
Old tattered heart frayed at the seams
.Decrepit building held by decaying beams
Throat ravaged by underhead screams
Prized diamond that no longer gleams
Storybook full of misinterpreted themes
Kindhearted forgiveness pushed to the extremes
Long-forgotten paper sailboat floating down streams
- Zoe Bradford
Monsterhood
What trivial expectations
Betray our deepest desires
Our psyches left untamed
Ravage on as wildfires
To be human is to crave
To transform into something more
Escape this cage of mundanity
Find a new realm to explore
Us simple mortal beings
Tell tales of fangs and claws
Creatures lurking in the shadows
Red eyes and vicious jaws
Stands atop our mountain of morals
Swear to be caring and good
Yet deep inside all conflicted minds
Yearns a descent into monsterhood
- Zoe Bradford
W H Y
Three letters, this dwarvish word.
A lone sentence - a question
But it consumes with enormity.
A demanding collection of letters,
At times left unanswered;
An inability to reach a lucid conclusion.
Thoughts of these three letters haunt one’s mind,
A never-ceasing repetition - convoluting -
Louder than any longer thoughts.
Characters unexplained
Depleting spirit;
A damaging triplet destroys one’s self.
- Charlize Andrews
Salvation
Frost on the window
Cracks in the pane
Silence in that bedroom
You left her a bloodstain
Wrap her up tightly
Snuggled into your bones
Leave her bruised and battered
Words a bag full of stones
Its the time of the season
Sings her hymns up to god
Only time she’s not knocked on her knees
Why must you melt her blissful facade?
Heaven must be real
She’ll plead and beg and barter
He’s going to kill her one day
God, please let her die a martyr
- Zoe Bradford
Commentaires