Wisteria’s Wistful Woodland

Intro to Feeling

Today's Inspiration:

Spoiler

Today's song was Intro (Feel) by Autoheart. I rolled free verse and incorporating the song title. So, I decided to go a little overboard. As one does.

Emo101: Intro to Feeling

Course Description: This course prioritizes that the attempt to rationalize human emotion is futile. You will be forced to face your feelings and decide between letting them run through you or swallowing them down and hoping stomach acid is strong enough to dissolve your bitterness. You will learn the difference between feeling emotions and letting them control you, and you will weep as you fail to pick the better option time and time again.

Objectives:

• Understand that all light places have shadows, and the brightest souls have the darkest spots.
• Realize that keeping your problems to your chest doesn't make you a better person, just one destined to explode.
• Identify the things that make you terrified and give yourself space to cope
• Stop letting others' perceptions of your emotions control whether or not you allow yourself to feel them
• Understand that there are no good or bad emotions, only states of content and states of need
• Listen to your heart when it's crying out for you

Required Materials:

• A safe space to cry away from the masses
• A warm blanket to hide in when the world gets too loud
• Gentle hands that only hold you
• Someone to hold your hands back when you're rearing to strike yourself
• Patience for the injured child within you

Grading Rubric:


Class Schedule:


Final Notes:
Weep, laugh, scream, smile. The body revolts against the human who keeps all of their humanity locked inside. You are an actor, not a vase. To live is to do and to do is to feel.

Cosmic Birth

Today's Inspiration:

Spoiler

Today's song was Hazel by Cavetown. I rolled refrain that based on the theme. So, I decided to use the theme of being held by the stars!

I was born to the cosmos.
Cooing, swaddled by the Crab Nebula.
Sucking on the points of stars,
drinking the milk of the Galaxy.

I was born to the cosmos.
Cassiopeia held my shaking arms
as I took my first steps across
the swirling asteroid belt.

I was born to the cosmos.
Orion taught me to hunt meteors,
and I chased down the injured ones
on Taurus’ back.

I was born to the cosmos.
Virgo taught me to braid my hair,
and fixed my dresses as my body matured,
and held me as I cried when I bled.

I was born to the cosmos,
but on the cusp of adulthood,
I fell to Earth,
the ozone layer biting my skin.

I was born to the cosmos,
but they were so far away when I woke.
Laying face up in a crater,
every inch of skin bruised and broken.

I was born to the cosmos,
but they discarded me.
I was one of them, I bled stardust.
But they laughed and told me stars don’t bleed.

Encourage Them

Today's Inspiration:

Spoiler

Last day of the month! Inspired by RPMO, Kate chose the sea shanty, Wellerman. She asked me to do any poem I wanted and to incorporate a lyric. So, I chose the lyric, "

Turn on the lighthouse
to keep the ships from crashing into shore
to encourage the captain
crew
and all
that land is near
and they are not forgotten.
The lighthouse wishes you luck
through storms and tranquil waves
that you may reach home in one piece
with only riches won and friends made.

Lady Saturday

Today's Inspiration:

Spoiler

Today's song was Saturday by Fall Out Boy. I rolled a rhyming poem based on the song title. So, I wrote a Clogyrnach.

Here we lay on the day of rest,
lying against our mother's breast.
Here we lie, we stay.
Scare the pain away,
kneel and pray
with our crest.

We thank this day of abundance
without a show of reluctance.
Thank this Saturday.
We still can't repay
what she made:
Indulgence.

Better than Fiction

Today's Inspiration:

Spoiler

Today's song was Vampires Will Never Hurt You by My Chemical Romance. I rolled a spoken word poem and author's choice. So, I chose to incorporate the song title.

At this point, I don't think fiction is comforting enough.

Take me to a world beyond hurt or conflict. Tell me that the knight and the dragon are best friends and the princess hosts their tea parties. Tell me the stars love us and grant wishes like a soft angel kiss.

A world where the dark is light and refreshing, where vampires never hurt you, where genies never trick you.

I want to hold the sun in my hands. I want my tears to be wiped away by gentle hands. I want never to cry again. I want to forget how it feels to forget how to breathe.

Maybe in a void, I will feel a sense of self that isn't defined by loathing. I can pick up the pen and draw myself completely blind to my flaws. I could erase the people who taught me I was flawed. Wouldn't it be nice to look in the mirror and finally be happy?

But that is a daydream. I live in a world with books full of grit and cuts full of sand. I look into my mirror and see a wreck, a fool, a problem. I rub the eraser over every inch of my face, but I'm still here. Sobbing like a child. Sobbing like a pathetic excuse of an adult. Sobbing like I don't know how to do anything else.

The knight will slay the dragon. The princess will thank him with her dying breath. The stars do not know my name. The dark holds all the dangerous secrets. Vampires will kill us all.

If reality doesn't get to us first.

Letting Go

Today's Inspiration:

Spoiler

First Friday of the month! That means my monthly Not in Kansas by the National poem. This time, I chose free verse based on the lyric, "I must have left it in my pocket."

I dump my belongings onto the table,
wincing as some clatter to the floor.
Resilience shatters into a million pieces
and I just kick them into the crevices.

It feels like I used to have more.
I think I have too much.
I rub my fingertips on every icy-hot piece of anxiety
and cram it into its place in my heart.

The table looks bare when it's gone.
Is that what I'm really made of?
I pick up a globe of insistence
and toss it aside like it's nothing.

I'm almost done going through my things
and it's like iron has replaced my bones.
I pick up an energy capsule,
and I try to swallow it but I gag.

The table is clear,
but I can't find my hope.
I must have left it in my pocket
but when I looked nothing was there.

Poison

Today's Inspiration:

Spoiler

Today’s song was Bitter Water by The Oh Hellos. I rolled refrain and author’s choice. So, I decided to incorporate the song’s title.

Snip away everything we have
then tell me I’m not the problem.
I am cradling embers of what we once had
You tell me you’re crying
and I say I’m sorry.

Snip away everything we have.
You’ll be lighter without the load.
I don’t remember feeling this heavy before
but you turn around and slam the door
and I drop to the floor.

Snip away everything we have,
then promise me you’ll tape it back together.
Watching you pack is like watching a train wreck.
I can’t open my mouth to stop you.
I don’t think I’m allowed to stop you.

Snip away everything we have
You say we’ll be fine one day
but I feel like I’m paralyzed
I sip on this poison
and call it bitter water.

House Fire

Today's Inspiration:

Spoiler

Today’s song was Burn Out by Imagine Dragons. I rolled Spoken Word and theme.

We filled the bathtub with gasoline, and our kitchen sink bubbled with paint thinner. I don't remember who lit the match, but all that matters is the way it fell into the puddle leaking from our hose.

We started by huddling together. This was our home. Our punched walls, the scratched floor. We bled on to every nail of this set and we made ourselves dolls in static poses.

But one of us had to run.

The smoke billowed over us like an army of moths to a candle. You choked, your teeth turning black with ask. You stood to your feet, legs shaking, and you told me you had to go.

It wasn't an invitation to join you. It wasn't an offer to put out the fire.

I watched you silently, eyes wide, my tears sizzling. You slammed the door behind you and I didn't move. I never wanted you to burn. I wanted you to be safe.

But I didn't want you to leave me to burn without you.

untitled

Today's Inspiration:

Spoiler

Today’s song was Hearsay by Radical Face. I rolled refrain and author's choice.

my heart is a breeding ground for
fungi infest my ventricles and
lungs only fill with moss in the
darkness is a sactuary for
me, the liar, the keeper, the
sinner, you can find a place here
too often we are expected to live in the light
there is weight in the secrets we hold