during the dark days
when i never wanted to see another person
the paper was there for me.
blue lines and white space,
emptiness and yet everything.
i couldn’t help but put pen to paper.
and if you look back on my loose-leaf from that time
you’ll find that there are neatly raised indents on the back,
loopy cursive leaving its legacy.
back then i could not write for the sake of writing,
my prose endlessly addressed to the people i loved.
i found a strange sort of comfort in knowing they would never be found.
and they were angry messages,
lovesick,
lovelorn.
my epistolary jar tells the tales of a tragic love and a star-crossed one,
stages of knowing,
stages of heartbreak.
none of my love stories end the same way,
but i can tell you for sure that they never end well.
i have notebooks filled with stupid ideas,
things that soared in my head but never made it off the ground.
from time to time
i feel bad
for all the people i have made suffer
under those messy stories
and that twisted handwriting.
i sift through my musings
among those i call home,
we all laugh at my words that once held my pain.
i unfold my letters and
for a second feel sorry for that heartbroken girl.
i shuffle them away in a flurry of shame.
writing
is more than pen on paper
or clacking on a keyboard
or even the wild art form that a true poet would say it is.
writing is
a little piece of your soul
that you give away
in hopes that someone else will have the puzzle piece to complete it.
Points:
Time spent:
IP address:
Canary word: Present
Possible AI signals:
Original Text:
Are you sure you want to delete this comment? This cannot be undone.
Mark this comment as a review? Points will be awarded to the poster.
Your comment was posted, but it wasn’t long enough to count as a review. Reviews need about four complete sentences (at least 250 characters). Try writing another review that explains your thoughts in more detail — the author will appreciate it, and you’ll earn points for it.
139,240 Literary Works • 672,520 Reviews
Oh, Meenal. 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜💜
When I first read this, I held a hand to my heart because hOLy SHiTaKe mUsHrOoMs, my heart burst with empathy and my mind filled with memories of sleepless nights spent scribbling in notebooks, fuelled by energy normally only found in caffeine (which I do not consume). That energy was the need to write, to empty my mind on the paper and bare my soul to whoever deigned to pick up the notebook.
Meenal, this is beautiful and so, so real. Thank you for writing the words my splintered poet's soul has always tried to say 🫶💜
Thank you so much!! <#
Hai :3
I adore this!! There's this beautiful melancholic nostalgia that just radiates from the poem, and I can feel that mix of sadness and reflection in every line. The way you talk about writing as this outlet during those dark days really struck me!! It’s like the paper became a lifeline in a way, right? The blue lines and white space imagery is so perfect because it captures that sense of emptiness and potential all at once ~~ Like, the world was falling apart, but you had that one thing!!
I love how you describe the loopy cursive and those indents left on the back of the pages!! It's like even when the words aren't visible anymore, they left a mark. There’s something so raw and emotional in the way you describe your writing as these angry, lovesick letters. That really hit!! You managed to capture the tangled mess of creativity and heartache in such a raw way, and it made me feel like I was sitting there with you, both in the "dark days" and right now.
I love the self-awareness here!! Like, the way you admit that some of those stories never made it off the ground and that some of them hurt others along the way, but you’ve grown enough to laugh about it now. I feel like this captures that bittersweetness of being a writer, how our words can both free us and sometimes chain us to feelings we wish we could forget!! The whole poem has this tender balance between regret and acceptance, like you're coming to terms.
^^^ Though, I wish you explored that internal conflict deeper!! You oscillate between heavy reflection and lighter self-mocking, which is a cool contrast, but at times it feels abrupt. The lines quoted above, for example, aren't very grounded in anything. Maybe you could ease into the humor more, or use something less jarring and more lighthearted. It depends on what you want from this poem though; introspective and deep, or relatable and carefree? It could honestly read as either!!
!!!! This is a great ending!!
These last lines are beautiful in their sentiment, but I think they could be a bit more specific to the overall theme. You talk a lot about writing as a form of emotional release and growth, but then the idea of "hopes that someone else will have the puzzle piece" feels disconnected from the personal journey you’ve laid out. How does the puzzle come into play? Why are you giving a piece of your soul away instead of just understanding yourself along the way? Food for thought!!
I loved this poem though!! It’s not just about writing, but about life and the act of being. It's beautiful and aching and reflective all at once!! You managed to make something so personal feel universal. Amazing work!! <3
- Payton
Thank you so much!!
Hello! AnotherCrowInRow (or Kay, because let's be honest - the whole username is too long) is here with a review
Okay, so... I didn't notice any major grammar mistakes or typos or any of those stylistic/grammatical things that sometimes get in the way (nobody's perfect)... so I can jump straight to my favorite part of writing reviews - stuff , which I liked, my interpretation and so on.
So...very nice job! I like that even though you use free verse, the poem flows very nicely (I don't know how you poets do it, but keep it up! You absolutely fascinate the part of the writing population that includes people like me, that is, those who barely know how to write a stanza that somehow sounds like something readable). When reading, simply feel the right...flow of words? I hope I used a good phrase.
I love how you talk about writing. It's very relatable. I personally liked the beginning and the end of the poem the most, which expressed the emotions associated with writing and the fact that writing is really not just a few words, but something more. The following parts appealed to me in particular:
Just. What. An. Amazing. Start.
Something about this part just makes reader feel...something. And I love how does this part sounds when it´s read out loud.
And this is that part about which I said that it just exactly desribe what writing is in the way only petry could do.
Have a nice rest of day/night/whatever and stay safe!
- Kay
Thank you!! <3