Lilac Whispers and Jellyfish Kisses
They tingle on the lips, but blister and bleed later:
Bio-luminescent and sweet, with hints of vanilla bean;
A pastel killer.
Mint dresses with black lipstick:
A psychological horror disguised as a teenage girl;
Lilac whispers and jellyfish kisses
Pretty in pink with a bloodthirsty soul,
An indescribable galactic warrior
With a heart tinted black around the edges;
Sensitive deep down, but never willing to show it;
An actress until death do we part.
Lilac whispers and jellyfish kisses.
Three Sentence Life Story
Confusion swells like storm clouds.
Mortality is questioned.
But I am at ease.
On Love
Love is not a victory march
It is a seat upon death row
The prayer of survival that leaves you breathless
Bloody and beaten six feet under
Humiliation and rejection beheads you
Holding you up like Macbeth
With your love dripping down onto their skin
For all you need is love
Love is cold
Love is lonely
To love or not to love
What does it matter?
Love dies, as do we
Will you still love me when I cry?
Or when I hurt you?
Will you still love me when I gut you?
No…
For you never loved me at all
Succumbing to love like you would the plague
Black spots forming over every inch of skin
Black bruises forming over every inch of skin
A symbol of desire is death
An infection
Spreading
Spreading…
Until you can no longer see who I was
Only what I am now
If I hate love so much
Why do I fall so easily?
Pessimistic
A glass half empty
or a glass half full
What does it matter?
We’re all going to die
Just drink the water and be done with it
But live life while you can
I guess
Or not . . .
Doesn’t really matter to me
Everyone is so focused on enjoying life all the time
But in hating life at times
Don’t we find we enjoy it more?
I take the time to be unhappy
So happiness makes me feel better when it does happen
If you want to praise the half full glass that’s fine
If you want to praise the half empty one, that’s fine too
Do whatever you want
You’re decisions about happiness have no impact on me whatsoever.
Image From: http://maxpixel.freegreatpicture.com/Sea-Jellyfish-Underwater-Ocean-Nature-Water-2142274
Second piece inspired by Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’
Dearest Emily,
I absolutely adore these pieces! Your first one especially hit me because it was so lyrical and thought provoking. The line, “They tingle on the lips but blister and bleed later” gave me absolute shivers! I love hearing you voice through poetry and I love your style. When you alluded to Shakespeare in the second poem , my heart sung because as an AP English baby, anything regarding old literature excites me, haha.
To improve, I would love to see more of a connection between all the poems. This will unify your piece a bit more since it is a compilation of different poems.
Since I know you personally, I knew that you were an brilliant writer and reading this has definitely confirmed it.
Love you lots,
Liza
Dear Emily,
This piece of mixed poetry is something I really enjoyed reading. Being a poetry buff myself, I feel like people can express themselves a lot more through poems than in paragraphs. I loved your poem ‘On Love’ the most. It was my favorite and it really touched my heart. That is how powerful relatable it was. I also loved the use of metaphors and other strong words in your poems. It enhances and gives them a whole new dimension. After reading this blog, I realized that the kind of poetry I write is a lot more straight-forward, and that can get a little boring at times. So that is something I’m eager to work on, and I would love to know how you come up with such brilliant metaphors.
To improve, I don’t really think I’m yet that capable to tell you what you need to improve. You’re a phenomenal writer. I actually couldn’t find any flaws within your writing. But, maybe you could provide a little insight about your poems because I felt like they could be interpreted in a lot of different ways. But as a reader I only wanted to know what your vision was when you created them. So that was something I was kind of struggling with. Other then that you’re a great writer, and I can’t wait to read other stuff written by you in the future.
Sincerely,
Nimrit
Emily,
How I’ve missed reading your blog! BRILLIANT WORK. I absolutely love how you play with paradox in this piece, specifically in the first poem. This being acknowledged the juxtapositions present within your piece are original, opposed to the typical, cliche oxymoron most people seem to gravitate towards. Who else would be so creative as to come up with phrases such as “pastel killer” and “lilac whispers and jelly fish kisses”? I am in absolute awe of the unique way with which you articulate your thoughts.
I also very much enjoyed “On Love” especially because I am a sucker for Leonard Cohen’s writing. I was quite excited when I saw that you had written a poem based on “Hallelujah”. That being said, I just have a quick reminder to offer to you–make sure you give credit where credit is due. Even something as simple as “Inspired by Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’” would suffice. Also, the title for the first poem is not bolded like the titles for the other poems are. I would recommend bolding it, so as to maintain consistency.
Of course, those are really nitpicky things. But that is because I am honestly struggling to pinpoint anything else you could work on. I am thoroughly impressed by your talent, Emily! You are a beautiful poet!
Never stop writing,
Jade
Thank you all for the kind words and suggestions to make my writing better in the future. I really appreciate the feedback.
-Emily 🙂
Dear Emily,
I really enjoyed reading these poems you have posted for February free choice. I encourage you to continue to post more of your poems for all of us to read and enjoy. I am sure many people, including myself can take great inspiration from your pieces. All of them were so good in their own way. However, my favourite was “Pessimistic” It felt it was very honest and straight forward, which I liked. I also liked how your personality was shown through the poem. The strong sense of your voice in these pieces gave them another element of great writing, which made them even more enjoyable.
Your work was wonderful, I do not have any major critiques. If I could make one suggestion, I would encourage you to give explanation or back story for each poem. This would allow the reader to understand the connection between you and the poem much more. It would result in the poems themselves being a better read as the reader would have a far better understanding. I am excited to visit your blog in the future and read more of your work. I look forward to gaining knowledge and inspiration from your posts.
Sincerely,
Abdullah