Breakup Poems
Giving Up
by Kara Prince
I joked that I was the problem in all my past flings, saying I didn’t believe in a marriage held together by sterling rings. This was supposed to keep you at bay, so I could keep loving you from an arm's length away. We walked to the corner of Anderson and Erwin, your bike alongside us, going at a lazy spin. “I’ve been falling in love with you”, your eyes on mine, brown and blue. I’ll cherish that moment forever, even now as I am planning our sever. No one is to blame; you did nothing wrong. I just can’t keep hurting myself the same.
Growing up, Mama tried; she didn’t know when she promised me love and peace that she had lied. On her bad days, she was a force that I feared; she taught me early when to disappear. I swore to myself that I would learn to love different, that I wasn’t broken, but bent. So with you, I communicated, I learned to give the hugs that Mama had hated. I focused so much on doing everything right that I didn’t notice your need for flight. A few days, then a week, I texted, I called, you hid, and I tried to seek. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing to do with us”, and I felt silly for making a fuss.
Then you left again, leaving me a worrying mother hen. I don’t know if you also had a wire-doll of a mother, or if you’ve been overwhelmed by the drama with your brother. I don’t know how to help you from the other side of this door, but I know that you and I cannot be anymore. I need someone stable, who shows up, whose words are as trusted as a fable. I hope what you need finds you, be it a therapist or someone new. Funny how you held me for just a fraction of our lives, but I’ll remember you like bees remember hives. Warm and bright, inviting me in only to turn out the light. All I ask is when you tell me about your next love, please be curt, I don’t know if my happiness for you will outweigh my hurt.
False Religion
by Erica Scott
And as the letters of my name curl beneath your lips,
I hope they burn like vinegar and drip down your chin.
I hope the thought of who I am wraps your skull like the crown of thorns you love to nag about
When you crucify my reputation,
I hope you think of the religion you announce so proud.
Tell me, does Jesus lie to save himself?
For all my wrongdoings
by Derrick Nolan
I’ll forgive myself
For loving you over me
When I needed love
For convincing you
That you were what I wanted
When I was unsure
For making conflict
When you deserved compassion
......
Cracked Heart and Wrecked Soul
by Disha Shree
My heart is now in a shattered disarray of pieces,
Some lost, some disinterested, and some still hopeful,
Not that your vile self would return, dear,
But the lost pieces would come home.
Now I am a glass figurine,
Perfect to eye, and broken underneath,
Your weapon-like words crushed me to dust,
And you still say 'Hello'?
......
Isn't it ironic?
by Derrick Nolan
Isn't it ironic?
As you would lay awake at night thinking of him, I would lay awake thinking of you. The times when I would call you and you wished it was him. How I'd take you to restaurants, then you’d take him to the same ones. The moments I would kiss your neck and you’d quiver with your eyes shut imagining it was his lips and not mine.
Isn’t it ironic?
You broke me the same way he broke you. The moments I’d embrace you in my arms and look into your eyes and see a future, possibilities, and compassion. Yet you looked into mine and saw nothing. Because I wasn’t him. No matter how hard I wanted to be I couldn't be him, and no matter how hard you tried you couldn't make yourself believe it.
Giving Up
by Kara Prince
I joked that I was the problem in all my past flings, saying I didn’t believe in a marriage held together by sterling rings. This was supposed to keep you at bay, so I could keep loving you from an arm's length away. We walked to the corner of Anderson and Erwin, your bike alongside us, going at a lazy spin. “I’ve been falling in love with you”, your eyes on mine, brown and blue. I’ll cherish that moment forever, even now as I am planning our sever. No one is to blame; you did nothing wrong. I just can’t keep hurting myself the same.
Growing up, Mama tried; she didn’t know when she promised me love and peace that she had lied. On her bad days, she was a force that I feared; she taught me early when to disappear. I swore to myself that I would learn to love different, that I wasn’t broken, but bent. So with you, I communicated, I learned to give the hugs that Mama had hated. I focused so much on doing everything right that I didn’t notice your need for flight. A few days, then a week, I texted, I called, you hid, and I tried to seek. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing to do with us”, and I felt silly for making a fuss.
Then you left again, leaving me a worrying mother hen. I don’t know if you also had a wire-doll of a mother, or if you’ve been overwhelmed by the drama with your brother. I don’t know how to help you from the other side of this door, but I know that you and I cannot be anymore. I need someone stable, who shows up, whose words are as trusted as a fable. I hope what you need finds you, be it a therapist or someone new. Funny how you held me for just a fraction of our lives, but I’ll remember you like bees remember hives. Warm and bright, inviting me in only to turn out the light. All I ask is when you tell me about your next love, please be curt, I don’t know if my happiness for you will outweigh my hurt.
The Text
by Lee-Ann Azzopardi
The place we used to go
To sit, drink, and talk
text me a deal
I nearly burst into tears
I haven't been to that place
Since you left
It's where we would spend hours
Talking about books art
They never minded
For we spent like a hundred dollars
......
What price peace?
by Clare Harby
I gave you my all; my support, my love, my body, my time, my energy, my spirit, my home, my family, my money... we laughed a lot.
My love was challenged, my support criticised, my body broken, my time disrespected, my energy drained, my spirit crushed, my peace destroyed, my space taken over, my family alienated, my money squandered... but we laughed a lot.
I grew, I saw, I walked away... the laughter stopped.
Shocked and angry, you played the victim while I was accused... "coercive, controlling, denying your independence"! But I remembered laughter...?
I stood my ground, I grew, I healed.
My body mended, my energy returned my spirit revived... my life was mine, brighter and better than ever before! My lesson learned. Peace over laughter every time!
......
Onder die groen doringboom
by Mario Odekerken
Onder die groen doringboom
het ek jou vir die eerste keer gesien.
Jy het daar gestaan
soos iets wat reeds lank aan my bekend was,
'n herinnering wat nog nie gebeur het nie.
Die son het tussen die dorings geval,
lig op jou hare,
skadu's op jou wange.
......
A Study in Scarlet
by Jonathan Goff
Act 1: Reckoning
Vinyl burns February skin.
A sticky valentine.
Handprint heat echoes
on cracked windows.
Your breath--
half prayer,
half epitaph.
Demons of the night
Dressed like angels,
......
