She was quiet
But not in a nice way
She was the silent storm
The blow that came out of nowhere
The one you never saw coming
She’s been through hell you can’t even imagine
Her scars are a shield
Her words are weapons
She can’t be controlled
Tamed
She is the wild wind
The rebel without a cause
The broken fallen angel
She’s beautiful like an ocean in a tempest
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes
She walks in the wake of battle and turns her head to the blood-red sky
And smiles.
She is quiet
Not in a nice way
She is quiet the way
Lightning
Makes no sounds before it
Strikes
— Yushan C.
You wanted a love story and this
isn’t
it.
You say you’re going through trials by fire
but these are not the flames
that birth phoenix
these are the flames that destroy forests so
Put it out.
He she they aren’t worth the
Destruction
of your soul;
Darling,
You wanted a love story and listen to me.
This
isn’t
it.
.
—Why do we mistake destruction for creation? (y.c.)
Home is teddy bears
exuberant cheers
child’s laughter
parents’ pride
Home is quiet 2 A.M. conversations
thoughts too loud for music
words too raw to speak
pen ink fresh on a page
Home is tea steeping
cookies baking
alarms beeping
clocks ticking
Funny how so much of
Home
is what I made from
Everything
you never gave me
— Yushan C.
Everyone loves a good tragedy.
The broken pieces scattered in an abyss
The quiet pleading in the rain
The silent aftermath when all is
said
gone
dead.
Everyone loves a good tragedy,
but I suppose the tragedy is us, isn’t it?
Too young to give up
Too old to make up dreams
that fly us from reality on golden wings
— until the tragedy is them (y.c.)
I found a drawer of letters the other day.
All of them addressed to me
All of them an
apology.
They went back
three months when
we only been together for
two
Did you know,
even then,
that you loved me?
And did you know,
even then,
that we wouldn’t make it?
The letters say y e s .
I wish they’d said n o
instead.
— Yushan C.
Chivalry isn’t just dead.
We beat it out of us with a stick
(society)
and carved it from our souls with a scalpel
(normalization)
and now
We don’t know any different.
— y.c.
I thawed, didn’t I?
Like winter ice in spring,
Mountain run-off streaming into brooks and rivers.
I felt the warmth of life—
Blossoms bloomed crimson violet vibrant blues.
The sun was on my heart; I felt it melt, felt it give.
Yet now, I stand staring into nothing searching for something;
I stare at the placid blue surface around me,
Not a ripple in sight.
This isn’t stoicism,
This isn’t strength.
This is calcifying into marble, is dying
With your eyes wide open,
Is stranding yourself on a lonesome little island and thinking it might
not be so bad after all, disappearing.
I thawed, yes, but now
I think all that was keeping me from sinking was the permafrost
And now, that’s gone, too.
(remind me: how did I ever mistake disappearing for flying?)
-
—Spring Melt (y.c.)
Hey y’all!
I’m absolutely terrible at posting things regularly, so a massive thank you to everyone who’s following me and bearing with my non-existent planning skills. I’ll try to post one a month at least from now on, but no promises cuz uni is crazy like that.
I’ve gotten published in a few places since I last posted, and I’ll link them below! It’s super exciting, and I hope you enjoy the poems.
amaranthine
Indigo
the ghosts in my home still haunt me
(there are also poems in InkMovement’s Edmonton Youth Anthology, Vol I, but they only print in paper so I can’t put the link here)
Writing excerpts and poetry on nostalgia, regret, identity, optimism—just about everything, really.Main blog: aceass1n
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