by Kaley Long
Abandonment
I remember being excited For your escape, Yet you never visit me anymore.
I remember loving
Your sweet, warm embrace,
Yet you never hold me anymore.
I remember when we were together,
Yet you sent someone else
To my bed.
Someone who is cold
And cruel.
Someone who takes this comforting
Bed
And plagues it with nightmares of
The world ending.
The government led to its collapse.
Doubts and fears about the future.
Where I am.
Where I long to be.
What lies beyond this piece
Of paper called a degree.
Til my brain is consumed.
Someone I cannot escape
Though I desperately long
For you.
I remember, my Dear Sleep,
How alive I felt with you,
Yet you never told me
That alive is not how I can any longer
Be with you.
I cannot remember
The last time we met, for
You always send Insomnia;
Obituary
I see her from the fog Laurie Why must you lie Laurie
As you write my pleasant obituary
More about the springs
Than to do with me
You merely sit and cry
Laurie
Tell our neighbors the truth
That hurts
As did my blackened lungs
That spewed the poison
I took in
Into my weary body
Laurie
Like all the car exhausts
Into our atmosphere
Tell them this
Laurie
That Sunday morning
I was gripped by
A ferocious hand
And I was choking
Laurie
Couldn't breathe
The shriveled raisins
That became my lungs
Collapsed on me
And death came
Laurie
To set me free
Not from the beauty and shimmering
Of the pleasant spring
But the fear
Of the inevitable
The end
Of Lou Reed.
Charter
Redbone muses in my ear I am advised to stay woke In the dead of this night The neon lights pulse
Millions of vibrant blues
Illuminate in collaboration
With the green bathroom sign
It is safe to enter
And how embarrassing would it be
To walk in on someone else
While they urinate
Their weights worth
And bladder finally may alleviate
In small quarters of this bus bathroom
Would we laugh
Would I flee
It’s a similar thing really
As I stay woke yet pray to the god
That I do not know
For anything but
And think up these ridiculous possibilities
To cover the excruciating exhaustion
That plagues my jaded soul
The dark circles of
Pale blue doe eyes
The ghastly sheen
Of much too pale freckled skin
Is it unusual to feel
Like a pained victim in this flesh
Then resent the very being who
Wishes for that sympathy
Perhaps
For that is the reality
Of the charter bus
Insomniac;
Landscape
The green shield of the earth Anchors life in its place Strong yet delicate
Alive yet easily erased
Strong it still grows
Despite all hardships
Beauty in its imperfections
Some may fake its luster
Spray paint it green
Others may be appalled
Mow it until it’s bald
And revealed dirty
Imperfect
And full of vermin underneath
To me
These blades harbor and inspire
This body
Though not green
Pale with
Stretch marks
And ever sweaty palms
Is just as stubborn as the lawn
It grows
I grow
Grow
Until the eventual blade comes
And cuts us back
To modest size.
Utility Road
Roosters, hens, chicks, fighting cocks. Back scratches, short dances, breakfast for two. For us. You, always outside. Feeding, inventing,
Breaking the waterline.
While I prepare supper. Waiting for you, my Dear,
And watching Days of Our Lives.
These were the days of our lives.
Simple and sweet. Now, as I glance over
Lovingly, no, longingly
From my rocking chair to your empty recliner
The ache spreads throughout my body,
And it is not the arthritis this time.
It’s that there are no
Roosters, hens, chicks, fighting cocks.
Back scratches, short dances, or breakfast for two.
Just me.
Bio:
Kaley Long is an English major at Lincoln Memorial University, and she is also a part of Lincoln Memorial's women's volleyball team. She is from Rocky Face, Georgia and receives much of the inspiration for her work from her hometown and family.