#writingfromtheashes

[tarnishedtestament]

I Didn’t Stay in the Grave Either

Jason Todd always hit different.

Not just because he came back from the dead — but how he came back. Bruised. Bitter. Angry. Still standing. Still fighting. He wasn’t trying to be some clean-cut hero. He just didn’t want to be forgotten.

Same.

It wasn’t the world that failed me — It was the weight of generations I didn’t know I was carrying. Traumas that never got talked about. Expectations passed down like heirlooms. Love shown in silence. Affection traded for survival.

And maybe, like Jason, I got tired of pretending I was okay When I was just good at hiding what was breaking inside. I’ve made my own mess. Chose pride when I should’ve asked for help. Shut down when I should’ve opened up. Told myself “I got this” when I was barely hanging on.

No one dropped me in a Lazarus Pit, But I’ve had nights that felt like death And mornings that tasted like resurrection. Still here. Still breathing. Still figuring it all out.

Jason doesn’t carry his pain neatly. Neither do I. But he fights anyway — not because it’s clean, But because something in him still believes people deserve better. And maybe, just maybe, so does he.

I’m learning that too. That I’m not just the sum of my bad days or broken moments. That there’s still light worth protecting. Still softness worth returning to.

Jason came back different. Not worse — just realer. And I think that’s the version of me I’ve been trying to become.

[unspokengraveyard]

Grandpa always said The best stories begin with Hello I always thought he was a crazy old man But when the word slipped past her lips, The vowels resonating in the space between us Like the final note in a symphony It settled around me like the aftermath of a thunderstorm – The surreal sense that our story was just beginning, A brief brushstroke in the portrait of us That was leading me to think that               Hello Does not mean ‘I love you’ But it does mean ‘I will learn to’

Koi No Yokan - the sense upon first meeting a person that the two of you are going to fall into love. This is different than “love at first sight,” since it implies that you might have a sense of imminent love, somewhere down the road, without yet feeling it // 1.30.16

[kamoetry]

Here is the February prompts list for #writingfromtheashes! As always, don't forget to use the hashtag and tag @herlostwords and I in your photos! For more info on Writing From The Ashes please click here or shoot one of us two an ask. 

We’ll be picking our January winners over the course of the next week or so! Happy writing!

[emilyjunk]

Like an illness she came around Overwhelmed the senses And seeped into my bones Until they ached I tried to ward off the contagion With recommended vitamins and medieval remedies But the love doctor forgot to mention That the virus would duplicate at an exponential rate An onslaught of smitten affection at her every action And I quickly learned that the most terminal of diseases Is the product of Catching feelings

Catching Feelings // 6.9.16

Part of the #WritingFromTheAshes series

[withoutyourdress]

You wouldn’t recognize the sound or the beat of this heart at first We wouldn’t understand why our hands stuck together whenever we were close I wouldn’t see the large heart above your head when we first crossed paths or feel the flow of our minds slowly combining into a tune that would one day be a song we dance to We wouldn’t know that the strings we balanced ourselves upon were the strings that led me from here and saw me safe until I’d find a home - in you.

The Strings We Balance | E.J. 1.30

[singingunderstreetlights]

Day 6 of @kamoetry and @herlostwords #WritingFromTheAshes Challenge.

Prompt: Aimless Anchor

If you want to join in, check out the prompts here, and remember to tag #WritingFromTheAshes :)

[writingsofamindfulsoul-blog]

Peace is what we crave for. Give us peace. Attain and spread peace. Stop blaming each other, instead join hands and wake up from the deep slumber. #Peaceisthemission #OrlandoStrong #PeshawarStrong #BostonStrong #Parisstrong #Wherever innocent lives are being taken #Humanity is what we need

[tarnishedtestament]

Even If She Never Knows

by Ron | Tarnished Testament

"If you give up on yourself, you give up on me." She said it with all her heart. And now, every time I feel like quitting, I remember—I already did that once. I won’t do it again.

I sent the package. Courier says it was received. But she didn’t respond.

Instead, I saw her crying into the void. No code. No filter. Just "God, I can’t take this anymore."

I wanted to reach out, but I couldn’t. Not because I didn’t care, but because I do—deeply enough to know sometimes, love means keeping your distance.

I know this is unfair. But I’ve only got myself to blame. I lit the match. Now I live with the burn.

What hurts the most? The light she gave me— it’s shrinking. Fading.

And still, I hope. I pray she’s surrounded by love. By softness. By peace, even if it’s not mine to give anymore.

I get it. She’s human. With fear, anxiety, and every right to guard her peace. So I stay still. And I show up.

Not for her—at least not now. But for me. For the man she once saw in me. For the light she handed me once, and told me to protect.

She gave me hope. Now I carry it—like a torch in a blizzard.

I won’t snap back. I won’t explain myself to someone who’s spiraling. I’ll meet her hurt with grace. Even if it exhausts me. Even if no one ever sees it. Because real love doesn’t always shout. Sometimes, it just endures.

I wanted to be bitter. But I’ve worn bitterness like a coat before. It never kept me warm.

So now I’m choosing better. Choosing stillness. Choosing to rebuild.

Even if she never knows. Even if she never sees. Even if she never comes back. I’ll keep the light alive.

Because she gave it to me once. And I promised myself— Never again will I give up.

[unspokengraveyard]

I fell in love with Her in the time it took you To read this poem

Hasty Haiku // 4.23.16

Part of the #WritingFromTheAshes series

[kamoetry]

Last year at this time I was so sure that the only way my heart could escape you would be by slamming the brakes on how I felt. But here, in the dawn of a new year, I'm remembering Newton's first law. Objects in motion tend to stay in motion unless hit by a great enough force, and since I clearly haven't found a way by now, I highly doubt I'm going to stop.

“Newton’s First Law”

1/365 • © K.V.

Writing From the Ashes series

[unspokengraveyard]

When we were younger, you used to take scissors To the pictures of us together, And cut the photographs into the shape of a heart Around our faces I never thought you were ruining them Or changing the meaning behind them But I also forget That I never notice when Nostalgia takes a cookie-cutter to the memories In my mind And now when I look back, I only see our heart-shaped faces, And I never remember the pieces of me that were sacrificed, Or cut away, To make room for your ideas of love

Heart Shaped Photograph

This is my first attempt at #WritingFromTheAshes and my first poem in about 2.5 years. Thanks to my boy @aca-nerd and @herlostwords

[unspokengraveyard]

Loving her was not a choice but an instinct – From the moment she entered my orbit, I felt a magnetic rush within me, Positive That any step she took, I would follow, That my eyes would trace every movement of her own, And I knew, A flaming certainty roaring through the cave of my body, That she was the only choice I would ever see

Intuitive Desire // 4.5.16

Part of the #WritingFromTheAshes series

[unspokengraveyard]

You are not the sun An apparition of light, burning brighter than your essence You are not the moon Held captive by the earth, dark without a star to show your worth You are not a star Glowing after destruction, shining only on your last legs of life You are the wind A force to be reckoned with You are a tree Steady and strong You are a river Tumultuous and changing – reborn You are not the sun You are not the sun You are – Alive

To Yourself, With Love // 1.31.16

[unspokengraveyard]

When she laughs, her smile slips between the spaces in my ribcage Tickles these old bones awake I spent so long coaxing them to apathy Persuading them to fortify this heart To grow strong and solid against an attack by eyes like hers Her guarded pupils teasing a trail to the unknown - paradise or peril A Siren song calling me toward white flags and ease She makes me gentle Makes want to touch her cheeks with delicate fingers Trace the memories in her laugh lines And the sadness that paints her veins blue She makes me careful Makes me want to press safety and home Into her hairline until it sings silver She makes me care Makes me want to abandon plans and doubts She makes me want to feel everything Like rain on the skin Fresh and bold and Alive

Twitterpated -  excited or overcome by romantic feelings; smitten // 6.5.16

Part of the #WritingFromTheAshes series

[unspokengraveyard]

She has a map spread out on the dashboard, Even though we have GPS, And her finger traces the highway like a palm reader, “You are lost” “You are healing” “You will find what you’re looking for in seven hundred miles” – I live for the open road, the way it hugs the horizon gently, Like I could graph the asymptote of the sky, always moving closer but never quite touching it She kissed me as summer was opening its eyes, My entire body turned toward the sun, shaking off the dew that had collected overnight, I didn’t want the moment to end, but it was hard to breathe. I had never touched my lips to the beginning before, but I had dreamt of it, Like sinking into the pages of a novel I couldn’t quite relate to, But loved anyway Her thumb swipes over the skin of my forearm on the console between us. I always want to travel but I never want to go anywhere. I think I like the idea of not being here, but I hate the idea of leaving. There are so many places that made their home inside me, But so many more pieces of me left in places I won’t return. I’m afraid that she’s a place and I will leave all of me inside the roads on the map of her body, A moment in every artery and a memory in every vein. The lifeline of her palm is still calling to me from the gear shift where she’s grabbed my hand, And I swear it’s whispering like the setting of the sun “We still have a long way to go”

Long Way to Go // 5.9.16

Part of the #WritingFromTheAshes series

[unspokengraveyard]

I’m thinking of nostalgia And playground swings There is a moment, With your legs pushing and pulling Back and forth, like a pendulum or maybe an oar When you decide if you want to Jump Or keep swinging Your fingers gripping the metal chain Each link like a hand hold Skin smelling like copper and coin A time where you must choose – Safe flight Or leap of faith The ground shifts below you with every pump of your legs And it’s not that far But it feels like miles Like an infinite abyss of seconds looms between you And the woodchips, A sprained ankle, And the moment you cease to fly And begin to fall Heart like a hummingbird Palms like a beach, wet and sand-gritty I want to I’m scared I can do it I chose to Jump I always wanted to flirt With my fear, Or perhaps I thought I was untouchable So I would let go Leap of faith I want to swing now Flirt with my fear Hold hands with the chains Copper and coins Leap of faith I want to I’m scared I can’t I’m sorry

Leap of Faith // 2.2.16

Part of the #WritingFromTheAshes series