#poeticstories.

[spinningjupiters]

Small //

I have always had to

Dream small

And achieve practical things

But on some days

I aimed for the sky

I crept my way up

And collected stars

But to those who couldn't fathom

My ability to hold

Something unworldy

They named those burning constellations

As fire flies trapped in a jar

They wouldn't let the others know

I was capable of something special

So I tried my best

To camouflage in the ordinary

Hide in the white of painted walls

And speak in indiscernable sound

No one knew I existed

Till my carcass was found

Laden in gold and something exquisitely antique

They didn't know what it was

So it was left for the scavengers to seek

I wouldn't say they didn't let me dream

All they did was remind me

There was nothing special in me

So I walked carefully

Stepped into places that fit me

I was made to believe in small things

My premonitions had become weak

Only to make myself palatable

I've spent a lifetime

Trying to find a place

That would nurture

My being

[writingsbynh]

No meaning

Broken sparrow wings

Drooping butterfly strings

Weeping bee stings

Pretty only in a dream

Things with no meaning

Except everything I’m feeling

- 𝑵𝑯

𝑊𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑎 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑎 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟? 𝐿𝑖𝑘𝑒, 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑔! 💌

[ivynightshade]

fatima aamer bilal, from i mother it the absence of her, iii. i am not a person that can be loved for a very long time excerpt from moony moonless sky.

[heartofmuse]

Why do I miss you when I shouldn't? What have you done to my soul that I think of you like this? Have you enchanted me without me knowing? Was it your soulful eyes or perhaps that melancholic smile? I'm drawn to you and I can't explain it. Do you think of me too and that's what I am feeling?

e.v.e.

[creatingnikki]

another year is ending and I want you to know that it is okay if you:

have not healed from the things that happened/did not happen from six months ago. just because the year is ending it does not mean your grief is too.

don't have any "fun" NYE plans to ring in the new year. this life is yours to live across days and months and years, and you can celebrate days other than the ones heavily marketed and shoved down your throat to shroud you in severe FOMO.

have no resolutions or goals for 2024 laid out in elaborate lists or shared on social media or with your friends. you are braving through this life trying to do your best every day and hold the fort and so of course you know, deep down you know what is needed from you for you going forward and of course you are going to work in that direction. good luck love.

have not become a "better" version of yourself by any of the tangible or conventional measures. that kind of bettering is mostly to serve others, not yourself.

are not happy with yourself/your life as it is now. you're a work-in-progress, remember? and if you're progressing in a direction you do not like, then it's time to change the blueprints and the strategy.

take time off social media around this time to protect your mental health and whatever little joy you have managed to keep.

don't want to spend too much time reflecting on how this past year went and doing various forms of 2023-wrapped. again, it's your life. you can also revisit this year in memories and pictures and feelings whenever you'd like. it's not like you don't still visit 2012, 2017, and 2022, right?

feel disconnected from your friends, family, lover. I know this is "ideally" a time to be celebrated with your loved ones. but life is not ideal, is it? it's just life. and if right now you are not feeling the love, the joy, or just don't have the headspace or social energy to engage , that's alright.

are finding comfort in simpler things like a TV show from the 90s or that book you first read at sixteen or that slice of strawberry cake or a random post like this you come across.

don't feel hopeful, encouraged, or excited for 2024. given everything that's happened in the last couple of years, on the macro and micro level, it's only natural for you to feel weary as well as wary. when the good things happen, when the healing happens, when things begin working in your favour over time, you will automatically feel all those things. it's okay if until then you choose to be neutral.

[unmondefou]

let me be your coffee

for you won't find anything

tastier than me.

and I promise

to turn your wake up

into a beautiful

sleepless night.

--- h.harouche

[fatimaamerbilal]

fatima aamer bilal, from days where my whole world is my bed.

[text id: september arrives like a twisted knife, and i always welcome it with open arms.]

[scribblersobia]

Not every sweet word I had received from the world tasted like honey.

Not every person I met in this world had an empathic heart.

With time, I learned that not all souls are the same.

And not all words taste the same.

Many hearts will hate you, and many will love you.

@scribblersobia

[esuemmanuel]

La desilusión mata más que la realidad. La realidad se tolera. La desilusión se sufre.

Disillusionment kills more than reality. Reality is tolerated. Disillusionment is suffered.

[ch-aunie]

[loveme--lustme]

Follow sonreyes

[spinningjupiters]

Mothers //

My paternal grandmother

Tended to her

Kitchen garden

Every day

It was as though

She had created

Something to nurture

When her children grew up

And needed her less

My maternal grandmother

Created a home

With so much meticulous love

It seemed it would never break

Or perish

Both were so honest and present

In how they cherished

And protected

Joy and youth

As though

They both knew

How fragile it is

This fleeting need

To be needed and loved

But how lingering

The fingerprints are

Of being held with intention

And they gave

The same sense of purpose

Wrapped in a silk cloth

Of the most coveted heirloom

A story of truth

And unconditional love

Laden with the scent of sacrifice

Of silent martyrs

And quietened questions

A long pause

Between answers

Was their sleepless worry

To tend to the garden

Sever the weed outside

Those wild flowers

Needed to be loved

So they may find a home

Where no door closes

And a summer afternoon

Keeps flickering

All day

Through the glass window

Till the shadow of night

Walked in silent footsteps

A whisper of goodnight

Settled underneath the eyes

In the cracks of their smile

Within a solemn sigh

No one can decipher

The depths

Of unfathomable sense of giving

That comes with being a mother

[writingsbynh]

The Will

I have so many pages to fill

Shoes to fill

So much to do

Do I have the will?

- 𝑵𝑯

𝑊𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑎 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑎 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟? 𝐿𝑖𝑘𝑒, 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑔! 💌

[ivynightshade]

fatima aamer bilal, excerpt from moony moonless sky’s ‘we were put on this earth desperate, hungry and willing.’

[text id: in a sharp set of knives, i looked for a hand to hold. / i could not stop myself from needing to belong somewhere, even if that somewhere was a burial ground.]

[heartofmuse]

Love is many things but it is also an agreement where both parties state their needs, their expectations, their limits. Both must be honest with each other and themselves, and go in with eyes wide open. Things must be talked out loud, and not assumed. Hurts must not be allowed to fester and anything that bothers or upsets you must be brought out to the light even if it is difficult. Communication must always remain open and vibrant for change is inevitable and these conversations must be had constantly. If there comes a time you cannot come to an understanding then please part before bitterness and hurt take over and obliterate every good memory from both of your hearts. Love is an agreement, a pact, a promise, something that must be held in reverence and honored by those involved. 

e.v.e.

[rosarysgarden]

fatima aamer bilal, from being unwanted is a language.

[text id: the world is happening in a room that i can't enter, life is happening in a gathering i am not invited to. / being unwanted is a language i am fluent in.]