for the tarnished hearts

𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍𝒔

in honor of ~spooky season~ coming up, i've attempted to write a lil haunting poem for y'all :))

here's the prompt i used for this: "witching hour madness"

and i'm SO SORRY about the poem requests i haven't gotten to yet!! i like to put a lot of time and thought into those, and lately i've just been so busy. if i wrote one now, it'd probably be shit... so uh as soon as i have the time, i'll get to work on those <3

anyway, this is random but i'm BEYOND excited to read "this is how you lose the time war" by amal el-mohtar and max gladstone. oh my god. listen to this: SAPPHIC TIME-TRAVELING RIVALS. 

 -----

i've kept skeletons in my chest,

tangled up in my ribs.

my own bones have been

hollowed out

—the marrow lost

in the witching hour madness,

in the haze of pungent smoke

spilling over the edge of the cauldron

containing my dissipating, bubbling soul—

echoing endlessly

with the whispers

that can't pass my lips

lest i let my nightmares

roam my reality, 

rule it 

like hungry gods

eager to shove my limbs

down their raw throats.

with every shallow breath

i take in,

the dead rattle inside,

clawing closer to my lungs

so that they may steal

one

last

breath.

when did i become a graveyard?

cursed to be the home

of those who lie restless.

i can feel every ache, every yearning

carving through them,

piercing the gaps between the ivory,

the places we think empty

but are filled and bursting

with the memory of touch, of pain.

i've kept skeletons in my chest,

these dead girls,

these haunted versions of myself

i've shrugged off

like snakeskin,

shutting them away

behind the bars

of my teeth,

not letting them speak

even when they slash 

their words

into my tongue.

the pain sharpens

and blossoms

like a hellish flower

of ruby fire

and metallic vengeance.

my dead girls

whisper about 

the dripping, crimson bouquet

they'll bring to my wake.

love,

mari