“Some Assembly Required” is a satirical poem that peels back the layers of illusion in romantic relationships and beauty standards. With sharp irony and vivid imagery, it tries to explore the humorous yet sobering moment when surface perfection gives way to unexpected truth. A witty reflection on how we fall in love with appearances—and what remains when the mask comes off. I dreamed of ...

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You barely uttered “ I love you”  on your way out,

And I hardly call that a kiss, we only skimmed each other’s lips,

Whenever I upset you, does a piece of me in you break off until there’s nothing left? 

Did your words "I'll always be yours" lose its meaning over a spat? 
 

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He stares at me

As if I could walk away and leave any second

Take my hands and learn me

Read my palms

Open my heart

I give myself to you

Opening me

Know my insides

And my outside

Studying me

Brown and green

A colored pair

Golden specks

I stare back

Harder

Brown curls and blonde locks

When I’m with you

I don't need air

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How does one move on from betrayal and grief?

Resources swear "follow these steps to find relief".

Accept the hurt, embrace the pain,

Choose to trust your partner and learn to love again.

 

I'm convinced this advice comes from people who just don't know,

That being betrayed by the person you least expected to hurt you, hinders your ability to grow.

I accepted the hurt, I embra...

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The love we thought we had to give

Is an entirely different meaning of love we have now 

We came together as broken pieces 

Mending each other together separately 

While shielding our love from our own prejudice views

Individuals don’t have the strength to penetrate through 

Though we came close to letting our shield fall 

Quickly grabbing ahold because our hands loosened slig...

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I can't help but wonder, was it worth it?

Was your transient moment of pleasure worth making me feel like shit?

It seems to be a never-ending cycle of me losing my mind over you,

Your words display such innocence while your actions prove they're not true.

 

Defending, deflecting, giving every reason instead of the selfish thoughts in your head,

Unintentionally cementing my newfou...

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If your shirt has no button
and your trousers are roughened,
if your jacket is so crushed
and your carpet needs a brush,
if you can’t find a clotheshorse
and all the time just, curse
There is only one way out:
to marry or divorce.

 

Larisa Rzhepishevska

 

 

 

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Roses are red, violets are blue,

When I think of your love for me, I lose love for you.

What does my love feel like to me?

Being surrounded by beauty that only I can see.

 

Hidden behind my smile is someone fragile, flawed, and easily broken.

I showed you all of my healed scars and one by one you ripped them back open.

Again and again, my mind retreats to happier days while I ...

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When all the leaves fall from the trees,
what does it mean to you and me?
Perhaps it wasn't meant to be
as now we reach the end.

Is there some place we didn't go?
We tried every fork in the road,
and never seemed to find a home.
My dear, what's at the end?

But we're ok. Yeah, certainly
we could have done things differently.
But side by side we took this ride
and so what is to ga...

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Though we have explored
all there is to travel
I still turn to you in awe
Those wondrous eyes
still cause my blood to race
On cruel and foggy days
all jagged nerves
and withered spirit
you lose your gravity
drifting again
on days that have no anchor

And if I must, I’ll do it tenderly
hold you through the waves
of heaving sobs
clutch your trembling hand
and we’ll fathom
the house ...

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Sweet sting of truth… I only heard it because it came from you.

Better person

 

Laughter, when I was born of tears… oh, what a rebirth!

 

Of course you don’t get all the credit for my understanding of love; I spent many years as an autodidact cardiologist.

 

But it would be a capricious falsehood to say that I would be anything close to Me

without You.

 

You have call...

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You kiss the tops of my closed hands, the mottled scarf round, a hand-fasting

Where little triple diamonds sit, it stands like a marriage 

Our walk round the sea brimmed with its longings and its blue remedy 

I am peering into our brief lives like Ægir’s wife and her sea fury

what’s lost is lost 

May the mead of poetry find me still 

I make a new dream for us to take refuge from ...

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Let the melodious song

of the numerous creatures

that reside here with us along,

in the lands and the skies

guide our light feet.

 

Step forward,

and bathe in the light of the sun.

As she blesses our love

and ignites our skins and soul.

In this bittersweet moment, 

tinged sour by all that could have been,

should have been ours,

let us surrender our hearts

...

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When the needle pricks your finger.

When you hide under the covers.

When you look under the bed.

When you go down into the basement.

 

When you dig up the root in the yard.

When you lay someone to rest.

When you drill to find water.

When you mine for gold.

 

When the sink hole collapses.

When you drop deep inside Krubera.

When Earth cracks in two and you reach t...

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The air is warm tonight
the sea no longer ravenous
As the shawl slips from your shoulders
there’s a feeling that breeds in us
now, we are home
or close enough

A candle flickers at every table
the seafront cafes like crooked teeth
The harbour mouth is kissing us
with its swing bridge tongue and river beneath
We feel that we are home
or close enough

Tied by these rings
and the meani...

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Lost in your blue eyes like I'm floating in the sea

I still get shivers when you look at me 

No matter how far we have come 

From girlfriend to an incredible mum

You still own my heart, my soul and mind

When I'm with you I fully unwind

You make me the best person I can be

We can take on anything with you beside me

Hand in hand, check to check 

I still look at you and for...

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An organised mess,

No train of thought,

Just swirls and swoops, 

Campaign abort 

 

If ironed and pressed,

A chain no longer, 

Confused and tangled,

But maid of honour

 

A taste of love,

So now you see,

Instilled in us,

A fantasy

 

Exchange our hearts, 

Entrusting me,

Through pain feel power,

Uncomfortably. 

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26.07.20

Droplets fall 
And puddles pool
And I am feeling the chill of lonliness 

Thunder claps 
And rainfall quickens to a roar 
And my words fall on deaf ears 

The birds are hiding away 
And the sun won't come out to play 
And we are emotional strangers in our own home 

How many times can we talk about the same thing without it changing? 
How many rainy days will there be
Bef...

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she would swear curses

at adversaries she hated,

enemies got bad scrams,

their prospects down-rated

 

I'd smile, it seemed a joke,

her mother's just the same,

superstitious nonsense,

some daft witches' game

 

yet was it really so silly,or

was there something to it?

some victims took poorly,

there was never a minute

 

free of tragic local news,

some o...

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It all starts in an oxytocin bath,
drowning in aphrodisiac dreams.
Best friends sweating through
amorous bouts of battering lust.

You begin purposeful procreation
and embrace coparenting with zest.
In a blink, you go from saying “they’re
so cute and tiny” to “they grow up so fast”!

Bliss you’ve had and content you’ve been,
but somehow merriment becomes misery.
You begin to hoard a st...

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The ocean calms me
envelopes me
supports me when I need to sail
Powerfully, it won’t hesitate
to remind me of my place
or comfort me when I fail

Its waves sing along in time
mirroring my mood
or challenging me to improve
We laugh in the shallows
or toil through the depths
almost always perfectly in step

Every day is beautiful
a work of heart 
and trying...

The muse of my life;...

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Rescue ‘forever’
The fight of my life
Saving a marriage
But hurting a wife
Twisted confessions
It feels like a dream
Entering territory
I should never have been
Keeping a secret
Locked up deep inside
Now nowhere to run and nowhere to hide
I should of kept quite, not swallowed my pride
But how could I live
With the secrets and lies
Emotionally scared
A heart that is bruised
Feelings...

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Here we are, alone by the sea, 
bursting with joy at finding each other. 
There’s a wonderful, giddy feeling, 
as if all nature were smiling. 

The diamond on your finger gleams 
like the shining path 
of the sunrise on the water.
Our wedding bands were forged 
from family rings and new gold. 
They join us and our families 
in the ancient, unbroken circle of life.

We are like the pla...

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For weeks I savored time with you, 
wanted to be with you always.
I never asked: “Will you marry me?”
Instead, I asked 
when can we wed? 
You answered “As soon as we can.”
I left your apartment giddy with joy.

It was a cold New England winter. 
I got cold feet as I drove to my lonely room. 
What had I done! 
Had I been impulsive?
Was this a doomed infatuation 
with a new girl who had...

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Many years ago I met a lovely girl. 
She was fun to talk with about most anything
We walked through woods 
and climbed some hills together, 
She made lunch for picnics that we shared.

We walked on beaches, felt the crunch 
of wet sand underfoot,  
listened to seagulls and ocean waves, 
and felt the caress of sea breezes.
We gathered shells with no place to keep them.

We were caught i...

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How can I tell you that I love you?
I've said the words so many times; it's old hat to you.
I could quote Browning's poem of how she loved.
I'd say it's mine and mean every metaphor,
but you'd know she wrote it and you'd quote it.

I can write love poems just for you,
and every word I write is true, 
though I'm not adept with metaphors 
and don't use fancy words. 

I can bring valentine...

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An Arctic air
pushes past the cracking door
as we step out
into the newly forming night
with many friendly cheers 
chasing us from the hall
The searing wind
grabs you by the ears
seconds abroad
and your bones will know the chill
in the chalk-white light
of this moon

Snow falls slowly
first on the cliffs above the lane
then these cobbles are scribbled out
under a virgin whiteness
...

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If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me ye women if you can.
I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold,
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that rivers cannot quench,
Nor ought but love from thee give recompense.
Thy love is such I can no way repay;
The heavens reward...

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An unhappy marriage is like a bad tooth;

At first you ignore the obvious truth:

Something is wrong; it's causing you pain,

But you have no time to consult your brain.

So you take a pill -or have a drink or three,

Hoping to relieve your agony;

But the pain escalates until one day,

You realise it's not going away;

You're gripped with a feeling of horror and fear,

It can't ...

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Tranquility in your presents

doves pecking as our kiss is tending

lips lock our mind in a spell, as the doves sing their song, letters spelling in the air.

clouds draw me close for a better look

fractals in the nooks, lump to lump, baby rainbows extend their hand and shake with glee

telling my lover she is the best mother to be

 

She see's the beauty in my beastial nature, cal...

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Your fingers strummed the strings of your guitar in a lazy, sleepy pattern as my consciousness began to drift
I inched as close to you as possible, molding my bones to yours as I seamlessly carved for myself a place at your side
Space was a silly idea, a concept at that moment we would never need to consider, should never consider
You played on as we laid together, my chest rising and falling a...

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Let's take our bond
seal it within
a singularity

Let's celebrate 
and acknowledge it
There was desire
now there is
fulfilment

A new infinity
of love
compassion
empathy

I've been decorating
repainting everything
renewing the colour
drawing a line here

Like the world
I've been denying
but now I'm ready
and I'm sorry
for making you wait this long

It's time for love
and...

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Tractors gaining traction

In and of my life

Never did I ever think 

That I would be a tractor's wife.

Implements and attachments

Belts and belts galore

Reapers, tillers, composters

Who could ask for more?

Aerators and harvesters

Plows; for winter and for spring

Lots and lots and lots of tires

Damn near everything...

That someone would ever want

If they should...

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Player piano in the empty funeral parlor foyer cranks

out old standards with a Dixieland flourish. The old

wooden cross. How great thou art. Take my hand precious

Lord. No one hears it. No one is here to discuss pre-planning.

 

No one peruses coffins for his aunt who has been sick so long

the family forgot she would die. No one is scooped out

by grief at the accidental death o...

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He loves me?
He loves me not?

Questions I have 
asked myself a lot 
since the day 
I said I do. 

Yes, he has a 
wandering eye,
avoids intimacy
like I am 
the blessed
Mother Mary.

Yes, he has a 
hair-trigger temper, 
can top Pinocho 
with his lies.

Our love is 
unconventional,
but I no longer
question why.

After four decades 
in the trenches,
I have learned 
to focu...

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I saw my future before my eyes for the first time in my life 
It wasnt just ideas but plans with who I 
pictured my wife 
The mother of my children and my partner 
through strife

But I lost it 

It was almost here and gone in a moment
It felt so good but now there's pain and I 
ow it 
Started to slip away so I desperately tried 
to hold it 

But now it's gone 

Was it my fault? I'...

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In the pale moonglow when I awoke

somehow shadows seemed the darker

as mantling the land, that soft white cloak

of crystal shine leaves them starker

 

What cold mystic spell holds fast my hand

what eerie charm doth my fate seal

in darkling night whence daylight is banned

with what ice maid have I to kneel

 

As my eyes take in my ghost white bride

one last iced tear...

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Preamble: I wrote this shortly after my wedding 2 years ago, but never found the chance to perform it. I've revived it for today's Rhymers' theme of "weddings". It is a slam so it looks strange on paper, so I also made this video.

https://youtu.be/3jjfTqm7PyM

I have so many thanks to give for this special day!

First, the weather: my eternal gratitude to whichever Supreme Being or natural...

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A Marriage Of Ghosts

 

Something old; crumbling bones.

Something new; innocent youth.

Something borrowed; parental beliefs.

A bride forever blue.

 

Flesh bound to ash and bone.

A knot ties the living and dead.

Union of child and corpse, rotting.

Protection from cursed health and poverty.

 

Escaping abandonment, in a death shed,

destined by ancestral expectati...

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He Is, My King
I am, His Queen
We are, A Team         

In him I grew, in me he knew we could build a family. Strong, bold, and brazen he came in like a wrecking ball. Tearing down the walls of hopeless justice. We were created in the heart of God to love each other and serve a world full of hate. We are guided by our story and sheltered by the love of God.

A man I have yet to meet, but he...

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Marriage

Is like a cabbage

Your need to strip back the outer leaves

The vibrant green is just for show

The sweet and tender flavours

Are developed deep below

It’s not for everyone, but it’s versatile

It can stew, can be raw

Fundamentally they’re identical

The heart lies at the core

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The sand was always hot

                beside the white dunes and the coarse grass

               

The sea was always blue

                between the black rocks and the horizon haze

 

The beach was always ours

                between the seagull shout and the distant crowd

 

We were always alone

               between the far world and our near union

 

We swa...

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{Choice's} 

 

 

Well I'm stuck in a hard spot with a beautiful new blooming romantic relationship because this person has asked me for my hand in marriage and I'm somewhat scared to make a big commitment to him like that knowing I've had bad experiences with my past relationships before him 

 

 

And mu mind is telling me to listen to my ? heart that is still beaten up because of ...

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i want to marry you.
maybe we'll both wear dresses 
maybe Skyler will be our best man
maybe my family won't be invited
maybe Steve will walk me down the isle
maybe our color will be black
or blue
or dark red 
or a deep purple
maybe you'll have half your head shaved
and I'll have an arm covered in tattoos
maybe our first dance will be to an Incubus song
maybe to an Ed Sheeran song
mayb...

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I'm not the girl you marry.

 

I'm the girl

you have the affair with

after you are married.

when things get

stale.

 

I kiss you because I want to

not because it is routine

comfortable

expected

I kiss you because I want you

 

I suck you because

it needs

to be sucked

not because

it's Wednesday and it's date night

 

that is why you seek me ou...

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i

Innocent

     he met a force

Untried

            it held him

 

 

... and wonder drained the world of substance

            re-arranged the pages of his book to give more radiant a reading.

                                                           

The light of new possibilities

pressed down on time.

The girl sang to him "You can hear the boats go by". He

l...

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In the beginning he would wake at every peculiar sound that came from the babies crib 

In the beginning he would bring me a beverage as I fed his son whilst the moon was dimly lit 

In the beginning he would rush home from work eager to see the family he created 

In the beginning we were the people whom he could be himself and escape with 

In the beginning we were enough 

 

He wou...

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He left 

He left behind his broken wife and his scared son

He left

He left us cold, all alone with no one 

He left

 

The vows, they meant nothing 

The promises, broken 

I just wish we meant something 

More than just empty words spoken 

 

I cried for days at a time 

My young son wiped every tear 

Leaving us was a crime 

And now, it's been 1 year 

 

An...

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If your shirt has no button
and your trousers are roughen, 
if your jacket is so crushed
and your carpet needs a brush, 
if you can’t find a clotheshorse
and all the time curse
There is only one way out: 
to marry or divorce.

Larisa Rzhepishevska (Odessa, Ukraine)

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