Donations are essential to keep Write Out Loud going    

Recent Comments

Steve White on Rwanda Bound
6 minutes ago

John Coopey on SWINGING
33 minutes ago

Greg Freeman on A Life in the Day
33 minutes ago

Stephen Gospage on Still Life with Massacre
1 hour ago

Telboy on A Life in the Day
1 hour ago

Tom Doolan on SWINGING
2 hours ago

John Coopey on SWINGING
2 hours ago

Stephen Atkinson on SWINGING
3 hours ago

John Coopey on SWINGING
4 hours ago

Tom Doolan on St George’s Day
5 hours ago

Gibson

Beautiful how you're glistening
Beautiful my mahogany
I love the way you sound to me
I love the way you make me free

Smooth on top I start to groove
Smooth on top your maple wood
Sounds that always make me move
Sounds just like my childhood

Smells like amps and old gear
Smell the old speakers where I am near
Tastes like sex and cheap old beer
Tastes like celebrating on New Year

O...

Read and leave comments (2)

guitarmusicgibson

Prince of Darkness

You try to trick
You try to play
But I told you
I won't let you stay.

In my head
You've made a home
Constantly screaming and
Finding space to roam.

Playing on repeat
Every reel I cannot stand
Scenes of trauma, the
Torture of your own brand.

I said go away
Told you I'll break,
It only gets worse
When I lie awake.

So I'll take your tools
And take away your space.
Ending it ...

Read and leave comments (0)

suicidedevilnightmares

Grandma 1

This is me
Trying to write about you
But there’s too much pain
Too much sadness
I still don’t understand.
The words don’t come
The sounds don’t flow
I just really miss you so.

Backdated 10/8/19

Read and leave comments (0)

deathgriefgrieving

Wolf

Get out
Go away,
I've been working hard
For too many days.

Can't think
Won't sleep,
Not with you there
Herding all my sheep.

Get out
Go away,
My head's so full
And heavy with clay.

Can't think
Won't sleep,
Afraid of monsters
That are sure to creep.

Get out
Go away,
I never said
That you could stay.

Can't think
Won't sleep,
Could end it all
With just... one... leap....

Read and leave comments (0)

ptsdtrauma

Manipulation

Touch me
Burn me
Hurt me
Break me
Ache me
Caress me
Kiss me
Cuddle me
Feel me
Hit me
Rub me
Taste me
Grope me
...kill me

Backdated 10/8/19

Read and leave comments (0)

ptsdtrauma

Illusion

I am yours,
Or so it seems.
I give my all,
My everything.
Every night,
You continue to take.
My silent screams,
"I'll break! I'll break!"
But still, you chase,
Still you win.
And once again,
I’ll give in.
I give my all,
My everything.
Because I am yours,
Or so it seems.

Backdated 10/8/19

Read and leave comments (0)

ptsdtruama

Passion

Come in
Slide behind
Start our rhythm
Get on your grind
Forget my feelings
I'm losing my mind
Don't need real life
To you I'm blind
Can feel every ache
Wish I could rewind
Know I'll always be hurt
To you, I am confined
Just waiting for the day
To be reassigned

Backdated 10/7/19

Read and leave comments (0)

molestationtraumaptsdnightmare

Confusion

Try hard to push through
Try to bring back the new.
But along comes guilt and shame.
But they won't stop playing their game.

Relationship seems at risk
Relationship seems so brisk.
Maybe it's all in my head
Maybe it's already dead.

Intimacy is more than sex
Intimacy's more of a reflex.
But I need to have honesty
But the one closed off is really me.

Trauma stops any progress
Trau...

Read and leave comments (0)

SexTrauma

Doubt

Feeling good
Running around
Catch up on
What’s run into the ground.

So much to do
So far behind
Laundry, yard work
Constantly on the grind.

But fear comes
Banging on my door
Is this real,
Will I plummet to the floor?

Exhausted already
Pushing too hard?
Will I be ok,
Can I let down my guard?

Or is this already
The end of my rope?
I thought I’d healed
And could hold onto h...

Read and leave comments (0)

Bipolardepressionmaniamanichypo mania

5:00 AM

Can't sleep
Startled awake
Every turn
I see your face

Her innocence
You try to take
With no exit
Continue the chase

Always running
My hips, they ache
Strength to continue
I must find and embrace

Create an out
These walls I'll break
Try to heal
Memories that won't erase

Backdated 9/22/19

Read and leave comments (0)

nightmare

Hassle Time

Trying to take care,
Do the next right thing.
Save myself,
Just a human being.

Want to run and hide,
From thoughts in my head.
Supposed to be doing better,
Stuck here instead.

Told they will always be,
Like unwanted memories.
Sto fighting, learn to deal
With monsters and enemies.

Just want, to go home
Where I'm comfortable.
Need to stay, safe here
Instead, I'm irritable.

Ba...

Read and leave comments (0)

Silent Symptom

Heavy
A small word.
One not felt,
Only heard.

Heavy,
Hard to describe.
In its grasp,
Already inscribed.

Heavy,
Consumed by heft.
Breaking down,
Nothing left.

Heavy,
A small word.
One felt,
Not only heard...

Backdated 8/28/19

Read and leave comments (0)

Onus (TRIGGER WARNING)

I know what's coming,
I want to run away.
Maybe a deeper desire,
Always makes me stay.

He slips in behind me
Cuddles and watches TV.
Then he touches me and moves me,
And never once with a plea.

His rhythm begins,
One leg bracing me in.
Leaving his hand down my pants
Grabbing at my skin.

With fury and anger
His force comes to an abrupt halt.
Unsatisfied and unloved,
I'm left sh...

Read and leave comments (0)

molestationtraumaptsd

Captive

I never gave you any space
Uninvited you've settled in.
Droning on, your nagging voice,
Taking over like a kingpin.

It's crowded up there, where you stay.
Thoughts of bills and pets, and raising my son.
But you bring more and squeeze them in,
Self-harm, starvation, and coming undone.

So overpowering you've become,
Even though I've lived with you for years.
I feel myself caving in mor...

Read and leave comments (0)

Shame (R)

With me, I carry this weary load,
It seems as if to be a part of me now.
Weighing down, my shoulders slump,
Stress along my furrowed brow.

It eats away at me,  getting in my head.
Telling me how I'm better being erased.
Playing reels on repeat through the night,
Wake up from fault being chased.

Try to let go but the grasp is strong,
For this load keeps maturing where I feel stuck.
I ...

Read and leave comments (0)

Desolation

Exiled
Just like I was before
Trust lost
There was none to mourn
Heart aches
As if an open sore
Self-inflicted
On rages the war

Backdated 8/7/19

Read and leave comments (0)

Grief

Some days I'm numb
Some days I'm sad
Some days I'm angry
Some days I can't get out of bed

Some days I'm happy
Some days I'm hiding
Some days I'm depressed
Some days I don't know who I am

Some days I'm ok
Some days I'm anxious
Some days I'm pretending
Some days I'm full of regrets

Some days I'm hopeful
Some days I'm suicidal
Some days I'm on track
Most days I'm out of my mind

...

Read and leave comments (0)

death

Enervation

I've ached for you for many years
As if you were a long lost friend.
Waiting for your miracle work
And all these wounds to start to mend.

Praying every night for you
Since I was just a kid.
All I needed was a little bit
But it seems vigor I was forbid.

So white knuckle through life I go
And stop praying to an unjust king.
Buried deep the pain inside
Is courage even a real thing?

...

Read and leave comments (0)

strength

Sitting on a Shelf

I put you in a frame today
Pretending to feel all that I spew.
Gave you a little respect,
Because you're somebody I once knew.

They tell me it wasn't your fault
The dreadful things he did.
How your body was not your own,
And the aches you cannot rid.

Words are hard to speak
With his body forced against yours.
Next day feel like his stench
Is dripping out your pores.

So I put you ...

Read and leave comments (0)

Selfhelp

Truth

Stomach is empty
Weight falling like fat raindrops.
Still is not enough.

Backdated 4/11/19

Read and leave comments (0)

eating disorderhaiku

Intruder

False concerns,
Worry for nothing.
Someone to talk to?!
Admit you're the hole in my life.
Trying to move on.
Trying to live happily.
You say that's all you want.
Why do you continue to make it so hard?

Backdated 4/8/19

Read and leave comments (0)

Unhinged

Terrible the amount of anger spewed;
unrealized and uncontrolled.
Where honesty is meant to come off her tongue,
resentment instead is rolled.

Fighting to get through the pain,
trying to let people in.
But with lack of sauce to keep her sane,
irritability is sure to win.

Coming off as someone she's not
... what it takes to change,
I'm so fucking terrified because
to me that person i...

Read and leave comments (0)

Name of the Game

Alcoholic,
That's what I am.
Numb,
That's the brand.
Comfort,
That's all I want.
Memories,
That's what you haunt.
Escape,
That's what I try.
Inside,
That's where I die.

Backdated 2/7/19

Read and leave comments (0)

alcoholic

Restoration

Today I took a bath.
Turned the lights down low.
Cold drink.
Lo-Fi beats.
Pax.
Today I took a bath.
The water steaming hot.
Face mask.
Bath bomb.
Relax.
Today I took a bath.
Recover from the day before.
Clean body.
Candles lit.
Lilacs.

Backdated 1/25/19

Read and leave comments (0)

Selfhelp

Collapse (TRIGGER WARNING)

Lying on the bathroom floor,
blade resting on the sink.
Unsure how to get up,
I feel myself begin to shrink.

Bloodied tissues looking down
on the mess lying below.
Beaded drops continue to form,
until heavily the must flow.

Shivering against the cold,
damp towel draped over.
Naked body frozen in fear,
flashbacks still they hover.

Passed out from exhaustion
of the war raging insi...

Read and leave comments (0)

selfharmsuicide

Almighty

I'm tired of lies.
I'm so damn confused.
Are you real or
am I being used?

Hope shouted out
with joy from the shrine.
Believe in Him,
leave fear behind.

Entrust your faith
and you shall receive,
everything we've taught
our flock to believe.

Except for those
who go above and beyond.
Rather, in pain
their lives shall be donned.

Backdated 1/15/19

Read and leave comments (0)

God

Spiraling

Surrounded by people
yet nobody cares.
Voices thundering
but no one's there.

     Do this, do that,
     conform to our views.
     Bow down, submit,
     it's ok to be used.

          Drink your liquor
          try to run from the pain
          Make it worse
          and drown in the rain.

     Ignite your bud,
     mind light and floating.
     Indulge in sweets,
     ign...

Read and leave comments (0)

Day -1

Sobriety.
Nobody said it would be fun.
Nobody said I couldn't run.

Run away from memories.
Dive into the bottle.
Drinking at full throttle.

Throttle pushed past her limits.
Jumping hills - watch me fly!
Faster now I'll reach the sky.

Sky dark and heavy.
Trapped away from the sun.
Why have I yet to run?

Backdated 1/13/19

Read and leave comments (0)

What I'm Feeling

The dejection
of disappointment.
The bitterness
from betrayal.
The misery
of mourning.
The sadness
from shattering.
The agony
of anxiety.
The dolor
from depression.
The torture
of trauma.
The heaviness
from heartache.

Backdated 1/10/19

Read and leave comments (0)

heartachetrauma

Forsaken

Something bigger.
Something else.
Is there really?
Is there not?

We live on this floating ball in space.
Space, something indefinite.
Something unknown.
Are we alone?

Is it hard to believe
we are the only beings?
Yet harder to believe
there is a higher being.

We live alone
in our own worlds.
We feel alone.
Barren wasteland of existence.

Barren wasteland of a soul.
Body lef...

Read and leave comments (0)

Go

The problem is I've held on to hope for so long,
I had forgotten what I was even holding.
Now I've found the thing within my grasp
Has only been a fabrication.

My heart aches so much inside
For the little girl who will never have you.
My body hurts to the core
For the adult who's become burdened.

Continuing like this is insanity.
What I put myself through for you
Will never be worth ...

Read and leave comments (0)

Dust to Dust

All my life I've believed in you,
I thought you were the one getting me through.
Time has passed-- Oh how I grew!
I do not believe the lies they spew.

Your existence is the lie
That hurts so much I wish only to die.
Instead, I turn face to the sky,
And spark what makes sanity equal high.

There is no way you can be real,
And still, cause this pain that we feel.
Unfair is the hand you ...

Read and leave comments (0)

God

Harm Reduction

I don't understand
The way my body reacts
Or how it doesn't. 

Read and leave comments (0)

haiku

Whitehead

You're like the zit I shouldn't squeeze.
I only want to pop your head,
And pinch your soul until it bleeds.

Backdated 11/20/18

Read and leave comments (0)

Red Door (TRIGGER WARNING)

Light bounces off the cold metal,
A virgin blade begging for skin.
Pant leg pulled up above her ankle,
Looking for an escape from sin.

Crimson forming behind the glide,
Not too deep she's in control.
The knot within comes untied,
She watches as the feelings roll.

She keeps fighting this battle,
One she feels she may not win.
But her blade, in turn, is evil,
Instead, it will let him ...

Read and leave comments (0)

selfharm

Mr. Fix It

Five years old, or maybe I was six?
The first memory I have to hold on to.
Hiding in my room as screaming begins,
So vicious the poison words they spew.

I drift to sleep but not for long,
Dad swoops me into the truck.
Pitch black outside, my brother crying,
Brain still groggy; mind is amuck.

In the parking lot, we sit,
But he won't let me go back to sleep.
A large truck pulls across ...

Read and leave comments (0)

Derangement

The pain inside burns so deep,
Memories continue to creep.
Abandonment from mother dear,
A little girl consumed by fear.
Dying inside from unmet needs,
Another stroke watch as it bleeds.
Her shattered soul she tries to mend,
Alone she feels without a friend.
Another night she lies awake,
Dreams filled with dread and ache.
Into sleep, she'll surely succumb,
Just like his face will be sum...

Read and leave comments (0)

selfharm

Naivete

Just try to ignore him...

Ignore his stench,
Like sweat-drenched fears?
Ignore his laugh,
Like a shrill in my ears?
Ignore his face,
Like a revolting ghoul?
Ignore his imbalance,
Like a battered mule?
Ignore his touch,
Like a rugged wrench?
Ignore his darkness,
Like an endless trench?
Ignore his power,
Like a stifling net?
Ignore the things,
I beg to forget?

Backdated 11/16/18

...

Read and leave comments (0)

Clamorous

The sound of your voice
Burned into my memories
Please let me forget

Backdated 11/16/18

Read and leave comments (0)

Haiku

Anthony

I was supposed to be my brother's keeper,
I raised and watched him grow.
But what I did was hurt him,
Now he's someone I don't even know.

And he doesn't know me either,
It's been so many years since we spoke.
Would he recognize me in the street,
All these tears I'm sure to choke.

I wish I could just take his hand,
Try to explain the insanity.
But my dear brother is gone,
The monster...

Read and leave comments (0)

Debate

If I take a stand now,
                                    what would I lose?
It's already gone...
                                    yet silent I remain.
Words trapped for so long,
                                    where to begin?
It feels as if there's nothing to gain.


If I take a stand now,
                                     who would I hurt?
Hearts still mending...
         ...

Read and leave comments (0)

Untitled

I put pencil to paper,
But nothing comes out.
Writer's block is an illusion,
What fear is this about?

Read and leave comments (0)

Sober

Clink, clink, clink goes the ice in the glass.
Golden whiskey trickles down their side.
Goosebumps rise and chest starts to burn.
Swallowing another memory she wished had died.

Read and leave comments (0)

Rat Tale

A letter...
to you.
But what would I say?

No.
Stop.
Don't touch me that way.

At least that's what I should've said.
But I just lay silently instead.

Thief.
Coward.
A magician, for they don't see.

The hurt.
The shame.
The mark you left on me.

Backdated 11/15/18

Read and leave comments (0)

New Sheets (TRIGGER WARNING)

The lights dim and a curtain's drawn,
A quiet theater as the show begins.
It's the same reel playing on repeat,
A shattered heartbroken from sin.

He lies next to her as he'd always done,
Reliving his day through adventurous stories.
But something about him had changed that night,
The girl became something he had to seize.

A kiss of the lips catches her off guard,
"I'm sorry" escapes f...

Read and leave comments (0)

MolestationRapeTraumaPTSDStepdad

Untitled

I should be doing something,
Get out of this funk I'm in.
Instead I'm stuck in nothing,
Replaying years of sin.

Backdated 11/13/18

Read and leave comments (0)

Coastal

You are the tide,
And I am the shore.
Coming and going,
I crumble once more.

Tumbling and churning,
Bits of me swept afar.
Repeatedly I let you win,
Tidal crashing over my sandbar.

Loud and roaring,
Your waves smash.
Battering my rocks,
Leaving your trash.

The moon begins to pull,
And you leave once more.
Because you are the tide,
And I am the shore.

Backdated 11/13/18

Read and leave comments (0)

Hypocrite

I need love
I need belief
I need trust
I need compassion
I need comfort
I need healing
I need empathy
I need support
I need existence
I need kindness
I need patience
I need relief
I need protection
I need family
I need peace
I need forgiveness

I judge you for keeping these things from me,
Yet I can't find it in myself to give them to you.

Backdated 11/13/18

Read and leave comments (0)

Bath Bomb (TRIGGER WARNING)

One foot in as she tests the waters,
Scorching hot, enough to revel in.
Tub over-flows as her body sinks,
Like her heart filled with so much sin.

Flames make shadows dance on walls,
Anxious they jitter from beneath the seam.
Chest tightens under the weight of 100 bricks,
As the air continues to thicken with steam.

Tile floor stained with a crimson splash,
So sure this way she would ne...

Read and leave comments (0)

SelfharmSuicideNightmaresNightmareSleepterrors

Me and My Shadow

You feel so ignorant
When you share and express
Everything that haunts you
And what makes you a mess.

Yet nobody listens
Nobody seems to care
Unwilling to lend help
Or even say a prayer.

But once it's their turn
To cry on your shoulder
Your existence is essential
Forcing you to grow colder.

Don't take time for yourself
Accusations you've gone ghost
Even if being alone is
What ...

Read and leave comments (0)

Show more entries …

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

Find out more Hide this message