You ran your finger straight
Down my index and flipped
To the significant details
As if all of me wasn’t
Significant enough for you
I wanted to give
You the love I
Refused everyone else
The kind that only
Measured in oceans
The kind that felt as if
You were addressed
Directly to me
Even if you were,
I must live with
Your mistakes on my skin
I whispered, “I love you.”
Only for it to echo
Back to her
I thought love meant
You laid with one person
You must’ve been built
Upon different values
Now, I must live with your
Mistakes on my skin
Every “I love you.”
Became
“You broke me.”
You took every pure bit of Me and mistreated it
Because you could
I’ll never strip my
Skin of your mistakes
Long after we’re gone,
My skin will still remember
How loyalty meant
Nothing to you
-apparently love and cheating are synonymous
I think I’ve had enough
The hinges of my heart
Are tired and rusted
I don’t want to pry any longer
The wounds will
Not heal over
Even the gentlest
Tug and the stitches
Will come undone
I want to be alone
I don’t want to love,
To be in it or near it,
I want to heal the
Scars that came
From the Previous
I’m much too tender
My keys are hushed
And out of tune
The only music I can
Produce is clumsy and
Feels more like
Resuscitation efforts
Than a melody
The slightest upset
And I throw my hands
Toward the heavens
Ready to evade
Another torturous
Dismemberment of
My spirit
Please love,
Let me rest first
Please love,
Let me heal first
On the third day, I rose.
The palms that once dug
Their way through your
Sugar coated soul
Were healed but scarred
My flesh and bone,
Torn from the Earth,
Blinded by a holy
White light,
My ears rang from
The cacophony of angels
Draped in white linen
I rise from the grave
With elegance
My light brings
Worshippers to their knees
With hands folded
Heads bowed in my honor
My skin radiates godliness
My soul reeks of purity
I am the heaven you
Attempted to tarnish
I praise my resiliency
For recovering from
Sins that weren’t my own
I rise from the dead
Righting every goddamn
Wrong you placed
On my spirit
My succulent resurrection
Came for me
I am finally free of you
-resurrection
I made a religion of you
Sang pleasant songs
In your name
Dedicated verses to you
Whispered grace hoping
It might reach you
Prayed for you to
Restore the holes in me
I worshipped until my
Hands were tired of
Folding and my voice
Cracked on sweet words
Your verses became
Decorated fallacies
I made a religion out
Of something unholy
You’re nothing
Worth worshiping
If you can compromise
My spirit without an
Ounce of respect for
The heartache that’s
Anchored itself to it
You thought you were God
So, I became an atheist
-praise
You can purchase Chelsea's poetry collection (Un)Wholesome here.
You can check out her website here.
You can follow her on social media here.
You can check out her Goodreads here.
Thank you for submitting your work, Chelsea! We have more poetry by Chelsea that we will be posting soon so stay on the lookout, and in the meantime, check out all the links!