in late hours | Teen Ink

in late hours MAG

June 24, 2015
By haley101 DIAMOND, Windsor, Connecticut
haley101 DIAMOND, Windsor, Connecticut
70 articles 5 photos 195 comments

Favorite Quote:
“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.”

― Mary Oliver


my thoughts tonight
are equal parts arresting
and demanding,
matching the shrill of silence
in my ears and the cold elegance that

I’ve learned to call the sound
of my pulse, rushing harshly past
my ears which I clamp tightly to this pillow
that is never you.

i stare up at the ceiling and start
to feel hollow, as if all I am amounts
to bones and this ache that has become
so natural to my brain that I almost
can’t notice.

Around 3 the sky becomes brown,
polluted with light. Something wanted to rob
my view of the stars, the only thing that I
sometimes believe you can see too.

Every time I swallow there is a fist at
my throat,
and I’m aware of hands that aren’t yours,
pressing deep into the curvature of my spine
to make my muscles ache, and paralyze me
until morning.

I haven’t told you that
we’ll have cotton sheets
when we live together.
They’re light. Did you realize
I can’t sleep without blankets?

Exposed skin in late hours
has always made me scared,
as if fabric simply protects me
from what lives in the absence of light,
and the absence of you.

I haven’t told you that
I’m embarrassed about my collarbones
but in the late hours before I knew you
I wished someone could love them for me,
just like I’ve always loved the curvature
of shoulder blades.

I haven’t told you that
with the right words
my stomach twists
and I can’t help but let myself
love you, despite how guarded
I used to be.

I lie here painfully,
juggling ideas of bare legs tangled
in cotton sheets, your lips
by my collarbones, and mine
exploring your shoulders.



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This article has 5 comments.


on Dec. 6 2015 at 8:36 pm
haley101 DIAMOND, Windsor, Connecticut
70 articles 5 photos 195 comments

Favorite Quote:
“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.”

― Mary Oliver

wow, thank you so much for that. so encouraging; I'm often self critical of my work

on Aug. 4 2015 at 9:50 am
TrishDestiny PLATINUM, Jerantut , Pahang, Other
45 articles 2 photos 91 comments

Favorite Quote:
“When it's over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

When it is over, I don't want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.”

@haley101 Prolific imagery , spectacular story and really, you are one of the most greatest inspiration in my entire existence. :)

Magnificent said...
on Jul. 10 2015 at 9:45 pm
Beautiful, it made me cry. I hope you keep writing and inspiring others.

on Jul. 10 2015 at 8:28 pm
haley101 DIAMOND, Windsor, Connecticut
70 articles 5 photos 195 comments

Favorite Quote:
“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.”

― Mary Oliver

Thank you so much!

JRaye PLATINUM said...
on Jul. 6 2015 at 11:11 pm
JRaye PLATINUM, Dorr, Michigan
43 articles 10 photos 523 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If you build your house far enough away from Trouble, then Trouble will never find you."

"Have you ever looked fear in the face and said, 'I just don't care.'?"

Really, truly beautiful and deserving of an Editors' Choice :)