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Innasense

2020-10-10 09:54 pm
Warning: this is looooooong and if you’re a sensitive individual the first parts may bother you. But hopefully the last part will inspire you. Speak your truths friends. The ones who matter will love you all the harder. #worldmentalhealthday

Hidden Stories 

They smiled, jokingly told her 
she looked tired, 
“Must’ve partied hard last night.”
Smile quietly returned, 
“just didn’t sleep too well I guess.”
She didn’t tell them how hard it was to get out of bed this morning, 
How sleep never came last night, 
How it felt like the darkness would just swallow her whole, 
How she felt hollow and empty 
and there weren’t any tears left, 
just an ache deep within 
that wouldn’t subside. 
And maybe if she just squeezed her eyes shut and stayed in that bed 
in the blacked out void, 
She wouldn’t have to face another day of faked smiles and “I’m ok” lies. 
“Just tired today I guess.”

“It’s warm today man!” 
“What’s with the long sleeves all the time?”
“Got some crazy tattoos under there?” 
He smiled, laughed along with them, 
Self-consciously ran his hands 
over his wrists. 
Over the bandages binding his secrets.
They didn’t know how close he got last night, how he almost let go, 
How so much blood, HIS blood 
swirled down the drain, 
mixing with his tears. 
He was sure no one would miss him, but he wondered if he would miss this world, 
And the good days out in the sun, 
Few and far between as they were.
What would they say if he were gone tomorrow?

“You should’ve come out with us last night. You would’ve had so much fun...”
She nodded and made those
“next time” promises, 
though she knew they were lies. 
She’d stay home again, 
Wrapped in the icy grips of loneliness, 
Which felt somehow better 
than her burning cheeks 
when the right words just wouldn’t come, or the wrong ones spilled out, 
and she felt their eyes on her,
Panic rising, thoughts frozen
Wishing she’d just stayed home, 
Away from the judgement, 
And all the wrong moves she always made

“Haven’t seen you around in a while! Doing ok?” 
His mouth smiled, head nodded, 
lips formed words he’d said so often, automatic. 
Because, really, he thought, 
How could I describe 
that moment last night, 
body curled up with forehead cold 
against the kitchen floor, 
Ears covered to block out the voices, 
Silent screams wracking his body as the panic overwhelmed him, 
No breath to speak, 
And who could he call anyway, 
How would he explain these moments of pure fear that slipped in unnoticed
and become everything, took everything, until he was a shivering shell of himself. 
Sometimes he wondered, 
if they could see through him, 
would they think him weak? 
Would they walk away...?


These people are all make-believe, 
but the experiences are not, 
taken from articles and discussions 
and sometimes even revelations from 
real-life friends. 
These are not my stories, 
but they are someone’s truths, 
Not their weakness, 
Not their short-lived sadness
that they can just “get over” if you try hard enough to make them happy. 
(My gosh do I need to remind myself of that part sometimes...)

But that doesn’t mean you stop trying. 
Love them y’all. 
Love them so damn much that you’ll sometimes break through the cracks in their self-inflicted armor. 
Listen to them, 
Give them the chance to be 
open and honest, 
And if what they say makes you flinch, imagine what it must feel like for them. 
Do something kind that makes them smile and get ready to do it again tomorrow.
Smile and laugh with them. Cry with them.
Be genuine with your 
thoughts and feelings. 
Give them space, but check on them. 
Pull them out of the dark for just a moment, say, 
“I’m here for you when you need me. 
And I always will be.” 

Mental health issues are often invisible, 
but still feel debilitating to the one 
inside that head. 
Stay educated. 
Be understanding. 
Love the hell out of each other. 
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤🤍🤎💗

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Innasense

2020-09-25 08:01 am
Throw back the covers on 
the incessant redundancy 
of another day. 
Putting in time for a world 
we no longer believe in, 
if ever we truly did. 
...Them rose-tinted glasses 
were long-ago shattered...
Our dedication repaid 
With more stolen hours 

Coming home with less time 
To spend with ourselves, 
Or perhaps those we purposely 
surround ourselves with, 
Than we’ll spend talking to ceiling tiles 
in the dark later on. 
Droning away the limited hours, 
The constant pull of a thumb , 
—Refreshing—
Giving our ❤️s away 
In an opinionated match game 

Finger-fucking ourselves to sleep 
Just to say we felt alive 
Before succumbing to darkness 
With a see-you-later sayonara 
Whispered into black, 
Just like the onyx air pixels 
we’ll be counting later 
to lure heavy eyelids 
back into a much-too-finite slumber 
...Or maybe the fluffy white bastards 
will do the trick 
Whatever helps you sleep at night...

Next day, the inbox the same, 
Full of spam mail we unsubscribed to 
ages ago 
That somehow keeps rearing ugly heads, hydra-like 
with a pretty new name every time, 
to keep us believing in the possibility 
that this particular lovesick prince
will be our salvation. 
DELETE to clear our foggy heads 
While trying to remember 
which ones are the liars. 
The mirage keeps on shifting. 

Repeat, repeat, 
World keeps on turning, 
pulling us along, 
A child’s toy on a string. 

But what if, for a moment, 
We turn away from from the 
unending axial spins, 
Sidestep the scythe again, 
seek out the sunrise...
Find the beauty brave souls! 
Crack open that Earth-shaped geode and search out the wild world within 

And you know what...
Go buy you a new pair 
of those pretty pink shades 

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Blake Garner

2020-09-15 10:47 am
No secrets
You keep me speechless,
I can not lie
I hate that I love you,
If you knew the damage
Would you love me correctly,
The hell you put me through
I no longer want to be on the ride,
You knew I from the start
That I fall hard and fast,
I try to feel ok
While you play with my emotions, 
There's no need to explain
If you think what your doing is ok,
I can try to get up and feel ok again
But I'm just domino in your game,
Does this make you feel better
Being on top in this one sided love,
I wake up in terror
To ask myself what am I doing here,
Why do I let myself endure
The torture of your love,
I can not lie
I love you,
No more holding inside
This dirty little secret I keep,
I'm tired of the mistreatment 
I'm tired of the avoidance, 
You say I hurt you
From a drunken fight,
Its time to bring to light
Your drunken words,
When we met you knew
I was unwell,
One night amongst your drunken lips
You spoke to me a terrible fate,
It haunts me in my thoughts
The DJ to my demons party,
You spoke love sober
Yet you spoke death drunk,
Your tinder lips slipped
I wish you would've died,
You hated me for what I did
You hated the fact I was broken,
I set it aside for the sheer fact
That I love you truly,
However you still to this day
Blame my mental instability, 
I try so hard every day
I fight for my next breath.

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Innasense

2020-09-14 11:17 pm
”The End”

The night is young, 
Barely swollen with stars 
When the illusion shatters

As though everyone I had ever known
was gone
The world as I had come to know it, 
Ended.
Apocalyptic, 
And without near enough warning. 

Those paper souls lost,
Their memories fast fading, 
The stories they told, 
Words lost in the wind 
Some names forgotten,
Others stamped permanently 
onto my brain, 
autographs on my heart. 

I reminisced for a moment 
On the places we’d been, 
Conversations had, 
Friendships shared, 
Hardships weathered.

Bright sunny days spent outside 
Or solitary nights spent avoiding sleep, 
Blanketed by the silent words between us, 
Alone but for each other’s company.

Now I just feel alone, utterly, 
This finality staring me in the face 
Nothing left to do but face this music
Slipping away at too rapid a pace
These final notes, 
One last embrace. 

I tell myself I must accept this end, 
But allow myself one backward look 
Steel my heart,
Heave a sigh, 
And with great trepidation...



close this book. 

❤️📚💔

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Blake Garner

2020-09-12 06:42 pm
You would not believe your eyes
If you seen all the dark thoughts,
I keep at tide inside my head
If only that was true,
I can no longer control
these racing thought,
I'm a danger to myself
I've succumb to pain,
I've felt numb for too long
I inflict pain to just feel something, 
Thoughts constantly racing
Never a chance to think straight,
I've found a healthy affliction 
In the pain I inflict upon myself,
I can feel it now
Like cardiac arrest,
The slip of the chair
The tension around my neck,
Ill try my best,
The pull of the blade
Against my wrist,
I've been trying my best
How much do I invest,
Before its all over
No longer numb,
My Demons
They catch me when I slip,
Motor control loss
Mindless acts,
Just a permanent solution 
To a temporary feeling,
Exactly how long is temporary
All i want is for this living nightmare to be over,
These demons consuming me alive
Fighting is no longer a solution,
Don't stop me now
I know now noone would shed a tear,
Noone would shutter a sound
To stop me,
Forget yesterday
I dont wanna see tomorrow,
Remember when you told me
That I was better off dead,
I knew it from the start
I was never any good to anyone,
You can believe it
When im not here tomorrow,
Today I find something great
Today I find a Healthy Affliction. 

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Gord

2020-09-01 04:48 am
A little boating, hidden motives, 
Net cast far and wide, rod and line, 
Bits of fishing where the hook is life,
We are the bait and our path decided.

A single holding, hot and high, 
One's Lifetime amidst the roses,
A river flowing, ascots and wine,
Single toll trip last night, no guilt. 

No guild and no scrill.
No landmarks or sites.
Gifts of civil clothing,
Met with concerning eyes,
In the yards at night,
Burning, the whole thing.

The inner coding of my heart of little noting,
A bit of doting, conflicts of the coal bin,
Am I composing, or composting with silicosis,
Wasting away my time with simple nothings,
Served of cold beer unnoticed with business going.

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crybaby

2020-08-20 11:24 am
8 years old
playing with dolls
marriage between thots
never touched the boys

then at school
cool swimming pools
putting on your clothes
causes me to drool

in 7th grade
joined the parade
thats the time i came
out of the shade

i regret
not sleeping at
that one night i said
what we cant forget

you pretend not knowing my face
you never call me by my name
i just need to know
what’s under the snow
what’s the name of the show
that you play

i wish i were straight
or you were be gay
if only you would lay
down with me babe
look me in the eyes
like i look in yours
kiss me on my mouth
and i would be yours

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crybaby

2020-08-20 11:23 am
i met you on a friday night
it was all good and fun
i was stressed and fatigue
i knew im out of your league
but well i tried

i tried and i tried and i tried
having your attention
i lied and i lied and i lied
to earn your affection

when the party was over
you said let’s grab a toaster
and then you took me over
we got in to your rover

then days and weeks came and went
but granny had a heart attack
you said depression sucked 
and you only felt love 
when you were drunk

i tried and i tried and i tried
stopping you, making you stay
i lied and i lied and i lied
to look like im okay

you are an alcoholic 
no heart but many lovers
our love was narcotic
daydreaming like it’s summer

i wish we could go back
i wish you were sober
i think that it’s so bad
that i am so so sad
while here you are over
this shit

i wish i could go back
i wish i could know that
if you loved me in that moment
when your eyes weren’t open
and the time got frozen
real quick 

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Gord

2020-07-29 05:43 am
Storm the earth, Storm the sea,
Arrive in myth, the people be,
Not given bronze, not given sons,
Living gaunt outside a lodge.
Singing swans, singing songs,
Zinc, gold, silver, iron, copper,
In hefty sums, no bitten tongue.

Dearth they arrive, murder at night,
No allies, wyrms or fires to fight.
Death they provide.

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Lynn

2020-07-21 01:31 am
devouring the skin inside my lip.
of course, everything in the human body is connected. of course.

staining the porcelain with blood and iron, iron and blood and water, the permutations of rust.

my voice becomes sticky, sickly sweet - the performance of wellness thickened even further by blood. 

my crazy, concentrated and caustic, drains through my nose and onto my chin and onto my shirt and onto my hands and down the drain. 

“i wish the blood inside my mouth were yours”. 

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Gord

2020-05-20 05:58 am
I guess I could write again,
About life: All but writing.
Perhaps mine inspire biting,
Fists to the side inspiring.

A couple stands,
A couplet stanza,
My life is not simple music,
To play on verandas,
Nightstand or castle.
Rather it's a little shrew,
His mind on what is new:
"Is it food?"

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Autumn

2020-05-14 11:54 am
Show me that night underneath the sky
when you pulled me close
but i am nothing but smoke in your hands. You are
my ghost—or am I yours?—
and we float away up to the sun.
There’s a shadow around the corner
and it haunts me.
I flee into your arms—
into you—
and the fire between us
chases it away. I don’t want to leave
but you can’t stay
and I ask you, please.
I’ll let you go forever
if you just stay tonight, here with me
and whisper in my ear
that you’ll never leave

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Lynn

2020-04-07 10:57 am
the bedsheets, striped linen, rumpled, unkept
the jar of half-full change on the nightstand
the dollar store notebook full of dated dreams
the bible, still lying in the nonfiction section of the bookshelf
the lavender curtains, billowing in the cool spring air—

I forgot to close the window.

the cat meanders in
after his nap in the blue blanket still draped
over the armchair, he stretches big,
jumps to the east windowsill, and tracks a cardinal, pupils blown wide.

parting is such sweet sorrow. (2.2.188)

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Gord

2020-03-12 06:39 am
Wishing to find the guardrails of life,
Leaning against as he sleeps too tightly,
Dreams too deeply, too often: Nightly.

Gut or balls, what does it take to fight?
Is it twice as woke to never, and lie,
Guarded and cross, who takes your rights?
How about the lefts? Right.

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Kody

2020-02-19 09:42 am
Bin thinking all night
Which goes outside
Bin worried of bin left out
Too much trash inside my house

Do neighbors above jest?
When no one bin in flight
Do the angels laugh at our distress?
Despite a sky with all yards in sight

In desserts I have bin
Now I know which truck rolls in
Now my neighbors learn from me
My bin is full of trash and now
Peace


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The Sophist

2019-08-07 06:21 am
Act white;
Pack light,
Passing every alley in a mad hike.

Can you wear your Nikes out,
When theft is at a mad high?
Can you wear your Gucci belt?

'Cuz theft is at a mad high;
Thirsty people getting water like they're Mogwai,
Then they're eating after midnight.

Man, I can't even see straight.
I feel mad high under the streetlights.
*Rustle Rustle* as a squirrel runs past.
I'm in flight.
What the fuck was that?

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Dawn Toney

2019-05-15 08:00 am
Another day,
Another night,
Another tear,
Another fight,
Another lonely dinner,
Another lieing sinner,
Another red wet face,
Another $500 divorce case.

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Gord

2018-10-21 08:56 am
Why write technical poetry?
Skylight he remarks, opens,
Beams of light Caepoeria,
Room a knight of California,
Adjoined, special upholstery,
Coins, for centuries.
My king coiled, 
Toiling thy rings,
By fools finding hands,
Bringing foil to my picnics.
Thinking spoilt,
Singing doyle,
Drunk stringing his violin,
To play brittle.
How would I do, Aemula?
Is my world to soon, exposed,
Or steeped for your future?
A mule for god,
How would I too, butcher,
Myself, user and administrator?
I'm you for Claude, Europe,
Sugar, or urban woodland.
Frogs bulwark their homeless,
I'm too for piles of durance,
Furthermore for living fulcrum,
Furthermore, for here it comes.
Words technical, sure, but speaking of,
Can I not just turn and bite my thumb?

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