Ring With No Master

Gather ’round all,
Come with me to the menagerie.
No, not a ménage à trois,
But bel et bien a collection of curiosities.
A harpy, a siren, a strongman
Why, you might even find a bearded lady.

Oyez, oyez!
Come closer, take a look
At the caged beauty
Who’s forgotten herself;
She’s the magician’s monstrosity.

You will be awed, you will be repulsed,
No! Don’t stand too close.
Alluring as she may be,
She’s waiting in bleak silence
‘Till you get close enough
For her talons to sink into your soul.
Some fall in love,
She falls in angst.

Come one, come all!
If you’re ready and willing
To pay a pretty penny
For a glimpse inside
The realm of my nightmares.

© 2020 Lilith Ember All Rights Reserved

Patience

I am no longer a volcano.
I am a seething rage of cool existence;
a deep burn, one that ignites the soul.

A liberating flurry of flames,
destroying all to better begin anew.
Two steps ahead of the phoenix,
I’ve already planted the seeds
to help my inner-world flourish.

I am no longer at your mercy,
but gently pressing
against the walls of my own being.
Reappropriation is like laughter:
it bounces off walls,
and its imperceptible power
fills your heart with joy;
a glitter bomb
exploding in your soul.

A Universe unto myself
my expansion is continuous.
I’ve set my mind free
and let the cage of my past
dissolve like ashes in the wind.

I can taste the colours again,
soak up the love in their eyes,
savour the silence…
dance ’till I drop,
scream at the top of my lungs,
fall into passionate embrace,
let my heavy eyes rest,
and do it all over tomorrow.

I can feel the lead of a pencil
sigh as I press down onto paper,
feel the temperature of colours
when they meet, swirl and mix;
and the words trickle like dewdrops,
as they roll off the pages of my mind.

I now remember
the untarnished power
of finding beauty in the now,
the stars, the sun, the wind;
and the radiant smiles
of those who populate my world.

© 2020 Lilith Ember All Rights Reserved

Seule – for C

loneliness is like a bubble

sometimes all we need
is for it to pop, Pop, PoP!
like a kernel in the microwave

at first, inert,

it doesn’t look like much
then, from somewhere deep within
a heated force of overwhelming power
shines through and breaks the shell.

© 2019 Lilith Ember All Rights Reserved

On Writing – A word from Lilith

After a bit of an absence, I am back to try out a new format.

Prior to my month-long writing hiatus, I had been putting a lot of pressure on myself to post regularly and be active on social media to try and promote what I was writing. I was crippled, in a way, by what many people would refer to as FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). “If I don’t spend time building a following on Twitter, and interacting with the other members of the #writingcommunity, I’m never going to be part of it.”

Well, the truth is, that doesn’t work for me. I loathe social media, and I’m not a natural at it. I believe it reflects the worst of what we are in many cases: vain, sad little creatures, disconnected from our communities and the things that matter, and desperate for validation that is substanceless (like a bag of chips: delicious while you’re eating it, but has zero benefits for your body and leaves you hungry for more 10 minutes later). Personally, trying to maintain the regularity needed to push a following on social comes at the detriment of my mental wellbeing (which then can quickly cause me to spiral and stop taking care of myself on a physical level, like I normally would), which just doesn’t work.

So, I’ve decided to no longer care who reads what I publish, or whether I get likes or shares. It was never why I started publishing my works online in the first place, and I’ll be damned if my social media stress puts me in a position where I’d rather walk away from writing than simply periodically publish something because I’ve felt inspired and taken the time to write something out.

I’m also going to start writing to a new section of my site called “Musings On…”, which are going to be taking on a more traditional blog post (or article format). I am a complex individual, with lots of experiences and things to share with the world beyond just my poetry, and I hope that anyone who feels they can relate to what I choose to write about will find value in my thoughts.

Eternally yours,

Lilith.

Steps

It takes discipline
To not wallow in the sorrow
Abruptly brought to life by the unknown

One step at a time
We lift our feet and move forward
Ever so slowly, never quickening the pace

A flow of thought
Creeping like a monster in the night
Unable to see reason, trying to devour you

It takes discipline
To hold your ground, steady,
In the face of such worldly adversity

A hunger growing
We reach for the forbidden fruit
Ever so carefully, never tightening the grip

An eye opens
That of the witch, but also the demon
Undaunted by your carelessness, they see all

It takes discipline
To not lose oneself in contemplation
Of things sowed by the heart never sought by the head.

© 2019 Lilith Ember All Rights Reserved

Reach – For Lilith

Some days I’m addicted
To the heartbreak,
The hard ache of knowing
I will never be the one.
Writing in cursive lines,
My mind wanders to strange places,
A fleeting moment where my hand
Plunges deep into my body,
To squeeze out the love,
And let it seep onto the floor.
Perilous belongings to the world of the night,
Make light of cold sheets,
And trembling lips.
The shadows unwind upon themselves,
Living in deeper creases
Than the love we share
When you hover near.

A new dawn brings a new day,
Where I wonder why
I ever believed my heart
Could break the stone of my resolve.
Like a child in need of guidance,
I welcome my wary insecurity.
Cradled safely in my arms,
I hush in her ear, caress her cheek
Remind her of the love she holds within.
“Lilith, dear,
Weep not for the lost,
For they are not your burden to bear.
Fear not for your soul,
For you are slave to no other.
Bear your love with pride, sweet Lilith,
For to desire the undesirable is simply a sign
That you fear your immutable strength.
You sway amidst the masked dancers,
Never quite here nor there,
Sometimes wanting what you cannot have,
As simply as opposites attract.
But no one will ever love you,
Sweet, darling, Lilith,
Because the greatest love you’ll know
Will always be the one you gift yourself.
Now. Always. Forever.”

Photo by Olexandra Pavlovka – “Self Hugging Project”

Phoenix – Goodbye, L.

I wish I could hold in my hands,
your incandescent insecurities
and use them to fuel your fire.

Oh, what a sight…
Brightly consuming everything
until you emerge from the ashes,
— Radiant —

Yet I feel you slipping
melting through my fingers
down a path, I cannot follow…

A husk of who you appeared to be
anger sketched in steel
between the lines
of your beautiful face,
caught in a frenzy of fear
longing always to run
until there’s nowhere left to go.

I cry out!
The wind whistles in your hair
as part of me flies to catch up.
A little bird of love,
heart of gold and periwinkle,
who’ll follow you forever
no matter where you end up.

NB: Originally written in November 2018. 

© 2018 Lilith Ember All Rights Reserved