Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Mommy 4/28/15

"She's my Mommy!" 
The little girl
Whispers excitedly
At first
And then repeats again
With more force
"Hi Mommy!"
I turn
And see her
Beloved face
And she runs
Into my arms
And she snuggles 
In deep
And she 
Looks at me
With those big 
Beautiful eyes 
And I know 
Peace
I know 
Contentment
Because she has
Shown me 
Something
I never thought
I'd see again....
My own sweet child
Showing me 
That I'm loved
That I'm wanted 
And I'm not giving up 
Not after tonight 

"That's my Mommy!"
"I miss you Mommy!"
"When can you come see me again?"
"Can you come tomorrow?"
"Daddy, can Mommy sit with us?"
And the look in your eyes
When you realized 
We couldn't stay

Please baby, 
I need you to know that 
I would have done
Anything you asked
Were it in my power 
To do so
But it's not up 
To just me

So tomorrow I go again
To try to be a part 
Of your world
Or perhaps
Make one of 
Our own
Where the hurt I saw
In your eyes tonight
Can't find us 

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Know How 4/25/15

I sit here wondering
What could make me 
Stop loving 
My daughters
Or stop loving 
My mother 
Or stop loving 
My sister
Or stop loving 
All the rest of the
People I once held
So close to my heart
And the answer flares
In front of me

I guess I just
Don't know how
To do it 

I wonder what could make me
Want to push them out of my life
Why they couldn't be bothered to 
Learn about my disease
Why they couldn't be bothered to 
Attend one Narc-Anon meeting
Why I wasn't as important to them
As they were to me

I guess I just 
Don't know why
They did it

I sit and remember
All the things that have happened 
That have led me to this place
And I still don't understand how 
A person can just stop 
Loving someone
That gave them life
That birthed you and raised you 
That grew up beside you
And loved you every day 
From then until forever

But I've learned love
Shouldn't come
With a set of conditions
And I wish I'd seen mine 
Before my contract was up

If there is any way to love
That isn't unconditionally 

I guess I just 
Don't know how

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Someone Like You 4/7/15

I sit listening to music
And this song comes on
One I've heard a million times
And sung my guts out to
A million and one. 
And yet...
This time...
I listened
And I remembered
And it took on new meaning. 

You see...
I've been missing you 
As of late
Missing how strong you were
When our world fell away
When we lost our angel 
You stood strong
Until you couldn't hold it in
And you did what had to be done

And I don't blame you
Not one bit
I never deserved you 
To begin with
You and Kairi were a dream
I wasn't good or clean enough
To hold
And I still grieve 
For all I had
And all I lost 
When I lost you

You've moved on 
And from all I've been privy to
You're finally happy
And I have peace knowing that. 
Because you deserve it Jason. 
You deserve a good woman 
Who will make your world complete
You deserve to be a daddy 
No matter how it came to be
Now you have that chance and 
I swear to you on our daughters name 
That I wish you all 
Nothing but the best. 

I guess this is my goodbye 
To you... 
Even though you could care less
I need it said 
I need to give it voice 
Because I need to hear it louder 
Than the irrational hope 
That we could mend our 
Fucked up fences
And someday have a friendship. 
That's all I'd ever hope for 
Because in spite of it all
You were always
A friend 
Always someone I knew 
I could trust implicitly 
The last of the true 
Good men in the world 
And it's him I miss the most 

So in the words of Adele, 
"I hate to turn up out of the blue, uninvited, but I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it... I'd hoped you'd see my face and be reminded that to me... It isn't over....

"Never mind I'll find someone like you...
I wish nothing but the best for you... Don't forget me I beg, I'll remember you said sometimes it lasts in love and sometimes hurts in stay."

"Nothing compares no worries or cares regrets and mistakes they're memories made, who would have known how bittersweet this could taste...."

Goodbye Jason
I wish you all the happiness
I couldn't give you
I wish that all the joy of being a father
That I was able to give you so briefly through our Kairi  
Lives on in your new angel.
And I wish you all the love I 
Tried and failed to show you 
Lives in every breath 
In your new relationship. 

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Bad Guy 3/19/15

I have always
Taken the blame
For the wrong things
I've done
I'll take the consequences
And deal with the
Aftermath
Of said wrongs
When I do wrong
As most tend to do
I'll tell the truth
And shame the devil

But here
In this instance
If I come clean
If I admit my part
It will hurt someone
I love
So I'll play the
Bad guy
In your
Newly white world
And I'll keep
My lips
Sealed
To the truth

Because playing
The bad guy
Is a role
I know
All
Too
Well

Friday, March 13, 2015

Stasis 3/13/15

I stand here
Overthinking things...
As usual
I bring my bags back inside
I sit down with a cup of coffee
And I allow this feeling
To wash over me...

I've been stood up

Perhaps I'm letting this
Get to me more than I should
But damn it
I haven't felt this way
In a damn long time...
I haven't allowed myself
To hope
That my heart
Could come out
Of it's coma
It's stasis
I put it on the shelf
Beside my baby's ashes
And I haven't allowed
Anyone in
That wasn't already there...
And perhaps it was silly of me
To have allowed myself
The forbidden pleasure
And exquisite pain
Of hope
The childish wishing
Maybe this could be
The beginning of something
I haven't let myself want and
Probably don't deserve

To finding I didn't even
Merit a phone call

My mistake
Was allowing the wanting
To find it's way back inside
My heart
My head
My mistake
Was in making
Something
Out of
Nothing

So I sit here another night
Sucking down my cigarettes
Like I'm giving my hatred head
And allowing this
Bitterness
To flow back
In place of the hope

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Dear Daddy 3/1/15

Dear Daddy, 

   I know you won't ever be able to this message.  I know you've left
 this world for the wonders and mysteries that await you in the next life. 
I know you've found out just how wonderful Heaven is and I'm so happy for 
that.  I hope it's everything you had always dreamed it would be and then 
some.  
   I know that you've kept your promise to me Daddy. I know that my 
sweet Kairi is safe in your strong arms that used to pick me up and 
swing me around as a child, and I know she feels just as loved as I 
did.  I have such peace in knowing she is with you, and honestly, 
your promise is what has given me such peace of mind.  I don't 
know where I'd be right now if you hadn't given me that gift before 
you passed. 
   I have peace in my heart now thanks to you, but it doesn't stop me
from missing you.  I know that I won't ever stop wishing I had been 
more of a daughter to you.  A more dutiful daughter.  More active in 
your life.  There is so much about your life that I wasn't privy to and 
I wish I'd made more of an effort to learn more about you.
   I wish I'd made you proud
   Instead of being such a disappointment
   Being such a failure

   But you never made me feel that way.  You never made me feel like 
I wasn't a part of you, like the outcast that I'd always cast myself as.  You
had the innate ability to break right through all my defenses and reach 
deep inside me to find the child I never got to be.
   And I miss that
   Because I don't fit
   Anywhere but with you. And lately, I feel like I'm just playing the
waiting game... waiting for the time I get to join you and my Kairi, and 
sometimes... just sometimes... I want to call the game before I have to face
the outcome... but I know that if I did, I'd become the disappointment I 
always feared I already was.  I know I would finally see shame on your
beloved faces.  
   Shame I know I richly deserve
   Shame I am trying daily
   To live down
   Please know I love you, I miss you, and I pray daily that you have 
the whole family around you and that Kairi is making Heaven a brighter
place with her light that I miss so much. 
   I miss you more than words could ever ever properly say... and I love you 
more than I can physically express. 

Love Forever and Ever, 

Your "Bre-ba" 

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

In Memory of Linda Cafferillo 2/24/15

I hear the splinters form
And I begin to shatter
As I stand 
Numb
Eyes filled with sorrow
Threatening to spill over
As I learn
Of the loss
Of yet another
So dearly loved
So cruelly taken
And lost to me

But I have something of yours.... Something that even as greedy
As final
As heart wrenching as 
Death
Can not take away 
From me

The way you would smile at me
The way your eyes
Would glow
With love and pride
When you spoke to me
Of your children 
Your grandchildren
And how they were your
Greatest achievement 
The way your hand fit
With my own
And the way 
You could make 
The whole world
Fall away
With just a word
A touch

Nobody but you
Has ever come close
To melting this ice I've 
Formed around my heart
And grows colder still
Inside my chest

Friday, February 20, 2015

Consumed 2/20/15

I sit alone
And thoughts
Consume me...
Thoughts of love
That I have decided
Just isn't for me...
Love that makes you
Burn for the touch
Of that one person
I'll never have...
I've never had...

And the echo's of the past
Return with a vengeance
It's not my fault
I did nothing wrong
For once in my life
Something went wrong
That was completely
Out of my hands
And yet I still believe
I am at fault
And always will be

Learning slowly
That nobody
Could have saved me
But me
And I didn't want
To be saved
By anyone
But me
But I chose the
Insanity
That nobody can
Fight
But me

And I am
Consumed

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

2nd Place 2/10/15

The trumpets sound
And I feel myself
Quickening...
Like I'm rushing
Into something
Forbidden
While standing
Completely still
Naked
On display
Ready for
Inspection
Waiting for
Their dirty hands
To run over my
Body
Searching
For flaws
Like a prized
Animal
At the county fair

Red ribbons
Pounded into
My flesh
Are now
Falling away
Leaving behind
The trailing blood
Left in their wake
Because I was never
Worthy of the blue
Tainted
Before ever being
Given the chance
To deny
The truth
I'm not Grade A
Because I lack
The purity
Needed
To attain
Perfection


Sunday, January 25, 2015

Found Wanting 1/25/15

Last night
I dreamed 
That you looked at me
And did not find me
Wanting. 
And then I woke
To a world that 
Always will
And I find myself
Stunned
By all that I
Keep silent
And all that's
Transpired
To bring me
To this place
Of unrelenting
Searching
For the woman I
Could have been
Inside the animal
I've become

What Lies Beneath.... 1/25/15

You don't see
The hate
The disgust
Under my skin
Every time
I see you
Every time
I hear your name
Spoken aloud
Or feel your breath
Poised on the edge
Of every lie
You tell yourself
To keep it all
Moving forward
Toward oblivion
You don't see
My hopes die again
With every pull of the pipe
And every illusion
Shattered
You look at me
And see someone
Who has made nothing
Out of something
And you applaud my
Genius
For speaking in riddle
What I should just
Shout aloud

You don't see my
Revulsion
At what lies
Beneath

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Facebook Repeat~1/22/15

Something I saw on Facebook tonight that I felt deserved to be put up here...
I applaud the authors honesty....

I NEED TO GET HIGH,
I am not your child, or spouse, or friend. I’ve changed. I don’t belong to you any more. I don’t care about you. Not in the way you want me too. I care about getting high. I WANT to get high. I will do ANYTHING to get high. I LOVE getting high. I NEED to get high.. and I will step over you to do it. When I look at you, I don’t see YOU. I see a means to an end. You have money. I want it. End of story. I don’t care if you can’t pay the rent. I don’t care if you need groceries. I don’t care if you promised you wouldn't give me money again. I don’t care if you lie to Dad. I don’t care if you’re broke. Sell your rings, take a loan, sell your electronics, max out your credit cards, borrow the money from someone else, because if you don’t, I will STEAL it. I WILL find a way to get HIGH. You think you can CHANGE me, or SAVE me. You are WRONG! Something cold and dead slithers within me. I no longer respond to love or truth. You can CRY all you want. I don’t care. I have no integrity or values. My morals are a thing of the past. I will say anything, do anything, and hurt anyone, to get my next FIX.
Although I may play the game with you, make no mistake. I don’t play it because I LOVE you, I play it because I want my DOPE. I will say what ever you want to hear, I will promise you the world, I will look you in the eyes, and I WILL break your heart. Over and over again. I don’t have a heart any more. I have a HUNGER. It’s calculating and manipulative, and it OWNS me.
In a strange way you’re thankful for this hunger. For when I feel it coming on, I find you, quick! Then when I've gotten what I want from you, I leave. You’re anxious without me. You offer to buy my food, or pay my rent. You always GIVE me something.
By now, you’re NEED is almost as great as mine.
I can’t stay SICK without you. You can’t breathe without ME.
You think you’re helping me. You believe you’re making a difference, but what you’re really helping… is my ADDICTION.
I won’t tell you this, but you know it, deep down.
If we keep going like this, one or both of us will die. Me from an overdose, that you paid for, and you from a heart attack, or stroke.
You’ll wait YEARS for me to change, or see the light, and I take full advantage of this.
You keep my secrets and protect my lies. You clean up my messes and bail me out. You love me to the exclusion of EVERYONE else.
You are bitter and resentful. You hide from your friends and isolate. You HATE.
Your world revolves around one thing only… ME.
But will your LOVE ever become greater than your FEAR? Would you be strong enough to reach out for help? Will you learn to say NO and mean it? Will you allow me to experience the consequences of my actions? Will you LOVE me enough to feel your own discomfort and stop enabling my addiction?
I lay trapped with within the confines of this cold dark, serpent – addiction, and I am… dying.
Written by:

Saturday, January 17, 2015

That Girl 1/19/15

She's the one that makes you sneer 
When you think of her
The one that you've all looked at
And found wanting
The one you created 
Some truly heinous lies about
To make yourself feel better
About your stupid choices  
As
Of
Late
But thankfully 
I'm not that girl
The one that will find out
Sooner or later 
That you rushed in 
And now want nothing more
Than to rush out
With every cry 
In 
The 
Night 
That isn't
Hers

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Trifecta 1/3/15

Nights like these
Restless
Relentless
As the memories of
The ones I've loved
And lost
Burn through me
And I remember...

His smile...
His sexy lips that I never wanted to stop kissing
The way we ended and then began again
As something more than lovers
Like survivors of a war
Looking to the other
For solace...
And you gave me so damn much
I could say anything to you
And you understood
Like nobody else I've ever known
Until that day...
When the world lost
Your light
The day I had to walk up to your casket
And see you lying there...
So still
So cold
Eyes closed
Lips frozen against mine
And I left part of my soul
In that box
Beside you

Her innocence...
Her tiny fingers
Holding onto mine
As she lay in my arms
My child
My chance to be
The best momma
A little girl could ever have
I carried her inside me
For nine months
I sheltered her
I loved and protected her
She put a light into my life
That I know I never deserved
That I know was the sweetest
And most precious gift
I would ever receive

But damn God,
Why did I have to give her back
So fast...

The only comfort I have
In the sea of despair
In which I've drowned
Since the morning I woke up
And realized
That she had left me
In the night
Was that the last thing she felt
Was my arms around her
Holding her safe
The last sound she heard
On this earth was
The heart of a mother
That will beat for her
Until time stops
Until the day
She's in my arms
Again

And then there's you...
The man who started out
My father in childhood
And ended as
My Daddy
The man that saved me
From me
More than once
The man that gave me hope
That I could maybe
Someday
Be the girl
He always believed
I could be
But I could never see...
The day I sat at his feet
As he lay ravaged from the cancer
In his hospital bed
And he made me a promise
That I know he keeps still
To take care of my Kairi for me
When he got to heaven
And then the morning I walked in
And found him there
But already far away from me
Already in heaven
Keeping his word
His hands still warm
Just minutes too late
To say goodbye
So I held him
And cried on his chest
Because I wasn't ready
To lose my Daddy
To lose one of the last
Of my loved ones
Who believed in me
Who was proud of me
In spite of all the wrong
I've done

It's nights like these
When the trifecta of grief
Becomes an ocean
When the loss of such
Light
Has me lost in the dark
And praying
For the
Dawn

Sunday, December 28, 2014

End Game 12/28/14

So many people
Look down on me
For the things
I have done
And instead of
Playing their game
Of who's better
Than who
I've tried to
Turn the other
Cheek
But I find
That when I do
I miss the swing
Of the knife
As it arc's
Toward my
Back

I'm just tired
Of playing
Of paying
Of fighting
When the battle
Has already been lost
I'm starting from
Nothing
And watching each step
So that my
End game
Can come
To light

And what an
End game
It is

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Looking In... 12/16/14

Outside
Looking in
That's me
Always the one
Watching others
Have their
Happy little lives
While I stand
Cold
Allowing the
Winter to
Freeze me
Through

Sidelined
Put here because
I fucked it all up
Me
All by myself
The choices
I've made
Were never taken
Lightly
Never taken
For granted

Until I realized
What I took
For granted
Was Me
Who I could have been
Who I was meant to be
I've finally come
To terms with
The glaring truth

I'm not allowed
To have happy
To have trust
To have love
To have comfort
To have a home...
To have a family

These are things
I crave
Like I crave
My next breath

But things
I'm not allowed
To hold
While I stand
On the outside
Looking in....

Friday, December 5, 2014

The Line 12/5/14

The line
Extends
White
Dissented
On her inner thigh
One of many
Like a fresh
Sheet of lined paper
Waiting for the writer
To begin her tale
Of woe
The scars
From her attempts
To focus
Her pain
Because it becomes
So all encompassing
That if she doesn't
Cut down deep enough
It won't stop
It won't ever end
And now
Her scars
Have prepared
An archive
For her to begin
Her letter
Of farewell
To life
Written in blood
On skin

"You Go Girl" 12/5/14

I have a little something to bitch about... something that's been eating me for a few days now. Something that if left unspoken will eat a hole in me and there are far too many of those already.

I value true friends
I value them to the point
Of calling them family
I value open and honest people
People who aren't afraid to be up front
Honest
People who have gone out of their way to help me
Just as I have done for them
I've kept their secrets
They've kept mine
They aren't afraid to tell me
Just how shit stands
Like a woman
Face to face
Instead of on Facebook
For others to read and comment on
Without knowing both sides
People who value me
Just as I value them
People I would die for

It's for friends like those
I would walk through fire
It's for friends like those
I'd be their biggest ally

I've had friends like those
The ones that become so important
So close to your heart
That when they allow
Petty material shit
To get in the way of that friendship
Are the same ones
That when they decide you aren't worth
Their time or their consideration
The common decency to keep
Your business off of Facebook
Make me feel
I have to reconsider
The friendship
Because people I call friends
Don't put my private business
Out there for the world to see
Because I prefer to keep my dealings
Out of the public eye
And anyone that claimed to be my friend
To be my family
Knows this about me
And decided to completely disregard it
For a few "atta boy's" and "you go girl's"
Because nobody who wanted to remain
In my life
Would do such a thing
Right?

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Letter to JM 11/6/14

I see
Your beloved face
In pictures 
I wasn't meant 
To see 
Because you 
Despise the very
Air I breathe 
Because of all the
Rotten memories 
That have now 
Overshadowed 
The good 
I understand 
You're reticence 
Your unwillingness 
To allow such an
Unfaithful foe
Back into 
Your world
Into your confidence 
Even your acquaintance

No matter what 
Steps I work 
Or how much 
A person can change 
I can't erase the memories 
Of how badly I have 
Let you down 
That have gotten us
To this season of silence 

But it doesn't change 
The sound
Of my heart
Shattering inside
My chest
No matter how
Deserving 
I am of 
This agony

I still miss you 
With every breath
With every tear
I shed 
At this loss
And even If
You never let me 
Back into your life 
I will be watching 
I will be loving
And I will be waiting 
Hoping
Should your step 
Ever falter back
In my direction 

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Painful Steps 11/5/14

I write these words on paper 
So that they 
Take form
Made substantial 
By simply flowing ink
On white
I wish
More than anything
I could show them 
So that you could feel 
The power behind them 
So that you could feel
The way I do 
When I see them

These steps
Sounds simple 
From the lay mans point of view
But I stand here 
Poised on the edge of beginning
The Fourth Step
And to do so
I must look at something
I've been running from
For so long I have almost 
Forgotten how it began
I have to write these words 
On paper
And stake myself out
Naked 
And admit
For God, another human 
And most frighteningly 
Myself
The exact nature 
Of my wrongs 

And there are so many
So much 
I haven't even acknowledged 
Let alone admitted 
That soon this blank canvass 
Will fill
With all the dirty little secrets
I've had hidden inside

So I write these words
On paper
And I wish 
The pen wasn't so heavy, filled 
With all the wrongs
For which now 
I must atone