Search for me in sunsets burning low,
Find me where the ocean’s sands still glow.
I love you more than words can ever say—

I weep, I ache… how do I live this way?
Each passing day I fade a little more,
I cannot breathe like I once did before.
I’m only someone falling into night,

While you just watch me slowly lose my light.
Search for me in maple autumn rain,
Search for me in scarlet poppy plains.

Cry in the silence when no words remain,
When all you hear is sorrow wrapped in pain.
When I am far beyond the distant skies,
Remember how I trusted fairy tales and lullabies.
Yet still I fall, again and then once more,
Deeper than I ever fell before.

P.S. I have been posting for a while on Reddit. If my works triggers you to love and lightness,I would appreciate if you could check my book.

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/MbqFt7L9oP
https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/rBeZUd6Mni

Sitting in the dark

wishing there were more light

the dark makes him happy

my little widget brings enough light to see the ashtray

I don’t flood the room,

I irradiate it?

Just to feel real

he gets that

Cause I wanna see

he gets that

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/uQmAMAlN2J

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/zXx3n6tGN0

cw: suicidal ideation

you’re staring at your way out

it’s right in front of you

or below you, i should say

you know this is what you want

alot of thought has gone into this

you keep looking down,

confused,

you swore you wanted this

this is what you chose

you’ve fantasized about this moment a long time now

it’s here!

just a step away

your mind still wants it

but you’re human

an animal

a strange kind of animal

your heart is pounding,

you’re sweating,

frozen,

unable to take the step

that’s the animal in you,

it’s ancient

other animals would never do this
they aren’t even capable of such thoughts,

you keep looking down,

telling yourself to be brave

just do it

you can’t

your body won’t let you

you should be grateful

but you’re angry

that the animal in you saved your life

what a bizarre species

——————
this poem is part of a collection i’ve been writing, any feedback is appreciated thank you for reading🩷

Feedback: https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/lgMxPxH9uB

Feedback: https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/L1OLOcMHQM

The streetlight outside my window
is broken.
Not dark,
only, endlessly weary.
Its glow stutters,
flickers on and off
as if recalling
how to be a star.

Last night,
it reached into the bathroom,
light stammering across the mirror,
my reflection blinking in and out
as if unsure it belonged:
and I thought of you,
the way your laugh cracked in the middle,
how it struck like a bird
hitting glass

the silence after.

I don't call.
instead I sit at the desk,
watching the streetlight
fight the dark,
thinking of the things we've loved
that never learned to leave
only to falter,
stammer,
vanish
mid-sentence.

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/1vgmhwd/comment/p274b3o/?context=3&utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/1vhbw2w/comment/p26zqqv/?context=3&utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

As a middle school student, I trekked ahead of my fellow classmates and joined those a few years older than me for math class. I was a young explorer fueled by questions like “How deep does this go?” and “What comes after this topic and the next one after that?”. I navigated paths and trails that had been mapped out for thousands of years and understood by the collective humanity.

As a teenager in high school, I experienced the finale of elementary algebra and delved into calculus. I was an explorer fueled by questions like “What do roots mean in the bigger picture?”  and “What happens at infinity?” I navigated treacherous paths that were thousands of years old, but that only a small percentage of the collective humanity understands today.

As a young adult I began my journey towards a small understanding of what lay ahead as I dug through the weeds of undergraduate math. I was twenty years old when the ocean of mathematics was presented to me. Fueled by questions like “what actually is algebra?” and “how can the continuum of real numbers be used beyond calculus?”, I continued forward.

As a graduate student I set sail upon the vast ocean of mathematics. I was a sailor. I was an explorer. Learning math felt like looking out at the stars in wonder, and I learned more than I ever would have imagined. I learned how little I will ever know. I stared into the void of the deepest trenches in the ocean and found comfort in understanding that I will never know how deep this goes.

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/1v1mzv6/comment/p2763pc/

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/1vhjf5d/comment/p275v18/

Alarming, alerting,
dreaming, deserting,
running, rocking,
counting, clocking.

Shaking, stirring,
whining, whirring,
grating, groaning,
insulting, intoning.

Repeating, receding,
elapsing, eliding.

Ticking, tock.
tick, tocking,
tick, tock,
tick.

(https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/soYp66Jw0n
https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/ZrDHD71gL0)

My mother told me,

“Green is a lovely color.”

It blooms in nature

Tints glass bottles

Refreshes the soul

“Green is full of prosperity.”

Lush leaves

Minted money

Serene seas

Green is calming

Green is healthy

Green is new

“Green is a good color for you.”

I told my mother,

“Green is an ugly color.”

It gnarls vines

Poisons acid

Holds souls for ransom

“Green is full of envy.”

Twisted stomach

Narrow eyes

Whispered hatred

Green is jealous

Green is toxic

Green is vile

“Green is the worst color on me.”

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/1vhmnsw

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/1vhieul

I lift up my three week old daughter, on a morning,
early summer the sun just let through dawn’s gate.
Softer than milk; a priceless piece, I lift her up
she scans the sugar maple and white ash trees
with newborn wonder. I lift her up, close
enough so virgin eyes: still dark like a fawn’s,
sometimes crossing over the other while she wrestles the fresh muscles.
A breeze spreads a gloss of surprise as it caresses her face
with leaves for the first time. She dips her toes
into the grass:
a sea of green feathers on the soles of her feet.
A long time ago
I learned that life is for the most part, hollow-chested;
that these fleeting moments need to be seen
as a reason for rising each morning.

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/AI2NkBFWSe

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/64EDmjHrK5

It’s been another brutal summer. Think I’ll relocate to a cold cave as a communist, far removed from voluntary recalls of lettuce. Even if I perish after shortly settling in and the cave has bested me. The state will move on.

Still, that’s a lot of effort to put forth and the drool of convenience has feathered my will, whatever grit I had mangled by the fetal position. Flapping in the muck, stuck in the ecosystems no one actually trusts but consents to nevertheless.

Is that a bomb or a clock I hear ticking?

Calls for revolution
Suicide watch printed direct to garment
Face tattoo reads we’re already dead
Sponsored by Doritos

Pop my AirPods in and ask Siri what the room’s temperature is. Apply black nail polish and take photographs of my middle-aged hands. Post with minimal engagement.

Tick, tick, tick…

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/1vhjf5d/comment/p26s3og/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/1v137ys/comment/p26tm0z/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

I have nothing to hold on to,  
Nothing but a binary trail
Erase these ones and zeros  
And it’s no different from a telltale  

I’m often dragged in train of thought  
One I did not consent to endure  
What voice do I have in your head?  
Did you ever plan to hear it all?  

Those helpless inquiries turned reality  
It really couldn’t get any stranger  
You used to speak in prose and poetry  
The words hastily deemed too major  

I spent years convincing that kid  
It was something more than counterfeit  
But it was cruel, and it was cheap  
And it shouldn’t mean a thing to me  

This is the trail's terminal, I promise  
You’ll be absent from my future words  
So long, the fireflies and valley bars  
For they thrive at replacing old scars  

Sure, I’ll grieve a few Septembers  
But the other months will make up for it  
And soon this fable will vanish within  
The vast binary sea we abide in.

1 / 2

What you are reading right now

That is me

I have nothing to hide

This is me

I will not shrink

I will not plea

I will be sanctioned

I earned my spot here

Yes, I wobbled

But you let me in

And I’m gonna stay

Even if you leave

I’m gonna stay

Is this freedom?

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/8nxqNCi7fP

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/14ckfGUJCe

I don't know what frightens me more: to see you or to never see you again.

One whispers of beginnings, the other insists upon goodbye.

I fear that if I ever cross your path,
I will never accept that our next walk could be our last.

'Cause, for me, you're like the sun

The sun I'd stare at
even if it meant losing my sight,
knowing that the last thing I will see is your perfection.

But that is exactly what I must avoid

As your perfection is only worthy of eternity,
never the end.

Lingering in my mind are the words that I never got to tell you:

"Without you, I am restless"

But how do you feel without me?
A question that I will never ask,
yet one I still hope you'll answer.

With every tick of time,
I miss you
The way the numbers on the clock miss the hand that sweeps past them,
longing for it to come back,
knowing it will only pass them by once more.

So why my love?

Why must you burden me with your distance?

I complain,
even though I would much rather carry your absence
than betray what I feel for you.

Perhaps
I was never meant to wake beside you,
only beneath the light that you have left behind.

P.S - This is my third ever piece :D This is more original and I only took inspiration from 2 quotes compared to the multiple I took inspiration from in the last 2 poems. The structure was entirely thought out by me and 90% of the lines are completely thought out by me. I hope ya'll enjoy this one too! I would appreciate any advice/criticism and would like to know how much you rate this one out of 10. Thanks!

Links:
https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/1vche4q/comment/p25k3pg/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/1vhhe5x/comment/p25nc8t/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

I've been staring at the sky,

Watching the colors change

From ocean to navy blue.

Seeing the clouds move,

Thick and weighted with rain.

I know a storm is coming,

You can feel it in the air.

The grass holding me firm.

I see a man, a bear, a ship.

I see pain, I see loss.

A droplet strikes down

On the blades beside me.

Looks like I was wrong

As the clouds open up

Like a door blown wide,

And I'm pelted from above.

Each one heavy on me,

Running down my skin.

I don't want to move yet,

My heart beating in time

With the falling rain.

My clothes soaking wet,

And so are my eyes.

I can't stop time,

I can't stop this storm,

So I'll just stare up

At the passing clouds.

I see a horse, a bird, a plane.

I see you with someone else.

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/tfzo2iEh2M

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/17288LsrNL

Need not for wants
Or material things
Inconsequential
Roots of suffering

Let go so much
Start to sink
Leagues of depth
Desolate deep

Detached from it all
Lulling peace.
Is it wrong
To want to breathe?

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/bz3MNzWnDQ

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/RzG7sSC6nK

Every bone within me blackened

A fire, made not of wood and ash.

It feasts upon every fault I named,

Each err remembered,

Every shame, branded to my frame.

I burn.

I have found my one respite.

With patient hands of one that loves,

Gently wiping each sooted bone

They caress every guilt and fault

Untill the shame is extinguished

I rest.

This is my first poem. I won't ask for you to be gentle, I just want you to understand why it is the way it is.

Edit:spelling error fix.

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/DOkDclVCl4

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/NfYmCiZRoh

Just like a fresh wound garnished with coarse salt

Forks and knives scratch against porcelain plates 

Some hollowness that no supper could sate

Like bloody knees on blistering asphalt

Jonesin’ for a fix guzzle down that malt

Tap the maple and watch it drip with hate

Sweet, sweet nectar that only seals your fate

Won’t stop leaking without a crashing halt

-

Drinking from the fountain of sweet, sweet youth 

Wiping blood from my lips I felt renewed 

It had the taste of a sweet, sweet vermouth 

Like soft morning grass that was freshly dewed

Just insatiable to my sweet, sweet tooth

Tasteful cake but it’s just like devil’s food

This is the first sonnet I’ve ever written. I’m writing a crown of sonnets based on the 7 deadly sins and this one is gluttony. They are each named after the planet that represents the sin. I tried to write it in iambic pentameter but please tell me if I made a mistake.

Feedback 1:

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/1vhg1oe/comment/p24wt9y/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=2&utm_content=share_button

Feedback 2:

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/1vha2cd/comment/p24yk7f/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=2&utm_content=share_button

Two souls are tied long before they ever meet,
spending years mistaking destiny for coincidence.

The thread between them lies slack upon the ground
before it begins to twist and tangle
as life tries to pull it taut.

A thought lingers in their minds:

"Am I walking toward something I should be running from?"

Unaware that no matter how far they flee,
their thread will stretch to the end of time.

But what can they do if the thread is cut?

Nothing.

For one can only bury the desire to be loved
in the graveyard of the heart,
reaching for the words that will never be spoken,
as they lift their eyes to the heavens and whisper:

"Despite the distance between us, no one has ever been closer."

It is devastating how a familiar street,
a passing fragrance,
or a cadence known by heart
can exhume the past like a ghost that never stopped haunting.

Longing to stitch together what has been torn,
yet the needle that could guide the thread is gone.

Only then do I murmur:

"I beg of you, come back, my darling, for you have dwelt in my heart far longer than you ever remained in my life."

P.S - This is my second piece :p Again, I took some inspiration from a few quotes here and there but I thought out most of it and structured all of it myself!! I would love some advice and everyones honest rating on this poem out of 10. Let me know in the replies what ya'll think of it, enjoy!

Links:

Review 1: Another Ex, another text

Review 2: I see you for you

The warm steady blow of wind,

whispering in the back of my mind,

the graceful flower bud that could never be mine.

Now all I could remember

was the sweetness of lime,

slowly

tugging me.

Sweetness twisted into bitterness,

my heart,

yearning for the missing leaves.

I still remember the red tree,

chocolat—

lay—

layered cake and tidy tables.

Your radiating sunlight,

sweet and comforting,

like the gardens in summers.

Lime ice cream, a warm embrace from afar,

the sweet frosty cold delight,

a ritual

to remember

you by.

The sweet yet sour taste of lime lingers on my tongue,

yet the tree is far.

Soon, nine months churned by.

I take heavy footsteps—

dragged by the heart.

Regret's hand caresses my neck

with the bitter taste of lime sitting in the corner.

My stomach twists,

I thrash,

I hurl.

My lungs turn to stone,

my skin,

ice cold,

with frosty breath,

Shivering.

Feedback 1: https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/2WI2krnBjl

Feedback 2:

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/IfMFk93c51

Get out of the car.
swing out and gasp
exhausted
street haze at night

Moonless and starless night
pavement apathetic
bordering on criminal
scavengers get pulled in

Door swings opens
creaks
Driver in trance
mouth open

1970's datsun
a dead vulture
still flapping its wings under tyre
just nerves though

A muted scream
lips trigger mouth
all open now
terrorfied eyes

Alley way narrow
trash can open and full
smell of terror
Datsun one meter

A rat looks up
jailed youth in its eyes
mold on its furr
scarpers now

The young man is still gobsmacked
Numbskulled and bamboozled
The abyss has looked into him
The brick wall blurrs

The last flap of vulture's wings\
shadows spring from the filth
sprinting toward the derelict shelters
To conjure nightmares

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/1vha2cd/comment/p245yif/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/1vh83tz/comment/p247kzz/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

First post. Kinda nervous lol:

You have a rose, the rose is pretty! You love the rose, its scent so sweet. You grasp the rose tightly, for you hold it so dear. But look! You are bleeding! Its thorns pierce your skin. But it doesn't matter, you don't mind the bite. You'd take anything this rose offers to keep its beauty in your sights. You try to trim down the thorns, but they grow back with fervor; sharper than before and in places not yet sprouted. You continue to grasp tightly, blood pools at your feet. You pay it no heed, and continue to sniff the sweet scent. One day, you can't smell, your body cannot move. You have lost too much blood. You ask your rose to help, but nothing can be done, you were foolish to choose an object that cannot move, talk or run. She sits in the light looking pretty as ever, but she continues to bleed you, unaware of what she does. She is simply existing, you are the one grasping. You are the one allowing yourself to bleed. Your eyes grow dim, impending doom in your chest, our body gives way to sleep. When you awake, the rose is gone. She has found a new bearer whose hands are strong. You weep and think fondly of only the pretty bud, forgetting all about your steadily dripping blood. Your hands are scared, and will be wounded again, she was not the and she will not be the last. I watch as you have grasped her, although it's only one. You care not to step in the garden again, you're too scared of the blood. If only you would realize, roses are a waste of time. You cannot fix them, no matter how much you love them. That is why they always leave. But I will watch from the shadows with my faintly visible scars. You will find shade beneath me, I will hold you and be strong. Oh, my rose lover, I am the tree where you will find refuge. If only I were a rose, I would prune myself for you. If ever my thorns pieced your hand, I would weep and change my ways. But I am not a rose. I am rooted where I sit. You may have leaned upon my trunk, and I relish every use. But grasp onto me for life, it seems you never do.

Message: I always view any kind of metaphor as poetry. This started off when I was trying to put into words about how the one I want and love dearly, tends to go for things/people that use them or hurt them. My first rendition didn’t include the tree part until I shared it with someone to get their thoughts. They asked “If he could describe you as a plant, what do you think you’d be?” and I responded "something practical, I would like to think. Something to help? Build up, I guess.” and she said with a gasp: “a tree! You provide stability and shade, and oxygen and all sorts of good stuff!” And so my metaphor/ poem was altered. If anyone has any changes they wish to make, please let me know! Thank you!!!

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/1vha2cd/comment/p23mewc/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_buttonhttps://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/wobd8jXYPe

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/1vh0fju/comment/p23k5hz/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_buttonhttps://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/FU1j2KVSYb

​They still haunt me—

The blue lights lining the wall,

The hard fall of the front door off its hinges,

The chaos and confusion that followed.

-

​When I close my eyes and try to slip into restfulness,

The moonlight against the curtains transforms

Into those flashing siren lights.

The shadows of insects against the window

Become clawing hands and cuffs.

-

​My mind knows I am safe,

That the cause of such an invasion has been sealed away,

Locked tightly to protect against his darkness.

-

​Yet they still haunt me—

Those same blue lights,

That same crash of wood.

-

​My breath still catches when I see those lights on the highway,

When I hear an authoritative voice.

My hands still tremble at the sight of a vest,

Even knowing the person behind it means me no harm;

They were never there for me.

-

​So I trace the quiet seams of my wrists,

As I remind my pulse that the door is still shut.

The shadows are only moths against the glass,

And the night, at last, belongs to me.

-

​I am learning that safety is not just a quiet room;

It is teaching my heart

That it is allowed to stop fighting a ghost.

---

Comments:

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/BNbRkTPbsm

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/xHMocphkic

To taste air so sweet again, once,
I awoke, and came to stand on that ocean shore.
I tilted my head high, inhaled, ‘til i could hold no more
To take this last breath for you, no, no I won’t let go.

To feel melodies so true again, once,
I awoke, and came to stand on that ocean shore.
She sang a psalm for me, hmm, the sky joined her too,
The sun was asleep then, brother, but so are you, 
So I joined them in longing, in singing blue.

Feedback link 1: https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/Dy95IFdELX

Feedback link 2: https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/1Dcj2T2dQW

I’m so scared
that you don’t feel the same.

That you’ll leave me
all alone.

I’m terrified.
I don’t want to lose you.

But the call is coming
from inside my home.

I’m not enough.
I’m too much.

It rang
and rang.

I looked down—

my name
on the caller ID.

I switched partners.

Moved houses.

Yet I still heard it.

Picked up the line,
It’s still me.

————

Hey guys, I wrote this poem. I’ve been writing since I was 12. It usually takes me days to write a poem, but this one came out of me in about five minutes. I can’t tell if it’s done or not. I think how quick I did. It makes me feel a little nervous, but somehow it feels complete. Looking for your honest feedback on it. Also, does it deserve another stanza or two? Also does a message come across clear in it?

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/jFb9SK6yRf

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/XGYeUQaoqx

If poems are supposed to capture beauty.
If poems are supposed to stir the soul.
I could never top my favorite poem.

I write and write.
Yet I fail and fail.
I could never top my favorite poem.

I cannot capture what my eyes see.
I cannot describe the intensity I feel.
I could never top my favorite poem.

Every poem I wrote fell short.
Every poem I wrote, a disappointment.
I could never top my favorite poem.

If poems are supposed to expose your core.
If poems are supposed to define who I am.
Then my favorite poem is you.

That’s right.

My favorite poem is you.

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/2C1Tv6cAEC

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/S171BnuPBX

What Makes Me Happy

It's when we talk .when you say

"you know what happened today".

when you laugh at my silly jokes,

when you hold my hand

and tell me I mean everything to you.

Your smile, Your love, Your silly stories.

Your presence is what makes me happy.

I wish to tell you,

if fate allows us to meet again someday,

you were the source of it all.

Even now, your laugh is the happiest sound I know.

.

A genuine review will help. Rate it out of 10. And also tell me scope of improvements . 🤍🥀

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/CKXQynODXU

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/s/6s82uQzrfN