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Open Sky Heart

For Poppy's Prompt Challenge

By Silver DauxPublished 2 years ago 1 min read
Open Sky Heart
Photo by Christopher Campbell on Unsplash

It went off with a bang.

Bullet holes opened their fanged mouths in my chest

As the rest of me curled backward in open-mouth shock.

Flailing arms, widened eyes, and hot disbelief blown skyward...

Another Wednesday.

The green summer grass could look through me,

Look through my open sky heart.

.

What did the grass see?

Was it the betrayal scattered like landmines in my ribcage

Or the erupting dreams in my arteries?

Could the grass see the ghost lifting out of my body,

Shifting into something full of fury?

Or was it focused on the blood aerosolizing around me

As the long road ended?

.

It's the end of something, for sure.

Dwelling thoughts spell "inescapable end"

But I can't widen the focus because

The bullets have already been fired,

One, two, three.

They flashed in my core with clarity,

With the blinding force of finally seeing the truth.

.

It was a farce.

.

The encouraging hand on the back was a gun.

The words I clung to, poison.

Lies whispered enough become the truth and someone

Was a very good puppet master, tricking me closer to the altar

So I could be blown open and bleed for them.

So I could satisfy.

And I have not satisfied.

.

I have not jumped when asked

Nor slipped the pretty bow back in my hair.

I spread roots in the earth

And shaved my head free of expectations.

I reached blooming branches towards the dreams whispered

In my ear only for thorns to erupt from the ground

And give me an open sky heart.

.

* This was in response to Poppy's Prompts Challenge since it looked like so much fun! The link to the original article is below.*

Free Versesad poetrysurreal poetryheartbreak

About the Creator

Silver Daux

Shadowed souls, cursed magic, poetry that tangles itself in your soul and yanks out the ugly darkness from within. Maybe there's something broken in me, but it's in you too.

Ah, also:

Tiktok/Insta: harbingerofsnake

Reader insights

Outstanding

Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!

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Comments (12)

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  • Safia Adil2 years ago

    Wow! Amazing!!

  • Harbor Benassa2 years ago

    The decisive imagery tied the poem together and kept my attention from start to finish. Great job!

  • Daphsam2 years ago

    Wow, so powerful.

  • Painfully powerful.

  • That was so good. I'm just blown away. The real thing. You are truly a poet.

  • Wow! I'm not sure what more I could say that many of the others have said. Congrats on your win!

  • Novel Allen2 years ago

    Open sky heart...beautiful concept amongst all the bullet holes, ghosts and disbelief. Heartfelt.

  • Poppy 2 years ago

    This is incredible. Firstly, I adore the title. “Bullet holes opened their fanged mouths in my chest” Perfect perfect perfect!! “Was it the betrayal scattered like landmines in my ribcage Or the erupting dreams in my arteries?” This is astounding!! “Dwelling thoughts spell "inescapable end"” Another favourite line!! “ The bullets have already been fired, One, two, three. They flashed in my core with clarity,” This is truly a masterpiece!! “ It was a farce. . The encouraging hand on the back was a gun.” Okay THAT has to be one of my new favourite lines from a poem EVER!! Like that is amazingly written!! And then all there lines after that are my favourites too so there’s no point copying and pasting anymore😂 That is breathtakingly incredible. Omg.

  • Cathy holmes2 years ago

    Wow. Just wow. Utterly fantastic.

  • The encouraging hand on the back was a gun. The words I clung to, poison. These lines hit me so hard because that felt so relatable! Your poem was so poignant, intense and emotional! I loved it! I also learned a new word, aerosolizing!

  • Manisha Dhalani2 years ago

    So many good lines, but I loved this : "erupting dreams in my arteries"

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