my haikus are not traditional and sometimes kind of lame, but that's okay

free speech makes some people uneasy

some people don't like my poems

because they don't rhyme

some refuse to even read them

if they are in all italics

some writers are cool and friendly

others are pretentious dickheads

I find it amusing (and somehow validating) to get blocked

some repugnant jerk-offs actually use AI to “write” and other people here “like” it

the truly creative are not celebrated enough

you gotta tag people properly, man, or they won't see your damn reply to comments LOL this took my retarded ass forever to learn

there seems to be no rhyme or reason to “Spotlight” piece selections (there are AI pieces there as well, so what the fuck?)

I miss being able to use links (e.g. to another written piece or to music)

I have been inspired by other writers here (thank you)

I need to be a “subscriber” in order to create challenges and I don't like that

writing is a humbling process

I miss the Prose guy's videos

he had such a cool vibe and a killer voice

overall, I'm glad to be here

How nice

How other people can

Simply

Turn the page

So to speak

Gracefully

Move on

That is not my way

I did not turn the page

I ripped those motherfuckers out

with my teeth

Gouged at the binding

with bleeding fingertips

Burned the pieces

Used the ash

To mix with

self pity and tears

And used it for makeup

So on the outside

I can look just like

the fucking lunatic

I am

On the inside

Cold, gray static

Emptiness

A matte fog of numbness

My saturnine world muted

Of color and sound

Food so tasteless

Appetizing as ash

Nothing moves me

Or brings pleasure

While peering over

The observation deck

Everyone else

Around me

Seemingly so alive

Coils of apathy

Squeeze me

In a suffocating embrace

And dangle me over

My personal abyss of

Bleak nothingness

It bothers me so much

This detail broke my heart

It was a murder-suicide

A husband

A wife

Huge news

In a town

With a population of 325

I understand

Human lives were lost

I don't discount that

But what really broke me

Was learning

He killed the dogs too

So much for soul mates

We ended up

Just like we were always destined to be

A poorly executed

A one night stand

Years in the making

Tired, Kami sank into the blue chair. She should be getting ready to be on stage, not regretting her life choices.

Tears fell onto the faded carpet and she looked at the lava lamp clock sitting on her dressing room table.

Tacky. All of it. So damn tacky, she thought.

Though, this was no revelation. She knew this gig was freaky when she took it.

She pulled on her Snow White wig and began to paint her face.

I was just supposed to do my lil’ strip tease. No one told me them nekkid dwarves would jog on stage too.