Let Us Be Not Okay


this must be what they teach you
in all the novels i never got around to reading
i know they say to just keep breathing 
but admittedly that's a bit hard when my heart isn't beating with the tempo anymore. 
all the plans i had made,
all the fools errands to be played 
in my head,
'just keep your head up' 
well that's just not working very 
well for me right now. 
sorry to burst your bubble 
i'm sorry to be so cynical 
but i feel robbed 
and broken 
by your new normal. 
don't try to minimize this. 
just let me criticize this. 
and mourn the loss of days 
gone by.
and the absence of my companions. 
 

lila woodard

VT

YWP Alumni

More by lila woodard

  • city girl


    i feel like i don’t know you anymore. 

    i barely recognize your face at this point 

    all your city friends hate me 

    playful kisses in the comments 

    much more sinister then they seem
  • november pills


    it's a reprise of 
    my adolescent thoughts
    ones i had pushed away 
    ones the little capsules of 
    blue and orange had suppressed. 
    but those capsules sometimes 
    stuck in my throat, 
  • i’ll push back


    you make me feel trapped,
    struggling to get free. 
    you hold everything you've ever done for me,
    dangle it over my head 
    and taunt me with its existence. 
    you use your favors as bargaining chips