Home » Poems » Best » Molly Mccarthy » Best Molly Mccarthy Poems

Best Poems Written by Molly Mccarthy

Below are the all-time best Molly Mccarthy poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

Details | Molly Mccarthy Poem

In my life I often feel I am alone; alone in my thoughts, alone in my musings, alone in my day-to-day movements and unsatisfying activities. I move like a ghost through hallways and down sidewalks, unnoticed and, at times, gratefully so.
I do not wish to be eternally alone. I long for togetherness. But despite this desire for a real connection, I find myself regularly retreating from that temperamental beast that is human interaction.

“Come on now, sweetheart. Don’t lower your head. Don’t look away. Look up! Smile at someone! No! Don’t go back into your bedroom. Don’t lock the door! Why are you doing this?” my brain will plea.

I can’t help myself. Aloneness is comfortable. In being alone, I don’t have to worry about anyone but myself. I don’t have to please anyone else. I can think anything I want, wear anything I want, listen to anything I want, and laugh at anything I want.

And still there remains that nagging desire to be loved and wanted and needed by somebody. I do not know the feeling of being truly desired. I do not know what it is like for someone to crave my company, my smile, my kiss, or my touch.

But I would like to…

I cannot make someone love me or like me or want me in some primal way. It may hurt, but I cannot make that handsome boy want to hold my hand or brush my hair back behind my ear. I can only struggle on. I can only work within myself. I can only try every God damn day to hold my head up, keep my eyes fixed ahead, a give the world the best smile I have. I and I alone can bring myself out of the safety of my bedroom and into the bright world that lies beyond that locked door.

I often find myself alone with nothing more than my thoughts and the ever-strong glow of a computer screen. But no longer will aloneness be the constant in my life. It is true that never having known the caress of a man’s hand on my thigh doesn't make me any less of a woman, but I fear that if I stay confined within myself much longer I will begin to become less of a human. A flower cannot grow if it retracts its leaves and petals every time it feels the warmth of the sun or the kiss of a gentle spring rain.

And I want to grow. I want to grow so tall and blossom so big and beautifully that every place on earth is touched by my shadow at some point in the day. And I will grow. I will push myself and share myself with the world, and finally
finally
finally
know the closeness and comfort of love and honest, unabashed companionship.

Details | Molly Mccarthy Poem

Pastry

All night thinking, drafting, writing down and scratching out
All morning carefully crafting, shaping, baking and re-baking
My masterpiece of the week

Summertime is freedom
Freedom to try and try again
A time to express and create
The earth shares it’s bounty
And it’s my turn to be bountiful

Sweet, tart, a hint of salt
Not too dry, perfectly crisp and flaky
Still warm from the oven
Fragrant with the fruit I so carefully manipulated
My joy and passion all in one simple pastry
Perfection on a sunny afternoon

Details | Molly Mccarthy Poem

Honey

Honey
Glowing, Shining
Amber in the Sun
Dripping Down
Golden Teardrops on the Baby's Chin
Sticky Smile
Laughter
Thick, Sweet, Bliss

Details | Molly Mccarthy Poem

After Dinner

After dinner
Taco night
Nearly midnight
Running up the stairs

Oh God
I had done so well
The family ate
And I ate
Seven o’clock on a Tuesday 
Only two
I only ate two
No cheese
No sour cream
I had done wonderfully

Eleven thirty on Tuesday
Everyone in bed
Everyone but me 
I approached the kitchen
I ate it all

No one saw how much was left
They won’t notice it’s gone
I put it all away
They didn’t see it
But I ate it all

Running up the stairs
They have their fans on
They’re asleep
They won’t hear me

I find my familiar place
Kneeling at my altar
Forgiveness is always found here
It’s time to confess my sins

My fingers slip into a spot they know too well
I struggle for a moment
Nothing will come up
Oh God
No
Don’t let it stay inside me
Another moment
Gagging
Retching
I feel it coming now

Oh thank God
It’s all gone
Now I can sleep soundly

I wash my hands and face
Rinse my mouth
I look in the mirror
Why?
Why is this happening?
Oh my God
Look at me
This can’t be me
This can’t be what I’ve become

But what choice do I have?

Details | Molly Mccarthy Poem

Five Years

Five years

Slipping under
Falling deeper
So deep I couldn’t see the surface
So deep I didn’t realize I was sinking

It’s comfortable down there
Peaceful, if you could call it that
Nothing to feel
Nothing to live for or dream about
Simple existence in the ever-growing abyss

Just go to sleep
Wake up 
Keep to yourself
Don’t bother them
Stay hidden
They can’t hurt you if you’re hidden

But it’s hard to hide forever;
They’ll come looking for you
Can they see me all the way down here?
I can’t see them 
I don’t want to see them
It was them who pushed me in the first place

Peaceful
Maybe at first
But peace is a fleeting thing
I was numb, empty, dead inside
For five years

Emotion is easy to take for granted
But then again, it’s hard to miss when you can’t feel anything

The thing about sinking is that your rate accelerates with time
So maybe at first you only slipped a foot or two a month
But by the end you are slipping miles deeper between breaths
Not able to tell this blackness from the blackness that was present before it

Comfort slips away after some time in the abyss
Deadness is peppered with fits of rage
Fits of sorrow
And occasionally a glimmer of joy
A flash of a memory of the surface
Where the sun shines and the wind moves the trees

A spark above
Is it really there?
Is it my imagination?
Is it just my mind turning all this black into something else?
It’s just a trick.

And for a while, that’s what you believe
But how long can one trick of the mind last?
At first, the spark will only appear once
But then again
And soon months between sparks turn into weeks
Weeks to days
Grab for the spark
It must be real now

And after five years
I pulled myself to the surface
Reaching for the spark
To grab, and put it back where it belongs
To put it back inside my chest
But the spark is still above me
And now I just need a ladder

Best Poems Written by Molly Mccarthy

Morning

An End To Aloneness

Pastry

Honey

After Dinner

Five Years