Paige Hind | + Follow Poet |
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Step Stance

Dark chest
inhale your bite
exhale its shadow

wings that twisted pierce
like barbwire
cover your heart

black feet on glass
I watch my spine
still touch me

A raven cries
   give me my nights,
             give me my nights,
                      give me my nights



(I do not have a bad stepmother.  I was just personifying the raven's darkness.  Just the metaphor. )

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CayCay Jennings Date: 5/31/2025 7:32:00 PM LOVE THIS, that's all, that's everything - LOVE THIS ... CayCay Login to Reply

Alesia Leach Date: 5/31/2025 5:01:00 PM Paige, this is pure atmosphere--sharp, dark, and beautifully visceral. “Wings that twisted pierce like barbwire”--what a haunting image. The repetition of “give me my nights” feels like a spell or a scream, aching for what’s been stolen. Even knowing it’s metaphor, the emotion flies straight through. This raven’s voice is unforgettable. Login to Reply

Evelyn Judy Buehler Date: 5/28/2025 8:04:00 PM This spellbinding poem comprises a masterful personification, Paige. I enjoyed it a lot. :) Login to Reply

Bj Legros Kelley Date: 5/28/2025 6:01:00 PM Oh, so glad to see that this is not true, glad you didn't have a bad stepmother! Your poem is thought provoking, ravens are such ill omens of darkness in writings of metaphors, and you did this well! Login to Reply

Andrea Dietrich Date: 5/27/2025 11:31:00 PM Ouch. Did you have a bad stepmother? My mother was accused of this but it turns out the stepdaughter was mentally ill and almost died of a brain tumor. So when they finally did MRI of my stepsisters brain , everyone could understand my mother was innocent. My stepsister was doing horrible things and everyone outside our household perceived her as being guiltless Login to Reply Andrea Dietrich Date: 5/30/2025 12:19:00 PM Thanks for the explanation, Paige. Paige Hind Date: 5/28/2025 10:37:00 AM No I don't have a bad stepmother. The raven is my stepmother, lol. Just a personification. The raven didn't seem like a mother, so I just called it stepmother.

Sotto Poet Date: 5/27/2025 4:34:00 PM The wave of discomfort that swept over me while reading this was wonderful. Both the atmosphere and the tone are rather powerful... In reading your last sentences, I felt those lumps, again, Paige Login to Reply

Anonomus Scorpio Date: 5/27/2025 6:49:00 AM I very much enjoyed the feelings of unease that washed over me as I read this!! Abstract, ominous, but best of all the right amount of dark. A fav for me my friend!! A.S. Login to Reply

Nette Onclaud Date: 5/27/2025 6:40:00 AM intense in both setting and mood...i got the bumps through your last lines, paige...incredible! Login to Reply

Ink Empress Date: 5/27/2025 1:50:00 AM Ah that ending, is echoing through my thoughts in a very hypnotic manner. I love your title which is unique, as unique as your word weaving. Always a pleasure reading you poetic soul! Sending you light today and always Login to Reply