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The Discarded, The Forgotten

I am accustomed to spitting out bones of my prisoners, not witnessing their escape. I hear whales whistle their stoic dirges as I descend—they know the doomed are villains and freedom is promised to the brave of the brine. I am Devil Damsel, doomed as villain deemed with jagged teeth of unworthy. I am a colorless livid leviathan ghost ready to seize joy from the helpless, from the hopeful. I see red, but I am not blind. Before my downward plunge, I witnessed stars in the sky. Distracted by their glow, I missed your own, sinking back down into my monomaniac world, where stars are only dreams I shame over. Seductive subduction. I thought I knew darkness till I saw that glow—that glimpse of unreachable light. And I can live there. All I need to do is swim upward and kiss the surface. But the abyss—I consume it, and it consumes me. Hydrostatic hell. I am chained to these Platonian trenches eternally deemed ignorant. Death boxes. Nailed, anchored, mercurial, messy, mine. I deal with the discarded, the forgotten just as I disembody the discarded, the forgotten. Catastrophic cold. It freezes everything that I am that you see me only in your pain. (Note: this is a sequel to an older poem I wrote years ago called Devil Damsel)

Copyright © | Year Posted 2025




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Date: 2/17/2025 8:46:00 AM
Laura, there are those who seek comfort in dark impulses. I do like your last line. We need to be aware that these creatures exist (like Count Muskula and Trumpenstein, for example) and not turn a blind eye. Unfortunately, we're watching much of what we know and love freeze over because many decided to turn away when they could. Anyway, I do hope you are well. Glad to see you're posting. Smiles!
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Laura Breidenthal
Date: 2/22/2025 12:02:00 PM
Comfort in dark impulses… I like that… I love how you analyze, process the words. I am well—I hope you are too— thank you for your thoughts. <3
Date: 2/16/2025 7:36:00 PM
Terrifying and tempting, raw and wise...perfect rage, perfect pain, perfect predation. You continue to demonstrate your poetic Mastery Poetess, your mastery of Self, and love for life...J.A.B.
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Laura Breidenthal
Date: 2/22/2025 12:01:00 PM
I’d like to think I’ve mastered the depths but I fear they still master me. Thank you Justin, for being that light just above the surface. <3 Laura
Date: 2/16/2025 2:44:00 PM
Tartarus? Abyss? Or something else? In any case it's a compelling narrative. I'll be avoiding her seas
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Laura Breidenthal
Date: 2/19/2025 5:36:00 AM
She’s used to being avoided, but she will make herself known when least expected. Thank you Tom for taking the time to read about her. <3

Book: Radiant Verses: A Journey Through Inspiring Poetry