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Lillie Townsend Poem
To be the structure of a person
To be a shield to the very essence of someone's existence
To be a 206 piece puzzle
To be an enforcer, protector and stabilizer
Is to be a skeleton
To not be the eyes and still be a window to the soul
To orchestrate the symphony of being
To carry the burden of lost love and to love again anyway
To flutter like a butterfly and bang like a drum
To be the protected essence
Is to be a heart
To take beating after beating
And still ride head first into battle
To crack and bend and break and crumble
And keep fighting anyway
Is to be the bones of bravery
To sing and hum a song of victory
When the battle seems lost
To ignite the fires
And give life to the burning desire to live within
To give hope with every beat and every hum
Is to be a heart of encouragement
And when the skin feels like fire
And the blood runs cold,
And the bones ache from years of abuse
The heart will sing a song that promises tomorrow
With every passing beat
And with that promise,
It will bring a new longing for life,
A deep innate sense of self-preservation
And excitement for all the good that life has to offer
Only then will the battle be over
Leaving behind only bliss and peace.
Copyright © Lillie Townsend | Year Posted 2023
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Lillie Townsend Poem
In the morning,
I am not a poet.
This is no matter of opinion,
It is an undisputable fact, and don't I know it.
I am not a poet
In the afternoon, either.
Not for a lack of trying,
The words simply won't flow from my hand to the paper.
When the Sun sets,
Nothing that I write could or should be considered poetry.
Every line sounds like gibberish,
And should be treated accordingly.
But when I finally rest my head
And close my eyes on my disappointing diminished hexaverse,
I imagine myself in a world where the constellations spell out similes,
Until I am finally submerged.
I frolicked through a field of Forget-Me-Nots
As I basked in the moonlight made of metaphors,
I could not help but gape at the world
That was unlike anything I had ever seen before.
Hyperboles whizzed past me,
An ode to life echoed through the air!
I could hear onomatopoeias crashing against a distant shore,
As personification ruffled my hair.
I sat myself on cloud like grass
And turned my gaze upon the stars,
They twinkled with the secrets of long gone poets,
Whispering sacred bars.
I tried my best to listen
As Orion and Scorpius traded elegies,
'Til the Man In The Moon said,
"Not yet my child, you are a poet yet to be."
And so I tore myself away,
And resigned myself to the beach,
I took in every inch of thalassic beauty
As far as the naked eye could see.
I contemplated what would happen
In the morning when I woke,
Would I continue writing underwhelming sonnets,
Until the day I croak?
"No!" The Sea roared
As the tide came rolling in,
"You will write of what you witnessed,
And one day when you return again,
Bellatrix and Hercules will tell your story
To the fleeting comets that come 'round,
They'll say 'There! There they are!
That's the poetic dreamer we told you about!'"
Once the Sun had risen I waved goodbye to the Sea,
And although I was nervous I made sure not to show it,
For I knew the pen would always be mightier than the sword,
When in the hands of a poet.
Copyright © Lillie Townsend | Year Posted 2023
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Lillie Townsend Poem
Tears are falling from the sky.
The Angels,
They weep for their fallen brother,
Now for a second time.
They watch as his broken wings shrivel into nothingness,
And his Kingdom built on the bones of the forgotten
Crumbles into dust so thick it is no longer dust,
But a blanket of false hope and rage,
That covers everything that meets the eye.
The Angels bow their heads,
Praying for their own,
Their once gleaming halos fade into a dull
Glint.
And as the tears disguised as rain
Turn into a tsunami
Brought on by God letting out a cry of despair,
He falls to His knees,
Taking breaths that shake the Earth.
He screams into the darkness,
For He knows,
That even His capabilities
Do not rival those of Death.
He curls into Himself,
Shutting out all he created.
His angels gather to console Him,
Not knowing their presence makes Him feel like He's suffocating.
And in a fit of grief,
He reaches down,
Down past the Earth,
Down past the pits that used to cage broken wings,
Down into the depths of nothing,
From which He pulls the ashes of His son.
He holds them close to His chest,
As one would a young child frightened of a storm,
And as he whispers His final goodbye,
He allows the wind made of his breath
To carry the power of what was,
Into the souls of what remains.
What once was Angels surrounding God,
Are now Gods surrounding the empty shell of what once was,
What is,
And what can never be,
Again
Copyright © Lillie Townsend | Year Posted 2023
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Lillie Townsend Poem
I used to think I wasn't equipped to handle heartbreak,
But it seems like that's the only thing I'm good for as of late.
I'm not sure what changed or when all my walls came crashing down,
Leaving my heart vulnerable to my intrusive thoughts as they go round for round.
Forget a suit, have the blacksmith forge a heart of armor,
As I wait to see who delivers the final blow, causing their opponent to falter.
Calculated risks becoming flawless counters to gut feelings wrapped in luck,
A deranged game of chess, my thoughts the knight, my heart the hopeless rook.
A lose-lose situation defined by mental illnesses and past traumas that go hand in hand,
My head is filled with mixed thoughts and my heart with intrusive emotions that rendered me unable to take a stand.
Bed ridden by my self consciousness and lack of self esteem,
I utilize my resources and create worlds through my words that I know no one will read.
"Healthy" coping mechanisms are nothing but a glorified suggestion,
So I will continue to use metaphors and similes to help me handle my depression
Copyright © Lillie Townsend | Year Posted 2023
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Lillie Townsend Poem
ban the horizon
harbinger of heatwaves
abandon fever
bound towards the sea
embrace your transparent realm
and thalassic depths
Copyright © Lillie Townsend | Year Posted 2023
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Lillie Townsend Poem
In the beginning, we burned bright,
brighter than any suns or stars could ever dream of,
but even suns and stars eventually burn out.
You were taken from this world, from me,
far quicker than should be allowed.
For every plan of the future we made together
came and went as nothing more
than a reminder of the emptiness you left behind.
An emptiness I have no intention of trying to fill,
for a thousand bodies of men just like you
would only be enough to bury me in,
but none would ever be enough
to fill the void your loss has created.
Grief is a powerful thing like that.
They say it comes in waves,
and if that is the case, then I am drowning.
I say let me.
At least then I could see you once more,
even if only for a fleeting moment,
as my mind plays all of the best my life has offered
in my final seconds.
I know I would see you then.
This is not the life you would want for me, that is known.
But I do not know how to live in a world
where I am expected to enjoy you only in mind,
otherwise, you are confined to this dusty box of memories.
Photographs do not allow me to hear your laugh,
so loud and full of life
that I had no other choice but to laugh with you.
Your smile is not done justice,
with its warmth and promise of kindness.
Sobbing into the clothes you wore
is incomparable to weeping on your shoulders
as you reminded me
that I was not to face the world alone.
And yet here I am, doing exactly that.
Time, my love, has not done me any favors.
It has been my greatest enemy,
the one thing I hate more
than the loss that plagues my soul.
And yet, it is the time we spent together
that has allowed me to stay strong and true.
I can only wait for the day
that it reunites us.
Copyright © Lillie Townsend | Year Posted 2025
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Lillie Townsend Poem
I've never met anyone quite like you,
Someone who's so infuriatingly perfect at everything they try.
Someone that has never once judged me or looked at me differently
Even after they've seen me cry and I-
Don't think that there is anyone quite like you,
And for that I am thankful.
I don't think the world could keep spinning if there were two perfect people.
And you are perfect,
Even if you deny it all the time.
But I will keep reminding you because I'm-
Someone who doesn't give up,
When I believe in what im fighting for.
And if there is one thing that I have leaned from you,
It's that you are worth the fight,
and of that I am sure.
You have shown me so much in the time we've spent together.
My life before you was monochromatic and now it's bursting with all of these vibrant prismatic colors,
And for that I-
Can't imagine who I would be without you,
The one that taught me how to live.
The one that pushed me into adventure and then laughed when I fell in,
I can forgive you for that-
Because I love you.
I think I have from the start.
I know we're young and one day I might love someone else,
But they will never be the boy that introduced me to the stars.
They will never be the boy that called me brave as he watched me cry
They will never be the boy
That told me that rainbows and rain clouds are born from the same sky
They will never be the boy that I write poem after poem about.
They will never be the boy that allows me to always be myself and leave no room for doubt.
They will never be the boy that showed me forgiveness in a world that is so often unforgiving,
But most importantly,
They will never be the boy
That saved me when I didn't even know I needed saving.
Copyright © Lillie Townsend | Year Posted 2025
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