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Best Poems Written by Jenny Leigh

Below are the all-time best Jenny Leigh poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

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Details | Jenny Leigh Poem

Painted Smile

It’s all an act, can’t you see?
A pretense of Shakespearean complexity
A mask of so many layers it’s hard to hold
Yet it only gets heavier as this sorry life unfolds
If you really cared then you’d see my eyes
And the bitter pain these beguiling lids disguise
But all it takes to fool your petty mind
Are some superficial words to keep you sweetly blind


As time goes on, the facade takes its toll
Exhaustion insidious as my heart grows cold.
The light fades to an ironic, acrid hue
The last bastion defeated with all hopes of rescue.
So all that’s left is to succumb meekly to this fate
Smothered by self-loathing and the ever-present hate
That twists my life into a snarling parody
Plummeting obliquely into mundane obscurity


So how to find solace in a shell that I despise?
By defiling the innocence this awkward exterior belies.
It’s clichéd I know, but  it let’s go
Drink, smoke and  ‘til we feel alive!
That smile oblivion reserves for only me
As I surge towards it,
Self-destructing
Happily
We’ve all got to die,
So why should I
Linger for longer
Than is
Necessary?

Copyright © Jenny Leigh | Year Posted 2023



Details | Jenny Leigh Poem

The Phial

Once more my hand clasps the vial, trembles with its crystal cold. my heart craves the ruby liquid within and so once more I bring it to my lips and drink the fiery torrent to the last Once more my dark room dissolves fading into nothingness as I fly to that familiar door and so once more I enter realms of light and revel in the freedom that world brings Once more my mind's unburdened from the demons therein dwell for here they are entombed in cruel cages and so once more I hear their anguished cries and laugh at my tormentors agony Once more my soul knows solace albeit temporary the fiery torrent returns to its source and so once more I'm cast back to my woe and resume my pitiful existence until once more I can clasp the phial that holds peace within

Copyright © Jenny Leigh | Year Posted 2023


Book: Reflection on the Important Things