Pearl River Community College's award winning literary magazine

Special Edition—Spring-Summer 1998

Poetry Section

Carrie Badon

Hurt

Ponder
Warm blood, fresh
From an innocent heart
Rolling
Shh! Quietly down
My sleeve.
It cools,
Joins my skin
In a sticky caress,
Becomes part of me.
After many baths
Lingering odor
A reminder.
New faces blur
Into one before.
The ease of time
Wishing for pain
Feeling.
Am I alive?
Jagged black ice
Heart feels nothing.
Yes,
Call me sick; demented
If you must.
Look down
Shamefully as I pass
Fearful of my eyes.
What?
Will you see
Parts of yourself?
We all hurt others.
Humans
Are not humane.
Haven't we all
Broken the hearts
Of ones
That cared the most?

Bleed for You

You flashed those eyes and tightly held me;
Pulled me close with nervous smiles.
I was taken by your careless whispers
And a little restless from the fight.
Glancing upward and wondering will you be true
To those promises so easily breathed upon my skin.
I doubted, but my restraint was failing.
You pled and I bled for you.

Again you hold me firmly
As I cry into your chest.
We both search for options
And map out escape routes.
I fearfully look into those same eyes.
Will you live without this piece of yourself?
Love's no longer the question or an answer.
You plead that I bleed.

Sitting beside me, you squeeze my hand
As the white walls flaunt their purity.
I place my hand on my stomach
Secretly yearning for the life within.
Right or wrong decided with ease of tossing dice.
Tears roll down my cheeks.
Your presence offers comfort as I ponder
Will I bleed for you today?