your vodka and spite.
Inspired by Taylor Swift’s ‘Closure’
I have cut my hands
On the silhouette of your name
For a year now
❀
You got my letter
My question
My plea
Fed it to the fire
Watched its ashes
Join that of your empathy
❀
You claim you’re doing better
Brag about not needing that one thing
I was dying without (closure)
❀
I tried to smooth out
The jaggedness of your jealousy
The sharp edge of your
Newfound cruelty
❀
You might be fine with
Your vodka and spite
But I will not settle for
Anything less than a
Clear conscience and
Weightless shoulders
❀
You got my letter
Tore it to pieces like
You once so nonchalantly
Did to me
❀
You were a devastating chasm
In the life I was forced
To live without you
An absence I could
Barely breathe around
And I was reaching through
An empty sky
Searching
Not for you but
For that explanation
You must’ve buried with
Your heart
❀
I checked everywhere
For your letter
And now I run my fingers
Along its absence and
Thank you for your
Wordless answers
❀
It’s been a lifetime
And a handful of
Apocalypses but
The shape of your name
No longer spells out anything
Except for the past and
The cracks of my mosaic heart
❀
I write a new letter
Introduce it to a match
Watch as my heartbreak
Settles amongst the ashes
Finally understanding
Closure does not equal moving on
Acceptance does
❀
And now
Your absence is
That weightlessness
On my shoulders
❀
You can keep
Your vodka and spite
But I will stay soft
If it is the last thing I do
❀❀❀❀❀
The Song:
Reader insights
Outstanding
Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!
Top insights
Compelling and original writing
Creative use of language & vocab
Excellent storytelling
Original narrative & well developed characters
Heartfelt and relatable
The story invoked strong personal emotions
Easy to read and follow
Well-structured & engaging content
On-point and relevant
Writing reflected the title & theme
The Invisble amongst us
"In January 2021, I was driving to see my mother at a local hospital. Traffic halted suddenly, and I was so happy I did not strike the vehicle in front of me. I gazed up in my rear-view mirror just as the vehicle behind struck my little sub-compact vehicle. "
By Bruce Curle `5 days ago in Psyche
Comments (30)
Congratulations on TS!
Congratulations on your top story.
Such poignant piece
Wow, I really felt the impact of this piece!! The melancholia and sense of healing that this gave off was something I needed today! Thank you and congratulations on Top Story Poppy!!
congratulations on your Top Story!
Back to say congratulations on your Top Story! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
At last! Well deserved Top Story!✅🤩
What a piece!! Congrats on top story!
Congrats Poppy!
I like that you shard our inspiration with us, and the way you made it your own. Great job and Congratulations
A great turn of phrase and a thriumphant poem written around it. Congratulations, Poppy!
Congratulations on Top Story! Wonderful piece!!! 🥳
I love using music to guide my poems! This was brilliant and well done! Congrats on Top Story!
Congratulations on your TS category. This is truly TS. This is truly Amazing.... Wonderful .... Heartfelt ..... I never wrote my ex a letter. I knew he'd never read it. He just left and thought he'd break me to pieces. I was glad when I proved him wrong. GREAT story!!
Damn! I adore that it was inspired by this song. A perfect reply!! I love love love this, Poppy. We're kind of hearing the other side, and kind of hearing a different story, unrelated to the song's narrative. It's a fun place to be, not sure which one it is. I think there's something so hurtful in a person refusing to give closure. Like, sure acceptance is the next best thing but closure isn't something you can just conjure. It isn't possible to get it alone. You just accept, but still feel the missing pieces that the other person can fill. Them alone. So I love this poem because you bring out that truth. But it's true; you can't move on until you accept the situation, regardless of closure. I just think that spite likes to cling on to a situation that wasn't properly sealed shut. "You claim you’re doing better Brag about not needing that one thing I was dying without (closure)" So good!
Wonderful! My favorite parts: ‘Finally understanding Closure does not equal moving on Acceptance does’ ‘But I will stay soft If it is the last thing I do’ I will be thinking about this for days, and carry those sentiments with me. 💗
‘A handful of apocalypses’ Absolutely loved that line! Excellent work, Poppy!
Wow. This is simply beautiful. Well done!
Love this and love the inspiration! How great for art to inspire art! This was very well done!
love how you are determined to be better and not bitter!
Beautiful Poppy. Just reading this poem felt therapeutic to me, I can only imagine writing it. I loved the lines about acceptance being better than closure, but the whole piece is wonderful
Absolutely you are one of the best poets/ writer's I have read on The Vocal and elsewhere. This reminded me of a cruel love I once knew.
I was sooooo excited that this was inspired by Closure! My favourite were these stanzas: "I have cut my hands On the silhouette of your name For a year now" "You got my letter Tore it to pieces like You once so nonchalantly Did to me"
Poppy this was incredibly powerful, intimate and emotionally vulnerable. I'm so sorry that you have had to feel this type of sadness without closure, you captured it so accurately. Right out the gate with "I have cut my hands/On the silhouette of your name" GOSH DAMN!! I think I made this face in real life. 😮💨 Incredibly well done as per always! 🤍🖤
I relate to your prose of loss and pain