Lauren M. Hancock poetry and prose
A corner of my world where I feel most at home
How can I say this plainly, unflowery, with truth? I’m frustrated, everything seems the same, nothing to experience or share, no news. I sit in my home and I try to create, I use my phone also to try to connect, but with others I feel a slackening bond, becoming further away from one [...]
I tell the man that he is tyrannical, he can take his rubbish home with him tonight. I tell the man he is delusional, he won’t get anything from me this, nor any other night. I tell the man he is dreaming, how far does he expect to get with this attitude in [...]
I am not a stranger to the darkness, though I am unafraid of the light. I am willing to crawl on broken glass, dragging shards through my flesh as I attempt to better myself, fall away will the blight. I can rip these fragments from my skin, gaping wounds, painful holes, I am like [...]
We talk about each other as though we’re okay, but we are not, I’ve barely slept in days, I can feel the stretching within, the rot. This pains me because while you rest, plain to see, mind no longer ailing, but further proof that there is substantial evidence that crosses boundaries, from victim to the [...]
I tell myself to be positive, there’s no reason in the world that hope for human life should cave in. I tell myself to see the positive side of things, that there is not pain and suffering everywhere I turn, my heart shouldn’t flat-line: the highs and lows of existence, the pitch should still [...]
She’s the edgiest girl you’ll ever see. She pricks holes through your arguments with safety pins, rules over cool, college beauty queens, wipes away their contrivances, their classroom lipstick, swipes off their need to impress, she’s willing to pass any test, she is a rebel with a cause, do you know what I mean? She [...]
Purple is royal, regal, it is crushed velvet pressed against my cheek, purple is for kings and queens, and princesses in lilac who walk among the public, blessing them in busy streets. Sashes of light purple are for accomplishments, university achievements, and musical delights, I remember earning my purple sash, I was so proud [...]
I wish I could write of beauty and wonder, and perfection, if it existed, but I don’t believe I have it within me, my words come out as harsh and grating. Instead, my confessionals are here to behold, laid out upon the table, endless pages scattered, ink haphazardly scrawled. Some stains are crimson, [...]
Sometimes it’s positive to relocate, a subtle change of scene, a change of pace, being stagnant, stuck in the same room, same world for so long, it can drive me around the bend, four walls enclosing on me because they can do so with the slipperiest of ease, despite my view from above, the [...]
Flawless, how can I feel flawless when beneath the spotted mirror my reflection barely lurks? Flawless, how can I feel perfect when my heart is blotchy like Grandma’s inky, moody pearls? A broken smile, a set of hounded eyes reflect back at me, finding a perfect circumstance? Tell me this: does perfection truly exist? [...]
