Fractured - Poem
Shattered into pieces my self worth
Decreases and my full image
Ceases to exist in the midst of trying
Expressions of assurance in love.
Finding a partner that is also
Broken, we mix and match pieces
Filling our holes in but in this
Collage, something wasn’t spoken.
Refusing to see who the other
Was, we couldn’t picture what would
Be of us when we came together
Just because. There is no love.
Scraping our glass wall off the board
We realize before coming together we
Need something more.
Healing our
Stained sores, we restore our cores.
Putting together our broken selves,
Trauma is stored in the shelves. We
Still accept help because when we’re
Back together, we’re more ourselves.
Befriending My Demon - Poem
Cold and hot, the bridges we have
Come across were burned by the
Fires we made hating one another.
Freezing over the remains to never
Comeback to what we once had,
However we must revisit the past.
As I move on, I see that I can’t cut
Off what gave me part of me in the
First place and that I’ll need you.
Backwards thinking had me lost
On what gave me pain and the
Last thing I forgot was the cost paid.
Each toll I paid you, gave me grow in
Riches of self worth and that was
Only possible in our lasting battles.
None can sell my soul, cause my poor
Demon already has it and I wouldn’t be
All of who I am without you. Thank you.
Crying In Lo-Fi - Poem
Rhythmic tears run down my face to
Slowly race waters on my window
Shielding me away from outside noise.
Always out of tune, my sniffles ripple
Across the pouring night to conceive
Ballads that usually put me to sleep.
Tonight seems to be different as the
Music relaxes my body but designs
Disastrous melodies in my heart.
Comfort only comes as I continue to
Drop droplets from red eyes in the
Blue hue of the clouded midnight.
Stopping only leaves my thoughts
Alone, lonely to feel the cold mistakes
Made to fester in the sea of regrets.
Continuing until the sun gleams,
Bright songs by the birds sing to
Break the subtle notes of self pity.
Reverb and repeated beats that
Plagued my brain soon settle until my
Tears return and my soul is in harmony.
Night Writer - Poem
I hide myself away from the light.
Dusk is dawn for the songs I sing as they
Need to be written where none read.
In the darkness I find my light as my
Pen sparks a bit of life in the heart to
Craft sentences that might be off beat.
Peculiar. I don’t fear the dark as I feel
Obscure arts move me in ways the light
Don’t feed but inside of me I hide to
Break away the chains lamps don’t see.
Ink drawn from the pitch black sky I
Only use the light from the stars that
Occasionally hide from my very sight.
Bringing context to clues I leave behind
Each and every rhyme. I write my shrine.
Tears run dry as I walk the line between
Feeling real and lying in my dreams.
I Pray at the alter I don’t falter before what
Lies ahead and the truths I bring also bring
Blessings for what the night gives. I’m not
Alone in my words, as they continue to live.
Tyler Auston Jones is a poet/writer based in Atlanta, Georgia. He is 26 years old and graduated from Western Carolina University with a bachelors in English and minor in Creative Writing back in 2018. He currently works as a pre-school teacher and music journalist. He’s finishing his first poetry compilation, Obsidian Sun. He’s inspired by music, his blackness, and the reflections he’s with the world at large