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Cardboard Soul

house of cards

By Harper LewisPublished 2 months ago 1 min read
Image created with Gemini

Finally exhausted of arbitrary demands,

the ultimatum came to the table,

slouching, like Yeats’s beast on the way to Bethlehem,

prefaced with “maybe” and “probably won’t happen,”

It’s all she ever wanted: to erase me from your life, while you lavish attention

on her little dog, tell her she’s the only woman in the world,

pay an exorbitant premium

to ensure this house of cards

kills a witch

when it tumbles down.

Free VerseFirst Draft

About the Creator

Harper Lewis

I'm a weirdo nerd who’s extremely subversive. I like rocks, incense, and all kinds of witchy stuff. Intrusive rhyme bothers me.

MA English literature, College of Charleston

Reader insights

Outstanding

Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!

Top insights

  1. Compelling and original writing

    Creative use of language & vocab

  2. Easy to read and follow

    Well-structured & engaging content

  3. Eye opening

    Niche topic & fresh perspectives

  1. Heartfelt and relatable

    The story invoked strong personal emotions

  2. Masterful proofreading

    Zero grammar & spelling mistakes

  3. On-point and relevant

    Writing reflected the title & theme

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Comments (10)

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  • Novel Allen2 months ago

    Emotions so deeply heartfelt, resonates with so many. Kudos on the spotlight.

  • Cindy Calder2 months ago

    A powerful bit of poetic art, Harper. Congratulations on being spotlighted in the Raise Your Voice Thread with this wonderful piece. Well done.

  • Intriguing poem… emotive.

  • This comment has been deleted

  • A. J. Schoenfeld2 months ago

    Love the imagery in this poem and the raw emotion. Wonderfully written.

  • Aarsh Malik2 months ago

    This feels brittle in the best way, like everything is about to collapse at once.

  • Milan Milic2 months ago

    Sharp, biting, and beautifully controlled. The imagery lands hard, and that final turn is devastating in the best way.

  • Oops, wrong link. https://todaysurvey.today/writers/bloody-mary-for-your-soul-with-the-possibility-of-a-prize-if-you-play-along%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/span%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cdiv class="css-w4qknv-Replies">

  • Caitlin Charlton2 months ago

    The allusions, the metaphor "house of cards," the sarcasm, and the ironic tone ("kills a witch" and "tumbles down") show that you know exactly where to reach to bring a visceral imagery of how you feel. No abstract thought was found here. I understand and felt your misery and their treachery. ♥️🤗🖤

  • Tom Baker2 months ago

    Pretty good!

  • Paul Stewart2 months ago

    Another great one. Well done lass. I'm a fan. I bet tragic princess can't write like you.

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