Muse 116: Bathtime

found via playgroundlover

Sitting in the shower, staring at the white tiles as water embedded me slowly, I leaned back, enjoying the contrast of the cold porcelain tub on my heated skin. The comfort of baths must be universal. I couldn't think of one person that wouldn't enjoy a long hot soak. No, not as I closed my eyes and gave my thoughts away to nothing. For the first time in a long while, not a single thought inspired me to wake up and write, not a single murmur or hum interrupted the calm. In the bath tub, nothing inspired, nothing sparked and the swishing of water was just the sound of my body shifting around. To most people it sounds dead and wish less, but when you've suffered and heard nothing but the rushing cars, beeping phones, click and clattering keys, non-stop talking, shouts and calls inside your mind for desperate inspiration... Nothing is the best medicine around.

Muse 111: Rippled Canvas

art by KMR

She draws pictures as if they're underwater. With water stains and coffee marks, her canvases were wrinkled with dew and liquid drops that rippled the paper. Rain scattered everywhere it did not belong, in small doses that overcame the parched paintings, in uncontrollable patterns and smudges. The emotion was as if each painting had seen her crying, and the sight could have them think of nothing else but the tears that flowed forth. And so, the paintings, no matter how dry, and the drawings, no matter how rough, smoothed out into a blurred memory.

Muse 95: Desperado

source unknown

I'm down three hundred. In the long run of times I've been going out, that's considered a good day. Imagine a fantastic day - I'd be running in the positive numbers, but right now I'm just trying to break even. I count the papers in my hand, registering numbers instead of faces, and wish I had more to tuck underneath my mattress. Yeah, I'm one of those folks. I'd save it in the bank for interest, but I don't even have enough to open an account. These four bills are going towards my monthly payment just to have a roof over my head, and it's depressing. I tuck it under and don't look back. The money is green, but my world is black and white. It only gets darker every time another bill slips away. I should get a job. A proper one with a contract and health insurance, but it's just faster if I hit the jackpot. It's easier that way. And honestly, if it weren't for that queen of diamonds, I would've won. 

Fuck it. I need another cigarette. 

I'll be luckier next time.

Muse 87: Paper Town

found via melanielockwood

It's so hard to find you. They told me it's all worth it in the end, that when I see you at the end of the day, it's like finding you at the end of the aisle. That's what all my friends, who have someone to hold hands with, tell me. They comfort me, sincerely comfort me, under the impression that things will work out in the end. 

I was walking in our town's history museum today, and I saw an old paper map that was drawn sometime during the 1870s. While I  was reading the description, I discovered that the small coffee stain, normally used to mark secrets and codes, was actually a point to mark a paper town. Paper towns were places fictionally created to make sure no one plagiarized maps. I guess I realized then that love stories were like maps. Point A to Point B all lead me to you, and everyone gives me advice on how to get there, but you're my paper town just like I am yours and no one will ever get the route right except us.

Muse 86: Flight

found via sadbats

I've been asked what it feels like to be in love. I asked them how they know, and they said, "It's the way you smile. The way you move when he's around, I can just tell. Your eyes light up." And I kind of understand what they mean. I feel like stars fill my body and there's no way I can fall. "Sometimes when you walk there's a skip." I think they call it walking on sunshine or floating on clouds. "And you've just been so happy lately, I hope he's good to you." And that's when my face fell. I wished they didn't say anything because... the truth is - He just made me feel this way by being there, and it would feel worse whenever he mentioned other girls.

Muse 85: Shelter

found via jessgn

I loved his shoulder. Every time we sat next to each other, his shoulder was always in the corner of my eye like a boulder, a shadowy block that obstructed the sunset. I felt a crick grow in my neck and a strain that made my shoulders sore. And his shoulders looked so sturdy, so calm against the moving skies; I wanted to lean into it, rest my tired head while we sat still. I was a broken metronome failing to move to the beat, stuck on one end, but it was the good end. He moved into closer and I didn't have to struggle at all. Like a scoop to a spoon, a cheek in a palm, I closed my eyes and rested exactly where I wanted to be.

Muse 84: Vienna

found via Lissy Elle

"I'm trying to find that balance," she said quietly as she picked at the hem of her dress. Her frown looked heavy enough to make the world crumple, and there was a pain in her neck. She sighed, looking up at him with bright eyes. "You know that balance between hello and goodbye? That place where I wake up and I don't feel like everything is over or just begun - I just wake up and ... " The words were tying her up in strange knots that she couldn't describe, couldn't fix and now they were messing the relationship. She was lost and couldn't tell him how much he meant to her, and he knew what she was trying to say. He grabbed her cool, wandering hands and held them tightly. 

"I am your balance." 

Muse 83: Heels

found via weheartit

This was her secret past time; he was her secret way to past time. He kept the key underneath the carpet, but she never touched it until he went away. Each day she stroked the ridged ends, wondering if she should take the risk, and when she did, the interior shocked her. The beautifully adorned room had the loveliest wallpaper pattern. One could spin and become dazed, lost in the maze as it lead her straight down to the bedroom. Curiousity wrecked her mind as she danced around the edges, afraid to see what was inside. Today was the day, the time, the day to discover what was inside. The dark was encroaching upon her, from behind and in front, and she looked in, gasping. She fled quickly, forgetting to lock the doors, to wipe away her mark, as she ran back into her house. Leaning against the safety of her door, she couldn't help but feel a little jealous of the bonded woman who had no feet to run.

Muse 81: Angels

found via mrgolightly

We thought the angels would save us. Could save us. We misinterpreted their wings for mechanics of flight, when the truth has always been heaven is earth. They were swooping up to bring us to hell. We always believed that we could go higher, build of tower of Babel and find God sitting in the heavens, but we forgot that the tower was never completed, and God doesn't walk among men. We forget that the angels wield swords and protect Eden from wanderers. We forget many things as the world grows silent, and we rule with our desires prioritized first. We live among men, pretending to be gods, and we forget that after our lives, our children's will follow. We keeping moving, keep climbing up stairs that rotate downwards, and think that when we fall, angels will come save us. 

At most, they weep.

Muse 79: Mask

found via bloodmilk

There were a lot of emotions meant to be explained. A lot of feelings and questions that were supposed to be made clear once there was a solution that threaded everything together like a patchwork quilt. Contrasting fibers, mismatched patterns and colors blended into one perfect mess that was warm, cozy and tucked me in so well at night. At least, that's what he used to feel like to me. I used to feel safe and comforted, swaddled in blankets, but now I find myself panicking every second of it all. I looked at myself in the mirror, and noticed that I hadn't seen myself clearly in a long time. There isn't much of me left. I don't feel safe around him anymore. 

Muse 76: Dusk/Dawn

found via baanbrekend

At that moment, all you could hear were the crickets. I felt the wetness of the cold stone wall start to seep slowly through my pants. The chirping was an orchestra of ticking clocks, as it died down, the sun began to rise. In the distance, the sky was slowly turning into a watercolor wash of orange, purple and blue. I forgot if the sun rose from the east or west, but I marveled at how the light is in the skies. The light always wins, and darkness loses like a wimp, letting go of its reign so freely. Then again, winning isn't forever and during the deep PM, the skies turn black. Sometimes though, I forget which time belongs to which and when I look up, I realize that it's dusk and the sun is setting. The light was dimming.

Muse 23: The Good Laugh

found via rachel the photographer

The good laugh is a medication prescribed to those who need it. Description says to intake only when necessary in fear of suspected insanity. The good laugh is a deep, boisterous laughter that is beautiful to all ears - even if the ears that befall it's premises are ears of evil, the good laugh is a musical note that soothes and brings smiles to the face. Somehow, in a befallen world where the only terror is the coming of tomorrow, it is needed for a good laugh. In that firecracker spurt of happiness, all problems are expelled in a forceful thrust. This is the good laugh, and take as much as you want - caution, it is for stress only - home.

Muse 22: Imagination

found via [[Chase]]

Standing in front of him, like the sunset drifting slowly from the high ends of the earth, she brushed through her straightened hair with one hand, smiling with a strange tilt. It was curiously slant, as if the sight of him was something just as wondrous as he. She had crawled out of his imagination, carved right out of perfection - That surprisingly lonely box in the middle of the street contained everything he ever dreamed of. You find what you want best in what no one has found yet.