poetry: clocks by elena murray

I don’t have time

For your maybes and bullshit

Some woman are small enough to fit in your back pocket but

My expansiveness would rip your seams

My consequence would sink you straight to the bottom of the well

I don’t have time

For your surprised grimace

When I luxuriate in setting you straight

Bathing, absolutely saturated

In virtue

As my roots ground me and my blossoms fill the air with provocative scents

Ripping through your concrete

Shattering the glass of your vanity

I don’t have time

For your compliments and sugary language

What meaningless prattle when the substance behind it is non existent

Lacking every intended intention

My tack is too sharp to fall for that

My forbearance like rings on a trunk

Cut me open and count them if you don’t trust my savvy

I don’t have time

To fawn over your pretty face

Some women will welcome your giant footprints

Squishing into their mud an imprint that remains long after they’re gone from your mind

My heart won’t skip at that grin I’ve seen too many times

My skin has hardened to diamonds

Splintering any bones attempting to tread on my domain

I don’t have time

For anything but candor

Shocking, is it not? This woman demands frankness and when you spit falsehoods she shrieks

Like a hawk as it signals a nose dive preparing to strike

Not a feather out of place when her piercing eyes single you out and you know you’re time is up

Because she doesn’t have any to waste

Not on you

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Hey there, I’m Elena.

I’m a city girl with a small town soul. I love to cook. I work with children and I love performing. I have so many stories to tell and I can’t seem to decide in which medium to best tell them, so I dabble in them all. I love to sing and play my guitar, I tap dance and I eat way too many pickles. I’ve been officially depressed since 2002 and I’m an annoyingly huge advocate for mental health awareness, which is something I love to share and discuss in my poetry. My work is deeply personal (what poetry isn’t?) and recounts my past struggles with eating disorders, body dysmorphia, abuse, toxic relationships, love, friendship and how my journey, though nowhere near complete, has brought me closer to true self love. I hope this resonates. With anyone.

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