The Department of Structured Calm

Written by Thriftygirl365

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...before the day asked anything of you.

You were laying there in that quiet hour
when the world still belongs to itself,
shoulders loose,
sleep still resting in the corners of your eyes,
a smile beginning to form
like you hadn’t quite decided
whether the day deserved it.

And I noticed the way morning
seemed to gather around you.

Not because you tried to be seen.
You didn’t.

That was the thing.

There was something steady about you,
the kind of strength that doesn’t perform,
that doesn’t need the room to know it’s there.
It lived in the way you stretched slowly,
in the calm weight of your presence,
in the quiet certainty of a man
who has nothing to prove.

Your eyes were softer than I expected.
Dawnlight caught in them
like it had found a place it wanted to stay.

And when you smiled,
it wasn’t polished or careful.

It was crooked.
Warm.
A little tired.

Human.

The kind of smile that makes a woman
feel suddenly aware
of how close she is to heaven.

Morning slid through the window
and touched the edge of your face,
your jaw,
the lines time and living
had written into you.

It made everything about you
look honest.
No armor yet.
Just you.

I don’t think you knew
how beautiful you were in that moment.
Not the loud kind of beauty
people chase.

Something quieter.

The kind that makes the air feel heavier,
makes a woman pause
and watch longer than she meant to.

Morning found poetry in you.

And laying there beside you,
pretending not to stare,
I realized something that ached a little.

Some men carry whole sunrises in them
without ever knowing it.

Written by handofdust101

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The scent of rain has always been dear to me;
𝖲𝗈 𝗂𝗌 solitude, which by so wide a range
Gives me a glimpse of my inner horizons.
Here, quite ashore, staring at the endless void
And beyond the bounds of mundane fantasy,
I bare my being of the burden of conscience,
Take a wrinkle in time to get along wi' the wild,
To get alone for a while with the churlish child
As the leaves of dread and all of grief fade
With the cleansing return of innocence.

The dusk in my eyes was once a turbid river
Of sparkling dreams, in the hollow of which
Twinkl'd candor like crystal coins underwater.

I seize a pink of release
in the death of doubt;
And lo! it takes so little a thing
For my all to thaw in awe
At what gravity is ailing to tame.
I catch a sense of ease
in the depth of though;
And oh! it takes so slight a thrill
For all my sight to fall afright
At what my soul is failing to name.

Like a blooming in slow process
Thorough in the art of softly unfolding
From the drying ruins of what used to be,
I lay the wilting grace of yesterday's flowers
Down into the garden of oblivious blossoms.
And as the drifting self dwells lost
In the fizzing and marvel of hearing
The howling breeze through the foliage; I,
I compare my silence to the sigh of Nature,
To that voice, the suave tunes of which
Murmur in the mirth of memory
The remembrance of olden joys,
The obsolete seasons, the generous ones,
The careless spectre of lively youth
all clad in her garment of glaring noise.

Thus I see my thinking sink in the Immensity,
And tender is the tide in this sea of wonder!

— 𝖠𝗌𝗌𝗂𝗍𝖺,
𝑇𝒉𝑒 𝑅𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝐼𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒

𝖨𝗇𝗌𝗉𝗂𝗋𝖾𝖽 𝖿𝗋𝗈𝗆 𝖦𝗂𝖺𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗈 𝖫𝖾𝗈𝗉𝖺𝗋𝖽𝗂'𝗌 𝐿'𝐼𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑜
– 1819 –

Written by hopeless.chubby.romantic7

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Let me lay down in an open field
Or on velvety moss
Let me breathe in natures smell
Take in the sounds
Let earth envelop me
Head to toes
Feel its pulse
Or maybe near a creek
A beautiful river
Hear the water flowing
The birds singing
The bees buzzing
Let a butterfly land on the tip of my nose

Leave me alone with earth
For its us,the people the world
Who usually destroy it
Who take
So leave me alone
Under the shade of forrest trees
Among the crawling creatures
My feet touching soil
Let me lay down
Among nature
Breathe in that air
Leave me among the beautiful wild things
Let earth wrap me up
In the middle of nowhere
Forget the rest
The noise
And just be
For awhile
You can join if you'd like

Written by kristen.sha.living

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Storms in the sky
Clouds rolling in
Like they know something
We don’t say out loud
Air is cool
Underneath
It's warming
A slow build of something
Just beneath the surface
Skin slightly exposed
Catching the contrast
Chill and heat
Isn’t that how it starts
Shift
Charge
Storm system forming
Quiet first
Then impossible to ignore
Because sometimes
It's not about chaos
Sometimes
All we want is softness
A gentle touch
Reminding
We’re here
Feel
Release
Everything
We’ve been holding
Let it fall like rain

Written by munyxs

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You can hear it,
visually see it—
the condiments.
Do I think of you,
lovely? I have borne those eyes—
remembrance,
before me and after.
Such is pure, bridled
lease to life.
Scorch the earth,
ray the earth—
outstanding one.
Such is the wish of gin:
drink once—missed twice,
faded by the third.
“Sorry,” “worry”…
but lip service—
a jackal of no comfort,
a cruel mistress.
So please—keep worry,
and shine for the third.
Once upon…
Another story is written...
with me, the ever-enjoyable
reader.