
[dust and shadows]so i guess here's my attempt to be poignant,[dust and shadows] by ~rainbowfishie101
to paint a flowery picture
that says a thousand words
i've never claimed to be much of a poet --
i've never claimed to be much
of anything at all
maybe i've merely been disillusioned
by delusions of grandeur,
or perhaps i'm just tearing down
these walls that i've built for myself
either way, this farce is nothing more
than a razor-thin tarp;
designed to veil the abyss
that lies below
if you're a supernova, what can i be
but your black hole?
there's nothing here but an infinite
expanse of emptiness --
i am nothing
we're all just one step away from drowning
in the depths of infinity,
trying to justify our meager existence
with words that mean absolutely
nothing at all
pulvis et umbra sumus --
we are,
but dust and shadows

[wonderland]she had an obsession with saturday nights,[wonderland] by ~rainbowfishie101
the smell of rainy pavement, and
the sound of tired eyes --
she was crimson,
broken bird wings
and bits and pieces
of thrown-away songs
she fell down the rabbit
hole and found herself
in wonderland, sipping paper tea
with plastic people
as the world around her
spun out of
control
it rained tearstained roses and sleepy
whispers, crimson running
down and coating her in
a fine dusting of ash
and swan feathers
she walked through broken
glass as the silence
called to her with its
pretty little lies
but she was not Alice, and it
was not Wonderland
so she painted such a lovely little portrait
of self-destruction and said
i think i'll stay

[dancer in the dark]you.[dancer in the dark] by ~rainbowfishie101
rippling, fluid grace
a dance of shadows;
evanescent nights spent gazing
at ephemeral stars --
far beyond your grasp --
and wishing upon a
perpetual twilight
you are ink and shadows,
converging lines and contoured edges
a chiaroscuro of waning moonlight
chase your demons away
and keep your skeletons
under lock and key --
they'll haunt your dreams tonight
we are all hiding --
not from the dark,
but from what's in it
forlorn dreams and cast-away hopes,
sinking under a sea of forgetting --
we all have things to hide
heavy footfalls, dense under the weight
of oppressing gravity
you've forgotten how to fly,
haven't you?
you used to be so light,
borne upon silver wings
you've shed them now

[chasing ghosts]we can't go back[chasing ghosts] by ~rainbowfishie101
we can't ever go back
to those golden days --
we were young then,
and foolish, you see?
naive enough to believe
that we really held the world
in the palms of our hands
[our skin was unblemished then]
how easily we change --
forsaking masks and adopting new ones,
always eager to try on
a different face.
change is not something easily reversible;
butterflies do not shed their wings
[we can't go back, you see?]
you've wasted so much time
staring into a mirror
when you really should be looking
out a window.
you're chasing after ghosts,
longing after a phantasm.
but me?
[i'm haunted by them]

GrandfatherLancaster Pennsylvania.Grandfather by ~PeppermintPictures
July 3rd, 1978.
Five pm.
Eighty-two degrees outside.
Driving sixty eight mph down Millersville road
past miles of cornfields
And everything is silent.
Except the faint scream of wind escaping through the cracked driver side window
and the dull thud of tire treading on the newly paved road.
He is
trying to understand,
while trying not to think,
while thinking too much,
while being silent.
And suddenly its
March of 1968
And Calley is calling
“kill them all dead”.
And he sees his daughter,
her Agent Orange colored curls
clinging to her face like napalm sticks to melting bodies;
her eyes burning bri
How to get more views on your LiteratureHow to get more views on your LiteratureHow to get more views on your Literature by `KathrynODriscoll
This article is an exploration of a common question on DeviantART in the Literature community; "How do I get more views?" If you read all of this you win a pony.
Lately there has been a lot of discussion around the site about ways to expand the literature community and the visibility of literature on the site. It has been noted that a lot of people believe that site changes by the DeviantART team will help them get more attention for their work. It has also been noted in the past that when new features are instigated (such as more html, better thumbnails and stash) that people often interpret whether or not they have a direct positive effect on their own views as a way of telling if the new feature is worthwhile or not.
It has been suggested that the community and individuals therein should themselves take more responsibility for creating opportunities and maximising poten
