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Pills Are My Paintbrush

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By Jaquie, West Palm Beach, FL
More by this author
Photo credit: Becky G., Westerville, OH
Pills are my paintbrush
The high is my art
Painting red pictures
Of my broken heart

Pain is my canvas
And life is my muse
Oh how they inspire
Oh how they confuse

The outcasts my clay
The in-crowd my mold
They make a fine sculpture
Bow down and behold

This image I’ve made
Of drug and addiction
Cannot evade
My Lords conviction

I can’t take enough
To hide from his gaze
How high is heaven?
How high will I raise?

Not high enough
And never will be
For the guy up above
Still looks down upon me

When he sees my art
What will his thought be?
What else can he do,
But to condemn me?

And how one so high
Could become yet so low
Is a mystery to me
But my art will show


A picture alone
And a portrait of me
But don’t think your wrong
When my face you can’t see


For while running away
From true art and true love
My planned failed outright
I did not look above

For even though when
I enhanced my highs
I forgot to look up
And ran into the skies

I got hit pretty well
And as you can see
That bump on the head
Knocked some sense into me

My heart was too full
Of these drugs and these lies
And for my Lord
You can’t compromise

And I chose my art
Or what I thought it to be
And the art that I cherished
In turn consumed me

And here’s my happy ending
No more high, I have new art
No more drugs and only love
Plus the Good Lord has my heart

Join the Discussion


This article has 62 comments. Post your own!

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thepreechyteenager said...
Oct. 20 at 5:52 pm:

cool, i really like what you said

 
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bluemagnet22 said...
Oct. 20 at 9:32 am:

Wow,this is an AMAZING poem so well written and wow what a great flow! Oh n thanx for commenting on my poem;)

 
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Jordon. said...
Oct. 17 at 5:12 am:

this is amazing.
like, seriously.
well done.
keep it up (:

 
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savinGrace said...
Oct. 13 at 10:32 pm:

Blinking away tears and wishing you had more poems for me to read. This one was amazing, and can only wonder and hope that you have more writing like this. What a gift!

 
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Neasha504 said...
Sep. 24 at 1:39 pm:

That was really good!!!

 
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keyboard_musican said...
Sep. 18 at 2:32 pm:

this was deep i like it it gave me chills

 
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Kimberly S. said...
Sep. 12 at 12:19 pm:

Wow. This is.... mindblowingly amazing. Just one question.... Was this based on personal experiences?

 
Jaquie replied...
Sep. 13 at 1:33 pm :

No, this was not based on any personal experience. I'm very sheltered and have no relations with drugs. But I did base this off of times when I have trouble with other addictions. (Ex: to much television, food, guys, drama) Thank you for commenting on my poem!
God bless,
...,

 
Lucky7337 replied...
Sep. 19 at 1:49 pm :

Haha... I am sheltered, also, and also have no relations with substance abuse. THe way this was written, however, (I didn't mean to imply you were an addict or anything), the form and depth of this poem sounds of someone that has dealt with this. You're welcome, and continue the great works!
God Bless!

 
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Nina L. said...
Sep. 10 at 7:43 pm:

Thanks for the comments on my poem =) yours is incredible! so compelling and emotional, and in the end the best ending!!! beautiful!

 
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cz123094 said...
Sep. 8 at 6:39 pm:

Wow, after reading that, I am speechless! That poem is so amazing! I really like how all of the stanzas flow together and how you combine the good (God) and the bad (the pills) to get a positive (realization that the pills are a negative form of art) This si so amazing! I'm glad my teacher told me about this site today, your poem is the first one here I read and I am going to read mor!

 
Jaquie replied...
Sep. 8 at 8:26 pm :

I can tell by the way you commented that you have a way of words. I'd love to see some of yours posted.
God bless,
...,

 
cz123094 replied...
Sep. 9 at 5:17 am :

Thanks, I will post some of my writing soon!

 
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Phoenix B. said...
Sep. 8 at 6:17 pm:

I liked that a lot. I can relate So much to it. Thank you. Look at my storry "Issues" By: Phoenix B. :)

 
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Caty Beth F. said...
Sep. 5 at 11:54 pm:

I love your work. It's soooo amazing. you did a wonderful job :)

 
Jaquie replied...
Sep. 6 at 2:00 pm :

Thank you.

 
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Syahirah said...
Sep. 5 at 8:08 am:

Thank you for your comments on my paintings. Your peom is so beautiful. I love the way you put the bads into the good one. The way you blend it together was... Forgive me, I do not know what word I want to put. The conclusion is your poem is a masterpiece. I do hope this writing will choosen to publish in the magazine.

 
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Jennax3 said...
Aug. 23 at 5:04 pm:

This is flawless... I don't know what to say. If this isn't published, I'll be shocked. You have a perfect rhythmic meter going on here! Rate

 
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SKMNP said...
Aug. 14 at 1:10 am:

hey! thanks for all the awesome comments on my work, it was good to see if anyone else could connect to the pieces! But this is amazing! The whole thing being a metaphor just makes me really happy to begin with because metaphors are what i think makes a poem. the line "pain is my canvas" and "the art that I cherished In turn consumed me" really get to me, i love it. keep writing!

 
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Zero_Kiryu said...
Aug. 8 at 11:30 pm:

Sad and yet hopeful. This absolutely beautiful and I love the metaphors. This is real. ZERO

 
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Kevin R. said...
Aug. 5 at 4:41 pm:

I'm almost speechless after reading this. It flowed so seamlessly my mouth was agape by the third stanza. Master class writing, one of the best poems I've read in a while. The end gave me chills!

 
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musicgirl757 said...
Jul. 27 at 1:42 am:

This is amazing!! How the heck is this not in the magizine?

 
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Jaquie said...
Jul. 26 at 7:16 pm:

My piece is about addiction, in this case, to drugs (Pills are my paintbrush). The character finds itself obesessed with all the wrong things; '...Pain is my canvas life is my muse...'. But when they go through a 'bad trip', 'I forgot to look up and ran into the skies',they realize what wrong with their life. 'I got hit pretty well and as you can see, that bump on the head knocked some sense into me'. I hope you understand now, I'm not quite sure whether or not I expl... (more »)

 
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COGIC*Girl#1 said...
Jul. 24 at 3:09 am:

WHAT?
your piece was good
but you had me going to different topics kind of and that caught me of guard it was good though,
comment bac plz
so that i can understand your piece better

 
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kianapearl said...
Jul. 15 at 4:52 am:

wow, this is great:) keep writing.

 
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Megan M. said...
Jul. 5 at 4:02 am:

Wow. I really, really enjoyed this. Keep up the writing and keep your faith strong! :D

 
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SilentQ said...
Jul. 5 at 12:48 am:

fantastic.
i cant believe that its not on the regular website.
the only thing is last part doesn't really fit together with itself is the only thing maybe it would work better if it rhymed.

 
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Griffinwing said...
Jul. 4 at 10:23 pm:

this is really good! i am happy you were not afraid to say what you really felt: good work!

 
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Amber1994 said...
Jul. 4 at 5:05 pm:

Wow,this is amazing. Could you read my poems and give me some critques?

 
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xXxFallingTearsxXx said...
Jul. 2 at 5:07 am:

awsome poem!!! i really love it, you are a wonderful poet. it would be awsome if you could check out my work too :)

 
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jeezkay said...
Jun. 23 at 1:51 pm:

Oh, wow. This is amazing.
Very good!!

 
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Meagan:] said...
Jun. 20 at 9:16 pm:

This poem is amazing! It has a beautiful tone and really captures the reader. I hope that you continue with writing!

 
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SilverDawn said...
Jun. 20 at 5:03 pm:

wow, wow, wow. it's sooo good!! it's long but it feels like the perfect length and the metaphors are lovely ~

 
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kapella said...
Jun. 18 at 9:32 pm:

WOW! I really like your piece. It was truly majestic, keep writing I'd like to see more of your work. Also,thanks for commenting on my work. It really means a lot to me to get comments back about my work. Thank you for the encouragement, I'm glad you are hoping for me.Thank you for reading.

 
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Shailja said...
Jun. 17 at 10:08 am:

hey jacquie...this poem is fantastic ...hats off to ur skills...n thnx for ur beautiful comments...

 
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amyxu said...
Jun. 12 at 7:18 pm:

Hey I liked your poem--nice work! One suggestion: just make the meter a little tighter in some places. For instance, the last stanza is a few syllables longer than the previous ones and it breaks the flow of the poem. But overall, I enjoyed it! Keep writing! :)

 
Jaquie replied...
Sep. 6 at 2:44 pm :

Thanks so much for the critic, I totally agree!

 
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tor10jax said...
Jun. 10 at 9:58 pm:

Keep it up!

 
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tor10jax said...
Jun. 10 at 9:57 pm:

Thanks for commenting on my book review!
I thought your poem was a really good poem because of a few reasons. One is how you compared everything to art terms (paintbrush, canvas,...). The only advice I have to give is: when you hit enter, don't do it just because the line will be too long otherwise, you can make each one as long as you want as long as each line in the same paragraph (or two lines from the paragraph) has the same number of syllables. Each line should be independent of ... (more »)

 
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Lotz.Of.sMileS said...
Jun. 8 at 4:06 pm:

u no wat? i really liked this poem. i think the ending needs to be a bit stronger because it has such a powerful emotion behind it. but i really do like this poem.
if you could, would u mind commenting on my poems? after all, nothings perfect, is it?

 
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lovehate29 said...
Jun. 4 at 6:57 pm:

This is amazing! Its deep and sensible.

 
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PK4evr said...
May 23 at 3:10 pm:

Thanks for reviewing my stuff :)
I think you did a very good job giving the Lord praise in this poem! Wish I wrote my poetry like that! I'm not that imagry-ish, if you know what I mean! :P ♥ the last line!!!

 
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Estelle_Star said...
May 22 at 7:36 pm:

OMG! I love your poem. It has so much feeling and inspiration. I love it!

 
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BrittanyB said...
May 22 at 6:21 pm:

First off, This is absolutly amazing! You put a lot of heart into it, and that's very valuble!

This is a poem to treasure!! =]

second off, Thank you very much for the comment on my poem!!

Brittany B.

 
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Dax S. said...
May 22 at 12:27 am:

Amazing,sorrowful,in some ways I relate, in others I don't.
Keep Writing;) sincerly dax533

 
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awesomeaugust said...
May 21 at 9:59 pm:

That's really awesome that you could rhyme the whole poem, yet still give it a lot of meaning

 
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KICK3593 said...
May 21 at 9:13 pm:

An interesting thing...Oh how can I critique this at all >:( ? It's good! Though it does seem like a bit of a sob story.

 
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writebigthinkbigger said...
May 21 at 7:37 pm:

awesome poetry! good goin, we all need to fill up ourselves with God!

 
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KMCmusiclvr92 said...
May 21 at 8:55 pm:

This is amazing. You have no idea how much i needed to hear something like that right now. It is very touching and real. Keep writing, you're extremely good at it :)

 
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KennaDances said...
May 21 at 3:37 pm:

OMG! That is amazing! So Beautiful!

 
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