31 Comments
User's avatar
Thomas Cargen's avatar

Yeah I was caught in the moment, so good.

Sarah Salem's avatar

Thank you 🫂

stabilise's avatar

Visceral writing. I found my own breath caught while reading.

Sarah Salem's avatar

Thank you for taking the time with it🫂

Alix@IN2LProds's avatar

It’s really well written and vivid. I could actually feel her pain when I read it…

Sarah Salem's avatar

Thank you so much!

Gary L Taylor's avatar

That felt heavy and intense, but I liked it. Really well written. A vivid darkness.

Sarah Salem's avatar

I appreciate it 🫂

Mathew C. Bryant's avatar

Wow Sarah, this was such an intense read. Loved every line.

Welcome back to the stack

Sarah Salem's avatar

Thank you, Matthew. That means a lot 🫂 I'm very slowly getting used to being on here again.

FuckOffWithLove's avatar

I thought I was reading a surgical excision of Siamese twins?

Sarah Salem's avatar

I wrote a short explanation of the meaning:

This piece describes a relationship where attachment has turned into enmeshment. They are no longer functioning as two separate people but like one emotional unit. They keep crossing boundaries. Pain happens, then repair happens, but never with the intention to change the pattern underneath. They are in a push pull dynamic. Every time one person moves closer, the other resists, then they switch. The tension never settles because neither person can tolerate distance, but closeness also triggers fear and conflict. They stay locked in it, repeating the same cycle, because leaving would feel like losing part of themselves.

FuckOffWithLove's avatar

Wow well you did a great job I can definitely sense this now

Sarah Salem's avatar

Thank you 🫂

Sarah Salem's avatar

🤣🤣 that's not what I had in mind 🤣🤣

Night Cracks's avatar

I like that it could be both a horror or a horror of affection. Very pretty abomination this way or another.

Sarah Salem's avatar

Horror and affection aren't as far apart as people like to pretend. Pretty abomination is a perfect description 👏🏼

Gub's avatar

A creative choice and the imagery holds a lot of tension which you work with through movement and snaps and bites. Carefully paced you earn the commitment at the end.

Sarah Salem's avatar

I wanted it to feel like something tightening slowly until it couldn't be undone. Thank you for reading it that closely🫂🫂

The Faraday Room's avatar

Gotta confess, I'm still not completely sure exactly what this was about, but the central metaphor is extremely evocative.

Sarah Salem's avatar

This piece describes a relationship where attachment has turned into enmeshment. They are no longer functioning as two separate people but like one emotional unit. They keep crossing boundaries. Pain happens, then repair happens, but never with the intention to change the pattern underneath. They are in a push pull dynamic. Every time one person moves closer, the other resists, then they switch. The tension never settles because neither person can tolerate distance, but closeness also triggers fear and conflict. They stay locked in it, repeating the same cycle, because leaving would feel like losing part of themselves.

The Faraday Room's avatar

Thanks, just reread with that context. Seems like there’s a little cruelty to it too (“The thumb presses harder than necessary”). That’s relationships for you, I suppose.

Sarah Salem's avatar

In my case, yes 😂

The Faraday Room's avatar

Love hurts, that’s for damn sure.

Sarah Salem's avatar

So glad you asked 🩷 I'll reply tomorrow

Regolith's avatar

Sarah this was a heavy read. But I mean that as a compliment. I stopped and reread parts. This was dark and brilliant. What an absolute talent you carry for creating an atmosphere you can feel through the words.

Sarah Salem's avatar

That's a hell of a compliment. Especially from you. The fact that you reread parts means a lot.

Regolith's avatar

Ah Sarah! Thank you and honestly.. this was fantastic. 🖤

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Feb 4
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Sarah Salem's avatar

It's wild how much meaning you pulled out of this that I didn't even realize I put in there. That was really interesting to read. And hugging a pillow should be recovery protocol for this poem 🤣🤣

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Feb 5
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Sarah Salem's avatar

..you write a book 😂🤣

User's avatar
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Feb 6
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Sarah Salem's avatar

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣