“She had a little rebel in her. A little chaos and a little gentleness. She didn’t say much and sometimes she would doze off. She would drift away, dream with the stars and that was ok. She had a little fight in her and every time she built enough courage her voice would echo through the sky. She wasn’t complete but she had enough. There was a science to her genius, her madness, her beauty and there was nothing she couldn’t accomplish. She was unstoppable and everything she ever wanted she took, with nothing on but a smile.” ~ R. M. Drake

Robert M. Drake, currently one of Instagram’s most famous poets with over one million followers, describes himself in just a few words:

“A writer, sculpter, painter, over all dreamer. I want to change your world, make it better. So let me try.”

Drake is one of those poets whose words touch me way deep down in my soul, his prose resounds in my head, and lingers long after reading, similar to how the smoke fills the air, leaving the residue of it’s presence.

I regularly find myself lost within the chaos of Drake’s words, they speak straight to me, rattling and vibrating my incredibly tragic and also exquisitely tender and succulently heartbreaking thoughts.

We all have a little brokenness inside us, cracks and splinters where the light shines through to infect the darkness. Drake seems to poetically word this in a way that allows us to view our brokenness as stunningly beautiful. We are all a mixture of dark and light, and accepting each one of our shades is what makes us entirely whole.

I find Drake thought provoking—he touches on emotions that are often taboo. So many times I have recognized a part of myself in the sentences of his poetry, a part of me that I thought I had forgotten, had pushed aside and wished to deny was within. The words mirror what’s inside, and I am compellingly forced to look closer.

Some of the poetry is so simple, it could almost be questionable as to whether it should be classed as a poem. Then, as I probe the simplicity I realize that they are full of complexities, and just as all writing is, just as each thing in this world is, Drake’s words are quite simply, subjective. They are left wide open for us to daringly take or discard whatever we desire, want or need at that time.

Drake’s words, in my opinion, are a precious gift to the world. He has delivered a genius way of reflecting what hides beneath the barbed wire that binds are hearts and also entice us to listen to what’s echoing and deafening the delicate ribcage.

When I pause on the words, fully absorb them and let them seep in, I discover a resonation so strong I am almost fearful of it. So, I ask myself why I find his words so terrifying, and that’s when I know it’s because they are a projection of pieces of me that were once scattered carelessly and callously across a cold bathroom floor.

As I read poem after poem, I recognize broken shards and gather them up to smoothly but firmly slide into place to complete the puzzle I call my soul.

For, as much as the words tear me apart, they also penetrate me with the strength of a fearless warrior, to enable me to finally hold them in trembling hands, wondering why, when and where that girl existed and question the dimension in which the destruction took place.

I can now look straight at them, and then through them, not to when I was afraid of who I was, but to now, to who I have finally become.

I see myself in the fragile kaleidoscope that Drake holds out, tempting the reader to take a few moment to look through.

Here are a few of Robert M. Drake’s captivating musings:

“She brought out the storm in people, because she knew wherever there were dark skies and wild winds, lies a truth. A truth that describes how much love one can leave behind the moment they accept all the pain they have lived. And that is all she ever wanted, for everyone around her to embrace their storms and make them fall in love with their own violent winds.”

“I know we haven’t spoken in a while but I’d like you to know that maybe one day we’ll find our way. Maybe one day we’ll find a peace for all the harm we’ve caused. Maybe one day if we cross, I’ll remember why I fell so deep into you and I’ll remember how much the sun loved you, enough to follow you and forever leave me in darkness.”

“The most dangerous lover is one who greets pain with a smile.”

“Loving me will not be easy. It will be wary. You will hold the gun and I will hand you the bullets. So breathe and embrace the beauty of the massacre that lies ahead.”

“What most fail to understand is how to handle all that fire in them. All that passion, rage and love. They want to let it all out at once without knowing about the flame. Most burn for something, while others burn for nothing, and they will both continue to burn in the grave. Life is strange, all this light inside and we still don’t know what to do with it. we still don’t understand it at all.”

“I need to believe that only I can chase my dreams. That only I can light the fire in me. That no one can break me unless I break myself and only someone else can help me carry the pieces. I need to believe that I am different and I am full of love. And if I live every moment believing, then the chaos in my heart will be a beautiful thing and the world will never cease to forget my name. I just have to believe.”

“She had the power to change the world, but she couldn’t save the one she loved.”

“She could not make sense of the things that were meant for her, but she was drawn to it all. And when she was alone, she felt like the moon: Terrified of the sky, but completely in love with the way it held the stars.”

“Maybe we feel empty because we leave pieces of ourselves in everything we used to love.”

“And that is all she ever wanted. For everyone around her to embrace their storms and make love to their own violent winds.” 

“I’m sorry I can’t save the world, I don’t want any part in that. I just want to be remembered in a way where I can mean everything to one person, and save them from all the insecurities this world has created.”

“She was made of all complicated things, but she always had a simplicity in the way she laughed. And that is all she ever wanted, for someone to understand her while she was out making sense of her soul and the handful of flowers blooming from the top of her skull.”

“I need you to understand that hate is heavy so put it down. No, burn it down, burn it all down and leave regret beneath its ashes. So when the fire in your heart sparks, everything you will do will burn bright and hot. The world will never cease to ignore the stars in you.”

“Just when I thought I had it all under control… you happened, and you brought a different kind of darkness… and in an instant the stars just, appeared…”

“You poured out from the darkest trenches of my heart and left the deepest footsteps beneath the love.. you masked over the pain.”

“She was fierce, she was strong, she wasn’t simple. She was crazy and sometimes she barely slept. She always had something to say. She had flaws and that was ok. And when she was down, she got right back up. She was a beast in her own way, but one idea described her best. She was unstoppable and she took anything she wanted with a smile.”

“And she always had a way with her brokenness. She would take her pieces and make them beautiful.”

“You are only as free as you think you are and freedom will only be as real as you think it to be.”

“She was never crazy. She just didn’t let her heart settle in a cage. She was born wild, and sometimes we need people like her. For it’s the horrors in her heart which cause the flames in ours. And she was always willing to burn for everything she has ever loved.”

“Sometimes we just need someone. It doesn’t matter who it is. Just someone to remind us what it’s like to live in a moment, and feel something before we walk away.”

Relephant Read:

10 Lessons to Learn from Frida Kahlo.

Bonus:

Author: Alex Sandra Myles

Editor: Emily Bartran

Photo: Used with permission; Audrey Reid