bonfirelights

The sky became hers to explore.

196 Watchers176 Deviations

20.5K

Pageviews

Latest Deviations

See all

the year with no art by bonfirelights, literature

Literature

the year with no art

'there was no art that year' - i hope they'll never say we're only workers suffocating in a factory we're only pigeons scrambling for crumbs on the sidewalk we comb our hair while the world keens in misery dead people living people staggering humanity, reaching for our plastic cup of soda while the world crumbles around us. what are we supposed to do? we're trying, we're trying, withering under every new disaster and whimpering at every fresh embarrassment pacing, desperate in the library, to glean some shred of wisdom from the artful days of yore. but here's the secret: they were helpless too they were hungry and cantankerous and fumbling too they were trying too they laughed with their bellies and cried laughing, too. they didn't know what to do while the world crumbled around them they patched it over with a band-aid and hoped it was enough and sought comfort in words, songs, paintings 'there was no art that year' - that's what they hoped we'd never say.

fleeting by bonfirelights, literature

old world by bonfirelights, literature

Literature

old world

when we're older (when i'm older, when you're a fragment of a memory that i'll wish i could have kept) things will be different here. even if we never recall your name with enough clarity to inscribe it on a marble pillar where it should be we'll tell stories about you, the idea of you, a boy who deserved better like so many children who deserved better before you. last night our dwindling group of friends gathered under the thin protection of the stars and vowed that you would be the last one. that we wouldn't lose another. i held their hands tightly but i heard the shake in their voices and my own and i don't know how long t

marathons by bonfirelights, literature

Literature

marathons

i can't run the marathons that i used to run for you. no, i ran this body into the ground long ago and i'm still trying to catch up. but you've never cried on an exercise bike so you don't know what it's like to offer your pain like temple tributes outside shrines of fleeting approval, there one year and gone the next. i've got the form, the one that says 'peripheral spondyloarthritis' and i could wave it in your face and say ‘see? it's not that fucking simple.' but i keep it hidden away, my paper validation in a world of 'you stopped trying' and 'you used to try so hard.' you don't want me skinny enough to see the brittl

Different by bonfirelights, literature

Literature

Different

you: indulgent smiles, it’s cute, it’s funny, ‘you just have a quirky way of doing things,’ you say. dense remarks and nine-to-five sabotage, collect gold coins for duplicitous charities, ‘I cleaned my room last week - I’m so ocd,’ you say. me: hyper-vigilance equals tired body, tired mind, heavy clouds, private crucifixion on the hill of always wondering, always monitoring, always fixing, is it safe? is it safe? is it safe? and the good days are my victory far from the arenas of your roman empire i’m the one who tames the lions at last. we: will never stand together because you think you care

Outset - 1 by bonfirelights, literature

this summer (lyrics) by bonfirelights, literature

Literature

this summer (lyrics)

every day's like: make the most of the taste that lasts for one night and you'd better do it right i have to say i have grown so tired of the chase i just want to live life without their claws in my mind oh, if this is what we've got then this is what i'm dreaming of it's all so simple, no, there must be a better way to go this summer, this summer i won't fall in love this summer, this summer you may not reach the stars above this summer, this summer may not be all that we've been dreaming of but this summer, this summer is enough every night i sink into a sleep with no name and it feels so right to disappear until day but there's got to

unexpected goodbye by bonfirelights, literature

reasons to stay by bonfirelights, literature

Literature

reasons to stay

you’re like guitar chords by the creek on the first day of summer like brightly-coloured bags in the back of the car like lanterns and board-games and friends’ birthday parties new stories but the same places every year you’re like glimpses of futures, like wild possibilities i’m chasing your strings down old streets with fresh eyes because you’re like colours on canvas, a whirlwind, yet balanced somewhere i left a lottery ticket for a love of this kind you’re like singalongs on sundays and a normal happy life you’re like ties in the mornings and pancakes and life you’re like freesias in gardens

Blank Prescription by bonfirelights, literature

Literature

Blank Prescription

In the town that I loved by the beach that I loved on the cast-away street that I loved, that I loved, I strayed into the cinema to see the stars that I so loved. They twisted my head and caught hold of my hair, sighed softly and murmured, no, little dear. This. This is how you love. Then they showed me their scenes until the scenes laced my dreams and I was left chasing echoes of love. I walked out into daylight and ever since then the doubt the doubt the doubt has set in a little more each time that I’ve laughed, cried, made a friend - Is it real? Enough? Is it love? I want to chase them and scream that I care for this world from

See All

Daily Deviations

truth in the lens by bonfirelights, literature

Literature

truth in the lens

Your 35mm camera is like a kid’s scrawl on a cement wall: we were here. Passion unabridged, documentation for the sake of documentation as we lose track of what we were supposed to be doing and just exist. You’re as raw as a light scratch at three in the morning, as lost as a Polaroid in that pocket in your suitcase that you always forget is there. (You’re not really lost at all.)

Red Riding Hood by bonfirelights, literature

Literature

Red Riding Hood

I want to believe people so badly when they say they won’t bite that I contemplate climbing into their smiling jaws thinking that it might be better to be split in two than left hanging. But always, I draw my red hood and flit back into the forest running in the shadows of pathways, never stepping into clearings because I’ve spent my whole life in the wilderness and I still can’t tell the wolves from the woodsmen.

Simple Thing by bonfirelights, literature

Literature

Simple Thing

I’d like to be an off-beat syncopated little thing; note and stem floating on the melody, just sitting in appoggiatura, grace-note, special thing. I’d like to be a sailor swinging on the ocean wind coarse old rope between my hands and salt-spray where my toes begin nimble little sailor, clever thing. I’d like to be a bed-sheet gentle thing to warm your skin thing that you hug tighter when the morning starts to filter in falling through your creases, lucky thing.

Coffee Stains by bonfirelights, literature

Literature

Coffee Stains

Dress shoes click on the streets laid slick with cinnamon and wasted air It's sugar on your lipstick, darling; a dangerous affair. You chose coffee Like you chose romance Just for the idea of romance; cream and smoked wood swirling around in your cup, And steam curling up into the atmosphere like the locks in his hair. Crushed, bitter, Tantalisingly dark and hauntingly aromatic You craved it You mocked the raven that eyed you from its branch out in the blustering courtyard and You didn't even like the taste. The silver curve of the teaspoon showed your warped reflection like a deathly omen It showed the line of your neck and each glitterin

Photography

See all

Drawings

See all

Daily Lit Deviations

Hotline by bonfirelights, literature

Literature

Hotline

The first time I dialled your number I felt a skipping in my chest the skip that comes with talking to strangers the skip that tells me that I’m strapped into the rollercoaster, ready or not for the ride. You answered, and your voice was like a cave, deep and warmish and mossy with echoes trapped inside the dark spaces like a cave to keep me safe from the storm. I spoke to you and my own voice was like cobblestones, cracked and scattered strewn out across a much-trodden road and kicked into the gutter, like cobblestones with missing bits, crumbling from the elements. You told me that things would get better from here on out, that I&r

paint until there's only positive space by bonfirelights, literature

Literature

paint until there's only positive space

I am the street artist; rough clothes and thin visage you are the city, vivacious and loud. Night after night, I find myself in dark places spraying colours on your faces just to talk to you. Have you ever tagged a train? The art I envy is like you – making waves at night to leave the landscape brighter in the day. You are the cause I just want to connect with: fresh, something different, something new.

Featured Gallery

See all

the year with no art by bonfirelights, literature

Literature

the year with no art

fleeting by bonfirelights, literature

old world by bonfirelights, literature

Literature

old world

marathons by bonfirelights, literature

Literature

marathons

Different by bonfirelights, literature

Literature

Different

Outset - 1 by bonfirelights, literature

this summer (lyrics) by bonfirelights, literature

Literature

this summer (lyrics)

unexpected goodbye by bonfirelights, literature

reasons to stay by bonfirelights, literature

Literature

reasons to stay

Blank Prescription by bonfirelights, literature

Literature

Blank Prescription

Watchers 196

See all

deltastaryt

CactusChowder

Pirate-Frequencies

dillbop

RedTheLoser

joshua5152001

bouchraart

YouInventedMe

otherrealmsdreamer

Randomgirl4629

Spirit-the-deer

graciestormie

Watching 278

See all

Happyhedonic

projectilewordvomit

FleetingEmber

myriadwhitedarkness

SylviaRitter

danielbogni

Tiger--eyes

YouInventedMe

Story-Contests-Group

TheSimulacrum

Kuvshinov-Ilya

Eumenidi

FP-Digital-Art

oviedomedina

AF-studios

About bonfirelights

See all

Artist // Professional // Literature

Oct 31
Australia
Deviant for 14 years
rosemarygallaher.carrd.co
She / Her

Follow me on

Badges

My Bio

My Poetry Book on Etsy | My EP

Be a kite amongst clouds ☁️

Hi! I'm Rosemary. I'm a writer, musician, photographer/filmmaker and multimedia artist.

I used to post my work here frequently, but I'm more active on other platforms now. Feel free to chat with me on Tumblr, IG, Twitter or anything else. I still check DA from time to time as well, of course!

Thanks for reading and thanks for checking out my page!

Posts

See all

bonfirelights

Feb 17, 2024

Hello! I'm missing it here so I might start being more active again. I'm active on Tiktok these days (under the same username) and have been posting new poetry there!