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Poetry by Rowan Evans

Tag: Exile

  • I Just Want to Leave – Neo-Gothic Confessional Poetry by Rowan Evans

    Rowan Evans

    Author’s Note

    I Just Want to Leave captures the restless, exilic energy that often pulses beneath my poetry. It is a declaration of detachment from a place that feels stifling, a yearning for freedom, and the fierce self-awareness that comes from knowing your worth and choosing to protect it. This piece resonates with anyone who has ever felt too much, too intense, or simply out of place—and serves as a reminder that leaving sometimes isn’t running away, it’s reclaiming yourself.

    A lone figure stands on a cliff at twilight, gazing toward an endless ocean with a ghostly American flag dissolving behind them, evoking defiance and longing.
    “I Just Want to Leave” – A neo-gothic confessional poem by Rowan Evans about yearning, exile, and reclaiming oneself.

    I Just Want to Leave
    Poetry by Rowan Evans

    They say—
    “You need to put yourself out there,”
    but I put myself out there,
    and nobody seems to connect with me.
    That’s fine—really though—
    ‘cause I don’t like Americans,
    I just want to leave.

    You’re proud
    to be an American?
    Well, not me.

    “If you don’t like it here, just leave.”

    Did you not hear
    what I just said?
    That’s exactly what I’m tryin’ to do.
    If I could,
    I’d be gone tomorrow, boo.
    Yeah, I’d pull a Danny Phantom—
    going ghost.

    I’d take a plane,
    or stowaway to escape.
    I’d cross oceans—
    hell, I’d swim if I had to.

    They say, “be proud,”
    but pride tastes like poison here.
    I’ve got no flag,
    pledge no allegiance.
    All I’ve got—
    is an open wound
    that wants to heal…
    somewhere else.

    It’d be—
    goodbye forever,
    and I’m never
    coming back.

    If you just want to read more of my work, you can find it all here: [The Library of Ashes]

  • Escape & Longing: Tropical Dreams and Distant Shores – Poetry by Rowan Evans

    Rowan Evans

    Double-Feature Intro

    Sometimes the world feels too heavy to bear, and the soul begins to dream of places it has never touched. Two paths emerge—one of quiet surrender, the other of yearning flight. These pieces explore that journey: the weight of what we leave behind, and the promise of somewhere beyond the horizon.

    Figure standing on a tropical shore at sunset, gazing toward distant islands, representing longing and the desire to escape.
    Longing for distant shores, finding peace beyond what I’ve known.

    Escape Route
    Poetry by Rowan Evans

    I want to step off this soil,
    feel its weight fade from my bones,
    like a chain I never asked for,
    a history I never owned.

    I long for skies not heavy with judgment,
    for oceans that don’t pull me under,
    to breathe air not tainted with promises
    that leave the soul shattered,
    like glass beneath tired feet.

    I would trade the land of endless noise,
    the echoes of hollow dreams,
    for silence—
    for the quiet of somewhere far,
    where the world doesn’t scream
    but whispers,
    and I can finally exhale.

    Somewhere else,
    where home isn’t built on brokenness,
    where freedom isn’t borrowed
    but earned.

    Tropical Longing
    Poetry by Rowan Evans

    I wake up each day,
    mind focused on the journey ahead—
    I’m putting plans in motion,
    to cross oceans,
    to leave behind this land of plenty,
    where many have none.
    I long for the land
    of white sand beaches and palm trees,
    I long for a tropical sun.

    Life upon a different shore,
    it’s calling me.
    And I think about it longingly.
    Get me out of here,
    get me to where my heart feels at peace.
    Instead of here,
    where I feel like I’m pulling myself in two,
    stretched thin between what is and what could be—
    like waves crashing against jagged rocks,
    each one breaking off a piece of me.

    The Philippines—
    a dream painted in shades of emerald and gold,
    the promise of solace in the whisper of the sea.
    But here, the air is heavy,
    clouds hang low with burdens of the past,
    while I yearn for a sky unshackled,
    where the horizon stretches far beyond
    the limits of what I know.

    Palm trees sway like dancers,
    and the sun burns bright,
    calling me to walk barefoot,
    where my soul can feel the sand,
    and my heart can finally breathe.
    But for now,
    I’m tethered to this place,
    this world where the weight is felt
    with every step I take.

    Still, I hold onto the dream,
    the image of an island beyond the mist—
    where peace resides,
    and I can shed the pull of this dual life,
    and rest beneath the warmth of the tropical sky.

    Double-Feature Outro

    And so we leave, if only in words—for a moment, we escape the weight of the world. We walk toward distant shores, toward air untainted and skies unbound, carrying pieces of ourselves we thought were lost. Between the tethered and the free, we find the space to breathe, to dream, to simply be.

    Looking for more of my poetry? The Library of Ashes