M. Browne

Member since October 1, 2023

Member for 2 years, 9 months

member

20 Poems

11 Comments

3 Followers

Most recent

All The Summer Nights We Never Had

Posted Jul 7, 2026 · 120 lines · 1 critiques

She almost walked past him.

The foyer carried the quiet sounds of endings
suitcases rolling across polished floors,
rain whispering against the windows,
another ordinary life arriving.

She only glanced his way
because something in the way he sat
felt achingly familiar.

A posture she had once known
before wrinkles,
before grief,
before time taught them
how to live without one another.

He lifted his head.

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"Maggie?"

Her name left his lips
as though no time at all had passed.

"...Jake."

For a moment
her heart forgot its rhythm.

She had imagined finding him
in airports,
on crowded streets,
across train platforms,
even in countries
neither of them belonged to.

Never here.

Never at the edge
of both their lives.

"I came home," she whispered.
"Ten years ago now."

"I only just arrived."

They spoke carefully,
until she asked about his wife
and he asked about her husband.

Two lives lived faithfully.
Two hearts broken by time.

Yet somewhere beneath
every ordinary year,
another love
had remained untouched.

"I looked for you."

"Someone told me
you'd died."

"...Flynn."

The mistake settled between them
like another kind of grief.

"I believed them," she whispered.
"I grieved you."

He reached across the years
and took her weathered hand.

"I'm still here."

"I know."

"Where have you been living?"

"Archer Street."

"...I lived on Willow Lane."

Only fifty metres apart.

Walking the same streets.
Breathing the same seasons.
Lonely together.

"Our lookout," he smiled.

The spot they spent every night together that last summer after school before moving away.
"I always went after lunch."

"I went every morning."

Always almost.

Their whole lives
had become two parallel lines—
close enough to feel warmth,
never close enough to touch.

"I kept hoping
you'd come home."

"I did."

"I know."

"I just never found you."

Memory had begun leaving him—
names,
dates,
whole afternoons—
but never her.

"Not your laugh.
Not the freckles across your nose.
Not the crease beside your smile.
Not the girl who taught my heart
what waiting meant."

She rested her forehead against his.

"I never stopped loving you."

Their rooms faced one another.
Tea grew cold each morning.
Conversation never did.

The nurses found them asleep,
hands entwined,
never knowing
those hands had spent sixty years
searching for each other.

Age stole memory.
It stole certainty.
It stole time.

But somehow,
it never stole love.

One crisp summer morning
she waited for his familiar knock.

It never came.

The nurse stepped inside,
gentle-eyed,
and before a word was spoken
Maggie already knew.

She stood at the window
watching dawn spill across the garden,
smiling through tears

because for the first time
in sixty years,

she wasn't waiting anymore.

Somewhere beyond memory,
beyond failing hearts
and borrowed time,

he was waiting by the cliffs,
hands in his pockets,
that crooked smile already forming.

This time,

she knew the way home.

M. Browne’s timeline

July 2026
07 Tue

Posted a poem
All The Summer Nights We Never Had
"She almost walked past him."
Open thread 120 lines
March 2026
27 Fri

New follower
@Lavender
February 2026
06 Fri

Received a critique
on Whiplash from @Leslie
"I feel the same way, my adoptive mother used to scream at and hit me, when I was 16 I told her that if she struck me again, that I'd put her on the ground. She never hit me again, she visited me after she died, even gav…"
January 2026
31 Sat

Contest commendation
01/26 Advice To My Mother

with "Whiplash".
07 Wed

Posted a poem
Whiplash
"I know that if you could"
Open thread 15 lines
December 2025
07 Sun

Received a critique
on Dear Diary from @Clentin
"Good poem! Reflects love lost but always remembered!"
November 2025
07 Fri

Received a critique
on Dear Diary from @Candlewitch
"Your poem reminds me of an old saying; "The heart wants what the heart wants." I guess you will feel this way until time fades making it a memory. But will you allow it to become a pulsating hole? (I have a few, too!) I…"
02 Sun

Critiqued
"Going Home" by @BlueSkies
"Wow wow ! this in insane! "strangers spine" !! Honestly, just the whole thing is Illustratively beautiful."
01 Sat

Received a critique
on Influence from @mark
"Nice poetry! M."
October 2025
31 Fri

Received a critique
on Influence from @Rula
"My cup of tea directly after poetry that expresses happiness and hope. It's how life goes I guess. There are always the ups and downs. I hope to see you expressing the better half of life. Thank you for sharing M. Brown…"
31 Fri

Contest commendation
10/25 Under The Influence

with "Influence".
25 Sat

Received a critique
on Between Rooms from @mark
"You are welcome. Mark"
25 Sat

Posted a poem
Dear Diary
"Dear Diary,"
Open thread 22 lines
24 Fri

Received a critique
on Between Rooms from @mark
"This is a compelling, introspective, and well-structured poem that explores themes of home, self, and memory. Here is a detailed critique outlining its strengths, weaknesses, and a final wrap-up. Strengths of "Between R…"
19 Sun

Received a critique
on Between Rooms from @Obadiah Grey
"This is the one. Obi."
14 Tue

Posted a poem
Between Rooms
"Home is the world I carry with me in my pocket."
Open thread 22 lines
12 Sun

Critiqued
"Never stop " by @Anna Severchuk
"flows really well, massive potential with this piece. I would love to read more of it !!"
12 Sun

Critiqued
"Back Again" by @BlueSkies
"This is really great!! The use of imagery is impressive. A very real and raw piece!"
12 Sun

Posted a poem
Exhale
"Respect has been carved into the bones of my being"
Open thread 20 lines
10 Fri

Posted a poem
Influence
"I begged you to stay"
Open thread 19 lines
September 2025
30 Tue

Contest commendation
09/25 One Pure Emotion

with "Numb".
23 Tue

Posted a poem
to my unknown therapist
"i need him…"
Open thread 12 lines
11 Thu

Posted a poem
Numb
"The thought of forever, never seemed so long-"
Open thread 17 lines
August 2025
26 Tue

Posted a poem
Unrecognisable
"You arrived suddenly"
Open thread 28 lines
April 2025
08 Tue

Posted a poem
I Lay, You Lie
"The numbing hum felt intwined among souls"
Open thread 17 lines
March 2025
21 Fri

New follower
@mark
20 Thu

Posted a poem
Mission Call
"Standing alone in my ghostly room"
Open thread 17 lines
October 2024
01 Tue

Anniversary
One year of membership
May 2024
14 Tue

Posted a poem
Mr. Monkey
"In a chaotic world, bright and loud,"
Open thread 16 lines
January 2024
15 Mon

New follower
@Clentin
November 2023
30 Thu

Contest commendation
November 2023 Write about Success

with "success is what you make it".
30 Thu

Contest commendation
November 2023 Challenge Write a Love Letter To The Sky

with "My Dearest Sky <3".
15 Wed

Highest posting month
November 2023 — 5 poems
13 Mon

Critiqued
"THE CAVEMAN AT THE PUB" by @Ruby Lord
"absolutely love this. the modern twist & women perspective. the last lines are genius !!"
13 Mon

First critique offered
on "THE CAVEMAN AT THE PUB" (since unpublished) by @Ruby Lord
October 2023
31 Tue

Contest commendation
October 2023 New Member Contest

with "Perception's Lie".
31 Tue

First contest commendation
October 2023 New Member Contest

with the poem "Perception's Lie".
01 Sun

First publication
Perception's Lie
01 Sun

Joined Neopoet
Membership begins

First poem published 1 days later.

About Me

About me

Hi <3
My name is Merryn. I have been writing for as long as I can remember. I plan to publish a poetry book in the coming year, Neopoet builds confidence and talent !

I hope you enjoy my pieces, and I can't wait to read other peoples!!!

Location: Tasmania, Australia, AUS

Favorite Poets

Emily Dickinson

Shakespeare

Rupi Kaur

William Butler Yeats

Contest Wins

Winning Submission	Contest	Contest Date
Whiplash	01/26 Advice To My Mother	1 January, 2026 – 31 January, 2026
Influence	10/25 Under The Influence	1 October, 2025 – 31 October, 2025
Numb	09/25 One Pure Emotion	1 September, 2025 – 30 September, 2025
success is what you make it	November 2023 Write about Success	1 November, 2023 – 30 November, 2023
My Dearest Sky <3	November 2023 Challenge Write a Love Letter To The Sky	1 November, 2023 – 30 November, 2023
Perception's Lie	October 2023 New Member Contest	1 October, 2023 – 31 October, 2023

Workshops

Followed By

Clentin Martin

Mark

Lavender

on Whiplash from @Leslie

on Dear Diary from @Clentin

on Dear Diary from @Candlewitch

"Going Home" by @BlueSkies

on Influence from @mark

on Influence from @Rula

on Between Rooms from @mark

on Between Rooms from @mark

on Between Rooms from @Obadiah Grey

"Never stop " by @Anna Severchuk

"Back Again" by @BlueSkies

One year of membership

November 2023 — 5 poems

"THE CAVEMAN AT THE PUB" by @Ruby Lord

on "THE CAVEMAN AT THE PUB" (since unpublished) by @Ruby Lord

Membership begins

About Me

Recent Work

Contest Wins

Workshops

Followed By