Where does one begin?
Digging through the skin?
Or maybe I should start with something deeper within?
You rip out my teeth,
In a bid for relief,
But the joke is on you, because down underneath
it all
falls right down again,
drowned in acetaminophen,
And somewhere along the way,
we heard somebody say,

"Now,
there's footprints on the wall,
leading down the hall,
your actions may be big, and yet, your heart is still small."
The voices try to sing,
yet all I hear's a ring,
but when I listen closely I can make out some thing
that says
"You can get up again,
you're stronger than you've ever been."
And somewhere along the way,
I knew I'd be okay.

You can call it what you will,
decant your lies into a chalice,
paint a picture in bright pastels
overshadowing your malice,
but I know.
And until I die, let it be so.

Stammer out half-assed excuses,
push it all under the bed,
maybe then you'll numb the conscience
killing you from in your head,
but I'll still know.
And until we kiss, let it be so.

When you reach the top, remember
those you stepped on to succeed,
though I'm rooting for you, I'll be
laughing while I watch you bleed
because I know.
And until I taste your blood, it's so.

Yet I truly cannot hate you,
were it me, I'd do the same.
Understand, it's simply circumstances,
passing you the blame,
and this I know.
But until you break, it must be so.

If I could teach myself to choke,
What beauty I'd have made.
But oh, is that the killing joke,
Which laughter does forbade.

If I could teach my bones to break,
Perhaps I'd understand.
Alas, the thing one cannot take:
The palm of his own hand.

If I could teach my flesh to tear,
I'd live amongst the men.
Yet if you burned this body bare,
You couldn't scorch the skin.

If I could teach my heart to ache,
How lovely life might be.
Until then, let me all forsake,
For nothing's dear to me.

Crawl inside me just one last time.
Fluoroscopic xylophone.
Give it to me, redefine it.
Scratching at my collarbone.

Edible yet undigested.
Fingers never miss a beat.
Rocket-powered genitalia.
Punching through the blazing heat.

Tie it to another concept.
Mental imperialism.
Work it to a new horizon.
Overwhelm the cataclysm.

Take it to the edge and let go.
Supersonic microphone.
Feel it up and down and touch me.
Hold me by my collarbone.

What do you want from me, "just one more bite"?
Hurry it up then, I don't have all night.
Go on, sink your teeth in, you know that it's sweet.
After all, my dear lion, what else have you to eat?

Does my tender flesh no longer beckon your senses?
Have you given up instinct? Surely not, you're relentless.
You're worthless without me. Don't give in to lust.
You are what you eat, and I'm all you can trust.

The brown grass crunches beneath my feet.
There is death here. Nothing else.
A river of dust pours across the bank.
The air smells deeply of must.
I take a seat and breathe deeply.
The apparitions dance before my eyes.
A familiar voice calls out;
"You've been here before."
I nod in understanding.
This place was, is, my home.
I reach down to the dry soil, now shifting like sand in the wake of a great tsunami.
The dirt speaks. "When you were young,
you became the heir to our fortune.
Take what's yours."
I close my eyes.

My fingers, hands, arms, evaporate into cobwebs.
My toes, feet, legs, dissolve into thin air.
One moment, I was whole, and now,
You couldn't tell I was ever there.

Warm milk in the afternoon
Can shatter stars, and in full bloom,
Reveals intentions, bastardized,
To soften hearts and dry wet eyes.
Approach a topic gently, so
As not to break the status quo.
Possessed by spirits, friends of thine,
You call her name to stagger time.
Branches snap and branches sway,
Such is Nature's present way.
Beneath the sky, beneath the son,
prevented by what's not yet done.
Temporary breath and soul
Consume the mind, assume control.
To fight for freedom is your task.
Complete it, this is all I ask.
But I'm no god, and I'm no master.
How can I control a *******?
Teeth tear flesh, and by the end,
Death makes its mark. Your heart to rend.