If my vocal cords
Can't produce a sound
To save the joy you've drowned
Unfortunate
Cannot save you
Why even continue?
Hand back my time, detinue
Or as I lay down
Gazing up at your frown
You're not just a noun
Remove the ****** gown
No longer in that town...
Hidden away in the brown
Freed from a breakdown
Prevented a meltdown
Like a flame eclipsed by a wave
Spirits never caved
The soul I had to save...
...no longer a slave
In the deepest blue
Try to shake off the residue.

I pray for an answer
Life is a multiple choice question
With no pre-written hints
So how will anyone find out...
...how to excel at it?

Blackest night
Absence of light
Line of light passes through the cracks
Take a glimpse
Too much for me
No one else it could be
Except for the daily check-in
Everything around my head
Pictures of static
For my emotion
Locked in the attic
Cannot analyze
The heart behind it all
Darkness is merely the absence of light
Yet deep inside resides plenty of strife
Asking me to survive
For what?
The faucet no longer pours
Only drips until it's sealed
Thankfully the mirror
Too dark to see
The scars within my iris
A large chamber for liquid
In a minute
It could be my new home
Come visit my catacomb
Found the cure to my syndrome.

Oh, so we're playing a game?
My anger exceeds
A game of Monopoly
Go Fish for another
Don't call me your brother
I've connected the lines
One, two, three
Connected four
Resist the urge to label you a *****
For neither was the Mastermind
Tripping down a candy lane
Candy Land is one you're always in
Questioning me daily
Where did you go?
Who were you with?
How are you so late?
Didn't know I brought home Trivial Pursuit
Category is paranoia
Oh look! I've found you.
Back in the day
Once thought you were cute
But all things are
Until they get in your car
Game of Scrabble
Nothing makes sense
Took a Risk
Now this is my Life
Devoid of a Clue
Can't see how I'll pull through
Perhaps my exit is long overdue
Crumbling down
Dominoes
The problem we can't just skip
Get ready
Tonight we play Battleship.

What's rage?
Rampage on a stage
Called the world
Never really known, constantly unfurled
CLOSE THEIR EYES
IT BURNS THROUGH YOUR DISGUISE
BUT TO THEIR SURPRISE
THEY'RE THE REASON YOU SERIALIZE
Step back.
No time to crack
Daily times, it may rise
Commonplace human demise
Guide your struggles, create not destroy

What's joy?
Something earned playing with toys?
Gathering a solid grade
For academics is your trade
All of these gaps
Happiness is a time-lapse
Everyone digs for its remaining wraps
Can't think of a time where it didn't collapse...
But that's alright.
It is no blight
Merely a runaway
For in due time, we'll meet halfway
It never remains, so why should we feel betrayed?

Stuck up like a tree
Fall down as burnt lumber
When someone reaches final slumber
It'll be represented by a number.

Why must I feel
Like an alien on a distant planet
One and the same
To you.
To me, the difference is night and day
Rise up for the morning
As I weep for twilight.

Humanity has lost its humanity

Peel back the flesh
Smash through the bones
Of enemies misunderstood
Merely
Piece of firewood
Tossed to the pile
Sicker than bile
Such a juvenile...
How did this come together?
No questions asked
Do what
I thought was good
Now it's not
Reduced to an ocelot
Cater
Toward the mass extinction
So many more
Go off to die
Mementos
Turn to memories
Remove this career
From around my neck
Diplomats reveal flaws...
...yet I extinguish them
But are these flaws
To the universe?

Where does it lie?
The answer
How does anyone...
...save the world from the end?

My name is the one
That raises you from
Sleep
Sorrow
Resurrects the past
With a blast
For missing me
Such an unsightly task
Ask for to bask
In glory
You need to
Forget my name.

IQ grows
The more seeds I sow
Thoughts in tow
Why can't I take it slow?

Surround the self with sound
For the mixture of voices
Breeds achievement

Unknown circumstances
Chill you to the core
Bones quiver
Tremors take over
Look for hope, a sliver
A good luck charm
Such is a four-leaf clover
For I'll say this once
After broken days
Called a cataclysmic blaze
Learn right here and now
Some things don't always want
To hurt you
Please don't fly away
Not a cockatoo
Your faith will renew
As dusk turns to dawn
Witness this sustaining phenomenon!

When I was a child
I loved you
When I was a teenager
I ignored you
When I was an uncertain adult
I forgot you
Now that I am on the edge
Close to my expiration date
There's no one else in the room
To alleviate the gloom
So, I must admit
At the beginning I loved
But now...
I miss you.

I am me!
Not a part of someone else!
I am me!
Swear on my consciousness...
I am alive
I have to be
Please...
Say I'm who I think I am

Villains
"They grew up to be one"
Such a hypothesis
Screamed from an apothesis
Much like a hero
Change the world
"Yet they save zero!"
Not necessarily
Indistinguishable from each other
Talent
Daring
Caring
Galant
Were once like you
Until the world said:
"No more."
Took away the drive
Not even twenty-five
But all is not encased
In a granite timeline
Everything will be fine
After the trials they faced
Realization flowed through
The tears once shed
Drove them to manifest
Anger's embrace
Villains, I decree
Merely heroes in evolution
So is it safe to say...
We are all one?

High-spirits
Crash down like a wave
Day to day
Overtakes us all
2 AM
Late night thoughts
Dedicated to forgotten exams
How the world will be programmed
Paranoia has a hold
Seeped into the mold
Society
Yet do we really care about it?
Not right now
Sealed close by
Pushing forward is hard to try
But would we rather die?
I didn't think so.
If we all had the charm
A heart that could do no harm
Soul bursting with love
It'd be humanity's dove
That is who you are

"This is who I am"
"No doubt about that"
Which mask is that?
Do you buy it in bulk?
Your real self hangs on a thread
Yes, a brain is in possession
It lies in the seabed.
Drowned underneath a facade
Vita is false
Ita what a charade it is!
Proficient in Latin
I jest, I could be from Manhatten
Corner of Houston Street
Around the bend
See how easy it is to cheat?
Reheat your claims
In a busted microcosm
For every face varies
At different angles
Yet I can't recall
It coming in tangles
Backed up against the wall
Today marks your fall
Of one face.
Oh, I know there's a plethora
But as it is spoken in the Torah
Once a liar speaks
Their words fall on deaf ears.

Is your new height embedded into the pavement?
Let's jump back in
Never had a childhood like your own
If you were sitting on a throne
Mine's a gravestone
Etched in with disdain
Within my lane
Iron-forged chains
Pieces of the heart to regain
Hidden in the dark
Recoiling upon a midnight bark
From a puppy lost--
At least the owner says so
Reality says it got tossed
How can I be nostalgic?
Walking away from those days
Antalgic gait
Be aware of your worst step
Wary of a misstep
Watch out for the edge
Solutions don't come from the ledge
Leap off if it's your passion
Yet the child inside
Within the beat chamber
Could be the hope you were looking to provide
I mean not to offend
But here's a branch I overextend
How will you ascend
If you write your own end?
You may be tortured
Goodbye for now
Do you like reaching the height of an orchard?
Undergrowth is stunting your growth.

Legacy
Such an underused word
Today it shall become no longer absurd
Remembrance
Throughout all the seasons
How will we be remembered?
First, you need to find a reason  
Etched into history
With a motive in mind
Give in to passivity?
Only if you want to remain blind.
For the mastermind of humankind--
Whoever they shall be
Doesn't accept wannabees
Killing bumblebees
Out of necessity
So just for the fallen
Pull out the textbook
Flip to the page often overlooked
For today...
Downplay your getaway.

Once again, here we go
Back to the writer's room
Talking all about
What removes the gloom
Existential dread from the
Hippocampus
Dampen us
For no matter the source of the world
All things change
If you think not you're classified deranged
Yet some stays the same
Who is to blame?
I don't know, no need to shame yourself
For things out of control
Beyond the hands
We didn't create the land
Molded it fine
Grew crops to dine
Now everything changed on a dime
Except for what's inside:
Positive and negative energy
A joint duo held by lethargy
Familiar?
I don't blame you
Such is the way you were groomed
Born to consume
Ask yourself:
If it just hides away the pain
Should it be resumed?

Showing off what my mind
Recalls with swift
Memory is thrown into hyperactivity
Is it all significant
Or rambling on a wall?
Insanity unspoken

Born in
No mistake
Today
The start
Of opportunity
Alongside
Mistake
Oh mama, please understand
Everyone isn't perfect
Stop pretending you're not the same
Downright deranged
Oh mama, who do you love?

Even when hands start to loosen
Grip on reality
Starts to slip
Look back
Moments when everything
Was in your control...
Wait
Is that even possible?

Don't want to move forward
Where else can I go?

Stuck at home
Or is it one?
What constitutes a home?
A place you miss
Once you leave its view?
How about a goal
Longingly pursued?
Safehaven praised
After hectic days?
If Earth is our home
Why aren't we satisfied?
Moving around
From birth till we die
Existential coast of moving
Forward without looking back
Downright attack
A place to develop?
Where you go when your eyes swell up?
Hard to find
When the mind is enveloped
True home is in the heart
How can you say that for certain?
Do you know your heart?
Does anyone know anything?
Sitting around waiting for offspring
Good thing all these thoughts
Conclude in the spring.

Drive me down to Mars
The future of my kin
Worry breaks
Out on my skin
Such is the era
Full of it evermore
Feed the masses with the possibility
Of futures
Long-term
Not short and sweet
Drive me down to Mars
Show off the concept
Of
Hope

Weighing me down
Jacket with memories of the past
What my life is--
Correction
What it used to be
How else shall I run forward?
Shackles in my heart
Unlocked not with a key
Sometimes to move along
Restrictions must be lifted
I'm sorry my past
To jump into the night sky
With abandon
Praising the sky above
Must cave into my heart's demands
I'll impound my cries
For tomorrow
Appreciation will see me soon
Lead on now my body
A sacrifice has been made

Shuffling along
On a yarn thread
Could break
At the slightest mistake
Think about wholeness
For fractured thoughts
Chip away at the strand in the mind
Dangling above
Blackhole darkness
What lies beyond the veil?
Frankly, I say
Nobody wants to find out
Nothing ties down
Such a fragile red strand
Tightrope walker
Never signed up for that occupation
Seconds into life
From the first day:
I've been walking on the line
Yet in younger days
A bridge took its place.

You're all broken fools
Yet I'm just like you
Who will fix our strings?

Dime a dozen, homicide
Comprehend such a crime
Unlikely for me
But it's my job
The purpose I've built up
Which can be thrown to the wind
In an instant.
But those thoughts are crippling
How shall I start?
Where do the footprints end?
Will they turn inward?
Travel onto rooftops
Muck occupies the ceiling
Trail runs cold
Colder than the touch of angel wings
Judgmental
Cold
Morally sound
Why did they do it?
//Yeah...//
//Why did you do it?//

How far will someone go
To fulfill their desire?

Even if I keep running
Toward a creeping sunrise
Will I reach what I need?
Doubts fill up the glass
Cracks and borderline
Shatter
But every day is a change
In something around my life
Breaking, I've become used to it
Come to peace with the fact
It'll be part of me now

Why do you love what you do?
One says the environment
Another genetics
Predisposed affection
Blocks for insurrection
How about
Some bias?
Entirely probable
Once loved by your parents
Now cherished by the kin
Fit to wager on the right one?
Plot twist
Last-minute savior
None are wrong
All equally right
The science of emotional expression
Pursues in different forms
Not chemically
No solid, liquid, nor gas
Conceptually
That's the way it shall be.

Close the doors
Party ended at 12 AM
We're shutting down
Not just tonight
But for eternal time
Lengths not even I comprehend
Happy birthday
21 year old
Wish we could stay
But it's time to move along
Take our pizza home
So if you forget
A taste of what was once known
You'll remind yourself
With a mirage of myself
Here's a balloon
Maybe you'll soar with it
Or leave it alone
You were my favorite customer
...
Goodbye, regular.

Knock on the window
No one heard
From deep inside
Too immersed
Guests aplenty
Where was my invitation?
Possibly
This is a wake-up
Ten years too late
Choices I've made
Pile on high
Try to get close
Yet by the end
Driven further along
Went from a name
To a thing
What did I do wrong?
...
What if it was never a fault
To take as my own
Faithful without a cause
Shot in the dark
No bullseye today
Every day is an attempt to learn
Today...
I've learned in the world
Signs of indifference
Showed me the difference
Between friend
And loose end

Gather around
Here's the demographic:
4 men
Gathered around a table
Ready to seek fortune
Through a simple game
A gambler's trial
From left to right
A debt collector who can't pay off his own
A man profiting to earn medicine for his son
A rich kid, wanting to prove himself
Lastly
The one no one knows
Former Olympic gold-medalist
At fencing
Down on his luck
With what little he has
Perhaps fate will be kind
No chance of a reply
Small talk isn't the goal
Must integrate
Some form of strategy
Yet the hardest ones
Are the ones who are clueless
Of course, they could assist one another
But pride is at stake
No chance of mistake.

When the days go by
Slow as elderly grandmothers
Tendencies turn to luxuries
One game
Simple flight
To explore a world
No combat
Nothing harmful
Just bliss.
Piano keys illustrate
A reason why
Such an experience
Had to exist.
Whether I should cry
Longing for times of little care
Or smile
For not forgetting how far I've come
Maybe...
It's okay to do both.

Been looking
For a way
To help us and all
Just a man
Stuck in a phase
When will it phase out?
I don’t know
Yet who does?
The map hasn’t been charted
Come out
Of the trance
Submerged underwater
Cannot climb back up
Where did your life vest go?
Shed it like your memories.
Going around
Helping hand
Yet what if a touch
Turns into an attack
Took one step toward healing
Fell backwards
I’ve misstepped
Lucky to wake up for breakfast
Make sure you’ll live to dinner
Fly away
Not today
Clip your wings
Casted in iron
Born out of spite
Life is alive
Keep it that way
Torn away
Free of poison
Full of dignity
Yet you…
Prescribed the medicine
Yourself
Is it going to help?
Time will decide
How health will decline

Against the wind
A car pushes forward
I'm in it
Looking over and over
At a world so pure
Full of sunlight
Free from daily strife
But oh
Here I am
Taking a trip down to my decent
A rollercoaster that only goes one way
D
    o
      w
         n
To the depths
Send a postcard
Even my family cares about
Where I'd end up
Once all is spoken
Promises broken
Did what I could
More rigid than wood
Regret my mistakes
Now I'm stuck in this place
Full of blaze and constant craze
Road pulled out from under
Time to plunder
Was this the life I've been preparing for?

Sound the alarm
There has been an assault
On our systems
Fundamental crutches
Holding us in safety
Artificial danger
In a landscape built on so much
Don't touch anything
Minimizing damage is futile
Cracked like an egg
Sunny-side up, no pepper spice
Barely see the yolk
Call us yokes
Knowledge they possess
Terrifies a whole nation
Here's the real circumstance:
Highschool kids
The ones who did this
Hunkered down
In a state of gold
Comedy gold, to them
Not any of us
What's the point of causing a fuss?

Thinking about time
It all goes by
Leaving
Taking along all its lies
Unfinished promises
Created by us
Can't blame something
With no ethic code

Nervous about nerves
Anxious about anxiety
Cruel jokes take the longest
To comprehend
Once the joke
Becomes anew
Rename it to
My name
Not laughing, are you?
Era put to rest
Arc of happiness
Split down the center
All there is...
...is snuffed out possibility.

Don't shake this hand
Caked in moisture
I'm sorry
I didn't want this either

What's in it?
Should be asking
What was used to make it?

Driven over my soul
Fear takes hold
It may pursue
But I know
I'll pull through
For just today
A trend that goes off and on
In sight at all times
Can't dive underwater
Away from it all
No matter the posture
Galactical forces decree it shall be
Time of sorrow
Hour of panic
Yet it's the minute to confess:
We've barely begun to transmute.

Rearrange your complexion
Not purely out of hate
But despair
I don't have what you do.

Feminine self
Entwined
Rewind
Back to the moment of self
Prosper inside my own skin
Virtuous resolution
Producer
When did such a culture
Praise vultures?
A match made regretfully
Sense of self
Distorted
Flag of pride
Stuck to my side
Collecting pieces of clarity
Before disparity