We want peace, no more war
But, pawns already in motion
Kings are established
We never got this far
By bowing down to a tsar
Yet, a journey needs an ending
Closing act, here comes the facts:
There are no epilogues
In this world, you're done, leave it at that
Leaders play Chess
Soldiers play with toys
One embraces strife
The other sends away life.

Thumb
Express gratitude
With one another
Or offend
In a distant land
Index
Accuse someone
Of stealing a fortune
Combine with the thumb
To showcase another’s misfortune
Or greet
With a fleshy gun sign
Middle
Offend quickly
Minimal effort required
Showcase your anger
While hurting another
Who’s gonna stop you?
Ring
Useless alone
Practical with others
Only has value
When combined with jewels
Use to start new life
Or end one
Pinky
Hospitality and courtesy
Aside from those
Small in stature
Still like all the others
Use to show commitment
Accompanied by a promise
Broken like bones
But…
Who came up with this?

Radiant, cool eyes
Freezing surfaces
With a single glance
Petrification, at an instant
The desire to bond, constant
Not possible, mutant

Face painting in fall
Gift giving in winter
I look back at this place
With tears on my face
Not born from misery
But reminiscing
On pleasant memories
Ignorance in bloom
As I think about the past
I wonder, what happened to you?

Drifting through space
Falling down
Into oblivion
At the end of the road
I feel no fear
For I have taken the pain of others
Stapled onto me, I feel no regret
For the lives of many
Were aided by the few, one
A single reduced to zero
The others were spared, I was always ready

Chose a path
.
.
.
How do I know it's the right one?
.
.
.
Is there a correct path?
.
.
.
Never learned how to do this stuff...

I see debris
Mingling with the stars
Orbiting the cosmos
Trash, wreckage
Line up for the chorus
Ships, helmets, suits
A reminder of humanity, futility
A symbol of simplicity
When I look at the stars
I see our legacy:
Too much debris
Half of which we need
Half of which we never see
If only more cared
Before the end
Became complete

Even the most desperate person
Will steal from the vulnerable
But, as I look back at our history
The natural world, the primal era
I question, where did things go wrong?
Perhaps, life has always been wrong
Spending eternity, trying to make it right

Living in boxes
Offering a view
Of freedom
Modern mirages
Life was never free
Free to work
Enslaved to life
In our world
There are no enemies
Who do we fight to unlink our chains?
Our war? My war? Their war?
Across the land, over the hills, under the caverns
All a reminder:
All our problems originated with us
We are the real enemy
Now tell me what have I missed?
Was this world always like this?

Shot
Bruised
Sliced
Broken
I refuse to give in
To my limits
I wish to go beyond them
Mom
Dad
Thanks for believing in me
You're why I proclaim
To this day
I am still a hero
Good and evil vary
But a hero...
Always saves the day
I can't be the one...
...To change that!

Locked in place
With a twisted face
Merged with emotional platitudes
Left to the dogs
I ponder, why did this face
Presume today
Would be a good day?

A young boy
Naive and unaware
Of the enemies that lie
Across the ocean's edge
Ignorant
Of what he'll do to them
Once he grows up.

My name is an identity
Everything else
Just call those credentials

Away
Get yourself out of here
Disgust?
Of course not.
I said...
Leave this place
I cannot hold on
Any longer
To such a
Corrupted tabernacle
I'll swallow the pain
Try not to inflict it
You weren't the one
Removed my arm
Now I'll say again
Run away
From the injured one.

Pressure is direct
Both by influence and force
So, these adolescent tendencies
Become susceptible to industry

Yearning
My blood is churning
The heart resides
At the peak of excess
Madness, cowardice
My desire will not yield
For hope is a sword
That I cannot wield

From beyond
The horizon of darkness
A child
Holding a battered flag
Etched into
His ideals
What he chooses to believe in
Despite all
The injured near him
Just a kid...
How can he keep going?
The innocence of hope
Perseverance
The last thing his family left him
And he's just a kid.

Crackling light
In the shape of a knife
Unexpected, unruly
When it shines
It brightens the world
Yet, in its joy
It may bring harm.

Two figures
Shadows on the horizon
Clashing together
Remaining separate forever
Breaking bones
As a sign of will
Yet when the sun rises
They look out, forgetting what to do
They turn to the rising sun, one says:
"The beauty never dies, it will forever survive."
Turning back to each other
Blooming beauty brings back burning burdens
A crack and a crunch
Then, no more

To the mall
Unending road of halls
I look around, all the same
Muted in play, perfect in pay
A singularity, polarity
In solidarity, I see beneath the regularity
Place of no grace with an average pace
Staring out into subspace
I say to this face:
I am tired of this workplace.

Alpha, omega
Beginning, end
All tune in for them
While cutting out the middle

Flying flies, dainty
Minding their time by living
Struck down, hands of glass

You are deranged
I am sane
The correct camp is mine
...
Right?
Unless we have fought in vain
Millions dead, inflicting pain
For an idea.
Yet, our idea is correct...
Right?

In the nose
Out the mouth
Can you feel the breath
As you push out?
Deep breath
Unless you prefer deep rest
So many techniques
So many quick fixes
So much snake oil
It gets under my skin
Bringing profit into disease
Everything is a business, everyone wears suits
Armor to protect, project professionalism
One hand on a shoulder
One fishing for change
As a fly chases to food
The man chases the loot
For when the world revolves around one thing
What consequences shall that bring?

The world
We always strive
To unfurl the confusion
Making it a better place, one where we all thrive
Becoming compassionate survivors
Here's the first step:
Did you say thanks to your bus driver?

The man woke up
Looked toward his reflection
In his vision
Was a human, with a beetle's head
His wife of several weeks
Unleashed a gasp
"Why has this happened?"
The man replied
"I have become Insecta, my true self, a pest."

Maybe today
Will be the time
Half-past noon
Quarter at a time
Take it slow
Focus on the world
Not yourself
So your feelings
Don't go

c
r
a
s
h
i
n
g

d
o
w
n
.

Illness persists
Through spit and violence
An apex predator
A fraction of a molecule
Here's the equation:
Size has no correlation
To power or strength
For even the tiniest of specks
Punch in bunches
Evolving their very existence
To remove someone elses
Quite familiar, how similar...
The law of life states:
As long as life exists, it will seek to break and take
Harmony is a 7 letter word
On a fractured line
Suggestions to stop it
Fall out of range
From the moment of birth
We are proof of life, eternal strife
Beyond the clouds
Is there heaven for breakers of paradise?

Need to get out of bed
It's a chore
A fight in itself
But only
Cause you're scared
Don't worry
I'll help you out of bed
Each day
More taxing than the previous
I can't stand
The way it is either
But do we have many choices?
So just get up
Become entwined with my joy
Don't be scared
It'll be alright
Harsh times will soon get replaced
With days where
You want to get out of bed

Weep in the sun
All will think
It's nothing but necessary sweat
Beading from moist eyes
Even when the sun goes down
The sweat moves
Down like a river
From a vision lens
Relied on

Corruption is a perspective
Held by the collective
Their effort to remain remains protective
Their intentions stay clear, reflective
Guided in life by a retrospective
After all, it is cost-effective

The apex of the land
Untouchable, unstoppable
No one can break them!
...
It gets lonely at the top
Coming up with daily routines
Just to distract from reality
Simulated conflict
Fictional biographies
All to tell us lessons
About the truth of our reality
...
On our day of enlightenment
If it ever comes
The flesh and blood we consume
Will taste stale
...
All we have been doing is sophistication imitation.

A cake
Such a beautiful sight
A country
Such a difficult fright
With a cake
You can remove decorations
Adjust the presentation
An electrical sense of elation!
Yet, when the batter spoils
No one will swing
With the confections you bring
For it is not the frosting
Not the sprinkles
Candles, trinkets, icing
The problem lies in the depths
Of a rotten core
A foundation, soiled
Coiled around its heart
Protected, but long rejected

A harsh winter breakup
Heist of a jewel
End times of the dead
Terrible tragedies
Fear personified in one
Wars that ask
Have we been fighting in vain?
.
.
.
There's a film for it all.

No aspirations
Delusions of grandeur
All they give is dopamine
Which my brain resists
Going through the motions
Life is no checklist, why has no one checked this?
For when the bucket list is finished
What comes next?
Filling up a bucket just to dump out the water
Wasting oxygen on an expensive ottoman
If I could be a cosmopolitan, I'd deny the request
All it does is make my chest feel pressed, stressed
Why should I be obsessed with tests when I have no self-interest?

Carved my own path
You followed your way
But in the aftermath
Which will make history?

Always been told
That we are not machines
Yet, our world is built like this:
Routine, repair
Relinquish, revere
All fact no speculation
We must continue
But really, do we?
Here is the summation:
Becoming victims of liquidation
Just by going on vacation
Choosing vocations
Just to chase stagnation
Chasing relations to find salvation
Just to receive probation and isolation
Mutations of liberation
Lasting for long durations
We are machines, observe our foundation
Full of mutation, renovation
Life is a sacred thing
Yet, look at the pain we bring

A modern man
Shall be deemed more than a man
Because he is not a man
But the shell of a man
Remnant of a bygone era
Where heroes were real
And villains were defined
Until the world woke up
To the aftermath of hysteria

Trapped between bars
Entwined in steel and ideals
I push them aside
A delusional illusion
Turned to dust, I descend
Toward the entrance, I rescind
This cycle of prison and pain
Will become an oasis
Yet standing before me
The warden draws near
Just a puppet, a proxy
Past your prime, no moxie
I stand tall, I send my fist as a message
But before it connects, my eyes awaken
It's me...
It's me?
It's me.

Separation
Often cares for the object
Of pain and nostalgia

Am I making a difference?
Just causing trouble
Bury me
Underneath forgotten rubble
Cannot be located with a Hubble
Telescopic
Distant incident
Magnify it
Like we always do
Now it's a threat
To my subconscious
These thoughts
My feelings
Forever chronic.

I feel like a fool
Magicians make me drool
The priestess, so pristine
Caught in the embrace of an empress
What of an emperor without an empire?
Empirical affairs, embracing tradition
Hierophant to the lovers
Carried by a chariot
Silent strength of a hermit
Bending minds to spin the wheel of fortune
Bring forth justice to the hanged man
End of an old age, born anew
Death is a chance meeting with temperance
Strung by the devil in his tower
High atop, hoping to reach the stars
As the moon elicits peace, the sun burns him out
Judged for the world to see
Now, my life is exhausted

Stressed
The resources are inadequate
Little did I know
They are all that remains

My friends
Think of death as not an omen
Perceive it as what it truly is:
Natural
Change can bring terror
Sometimes, laughter
But death is change with no transparent effect
It is like all change
Why do we fear it?
Because we can not control it.
But, is that so bad?

Came into life on this very planet
Full of water, land, and pomegranate
Given a light to block out the night
The star of flame, what a sight!
That boils our body and peels the skin
This isn’t paradise for it’s full of sin
Planet full of fun and games
Oh, that’s not true? What a shame
A place where nightmares come to life
Bond with one other person and call them a wife
Society isn’t built on the foundations of purity
Charity is old, hide your insecurity
Keep those emotions locked in tight
Hide indoors from the sunlight
The cruel and beautiful paradox
Human life controlled by clocks
Where is my guardian? Where is our hero?
The truth is there’s absolutely zero
Yet, still, we all have dreams
We aren’t hostile cause we make teams
I haven’t yet found my hope
Hanging off the end of a rope
Want to clean the corruption with a bar of soap

Members of death
A deathbed loses its sting
Once death takes over
Maybe, you sought not for death
But for rest
Yet, you still seek death
For once your rest ends, frantic life remains
Permanent rest, sweet in nature
But once it take hold, a bitter center

Abhor or adore
Evermore, nevermore, you
Answer for our war

On the eve
Of the moon and sun
Traveling a road
Glimmering in dawn
In relation to the world
We only discuss the self
Saving the planet?
Sounds like saving ourselves
The piano keys chime
One last tune for humankind
Clear your mind
Here comes a fate none of us can deny

Shaking hands
Stabbing friends
Cold-hearted sycophant
All for retaliation
Retribution with no distribution
You creep, you crawl
Your claws are sharp
Your heart is dark
Your love is warm
Your touch is cold

Carving a path
Pushing forward
My head is down
Blind to all the sorrow
As a drill, I can't stop now
I'm digging further
With a 2-inch shovel
By the time I change the world
It will become yours
Broken, battered
I'll ignore the signs
As long as you can be with me