you’re a mess of good intentions
gone wrong.

you strike a match on yourself
to keep others warm,
and now the whole ******* world’s on fire.

you try to put it out, and you try so hard.
the dam breaks,
and the waters of your sorrow pour free.

you are sorry;
so very, very sorry—

and you will drown everyone
to prove it.

maybe this is what I was meant to be:

neither here or there,
neither saved or ******,
neither good or bad,
neither dead or alive.

just broken.

just another lesson, another example.

just one more moral of one more story
that doesn’t have a happy ending.

cut her open and you’d find
a graveyard of memories in her mind.
she’s a living tomb; she’s a
mausoleum of unspoken hellos
and goodbyes said too soon.

there is poison in her veins;
wings on her back that act more like chains.
she wasn’t born with them; she’s learned
how to cope, how to hide, how to use
these gifts that were meant to condemn.

I. STRENGTH;
any man can fight,
any man can swing his fists,
or shoot a gun.
any man can fight for himself,
but a hero fights for others.

(he fights their demons, but who fights his?)

II. SUPPORT;
any man can defend.
any man can raise his shield,
or make a narrow escape.
any man can defend himself,
but a hero defends others.

(he is a wall of solid rock,
but rock cannot bend; only break)

III. SPIRIT;
any man can suffer.
any man can weather a storm,
or feel the sting of pain.
any man can suffer for himself,
but a hero suffers for others.

(he has scars that none can remember;
or is it they not care to recall?)

IV. SYMPATHY;
any man can be happy.
any man can make money,
or indulge in all his desires.
any man can bring happiness to himself,
but a hero brings happiness unto others.

(they praise his name to the sky;
but no one asks why he cries)

V. SACRIFICE;
any man can die.
any man can be killed,
for he is still but a man.
any man can die for himself,
but a hero dies for others—

and so a hero never dies.

(but sometimes, they die inside,
and there’s no marker for that grave.)

the world is crying out
for a savior

but they're all too busy
trying to save

themselves.

you know, in a way,
monsters are heroes too.

the world needs monsters
like a clown needs its makeup.

– like a turtle needs its shell;
like a mirror needs a reflection.

without monsters,
we’d see the ones in ourselves.

bad men doing bad things
that’s common; ordinary
unremarkable.

it’s when good men
do evil deeds
that the devil smiles.