I looked the demon in the eyes
I saw through its mask and lies

A dark, foggy, circling, shadowy pit
And this shadow, I put my hand through it

I caught sight of my childhood self
Being choked by the Shadow, damaging her health

"Let go!" I called to her
"Never! There is no cure!"

So I responded, "Fly again, my little dove!"
To which she replied, "I just want love."

"In a wound, you are putting salt,"
"I'm telling you, it wasn't your fault!"

And with these words, the Shadow flew across the room
I hugged my younger self, then grabbed a broom

I jabbed at the demon with an angry fit
When younger me whispered, "Do not hurt it."

And before I could try to understand her pain
I saw her darkness and the Shadow linked by chain

I dropped the broom and grabbed a knife
And started to sever their conjoined lives

I heard a faint wail from the Shadow and the child
Severing it and hurting her would be completely wild

I turned to the Shadow, "I have a deal,"
"Unchaining yourself, but remaining by our side would be ideal."

The chain disappeared, and the Shadow hovered
And when I took me and the child outside, us he covered

I led myself to the edge of the world
With all the Shadow's troubles left unfurled

I led her to an empty beach
The sky, the color of a ripe, juicy peach

We laid on the sand, staring at the sky
While the Shadow behind us would fly

We watched the sun slowly go down
Underneath the ocean it began to drown

And when the sun disappeared totally under the sea's blue
I turned around, and turns out the Shadow did too

It comes, it runs throughout this place
It covers, it hovers without a trace
And everything we once loved
We'll never again face

These castle walls were turned from bronze to rust
Shattered from the years of betrayal and mistrust
And the sands which one sparked our dreams
Are now only replaced by dust

I say you'll do something soon
But for everything you seem to mind
How can this ever bloom?
Love isn't there if it is blind

My heart is like a planet
The envy it revolves around is the worst
You'll see I'm a star, if you scan it
'Cause the brightest always die first

I have no moons, though
No planet is my mother
I must then be Pluto
Too small for the other

I've done more and more
But it's all something someone's done before
Everyone else is hard and tough
Yet I'm still not good enough

In a world of diamonds, I'm coal
I'm far away, and never near
For once, I just want to be original
I'm a reflection in a shattered mirror

I've done more and more
But it's all something someone's done before
Everyone else is hard and tough
Yet I'm still not good enough

After an incident of shame and guilt
I left my home misbegotten
And when I returned two years later
I was surprised that I wasn't forgotten.

I lit a white, waxy candle
I said I would start when the flame got brighter
And as I expected the light to grow taller
The wax only melted and got smaller

Why do we wish that orange sunset won't ever die?
When we barely notice the normal, beautiful blue sky?
I think why we crave for the sunset to prolong
Is because the prettiest colors are the ones that don't belong

I finally had the courage to reveal my truth
Loosening its two-year-long choke
And when I finally told it to a friend
She laughed at my "hilarious joke".

With one goal accomplished, another will arise
Repeating into an endless cycle until my own demise
I've worked so hard to get what I now have got
Yet all my experiments don't have a conclusion, or final thought
I've had people copy me with their navy blue bluff
But with everything I've learned, it still isn't enough

The curtains open once more
And I look into the eyes of the watching crowd
But even after my performance
I never once felt proud

Then I take a bow and walk off stage
I take off my mask, temporarily free
I see someone who I thought would compliment my performance
Yet he doesn't recognize me

I want to do anything else, be a teacher or a politician
But the next day, I'll walk back onto the stage
Everything in my body is telling me to stop
Yet I keep performing for no wage

I wish I was in the wings, like I was years ago
Pretending it was me in the burning spotlight
And I found my peace in the drowning shadows
Yet I wanted to be louder with all my might

When will this show finally end?
I walk on stage with despair I've so long felt
The spotlight causes my skin to burn and melt

The red curtains open fast
Will this time finally be the last?

I have seen those Golden Seas
And my name burned on someone's tongue
I locked myself out of life with my own keys
And I gasped for the toxic air in my poisoned lung

I must've forgotten who I was supposed to be
I hoped everything would be okay with a bit of luck
Then suddenly I was set free
And once more, I finally woke up.

On a firefly lit night, the clouds a quiet grey
Plants blowing from the wind of an ending day
With the calming darkness of an eternal evening
Lit by the fireflies from late May

Dancing flames flutter above the field below
Little stars on the ground shine with their glow
And we'd catch these stars in our little hands
We'd admire their beauty, then let them go

There was a faint warmth that lingered on our skin
And a smile that made us dizzy, like a never-ending spin
You could smell the flowers from a distance away
Then wonder if this is where you should've always been

With laughter circling all around
With a light in the night near the darkened ground
With a heart racing from exhilarating excitement
With the despair of a dream that'll never come back 'round

The clouds, now less loud, are not shaken by a shout cheerful and wild
And now the old flower, whether rose or sunflower, are now not contently watching a child

An ember, thought to last forever, burned down to an ash
A memory, thought to last forever, disappeared in a flash

The fireflies still glide with their pride above the darkened ground
In their flight, lighting up the night, a night now with no sound

A memory, gold and bold, that we didn't know we made
In the wear and tear of life was sure to fade

It's fragile beauty danced up and down the trees
Moonlit night clouds with a serene breeze
Though that day may seem like it could go forever on
Our perpetual dreams are now perpetually long gone

Time seemed to move slowly, yet it was only going faster
As I held in my hands the bright petals of a radiant purple aster
If not for those fireflies, we would not be able to see
How this late evening in May would be stuck with us eternally

If we could go back one more time
Back to the night of the firefly's shine
If we could go back to that golden night
Then that would be the most wondrous sight

Though we were all there as kids, just to play
We have no more need to go back or stay
If I returned there, like we had always swore
There would be no one there anymore

Firefly lit nights seemed to last forever on that late evening in May
But like the firefly's dimming light, not even time was there to stay.

I want the people who left me to see my face in the streets
I am the face of all people in the filled up seats
They'll hear my voice in all the songs they play
I am the wind that'll show them the way
They'll hate that they'll see me in their afternoon tea
They'll drown when they see me in the swimming sea
I'll come back to haunt them, day and night
I'm the ghost in the fog that gives them a fright
They'll feel stuck, trapped, haunted by me
They'll hear me with every song from bird or bumble bee
They'll finally feel just a little remorse
And try to find me in every book and resource
And on days when the sun has gone away
I'll be the thunder in their mind that will forever stay
For every tear they made me cry, I'll make them cry three
So cry me a river, lake, or sea
I'm just a spirit following them from behind
I'm just a phantom, invading their mind
And with some time, they'll think I'm gone
And they'll peacefully look over their house and lawn
And they'll admire June's scorching sun
And they'll think they've finally won
They'll think no part of them is shattered and rotten
And when they can finally stop living their lives in fear
I want them to hear my voice echo in their ear

I grew independently, totally alone
Forever wanting to just belong
But no one came to me, so I thought to myself
"One day, I'll prove them wrong"

And when I finally became successful
I had fame, I had wealth
No one showed up to my celebration
The only person I proved myself to was myself

A well-known star who performed on stage
Was soon out-shined by the rest
But she couldn't become one of the common folk
She had to be the best

And in the day, she danced with them
And danced until the night
She would wait until everyone left the theatre
Then dance in her own spotlight

And as she danced from day to night
She wasn't the most elite
So she knew she had to do something bigger
So she wouldn't end in defeat

Even though the dancers did perfect arabesques
And chased after an impossible dream
When the night fell and the curtains closed
She lined the stage in gasoline

So when the sun rose, the dancers walked in
They screamed and knew they could never aspire
To the star on the blazing stage
Beautifully burning to death, surrounded by fire

Your eyes are gorgeous
They are the flowers blooming in Spring
And I always see them in my daydreams
And I'm complaining about that

Your smile is perfect
Just seeing you makes my day brighter
And when we share a glance I feel lighter
My days are best when I see you

I want to know everything about you, sports or band
I want to watch the sunset with you on the golden sand
And we'll run away to buy a house for us in a foreign land

And I didn't want to fall in love ever again
But I've been proved wrong
We could kiss under the Statue of Liberty or the Big Ben

Everyone else sees the sparks as we smile
And when I see you I can't think or know what to do
So I'll keep on loving you for a bit more while
And if you wouldn't mind, you could love me too (?)

There's never been a poem written about me
But if there was, this is how I'd want it to be:

Her hair looked like the waves from the sea
Her determination was like a bumble bee
She wanted nothing more than to be free
She thought as she drank her favorite tea,
"One day you'll love me too, maybe"
"Maybe you'll love me too," said she
And one day when I climbed a tree
I shouted to the world her name and its syllables of three
But I never really knew her, so I could never see
How her mind was trapped in a memory
And I could never free my love, Emery

In your eyes, I see the whole world
I see a story, desperate to be told
I see the universe.
I see in your eyes the darkest of nights
And the dusty stars of forever light
I see whole galaxies
And it is the most wondrous sight.

We swore on each other with false trust
The universe was chasing both of us
And no poem can ever retell
The fire in my heart from a burning hell
We're simply both moths, scavenging for the light
And we must've bumped into each other on a cold, dreary night
And when you starve, you'll eat anything
So I must've confused this nightmare with a dream

I believe we are all stars, and we grow and grow
And we expand until we must blow
And even the brightest, biggest stars in space
Must eventually go

And throughout time
We distance ourselves from our core when in our prime
So when the biggest stars explode, they cause a supernova
And they die to start a new lifetime

I was given an award at school that day
And a friend mocked me, thinking there was no way
Someone one would choose me for being kind and smart
And then I showed my friends my award
For once them not seeing me as absurd
Until a friend ripped my award apart.

Throughout my long life
I collected a flower each day
And I kept them in a little notebook
When I died, they were the last things I had to say

And my roses, lilies, and yes, dandelions too
Throughout time had begun to rot
But one flower surpassed my days
The victorious blue of a forget-me-not.

Sometimes, I believe I am a star
Glowing bright, yet so far
Or maybe I am the whole galaxy
Every planet you know is simply me

Sometimes I believe I am the shade
I depend on the sun, yet hide from it, afraid
But on other days, I am the sun
I am the most deserving of fun

But sometimes I am a tree
My branches covering everything I see
And I know no matter how much my branches twist and twirl
I'm really only a teenage girl.

Oh, I could drown in the air
Suffocate in the seas
I could float in the waterfall
Or fall in the breeze

Oh, I could freeze from the blazing sun
Burn from the coldness of a heart
I could stand on the whole universe
Or on each grain of sand's part

Oh, I could materialize anywhere
Or disappear for good
I've tried to do everything, normal or strange
But I could still never be understood.

Oh, you'll wander through congested streets
But you'll be walking alone
And you will be celebrated with astonishing feats
But with nobody to see how far you've grown

You'll comfort others with your warm smile
And you'll comfort yourself when you feel down
For someone you'd run the extra mile
When you're merely an outcast in society's frown

And it doesn't matter how big your land
You'll never find someone who sees you as good
Humans were born to be able to understand
But to never be understood.

I remember being the favorite of the family
I remember getting all the praise
Now a new person is getting the attention, not me
It is now the end of those moments, my days

I used to sit at the head of the table
Now there's another girl sitting there
When was it suddenly the end of my childhood fable?
When did this become fair?

She gets help from her family now
While I'm only someone to poke fun at
And I still love her anyhow
But I don't want my situation to just be that, "that is that!"

So I'm watching from a distance, a new star
Giving her my light, which I got when I was young
And I'll give her the notes to a new melody
Dissatisfied from my childhood song being finished sung.

There are so many new events in my life
But I keep forgetting I can't tell them to you
I'd give anything to hear your comforting words one last time
Oh, if only things would be fixed, repaired to new
I would have so much to tell you.