your razor sharp words aren’t aimed at me
yet they still leave their mark
the shrapnel it rips me to shreds i can’t stand it
i feel myself falling apart

darkness encases me
falling
endlessly

reaching out
into nothing

attempts to end my descent
fruitless

ringing fills my ears
my eyes open to the world

i feel no relief

sounds like silence; aching to be filled.

smells like antiseptic; wanting to be clean.

tastes like tears; salty and weak.

looks like my darkened room; messy.

feels like nothing and everything all at once; numb and excruciating.

sometimes when you leap
you fall
but if you don’t try
then you’ll never fly

my fears held me back
and kept me from trying
since i was not living
i felt my soul dying

for what is the point of life?
is it not,
to win and succeed?
that is what i thought

sometimes when you leap,
you fall.
but you’ll never know,
if you never try.

that is the point
of life.
it is not
the battles you won,
but the battles you fought.

there are so many words
wrapped up in my brain
they're tightening up
and its causing me pain

i want them to go
i scream and i shout
but despite all my efforts
they just won't come out

i try to go in
and decipher them all
but i am ****** in
i begin to fall

"haikus are easy"
i guess that may be correct
but they're the best

this type of writing
may restrict word selection
but it can be done

they force me to be
more aware of my word choice,
concise and succinct

just five syllables
followed by only seven
can convey so much

there are few things sadder
than an unfinished letter.
a deleted text,
a canceled call,
a silenced shout for help.
a book never published,
a photo never posted,
a life never lived.
words are meant to be spoken.
stories meant to be told.
by the meek and the quiet,
not only the bold.
tell your truth to the world,
speak up and speak out.
sharing will free you,
of this, there's no doubt.

there was a girl whose heart did grow
she loved and loved but we all know.
that when she loved the whole world round
they spit, and stomped her to the ground.

she learned to hide her heart away
it never saw the light of day
she locked it up and tossed the key
and oh this girl, well she was me.

the first cold day at summers end
the laughter of her closest friend
they'd bring a smile to her face
but fail to touch a deeper place

she did find joy in little things
but then her heart would cut the strings
her friends they pulled her up for breath
yet she was plagued by thoughts of death

Oh to journey to a far away place,
Never leaving the safety of my home.
The plot escalates, my heart starts to race.
When I read a book, my mind’s free to roam.

Oh to place myself in another’s shoes,
Like dueling a troll in an epic fight,
Or flying on a broomstick, if I choose.
I can view the world in a different light.

No matter the plot, or the length of the tale,
Finishing a book’s like losing a friend.
Even reading at the pace of a snail,
The best of stories still come to an end.

The narrative becomes a part of you.
It allows you to view the world anew.

It's a funny kind of irony
That I'm being held back-by me
Countless people build me up
and I knock myself down

I'm alive, but I'm hardly living
opportunities I'm missing
crushes that I am not kissing
since this little voice is hissing

"something will go wrong no doubt"
"no one wants to ask you out"
"not good enough: your clothes, your hair"
"just stay at home, you're safer there"

I know this voice
I know her well
She *****, I tell her
"Go to Hell"

sometimes i feel too much
sometimes i feel too little
i wish i could stay in that happy place
that lies right in the middle

when i feel too much
it's a torrent of emotion
a downpour of epic proportion
and i pray for it to end

yet when it does i don't feel enough
i'm numb, frozen, depressed.
I then pray for this to end
and i'd do anything to feel again

so i'm stuck in this happy limbo
never feeling quite right
like goldilocks in the three bear's house
i can't sleep at night

Once the world was happy,
Love and Joy, they danced around.
Then in crept Insecurity and Doubt
to strike them down.

Their attack was not direct,
No, much more devious
They acted like they cared for them
When they were there to bury them.

"I'm only looking out for you"
"Trust me, I know what's best"
They slowly gained their trust,
and well I'm sure you know the rest.

"You look rather silly dancing with Love like that"
Insecurity hissed.
Doubt cried,
"Joy's better off without you, you surely won't be missed!"

Now Joy never leaves her house,
Doubt has her trapped in there
and that evil Insecurity
has Love tied to a chair.