Another layer of self comes with time
I feel it slide over my skull
The layer glides down my neck, past my waist
My new layer of self joins the rest at my ankles

These layers come with no forewarning
They either slow my stride or spring my step
Some layers propel me to the stratosphere
Other layers drag me down to the depths

These layers of self are who I am
They come with time, they follow each event
I get no say, my consent is forfeit
I am a human borne of self-slices

A spectacle to pity and behold in awe

Every table turns, every turn twists
the truths began to shatter
truths on which I would subsist

The truths I knew changed like the tide,
weighing down heavily in my gut,
they lie inside, mummified


Now I live, free as the flock
I swing through the stars, honor my scars
learning about myself and taking stock

You come with doubt
with a knack for disparaging

You come with ego
with a conviction of having seen it all

You come to the foot of the solar system
with your cosmic disregard for virtue

You leave as you should
with a singed tongue
with eyes dripping ashes

There are no victors, no spoils to spare
The impasse has been reached
Zero-sum-gain is the name of the game

Keep the moody themes on repeat
Let your feelings fall flat
while trying to be discreet
still saying "no surrender, no retreat"

Slither to your desk
Seep those feelings off your chest
sleep flows like sap
sanguine notions stir even slower

Here's to the man in the mirror
the ascending sun
not some saint of sinners

Here's to a higher route
with its timely turns
and harvests wrought from drought

Here's to the ones who scorn
their hearts yet lined with lead
their purloined peace, I mourn

Here's to the blessed and grace-filled
who have left their radiant marks upon me
and fields of hope still to be tilled

In haunting form and dignified stance,
Dancing Rose waltzes beneath black and blue
crimson bleeding into the aether

She breathes the night's stillness
while energizing its tempo
for it is time to shed the heaviness

The weight of the world upon her petals
the streams of water dripping down her stem
these things shall be laid to rest, put to bed

With the floaty fragrance of home
and thorns to ***** any naysayer
our flower stays strong for the journey ahead

From the moon to the stars
Dancing Rose will spread her lovely songs
let us praise her in both name and deed
for she has bloomed past the sorrow
no longer a timid seed

There I saw it, past the skyline
the things yet to come
how they beckoned in the light
beacons calling me forth

With hell nipping at my heels
and a heavy heart to boot
scars both fresh and new
telling the tale of what I have been through

From simple paradoxes
to crystal clear complications
uncertainty is all I know for sure
the one fact that remains true

So I will not aim for sunny days
nothing is promised nor owed
I shall keep the hopes under lock and key
and tread on, as I always have

Come what may