I had a gift for heartache
Kept it imprisoned between stanza breaks
For a treat, life is sweet
popped cherries and blown raspberries

No need to bleed out gold on bearskin rugs
No desire for strutting around as soft-serve thugs
We’re different than all the ****** and tools
We’re the ones that shock electricity and frighten ghouls

Complete trust is a must
loyalty too
I ask for a lot
I give you my all

*like kisses beneath the blue

My darling once asked
“What'd happen to a guy if he made me cry?"
I wasn’t in any rush
so right then and there I started to gush:

I’d knock him onto the concrete
Introduce his skull to my feet

No one hurts my baby girl

I’d take a knife and puncture his lungs
Slice off the entirety of his rude tongue

No one hurts my baby girl

I’d shove my thumbs down his eyes
As he’d see the price of heavy lies
"Why?"

**Because no one ever hurts my baby girl

I turned on the rusty engine
purred like you did during those rainy rendezvous
##################################
I gripped a cigarette
warmth reminded me of your inner thighs
##################################
I stuck my head out the window
pretended you were the night air
##################################  
I accelerated towards some trees
blood felt like your tears did

It was affection at first sight but I was blind
A little Persian cat with too much on my mind
You give me chills in the sunshine
You hold me tight until everything turns out fine

Your UFO voice abducts all scorn I hold dear
It ices down my raging jealousy and familiar fears
I’m enchanted by your majesty, full-blown smitten
under the mercy of a fuzz-fanged kitten

You and I, kid, we’re one and the same
wondering out loud “who’s to blame?”
I bet if I put my ear to your lips I’d hear the ocean
Keep it coming, you’ve set my heart in perpetual motion

Your rock bottom still soars above everyone else’s clouds
The hushed utterance of your name summons crowds
After breakdowns and a mental mother,
I’ve certainly found myself a permanent lover

Much beyond any gemstone could hope to muster,
your smiles gleam with infinite luster
You’re moonlight dripping at a cemetery
Fearsome waves propelling my life’s ferry

I’ll be your constant, your Northern Star
A comforting presence to be found regardless of where you are
You’re my #1 gal, the only one I need
The lone rebel who’d make my soul kneel and plead

Phantom felines and dancing shadows everywhere
but at the end of the day, I really don’t care
Inside every atom of hate, my baby implanted kisses
I’m **** well going to make her my Mrs.

She’s beauty and rage, nothing in-between
She’s thunder and lightning, just not as mean
She’s carefully hidden, yet demands to be seen
She’s my best friend, ride or die
eternal lover on the sly

**A lucky thirteen

Streetlights line walkways like rows of miniature moons
I bask in them without respite
Creatures of the night sing harmonically
A private anthem shared across generations
There seems to be enough space for my own crooning

In a gust, the summoned lover appears
Wind greets me with irreverence
She kisses my pursed lips passionately
I savor the iciness as it distills in my blood

Above, the clouds collide chaotically
An astral ocean rumbles and swells
Its apocalyptic morphing draws one too many smiles
The pure, red sky delivers teardrop invitations

I soak in the crimson waves
They envelope me, elevate me
Wind eagerly grasps my arm
We spirit away to eternal shade

Promises were kept, dreams fulfilled
Freedom furls around my lungs
Daylight forces itself through my mouth and flees
Sighs of relief follow it

Finally home,
I sink beneath the inky stratosphere

It’s all theater
I’m just behind closed curtains
That’s probably why no one looks
The fabric forcefields let me perfect my routine though
I certainly have an array of props to play with
A little cardboard box I call home
My reliable, evergreen jacket that kinda looks like swiss cheese
Oh, and a Styrofoam cup to collect my keep
My reward for tonight’s performance

Are they all in on the act?
Pretending that I don’t exist just for fun?

I must say, this new crowd is pretty **** good
Even the little ones get in on the charade
“Mommy, daddy, look at that ma-“
The clutching and quickened paces tell me those young talents might get cut
What a shame

I remember when my boss hit the line “you’re fired!” with such conviction
I was **** well impressed
When I said I couldn’t pay last week’s rent,
my landlord must have been practicing that disgusted look for hours

I like this new production, though, so it’s all good
Sure, the nights get a bit chilly and the days can be musty
but it’s all just show business
I sleep happily knowing this lifestyle is just a big act
It’s all theater

**….right?

Today I was reminded to be kind to myself.
As I sat at my desk,
staring down my chemistry lab,
remembering my barely passed exam,
I was ******* myself,
the cruelest I could be.
Self doubt.
Maybe I can't do this.
What if I lose my scholarship?
Is this even worth it?
But it is okay to not be perfect.
It is human after all, to make mistakes.
So remember to be kind
to yourself most of all,
for you are cruelest
to your own passions and aspirations.
Don't **** your dreams because you fear failure.