O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck,
You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

I sit by the shore with sand in my hands,
thinking of him, then thinking of her.
His smile is kind, his words are sweet,
but never makes the water stir.

She walks in like a storm I want,
with eyes that pull like undertow.
I'd drown so gladly in her gaze
and come up breathless just to know.

Boys are boats - safe, expected and still.
But girls? They're waves that don't forgive.
And I have feared, with aching truth,
that this is how I will always live.

Loving the ocean more than the shore-and longing for what wrecks me more.

Hidden truth buried deep inside
Feelings weren't enough
Bottled emotion like cigarette smoke
Fuming until you cough

Hiding inside a masquerade
Hoping to fit the mold
Until one day your bow breaks
And your crinkled truth unfolds

Fake happy till the smile fades
Until the once blue sky turns gray
And you wish one day it'll be over
The world will know you're gay

Is it okay that I scan the room
like love might wear your face tonight?
To hope you're tucked in shadows deep,
or laughing under the neon light?

Why do you live inside my mind
when I'm surrounded, not alone?
the voices blur, but are never yours
because I carry it like it's my own.

I touch the sleeve of someone close,
pretend it's you, then look away.
A ghost I stitched from memory
still walks beside me every day.

Maybe I dream too loud, too much,
but I still check each passing sound,
just incase some small part of you
is hiding somewhere in the crowd.

-Somewhere in the crowd

I saw a fox just past the gate,
her eyes like dust, her breath like steam.
She didn't run, just watched me there,
half in the world, half in a dream.

Her coat was stitched with falling leaves,
the kind that never touch the ground.
I took a step, she took a breath,
then vanished without making a sound.

They say the wild won't wait for you,
it teaches fast, and leaves you slow.
But still I stand where foxes go-
too scared to chase,
too old not to.

I want what's best for you, I swear,
A life that feels both kind and true,
Where daylight breaks through every care,
And skies are never dull or blue.

But sometimes dreams get tangled up,
Like words that don't come out just right-
There's a poem stuck inside my throat,
Unsaid beneath the fading light.

I write of love that hides and bends,
Of wanting someone who's not "her",
In quiet rooms where judgment waits,
And whispered fears begin to stir.

Maybe someday I'll speak it loud,
The truth I clutch inside my chest.
Until then, I will hope for you,
And wish for me a little rest.

-A quiet wish.