After the storm rolled by
The swollen edges of the swamp
Lifted their white wings to the night
In flocks of thousands. I watched
From the cypress as they became
The stars, burning in the farthest
Corners of my mind. Dreams
In the space between synapses,
Fizzled and died. Love was but
A question we hung carelessly
In the dense jungle air.

the first law of thermodynamics states that:
energy can neither be created nor destroyed, only altered

the dictionary defines death as
the cessation of life

this is contradictory
as all life is equivalent to energy
life cannot be destroyed,
only altered

and so,
"death" is just the transfer of your energy
to microorganisms who feed on your body
who then continue the cycle
dispersing your energy across the universe

so why be afraid of it?

death as you know it
does not exist
you are afraid of nothing
why be afraid of anything?

why be afraid to talk to your crush?
to talk to the person on the bus?
to give to someone all your trust?
to accept former actions as unjust?

you live
you learn
you transfer your energy
and the cycle continues for all eternity

you are the culmination of trillions of years of work
and the producer of infinite more
step down from your fears
let the story unfold

I stood between my father's fist
and my brother
dared to say the words
hit me instead
you know it's what you want
bulging red eyes
and a thousand-mile stare
17
and bravely standing up
to my lifelong bully
and at that moment
I reclaimed my value
he knew I was no longer scared

Everything we create
An extension of the mind
So when disconnection occurs
Pain and pleasure intertwine
The world goes into decline
While business increases, for the hotline

I was a fish, before a man
The ocean was my home
I walk, where once I swam
At the edge of the sea foam

I walk next to the shoreline
Next to bending, bowing
Blue daisies in a jagged line
Sea winds overhead howling

I was a fish, before all this
In seaweed hidden caves
Unaware of the ocean mists
And the beauty of the days

I was stolen by a kind hand
From spinning dark and salt
To dry out, reeling on the sand
As my world came to a halt

Still, here I walk, on this beach
With visions of the seafloor
This world, is out of my reach
As is the sunlight that I adore

Soon, I'll be a fish again
Waiting silent in the shade
Yet, I will continue until then
To walk as man, as I was made

there was a new guy in the park
among the homeless

He arrived just after the mayor had
eradicated all
the tents and improvised huts

and it was easy to spot him
He was the one who
always had a book in his hand, always
reading

"Check out the new guy," they
said. "An intellectual. Heh, hey buddy,
what you reading that for? Not like
you gonna get a degree that'll take
your *** outta here anytime soon. Haaahahah!"

He was reading his own poems
from a time when
he was young and his dreams were
still alive

Today nothing was alive
but misery itself

Triple crescent moon,
one on the water, one on the sky,
and a third one, the best, in your eyes.
Stars look brighter today
and I might have a theory:
the universe gave you the spotlight.