I The Hard Part
~ be a good friend

II The Easy Part
~ write what you feel

This is my bargain.
Day for night
and night for day.

There isn't a time where I hadn't wished
that the day would end to make way for night.

Nights offer a bleak sense of comfort.
Almost as if they'd grant a temporary cloak which
you could huddle under and think or...
Overthink in the dark.

You could bargain shamelessly with tears running streams down your face and no one could see.
You could negotiate with reality for the slight perchance that things would turn out alright come daylight.
You could voice out your barter in hushed tones and still be somewhat assured that no one would know.
All of this...
In the cover of night.

Then when sleep eludes, you can't help but beg for day to come.
For with the light comes the day's responsibilities; all eager and raring to go.
Much like runners at the start line, anticipating the shot to be fired at the crack of dawn.
Shot fired and they'd come swooping down on you...
Sweeping you off your feet and carries you off to where you need to be, doing what you're paid to do for the next 8 to 10 hours.

That is your break from the dark.
That is your retreat from all the thinking.
That is your escape from... yourself.

And then...
4 hours into the day, you're wishing for night again.

Unseen memories lurking in corners,
behind closed doors.
Abuse etched into the ink free remains of my elastic encasement.

Violet streaked vixens, dancing naked.
A circus,
of disease-ridden saviors and meek starved profits.

Lips parched, cracked corners split in two.
Outwardly reaching,
Forever stagnant.

Water must be diluted for me to sip.
While I choke.
Immobilized. Incoherent. Suffocated and still.

Gasp...
It was a sucker punch.
One that leaves you winded and frozen.
And you struggle to get out of this malfunction...
Trying to find that foothold that would take you to the next breath.

Quickening of the heartbeat...
Almost instantaneous.
Thumps so loud and hard you could hear them in your ears.

Disbelief...
You never saw it coming.
You weren't ready.
You replay it again and again.
Like a bad movie stuck on repeat.

Denial...
It never happened.
Yeah...
Nothing happened.

Keep your moonbeams
On the top shelf
Within reach
But high

Hold fast to
The spider's strand
It will lead you
From it's lair

You cannot take your  
Things with you
Thus it pays
To always travel light

Cling to those
Who love you
They will guide you
Through the night

©  2017 Jim Davis

Sometimes
the words speak to themselves,
the language, that I can't understand,
whispers, that I can barely hear,
until silence consumes it,
and I will disappear.