Music always was an escape for me,
Until you came and went,
And stole it all from me

Tegan and Sara, blink-182
Seether, Jimmy Eat World
and Aerosmith too

Every song was a dagger,
That I masochistically plunged,
Until I was drained, haggard

I have my songs back,
But you've stained them,
Forever marked black

Pull the trigger,
Do it,
Set in motion this cascade of events

Lock and load,
**** the hammer,
This firing pin demands action

BOOM!

Muzzle flash,
Smoke,
A bullet case innocently falls

Tear through bone and flesh,
A maelstrom of destruction,
Who will be your next target?

I was always starved for your kiss,

Once you playfully held back,
A harmless betrayal

I remember doing the same thing to a girl after you,
The balance of power obvious

Woe betide whoever craves their lover's kiss more

In my head,
Your grave plot is beautiful,
And I visit it every. single. day.

Do you know about the silence?
The silence that becomes deafening at night,
When you're trying to cling to the warm embrace of sleep?

Listen!

You can hear it from over 3,000 miles away,
It's the mutual silence perpetuated by two parties,
Wracked with guilt and pride.

It's the silence of damaged egos,
The silence of perceived slights,
And all despite burning thoughts of each other,

It creeps up in your ear,
When you're cradling your lover,
It hisses like a snake and breeds doubt

It's the silence that screams,
And leaves your ears ringing for ages,
Leaving you begging, "PLEASE STOP!"

It subsides,
You fill the absence with white noise,
Relationships, infatuations

But it can always find you,
Slithering into the crevices of your thoughts,
When you take a moment to breathe

When I met you, my butterflies kicked like elephants,
Nausea the defining factor in our fledgling relationship

With time, they subsided,
Fluttering from time to time

Suddenly, a cold gust,
A foreboding omen of changing seasons

My butterflies had all died,
Killed by grief and the thought of a cold, lonely winter ahead

You let me hold you one last night,
One last night to sleep away this misery

You softly asked,
"Mike? Do you think I'm pretty?"

I gently kissed your back,
"I think you're gorgeous"