Children, parents, pets
Lining the streets
Looking through shops
Enjoying treats

Youths laughing heartily
No troubles in mind
Parents mingle among each other
Nobody shows worry; not even a sign

Pets bark at everything in sight
Running around with delight
All unaware of what’s to come
For that may be the last time they run

Workers bustle in their stalls
Bartering and selling
Earning their last dollar
As they begin to hear the calls

Men in uniform come running
Warning people of what’s coming,
Though it is all in vain
Since the gates were closed that day

Screams erupting through the streets
Chaos reigning all throughout
Fumes spilling over town like a sheet
Silencing those who couldn’t escape town

An explosion causing the ground to shake
Bodies littered astray
Pleading cries filling the empty space
But nobody could see through the blaze

All gone after the blow
Children, parents, pets
Once cheerful, and lining the streets
Looking through shops
And trying all of the treats
Now laying, still on the ground’
No laughs or barks
Just big ashy mounds

Uniformed men stop calling
But instead creating a massacre of their own
Filling more streets with bodies
Unsuspecting of what was to come

relishing in the happiness of my peers
And drowning in their sorrows-
Sympathy always has been risky
But I know nothing else to follow
~
Take another’s kindness-
And put it on display
So it can grow bigger with time
And set someone’s path on replay

Make a  friend, share another
No matter the cost-
Don’t let anyone feel at a loss

Show your feelings-
As you will take in others
And connect with those around you
Without remorse

Look at everyone-
Always as if for the first time
Using an eye of wisdom
To tell of their time
~
I look beyond to see one's true self with clarity-
And never look down on those who glare at me
Because all I seek in a world of pure hatred-
Is at least one shred of pure amity

A tip of my hat
To the cumulus that looms
A prowling lion in the clouds
Signifies my doom

Now amidst the fog
All six senses ***** the air
Something must be lurking
-I reason a cat, but fear a bear

I cast aside my shadow
A cloak I once hand stitched
-My reason clatters to the ground
Patience snubbed into abyss

I curse my aching feet
Starting to lose their ground
-Yet not a bench within a mile
And not a soul to be found

My feet berate the dirt
Blindly running until I’m lost
I sit within the rain    
My mind jumbled in a knot

But then a second look
I see a peek of sky
Tonight the stars were silent
And now I see them shine

I may be mute but I can promise you this,
I know better than most,
of this long dark abyss

I watch from afar,
all the mistakes that you make
-
and how you hastily cover them
adding icing on the cake

Though I may not be perfect
and my throat is made of ice,
I have a voice of silk,
simple yet precise

A house made of brick
I stand strong in the presence ,
of the tiny cardboard cookie-cutters
-
built weak without foundations

so kiss my hands
and bow at my feet,
bending to my will\
and admitting your defeat

Walking through the dunes
Of this deserted island-
Stopping for nothing
Couldn’t even if I wanted
there are monsters creeping
Snakes who pretend to be sleeping
Right until you step near-
And they’ll bite with a vengeance
So blaming, blaming
How could they dare!
My actions are justified
No matter the tear
Don’t look at me like that
I’m not like the others
I walk with one purpose-
to escape from this prison
An isolated place
So different from the rest
It welcomes you in
But you may never escape
Like the jaws of a lion
Or a decision you made
Such as continuing on-
Can you ever stop?
And as you try to climb, the mounds of sand so high
you slip and fall
Will you keep trying at all?
Of course
But you’ll break from the exertion
Yet you continue climbing
Knowing soon will be your end
Beautiful
really
But why  not play the game of the land
And sink all the others-
It’s Simply because you don’t want to know
The ***** ways of the snake
And the consequences of the show
So you trudge on with ignorance
And live in your beautiful bliss
That is until it hits you-
Reality that is

Will the light of reality wake you up
Or make you turn over and fall deeper into your dreams

A cicada to a tree
A flower in the earth;
Ties in life
Timing way before man

Trickling little stream
-Into a lake
Droplets to the ground
Set a cycle going again

Saguaros in the sand
A woodpecker flying about
Sharing nutrients together
Rarely ever found

Season change as it may
Everything will come and go
First the cicada in a tree
And the streams constant flow

Crystals take shape in time
Individual beauty they each hold-
But a jeweler is always picky
The deal is one for one

The birds always flee
Right where the grass is greenest-
Gone is the icy past
Although the memory never forgotten

Stomping on the ground
BOOM
Yelling, yet no sound
BOOM
I wear my invisible crown
BOOM
So unnoticed by the crowd
Yet on the inside I’m screaming
I have personality!
Boom
Boom
Boom
Look over here
A person needing help
Come to my aid
Before I’m buried by my shell
I cry out loud
When someone appears before my eyes
I reach out my hand
But i’m stopped yet again
My mind- is yelling
ButI  I think
“My heart tells no lies”
And so the tune continues on
Boom Boom Boom!

A whistle in the wind
A rumble in the ground
-
Sin may be close to kin
yet with the softness of a cloud

A fast pitter-pat
A tickle close to heart
-
Beware of that feeling
-Squash it with a start

Numbing chill
Amongst the gale
Ice cold breath
Trembling still
Heart be lost
Buried in snow
-
Tundras melt
Icebergs weep
Fingerlike rays
Warm on skin
Breath of life
Thaws a heart
Found by a beacon

Bristling leaves
Blue skies
Blowing trees
All a relief
Apon my skin
After a Summer long
Fall has come
Filling the air
Fretting my hair
Reminding me
Rebuilding my heart
Refilling the gaps
Now full of happiness

A crisp night
Illuminated with the oncoming excitement
A jolly season all in all
Creates an ignorance great enough to fill the world with joy
And create shadows on the truth
To mask any horrid feelings
For -anyone that may be feeling down
Wll be excluded from all the glory-
And so nobody hears it
And they all ignore the drops-
Of crystals into the sky
As the moon sobs high above
Only able to watch everything unfold
While everyone is cheery
And shouting in happiness
They forget the oncoming troubles
That will create a massacre great enough to shroud all hope
Of a Merry Christmas

My toes keep curling
when I walk into the yard-
It's warmer here

At dawn
The doves hum,
The rivers run,
The mothers sing,
The roosters scream
We all continue on

Mid-day
The bees hum,
The children run,
The wind chimes sing,
The cicadas scream
We all continue on

Afternoon
The workers hum,
The engines run,
The radios sing,
The sirens scream,
We all continue on

Midnight
The clubs hum,
The late shifts run,
The crickets sing,
The concerts scream,
We all continue on

Forever
The world will hum,
The clocks will run,
The life will sing,
The death will scream,
We all continue on

How to be scared of the unknown
For there is nothing to see or hear;
For us to fear

Knowing a truth, but telling all lies;
Seeing a scute, saying a hide
Hearing a hoot, saying a cry
Feeling a root, saying a snipe  

What is seen behind a light
What is seen late at night
What is seen walking alone
What is seen inside a  home

Looking at nothing;
But something in truth
A dark figure
A monster askew,
A hand on the wall
A blur of blue

What is perceived to be;
Is suddenly  true
Says the fox,
With no sympathy for you;
A meal on mind,
Which  makes you food

When fear is analyzed
truth shines through,
Lies realized
A scute
A hoot
A root
A shadow, clear as day
A fan creaking as you lay
A light switch there lay, on the wall at night

The Unknown is oblivion,
For there is no end
See what you want;
Night or day
Clear as water;
Affected by a ripple
A ripple caused by you;
Unhappy with the reflection

My time capsule
residing within my chest-
bleeding out for you

Crystals form over time,
they may be  brittle
and sometimes easy to find
-Although-
the rarest crystals are most treasured,
but their beauty can also be manufactured
~
so what's the point?

I shimmer in the light-
As I swim in the sea
Taking a random path around
As fitting as that sounds

I live for the spotlight
Though I’m the smallest  to be seen-
Gaining attention from my peers
Though I know I lack originality

Repeat repeat
That’s the fastest way to fame-
Being the class clown is never easy
Yet my jokes are always the same

School, who knew?
I have better things to do
Or at least that’s what I think
As long as I can avoid responsibility

Have you ever had a dream?
Well sometimes, I think of my wish
One that will end all my trying
And I can be free as a fish

A bird cannot  fly
If it carries too much weight on it’s wings-
Instead it will be left to silently cry
As it watches all it’s friends

A roadrunner cannot run
If it eats too many worms-
Not because of any extra weight
But because his conscience holds his feet

A human cannot thrive
As long as they’re alone-
But alone they will stay
If they carry hate in their soul

Have you ever wanted-
To fall and land on your feet
To let your shadows creep into the light
To open your arms and scream to the world-
“At least I try!”

A dream is a knife
Your thoughts for a grip
And your feelings the blade -
You cut yourself up, piece by piece
Until there’s only a broken face

Are you ever glad you wandered?
This abyss is eternity
One less step, and you could’ve had everything
Everything but yourself-
But what’s that when you are all you have

Plucking a rose takes guts-
You must know the danger
As you pluck the flower of lust
Even though it may be the fairest flower
The drop of a petal can result in your ultimate shatter

You trip up on every step
Your life is broken by your sins
Your heart is shattered with your ignorance
Your personality means nothing, since everyone left
Have you ever wanted to know how else things could’ve went?

Tick-Tock
As time goes by
Moving along with a purpose

Tick-Tock
Ending the old
Beginning the young

Tick-Tock
Yielding to none
Stopping for nothing

Tick-Tock
Recording life
Creating eras
Continuing years

Tick-Tock
Embodiment of love
Creator of space

Tick-Tock
Running out
Spin into oblivion, but it won’t stop

Tick-Tock
Time is a mystery
But it creates history

Tick-Tock
Coming to an end
Moving to its final destination
Bringing everything with it

Tick-Tock
Builds a rhyme
A poem
A hymn

Tick-Tock
Ruler of space
Of earth
Of us

Tick-Tock
When it stops
So do we
And everything, that is

Tick-
A whirlpool of emotions comes crashing in
The rhythm of your heart beats out of tune
You control your time
When it’s up, you decide

-Tock
When you’re done
You stop the clock
Turn off the lights
And hear your last sound;
Though pleasant to the ear, dangerous as time
Tick-Tock

Hiding in the attic
I couldn’t take it anymore
The fighting was erratic
And everyone thought me a bore

Cries sounded around
Yet I was silent
The others were upset again
Sounds like one went to town

The sound of footsteps filled  the air
Like a cricket in the dead of night
Slowly making their way closer
Til I was frightened by an awful sight

A putrid smell filled the air
Liquor drank just before
This THING came to stare at me
Then there sounded a familiar roar

Laughter
It found me funny
How- I know not
There was no humor in the situation at all

Walking closer
it smelled me like a rose
Then dropped to my feet
And began mumbling by my toes

There it was again
The laughter
It laughed to the air
Which filled the empty walls of my lair

I was done watching this unfold
I took my bat and smashed and smashed
Crack!
I bashed every bone I could now see protruding from it

I looked to see it laughing-
Still!
I swung until I couldn’t
But that wasn’t enough

The roaring went on forever
It would never stop
I ran downstairs toward the door
And kept my legs going on, until they made me drop

Down the street
Through the park
Into the store
Right into the aisle

Before I knew it, I was home
in the attic
Listening to the roaring again

My mind, crystal clear
My mother laying there
Broken on the attic floor\
Her eyes giving me a dead stare

Using the item from the store
I sank it deep in my heart
Yet my knowledge  hurt it more
So I did it again

My life was never easy
But I always had my family
My mother may have hurt me
But I was her life

I couldn’t believe myself
How could one be so cruel
I thought she was frightening
But it doesn’t compare

I am her life
As she is mine
A common love really
That cannot be undermined

Death was a nightmare
Yet not  even real
I would die a thousand times
But my heart would be broken still

I thought I've seen monsters
Had a few experiences scored
But humans are the true haunters
And I am the most horrid

Moonlight dancing off my cheeks
A reflection of my heart
-tonight I will remember
how you tore me apart

Somehow
The sun shined different in your eyes
-a good front
for all your nasty lies

Every day
I marvel in the warmth that you made
-I thought you
could take my pain away

It was you
That gave me the world after all
-too bad shiny pearls
couldn’t break my fall

So close
For all my growing years
-as it turns out
nothing was that crystal clear

Your front fell
The moment I reached out my arms
-I was too late
to hear the alarms

If it wasn’t me
You’d be called out for your crimes
-never again
will you see what’s on my mind

But this new dawn is a bright one
Not even you can bring shade
-so in the end
I hope you’re still doing okay

The dawn of dusk turns gold to dust
The moon shares my loneliness-
A sliver of thread comes out the hem
Of my finely crafted soul

A whisper lost for sound
Spoken ever so slightly-
Is the tale of those forever loved
That leaves my heart unsightly

A knock in the chest
Is the gale pulling me forward-
Inching me through my fate
Still moving in a haze

A fall would be an escape
This thought echoes in my head-
Encouraging the drop so certain
Proposing an end to this dread

Now walking on a web of steel
Following the intricate delicacy-
Of the memories I once foresaw
Buried six feet under

The lightest touch so soft
A feather to tease my soul-
Daring me to follow the day as it shrivels
Pushing the last bits of gold to their extent

Although, drop so tempting
I vow to hold my ground-
trudging on past my history
And viewing the morning sun

I lay here alone
as my work stockpiles up-
imagine it done

Giant Golden
Petals
Breathing in
The sun

Tall and Sturdy
Stem
Dancing in
The wind

Wide Green
Leaves
Drinking up
The rain

Long Powerful
Roots
Digging through
The Earth

Biggest, Brightest
Sunflower
Giving light to
The world

Tread my paths
-calm and collected

Lose yourself
-your mind, your presence

Open your arms
-I’ll  guide you to my heart

Memorize the past
-mold it with the present

Remember me
-lost but not forgotten

Cherish this
-time is constantly fleeting

Leave me then
-a reminder of a heart’s distant beating

I’ll see you again
-right when you least expect it

Voicing fervent beliefs
Tone-
As hard as stone
Carry your legacy on-
Or simply create your own
strut the halls
With perfect posture-
Never forgotten,
Is that confidence
Swing your gait-
A daring sashay,
And lead the weak-
make them tough as bone
Yet never forget
In which you came-
So speak your name
Scream it to be remembered
The name in which
leads people together
You
Are
A
Leader

Balance, once forthcoming
unsteady-
Now heavy feet wobble
in the wake of fleeting certainty

Leafy determination
crunched and battered-
Sifting about, once a wonder
dried, victim of Winter

Cracked, withered concrete
foundation chipped away-
Paint rolled over in submission
having past years to pay

Stone left to shame
smothered by the vandals-
Cruelty primped and perfected
pitying eyes serving no justice

Free fall, bound by distrust
unprecedented in the past-
Loosely sleeved history repeats
snuffing this connection all at once

A tale full of mystery
Only half told-
Lights a slight curiosity
In the heart of the soul

Though dim surrounded by beams of  expectations
It speaks wonders in such few words-
And while seemingly harmless
Grows brighter along with its allure

A light almost unseen
Enough to keep any heart warm,
Cures the darkness of the night
With its illicit charm

Created by the mood of one's thoughts and actions
It varies in size and saturation -
And depending on the person, it will shine
Drawing other lights in with time

It lives within the soul
And seeing it may be strenuous
But everyone has it
And with time, they realize they too are luminous

Riding on the waves of those around you
Copying their stance to get it right
going til they stop since that’s what they do
Yet they still laugh just in spite

Drifting away, with your hope
Of ever finding riding partners;
You’ve found none no matter how you scope

Finding a wave to call your own
Riding along with your own moves
Doing a twist though it’s against what you were shown
Now nobody can even hope to match your groves

Spotting a rider all alone
Drifting on a board so out of place
But you help them make their true colors show
Red
Blue
Green
Suddenly their loneliness is gone without a trace

Copying others was no easy feat
So now you follow the waves with an individual rhythm
And find it to be one of the easiest things
Now you create your own waves
And help other people find their wings

Reinforced glass
Lay upon my sill
A shield built into
My keep
Unbeknownst
To everyone
But me
A precaution
Firewall so to speak
Caging
what lay inside
A rotting house
An overgrown beast
Riddled with landmines
Dangerous
And never to be
Seen
Though it continues
To creak and crumble
Taunting me
To walk back down
Those corroded
Stones
And open the door
Unleashing
The secrets
Of a house
Never home to me

You aren’t broken
Emotions are a constant flow from you
-a growing stain on your perspective

You aren’t sad
Tears may leak you a river
But you haven’t looked up in ages

You aren’t lonely
Always surrounded by onlookers
-you just don’t feel involved

You aren’t depressed
A cloud has only passed over your head
Raining down on your conscience

You aren’t scared
What even is fear to someone
Who always has the electric bill paid

You aren’t a liar
Experience just hasn’t caught you yet
Wait until what you say is true-

Your words call me forward
Arms draw me near
Hold me here forever-
How about we stay together?

Your love is a harpoon
Don’t seem so stressed-
I’ll polish it to perfection-
Until I see my heart’s reflection

Your warmth is my sun
Please keep me healthy,
And I promise to try and heal  you-
Fix you up, just like new

Your crazy is my flame
stay forever in my heart,
Burn it to an ember-
Carving your name into its center

Your determination is my anchor
So let me be your captain,
Let’s sail these wild waters-
Lead this lamb to the slaughter

Your goodbye is my demise
Leave me here to rot
Broken and *****-
Love, don’t you know you hurt me?

We caress the heavens together
-Calm-
In a trance

Lost in a sea of souls
I find you hard to miss
-familiar-
I can’t escape your pull

I flow
-not with the wind-
But with you
Bending air as I go

My whole eternity is you
A blue vastness
-too great to ignore-
From my perspective

I live for you
As there is nothing else
Quite as magnetic
-although, I’m trapped for sure-

My naivete may live on
Yet even I ponder
The slight trembling in my heart
Subconscious, or am I over?

There, a world spilling with ants
So small-
Yet visible with their feats of humanity
-I can see it so clearly now-

Where once there were only specs-
Now there lay a myriad of wonders
Right before me
-the haze clearing-

My confidence
often a victim of gravity-
So steady hands always pulled me up
Right on cloud nine

I no longer feel the softness of those palms-
Once my ever-aiding life
-safety-
I have fallen out of your grasp

The wetness of tears
Staining my existence-
Yet clearing it all the same
I fall as the icy raindrops guide my demise

All hard and true-
I must accept my punishment
For I have lived on far too long
And know much too little

Seeping into reality-
I can feel every texture on my skin
Every imperfection on the ground
-forever taunting me-

Leaving the once continuous cycle-
Venturing into the unknown
Where-for once-
A seed may grow larger than a planter could ever provide

A wild flower-
Thriving in a sea of individuality
Forever smiling at the sky
Despite the abandonment

This fourth of July
will we rejoice our freedom-
confined to our home

Hands on the window
I can see people pass by-
we wave now and then

A sunny afternoon blocked by shade
Made brighter by the wind, whisking everything away
Though bits and pieces still-
What’s new? There always will
The sun seems so far off
But the moon is green in envy
Who else could compare to the beams of beauty?
Because even after setting, making all those stares so jealous
The sun will rise again, always so overzealous

Touch so comforting
A familiar hand to hold-
Spreading this disease

Enemy moving in
An old friend-
Itching under the skin
Clawing away at marrow

Sleep hollows the mind
Blank of reality-
Ah, but not a sign
Of it making haste anytime soon

Isolation known and welcome
Familiar as it comes-
Although this feeling is all but seldom
Paranoia is beginning to show

Memory of this wrath
Now too real to be past tense-
slinking straight down the path
Once tread and disrupted

Growling straight out of a nightmare
Emanating throughout the room-
This hunger is constantly aware
Though it’s warning is lost to mind

Pain is quite the grounder
A reminder to keep in time-
Stand upright despite the hour
Always alert within these confines