Hey, everyone, and to all Star Wars fans: May the 4th be with you! :D
  I hope everyone has a good day, and remember the wise words of Yoda: “You will know (the good from the bad) when you are calm, at peace. Passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.”  :)

I feel it creeping in
just under my skin;
It comes when
my thoughts are fuzzy
and the sky is dark.
It pulls tears from my eyes
and pours embers into my brain,
it whispers in my ear
and leaves a frozen knife
in my heart.
And it’s not until
I finally close my eyes
that I am safe.

My heart was once pure
Made of glistening gold
But when I first faced the demons
That lurk underground
The gold was blackened
Just slightly
And a chunk of gold stolen from my chest.
As I continued to battle the beasts
They kept stealing gold from my glowing heart
And they replaced riches with lead
So that my chest grew heavier
And my heart darkened
Now there is just a smidgen of gold left
And I'm struggling to save it
Struggling to keep my riches

If a girl falls in an empty house
with death rolling through her veins,
does she make a sound?
Does anyone hear the last breath,
has anyone seen her frown?
Who saw the pain that hid behind her eyes,
who saw the darkness within?
Is there anyone who knew
that her happiness flew
far away, far away,
so that the gray
took over?
A girl fell in an empty house,
with death rolling through her veins.
She didn't make a sound,
but the impact was profound
Her absence has hit hearts all around.

Indigo tides surge,
threaten to pull me away
into the realm of eternity.

Occasionally, I let them
draw me just a little
too close

before finally leaning
away from the depths
to feel the sun’s glow.

Do you dare disturb the sleeping spider
nestled in her web?
Do you dare touch the silver strands
to make them shiver and shake?
Do you fear the venom?
Do you fear the bite?

I’m ready for fall.
I’m ready for
My leather jacket,
which I wear like a second skin;
My fingerless gloves,
somehow both practical and not;
My trusty boots, clomping fearlessly through any weather;
Flannel every day, a timeless pattern;
A bitter breeze balanced by a lemon sun to make the perfect temperature.
I’m ready to watch the leaves turn to flames and dance through the neighborhoods,
I’m ready to smell the cider and pumpkin in every store.
I’m ready to start planning a disguise, to hide from the Hallow’s spirits.

I’m ready for fall,
the best season of all.

And the lights, they dance

Spin

Twirl

Fly

They fill the sky, gleaming, gleaming, gleaming,

bright.

They are invisible

except to my eyes.

They are the music,

the sound that pounds in my chest.

Boom

Boom

Boom

boom.

Vibrations ripple through my veins,

my blood fizzes and boils

I want to scream

and spin

and twirl

and fly

Like the lights in the sky

They cannot be seen by any eyes

Only mine, only mine

I alone can see

Because I alone can hear

The music, the beats, the rise

and the fall

I will explode from the force of it,

this sound that pours into my body

Absorbs into my skin

Bubbles into my blood

Dances through my mind

Setting me free

Like I've always wanted to be

Yes, I am free

I am free free free

And the music, it goes on

And the lights, they dance

Your
voice, the sweetest sound
that I have ever heard, ah,
the song makes me yearn for you
Physical contact
will leave me
dizzy;
your scent
will steal
my sanity.
It's you, it's you,
Oh, I love, I love, I love you
It is not possible for this fragile body to hold
the blaze inside, this firestorm of
passion sweet and hot
Break me, release the flames
Taste this passion in your dreams
until real life can capture it, too
Ah, I love,
Ah, I love,
Ah, listen, I love you.

I am made up of fragments
Bits of memory stain my skin
And I can fade
Into the woodwork, silent wallflower
I have one foot stuck in the past,
And I don’t know how to get it out
Without twisting my ankle

Oh, like-minded soul,
Could you come
To take me home?
Oh, like-minded soul,
Please, take my hand and lead me home

It was so random,
I dont even know how
I spotted you through the fog of thoughts
You caught my eye, your skin tattooed with memories
Just like mine
I saw the shadow in your eyes
I couldn’t look away
I couldn’t turn away from you

Oh, like-minded soul,
Could you come
To take me home?
Oh, like-minded soul,
Please, take my hand and lead me
Home

I swear I see my own tearstains
Turning your skin blue
And I swear that those are my scars
Shining on your arms
And I might be looking in a mirror;
Those eyes match mine
Even though the color is off
Our souls are the same,
We feel the same odd heartbeat
So, like-minded soul,
Tell me, do you know way home?
Oh, like-minded soul,
Let’s go find the way home

Oh, like-minded soul,
Could you come
To take me home?
Oh, like-minded soul,
Please, take my hand and lead me home

Ooh, like-minded soul,
I’ve come to take you home
Oh, like-minded soul,
Take my hand, I’ll lead you home.

There is a place
where thoughts are left for dead
Unseen, unheard
Unwritten, and unsaid
A dark place deep
In the dismal abyss of the head
Where the cold bites sharply
And shadows scream
with voices so high
They cannot be heard
except for above,
only in the sky.
I have a castle there,
I built a palace out of words
And underneath,
below the dungeons filled with traitorous thoughts
Under the bellies of my demons
There is a place
where thoughts are left for dead
Unseen, unheard,
Unwritten, and unsaid.

Why can't I shake
the thought
of

you?


I can't grasp
the emotions,
they're just

fog.


I'm caught in a storm,
barely breathing, and
just wishing for

clarity.


We both hear
the siren's song,
a plea to sink into abysmal

d
a
r
k
n
e
s
s
.



I just wish
I could pull you to
safe land,
and help you find the sun.

There's this constant feeling
of relentlessly being dragged
through any number of things;

cold snow chokes my airways,

cold water fills my lungs

dirt dances on top of my eyes

and mud leaves its messy mark.

I can't cut loose, this attachment
is just life;
Time pulls and tugs and does not care
if you wish to stop here or there.

The untameable beast, taking bites
from our bodies
Pulls me forward and through
raging seas
It doesn't try to drown me,
just expects me survive
Even as I choke and gasp,
even as I beg and cry.

I wish to rest, just give me a breath–
the passage of time
will pass me by

Meanwhile,
where am I?

Dance on a skeleton tightrope,
Bones strung across a bottomless hole
One foot in front of the other
With spiderwebs holding your wrists prisoner
Pill bottles around the sink
Tapping on their tiptoes
Lined up to greet you,
To pour sleepdeathdarkness down your throat
A knife spins on its scarlet-stained tip
A weeping chasm divides the solidity of your vein
Railroad tracks on snow, the crows lose their voices
And drop feathers into the frost
Feathers fill your head so you cannot thinkspeakbreathe
A kiss of sunshine tries to wake you,
But you’re too far under
The frigid waves
Palms raised to the walls of the iceberg
Lips parted to sing a song of release me please
Hushandshush no one wants to hear you cry, deary
Stitch a smile into your lips
Hide the tears that dance on your vocal strings
No one wants to see the broken doll
Who dances on cracked limbs
Porcelain dancing on thin ice, watch it
S h
A
Tte
R
Watch her fall
No one really wanted to save her after all
Dance in a nightmare, cry in a dream
The pain will make me burst at the seams
I can see the blood spilling
Onto the tile floor
It stains my eyes, it stains my heart
It digs claws into my soul to tear me apart
The fog tranforms into laughing ghosts
Their faces are the masks of tragedy
Their eyes are everything I fear
These are not words that I want to hear
A boy with eyes the color of chocolate and mahogany
Is desperate to keep me safe
But I am afraid
Even the warmest kiss cannot melt the icicles lining my veins
Here I go, to walk the skeleton tightrope,
My tears fall into the bottomless void
Behind me, the monsters ask me to fall
Ahead my soul begs me to
Put one foot
Ahead of the other
Keep walking the skeleton tightrope, forward
Into the gleaming city of hope.

That which I do not understand
is a reason not to follow,

And a reason not to follow
is a reason not to care.

A reason not to care
is a reason not to live,

and reason not to live
is a reason to say the words
that are equal to ¨Farewell¨.

I'm sailing away
I'm sailing away
in my head
I'm sailing away
I wish I was dead
But I
got too much to live for
And I
got too much left to say
But I
got too much to live for
And I
got a lot of years left to stay
But I

I'm sailing away
in my head
I'm sailing away
I'm lost inside my head
And it's stormy here
And I
I could die in here

But I
got too much to live for
And I
got too much left to say
But I
got too much to live for
And I
got too many years to stay

I'm sailing away
in my head
I'm sailing away
I should be dead
I'm sailing away
I'll drown in here
I'm sailing away
But I've got to say

That I
got too much to live for
And I
got too much left to say
But I
got too much to live for
And I
will stay!

Sailing away
I'm so far away
Sailing away
I got a lot to say
Sailing away
And I will stay.

I should be touching the stars still
Because I have you, holding me in your arms
But I'm slowly falling again
About to hit the ocean's roaring surface
About to shatter, then sink
So hold me close, and never let go,
promise me
If I break, you'll piece me back together
Promise me
If I wander away, you'll follow me
You'll find me and bring me home
Promise me,
promise me,
promise me
You'll only ever tighten your grip
but don't smother me, no
Help me breathe
Just promise you won't give up on me
When I am falling, you'll catch me
promise me,
promise me,
oh, please, promise me
you won't leave me to fade away
alone.

Somehow,
everything falls right into place
with you.

So I must learn to be without you,
but I promised to never let go,
Didn't I?
And when you've returned
from your journey through the darkness,
You will find me, waiting, arms open
Smile wide
I hope that you'll be happy to see me
I will wait here forever
*I've been waiting for so long

It consumes you, devours you,
Makes you wonder if you’ll die
But when you are feeling it, oh,
You are never more alive.

I got lost today.
I got lost in a place that I
should never get lost in,
but somehow I just keep taking the wrong turns.
I got lost today,
got lost in my own head,
not sure where to look
and not sure what to say when
I could ask for help.
I keep getting lost,
and when I come back home
and tell my friends and family,
"I'm sorry, I got lost again,"
they throw fits and ask me why I don't
try to find a way to fix it.
Do you think I don't?
But maps are annoying, and a GPS is just so expensive,
and I could just buy a compass
but I'll lose it by next week anyway!
So I guess I'll just keep getting lost,
keep taking those wrong turns
until I can finally know
where I'm supposed to go.
I just hope that somebody will know
where to look for me
if someday I don't find my way home.

Every day
I am falling down
And every night
You come and pick me up
And hold me close
Hold me close so I can see
There's a sky in your eyes
There's a universe in your mind
I wanna be the center
The brightest star in the sky,
Burning forever
But even if I'm not, that's okay
Because I have you here for now.

See the stars? They shine,
Opalescent and bright for
Us, because we finally found our
Love.

Moonlight illuminates our hearts
And each half of the whole soul,
Tied together by fate,
Everlasting love.

Dear Chester,
This letter, even though you will never see it, is a thank you letter.
When I saw the news today of your death, my world turned upside down. I was shaking, crying, barely able to breathe. I was so shocked to see your name in a headline alongside the words “Dead” and “Suicide”. I didn’t believe I for a while, because I’d also seen the article about your death being a hoax, but then I saw Mike’s tweet, and the news stories on NY Times and Washington Post, and I realized - it was true. My greatest inspiration was gone.
I can’t really pinpoint when you became such an inspiration to me. I started listening to Linkin Park when I was in seventh or eighth grade, after my mom put the Twilight soundtrack on my iPod shuffle and I heard Leave Out All the Rest. LOATR soon became my favorite song, and it still is six years later. I started listening to LP religiously after Living Things came out. I fell in love with the raw emotions of Meteora, and the clean energy of Living Things; the eager buzz of Hybrid Theory and the simple but true sound of Minutes to Midnight. A Thousand Suns completely blew my mind.
As I started to learn more about the band, I also learned more about you. I found out that you had a rough life growing up, struggling with ****** abuse as a kid, and drugs and alcohol as a teen and young adult. Depression tormented you your whole life. But you drew strength from those experiences, and became this amazing badass with a big heart who would do anything for his friends and family. You didn’t stop shows because of a broken arm, or cancel tours because a spider bit you in the ***, and even when you did have to end a tour because of a broken leg, you came right back as soon as you were able to give us the show we’d been waiting for.
You never failed to show your love for your fans, your family, or your fellow band members and musicians, and we all noticed and loved that.
I admired your dedication to the people around you, and how tough you always were, and how you stayed so strong and kept such a big smile on your face. Your amazing singing voice kept me going through the standard teenage angst phase that is high school.

For a long time, a huge dream of mine has been to see Linkin Park live, to see you and Mike and Brad and Phoenix and Rob and Joe on stage, playing all of my favorite songs. An even bigger but less likely dream was to actually meet you, hug you, and say, “Thank you.”
It breaks my heart to realize that now, that will never happen. You’re gone. Your beautiful voice can now only be heard in recordings, your grin now only seen in videos and photographs.
I still can’t fully believe that you’re gone.
And even though your death was one that seems to leave no hope, you still are and always will be an inspiration to me.

Thank you, Chester.
I know that you will never see this, but thank you.

Rock on forever,
  Sky

Swell of sound
In my chest
Wash away my fear
Forget life’s test

A voice, clear and smooth
Defining my mind
A cry to be heard
Determined to leave the pain behind

A great collection of sound
To make the emotion perfectly clear
Whether it makes you move your feet
Or provokes you to shed a tear

A song, so sweet,
Is all I need to guide my day
Another song, maybe one more
To help me find my way

What do I say
when I haven't written in
so long?

Day by day,
everything just feels like
a thick fog–

Nothing is clear,
I can't see far ahead;
I've just been walking forward
to where?

So I just haven't been writing,
haven't been glowing, feeling
like I can exist.

I try to reach
that gleaming surface–
I never even knew I sank.

Never knew I was stuck here
in the cold again, wading
through another storm.

It's so quiet now,
settled into my soul like a routine;
Here we go again.

If I keep swimming,
I can't drown.

If I keep walking,
we'll make it eventually.

I wish it wasn't so cold.

Fade away
into the next day
so the sun can warm your icy skin
so the light can revitalize you
so you can live to breathe
another day*
it's raining today
it's teardrops and gray
i can't breathe
when the sun is drowning in the raindrops
i drown in this puddle of tears
i fell down the rabbit hole,
i drank too much of the Drink Me
i shrank down, teeny-teeny-tiny
i'm drowing in my tears
i'm drowning, i can't be saved.*
"Wake up, child, wake up
'Tis naught but a dream, see,"
Aye, but my dreams reflect my soul.

My nose is above the water,
My lips just below
The waves sweep over my head
And I struggle to breathe
I’m trying to survive here,
Trying to stay afloat
But it’s hard to stay bouyant
When I’ve become so numb and cold
Just above me, I can see a fogged-over sun
I wish it would shine, clear and free
I wish it could spread its blanket of rays across me
Warm blanket of gold thread
Let me sleep here, warm
A wave sweeps over my head
I’m drowning again
I can’t sleep here, it’s much to cold
The only way I can close my eyes
Is if I let myself die
But there across the sea
My love is waiting for me
He sits on an island, toes in the waves
He’s waiting there for me
My limbs are weak, my heart is giving in
But, **** it all, I will still swim
I will keep fighting these arctic waves
Until I have finally reached my love,
And I can be warm with him again.

I hate the fear
I hate the way it boils in my belly
Climbs up my throat
Tries to make me scream
I hate that way my heart trembles
Hate the way it shakes in my chest
I hate this feeling
called fear.

Stepping into an amusement park
is equivalent of stepping into
another world
Step out of the poverty, the tears, and the shame
and walk through the gates
into
joy, laughter, wonder, magic, miracles, love
It doesn't matter who you are
It doesn't matter what you've done
All that matters is that
right here, right now
You can be ALIVE
You can leave all of your burdens behind
Step into a world where dreams come true
And sometimes your silly nightmares, too
Fly like a Manta ray through the water
See the world through a sea turtle's eyes
Rescue the city with your favorite superheroes
And watch in awe as other people
just like you
perform daring stunts right before your eyes.
Yes, it is another world
beyond the gates of an amusement park
So step right up
and embrace your dreams
Escape reality while you can.

(1)
Gentle
(2)
strokes
(3)
Golden
(4)
strands
(5)
Smooth
(6)
the tangles
(7)
away
(8)
As
(9)
the sun
(10)
betrays
(11)
the day
(12)
Eyes
(13)
shut
(14)
tight
(15)
Mind
(16)
flown
(17)
away­
(18)
Soul
(19)
mate’s
(20)
kiss
(21)
will
(22)
save
(23)
the day
(24)
Hush
(25)
little
(26)
demons
(27)
I’m not
(28)
listening
(29)
to you
(30)
today
(31)
As
(32)
golden
(33)
strands
(34)
are soothed
(35)
My
(36)
thoughts
(37)
slip
(38)
away
(39)
Already
(40)
dreaming
(41)
of the
(42)
next
(43)
day
(44)
The light
(45)
reveals
(46)
the scars
(47)
of yesterday
(48)
but I
(49)
just
(50)
smile
(51)
Because
(52)
I
(53)
bore
(54)
the
(55­)
pain
(56)
and I
(57)
survived
(58)
to love
(59)
another
(60)
day
(61)
I save
(62)
my
(63)
kiss
(64)
for someone
(65)
who
(66)
deserves it
(67)
not for
(68)
someone
(69)
who
(70)
will
(71)
only
(72)
bring
(73)
me
­(74)
more
(75)
pain
(76)
So
(77)
go
(78)
away
(79)
ghosts
(80)
I have
(81)
found
(82)
my
(83)
soul
(84)
mate
(85)
and
(86)
he
(87)
has
(88)
­found
(89)
me
(90)
As the
(91)
day
(92)
fades
(93)
gentle
(94)
brushstrokes
(95)
send
(­96)
me
(97)
blissfully
(98)
to
(99)
sleep.
(100)

The sky is exploding

sending shards of shrapnel

down to Earth

Orbs of cold and wet

that burst on impact

and soak their target in tears

Pieces of shrapnel

skitter across the road

on legs made of fragility

Cold  and wet

Teardrops of the sky

Who is it that cries?

Who do they cry for?

Do they see the shadows

that many on Earth have become?

Do they weep because

we are devoured by darker times?

Are the tears,

clear and cold,

pulled by the untimely arrival

of death to a young soul's side?

Do these weepers,

these beings who hide in the sky,

also suffer from

the dark diseases of life,

The mind-numbing drinks

And crazy-making smoke

And blood-hungry metal?

Why does no one weep for them

the way they weep for us?

Is it odd that
I have yet to write a poem for you?
A poem full of rose petals, a heavy scent
that traps us in each other's arms

I have not put my heart into words for you,
perhaps because I tell you all the time,
Sprinkling the roses over your head
so you know how I feel

I show you how I feel in every
move I make around you,
in every word I say,
so perhaps that is why

I haven't written a love poem for you
because my feelings are already on display
We dance in a rainfall of rose petals,
drowning in the scent of our love.

F
E
A
R
is its own phobia.
I am afraid of
F
E
A
R
because it makes my heart
feel like it will explode.
It sends tremors through my body
that seem horrifically devastating.
The aftershock
is much worse.
I vibrate
I want to
Cry
Scream
Curl up
into a ball
Just disappear
Be no more
F
E
A
R
is my enemy.
I must defeat it
or die trying

Our bathroom wall,
light blue with a glitter topcoat,
looks gaudy and childish
in the daytime.

At night, by the glow
of a small nightlight,
my eyes blurry with sleep,
it looks as though
a piece of the night sky
has materialized before me.

I f I wake before I die

Defy the pain of life's lie

Carve goodbyes into my skin

And scream to release the truth within

Lay me down six feet deep

Because I have no soul to keep

Let me wander lost forever

Until I vanish into the never

Curious thing,

fluttering wings

Shedding dust

like iron sheds rust

Under glass dome

Ding-****, ding-****

But this bell does not toll

The only sound is wings against glass

Tap-tap, tap-tap, crystal sound

Big blue wings, curious things,

Why are they so blue?

The pen swirls a net to try and catch

The blue that fills the glass room

The drawing is done

Pointy silver, topped with a sphere,

comes out to play

The wings flutter, flutter, flutter

Fall still

New glass, flat sheet

Like ice on the road

No longer a soundless bell

Inside of which is trapped

a beauty

Unable to escape

Never to be set free

Flattened under ice-sheet glass

Curious thing,

Museum thing,

No more fluttering wings.

Anticipation is bittersweet,
trying to taste the moment
before it touches my tongue;
I am desperate to devour the flames,
but I must be careful
not to swallow too fast for fear that they will burn me.

Surrealism
fogs my brain
Music video songs
(Linkin Park, "Shadow of the Day")
in math class makes me feel
surreal
I can just barely hear the teacher's drone
over the familiar notes and lyrics and sounds
I let my pencil move over the paper
and sketch what lies before me:
Calculator, paper, paper, pencil.
The song changes
(Linkin Park, "What I've Done")
I finish my sketch
turn my volume up
just a notch
and disappear into the song.

Whispers sneak through my head
Tip-toe softly, cat's paws for feet

They summon thoughts of darkness
Lock them up inside my mind

They exhale bad memories and devour bright smiles
Grin hungrily just before they bite

They place me in a bed of cold fog
Tuck the corners so I can't fall out

They shove my screams back down my throat
Mold them into a choking ball

The whispers are evil and subtle
They make sure only I can feel their torture

you slowly push
my doubts away,
and every day
that we talk
i feel the hole fill.
the universe
might finally be kind
to my aching heart.
could you really be
the comfort
i’ve been seeking?

I look at my hands...
I see ash
I look at my eyes...
I see empty black holes
I look at my face...I see a grinning skull
I look at my shadow...
I see a monster
Reaching out to pull me underground
I am falling apart
Inside and outside and under the skin
My mouth is open wide...
I am screaming unheard words
They echo inside of my head
Until someone hears
And saves me from the skeleton I have become
Do you see me now?
I am nothing more than bone
Carved with the sharp words that fly
Out of your mouth
Do you hear me now?
I have been screaming and crying inside
for so long
Tears refuse to fall...
I am a stone wall...
I used to be
But now I've become something much more gruesome
I am screaming unheard words
They echo inside of my head
Until someone hears
And saves me from the skeleton I have become
I am becoming this
This is what you've made me
You can still save me
Just open your eyes
And see the pain
Just open your ears
And hear me scream
Just open your mouth to the sky
and
scream
unheard words
They echo inside of our heads
Until someone hears
And saves us
I am screaming unheard words
They echo inside of my head
Until someone hears
And saves me
I am screaming unheard words
They echo inside of my head
Until someone hears
And saves me from
The skeleton I have become
I am falling apart
Inside and outside and under the skin
My mouth is open wide...

I can't stand this prison
with bars made out of
numbers and equations
I need to escape
Give me
an iron spoon
So I can dig my way out
Give me
a sleeping pill
So I can put
the guard to sleep
Steal the key
Unlock the door
Set me free
C'mon, bell
Hurry up and
                      ring!

Crystalline tears
that never really fall
They hide, shimmering silver, just behind her lids.

He sees his reflection,
multiplied in iridescent triangles
But she denies the sorrow, not quite hidden,  not really gone.

She breathes him in,
denies all fears and tears,
She just keeps whispering fractured reassurances.

When he’s away from her,
he sees the poem she left behind
Now he’s scared, he’s terrfied, he’s afraid for her crumbling mind.

And she lies alone
inside a home that’s much to cold
She wishes for his prescence, just a single glimpse.

He waits for her,
wonders if she’ll ever call,
A black and empty screen haunts his fitful dreams as he dozes off.

She wishes she could call
but unwilling Fates refuse to remove the wall
And she lies alone and tries so hard not to cry

Alone, he sits
with tear-and-blood-stained melodies in his ears
He floats on the rythmns and wonders if she can stay strong.

A flashing blade
keeps invading her mind,
but she shakes it away, screams at it to go away, she can’t give in.

He’s counting down
every single second that remains
Until he can finally hold her again, finally wipe away her tears.

She’s fighting so hard,
using every weapon and shield she can
To stop the demons from tarnishing her heart and soul beyond recognition.

They both lie alone,
they both wonder about the other,
as she hides her tears and he hides his fears.

It seems inhuman
that I can be so calm
when we're suddenly "just friends"
and the last "I love you," is still echoing in my ears
but now that you're gone the hidden emotions crash into me
like that **** motorcycle

**I just want our future now.

I want to bottle up your voice,
Wrap a red ribbon around the clear glass,
And tuck the bottle
Into a little hollow in my heart.

Someone else is saying goodbye,
Their last breath slipping out of the grasp
of pale petal lips.
Someone else is at the ledge,
Taking one last step into the abyss
to enter eternal nightfall.
Someone else is wearing the rope,
Preparing to leap and swing
back and forth, back and forth.
Someone else is holding the blade,
Sliding it into soft, soft skin
to create a chasm.
Someone else has said goodbye,
Lost their last breath
to remember who they love.