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345 · Mar 2018
Imagination
Oliver Bates Mar 2018
Imagination's beautiful
It can turn a stick into a sword
A tree into a giant fort
And a bike into a Ford
It can even change yourself you know,
You can turn yourself into a spy
Or a hero with a suit and cape
Or a pirate with one eye

Or a joke
And a failure
And a man with a future bleak
For imagination can be a curse
And a reason that we're weak
It makes me think a laughing crowd's
Subject matter must be me
It makes me weary constantly
A devil in my head
Did she say she'd die for me
Or that she wants me dead?
108 · Dec 2017
A thread of sadness
Oliver Bates Dec 2017
I don’t want to see it
The smile you have stitched
You frowned when I saw you
But you made a quick switch
Do not hide your sadness
A brave face cuts it no more
There are holes in the fabric
Too large for me to ignore

When you made the mask, you see
You left holes for your eyes
For if you hadn’t left a gap
You’d be left in utter darkness

I can’t bear to see it
The smile you have stitched
Don’t hold it all inside of you
Cause life can be a *****
69 · Dec 2017
A Failed Goodbye
Oliver Bates Dec 2017
like mornings pass
you force a wave
and I do grasp
to catch your fair gaze
a laconic smile
from indignant eyes
but be so assured
I will fail to notice
your subtle goodbyes

I failed your quest
for my absolution
a watchers own test
to find restitution
I could not see
I won no prize
I failed to notice
Your subtle goodbyes

so here I do stand
but half of a man
I failed to please you
Why should I please you
You won’t fail to notice

This outright goodbye.

— The End —