I'm a bird setting flight,
Touring new lands,
Leaving the nest behind,
Taking part of the flock with me

Deserting things I thought I'd love forever
Testing the waters I never thought I'd ever tread on
Approaching new heights
Forming new nests

Wherever the wind takes me
Bearing through the storms
Home draws near
New seasons have arrived.

For all the times you held my hand
When I rode through the waves
When my tears seemed never ending
When my screams almost got you deaf

To the days I didn't want to talk
The days I forced a smile
When my nightmares woke you
When you held me as I cried myself to sleep

Reminding me how beautiful I was
When I looked like a wreck
Pushing me to achieve my dreams
When I felt like quitting

Celebrating my successes
Even more than I did
To the happy days
When we nearly suffocated from the laughs

Laughing at morbid jokes
So I wouldn't feel too weird
Watching sappy shows
Though you never liked them

For better or worse
You stuck it out
You never left
You braved it all
I will forever be grateful.

You never appreciate life
till you've seen death,
Happiness without sorrow,
And bitter is the kiss of death
That took you away from them,

Longing for your tight embrace,
The gentle smiles of love,
The stern gaze,
The scorch of scoldings.

They watched your candle dim
Helplessly but with brave eyes
Not once betraying the worry and fright
The turmoil they brewed inside

Now you fly with the angels
To the journey of unknown
You live on in their memories
They hope you watch over them

Find comfort in hoping you're in a better place
Free of pain and suffering
That the good Lord called you home
Where you will finally rest.

Love,
A word we carelessly throw around,
Casually to people we like and some we don't
An emotion so rare these days.

In a world so corrupt,
Families fueled by greed,
Betrayal fueled by lust,
Frenemies frolicking with lovers

We have accepted our fate,
We trust too little,
Love less,
Fake more.

So forgive me if I do not say the words back,
I am a child of this world,
I've learnt all too well,
My love is but nothing to be treasured.

Or perhaps I too have been corrupted
I know not what love is
So remind me
Of my innocence once lost.

We shop our lovers
Like goods in the mall
Like Sims customized to our tastes
Marking of each item on the list

Like an assignment,
Hand them over to our friends,
The assessors,
If they meet the passmark,
We're satisfied and keep them

Like prized possessions
We hang them in our social media pages
They await examination
From trolls and meaningless strangers

Then the competition begins
Standards are set
We push ourselves to be kings and queens
Crowned with the title relationship goals

Picture perfect children
Parading our spouses in events like trophies
Behind the rehearsed smiles and perfect acting
The marriage lies in shambles

Depression threatens
The facade crumbles
Signatures on divorce papers
Then it's shopping again.

I was light and air, formless, boundless, free.
I was the sparkle in a drop of rain,
The first blades of new grass in spring,
The whisper of a warm breeze,
The promise in a lover's kiss.

I was also the darkness and silence,
The stillness of stone,
The emptiness of space,
The cold oblivion of snow,
The heaviness of grief.

I was the breath of Osiris,
Living and dying,
Dying and reborn,
In an endless eternal flux.

I was something else as well,
Something small and fragile,
Impermanent,
Something that could love and be loved,
A beating heart,
A mortal soul.

I was both and all and none
And I breathed.

I'm underwater,
Suffocating,
My head held down
By an unknown force
But I can't fight it off
No matter how hard I try

This sea of emotions
It overwhelms me
I've lost control
I can't breathe
I'm stuck
Caged.