Why am I your effigy?
You burn, you mock, you curse at me;
You tell me who I’m supposed to be,
But instead, I’m just your effigy.

Rip my skin, and scream and shout,
And tear all of my stuffing out.
Then whine, and cry, and moan, and pout,
Then beat me blue, and scream and shout.

Pin me up, and pierce my heart,
Then rip all of my limbs apart.
Blame me again, and then you’ll start,
To bruise my lungs and pierce my heart.

Punish me each time you drink;
After all, I’m only me.
Your daughter? No, it’s clear to see,
That I am just your effigy.

Is this blood mine or yours?
I want to go home.
I don't know you, and I don't want us to die.
We both lay here, barely alive.

You look scared, a deer glowing faintly in the headlights of a rusty green vehicle.
I can see the tempest of my own fear reflected in your chocolate eyes.
Must we be enemies, only because our homelands are?

I see you finger something under your shirt.
It's probably a snapshot- mine is.
You keep it there to remind you of your promise:
Your oath to lay eyes on them again.

I know that we fight for our countries.
For what we believe to be right.
But...
Do you suppose...that only for tonight
--presumably the last night of our lives--
We could ignore the politics, and just fall asleep together?

In the morning, if either of us wakes up,
We can once again plummet into the ocean of duty and justice and pain.
We can drown in it then.
For now, could we take a swift breath at the top of the waves?
That would be nice.

Neither of us has said a word, but no matter.
Language barrier has not kept you from agreeing with me.
A simple series of countenances has signed our temporary truce in our place.
A mutual gaze of farewell,
As I drift...

Into...

Sleep...

Skeletons in the closet,
Voices in your head.
Cobwebs in the corners,
Monsters under the bed.

Ghosts from the past,
Shadows on the floor.
If I face mine,
Will you face yours?

My perfect small friend, you were so young.
I'll never forget all the songs that we sung.
It's true you were always in the mood for a fight,
But now that you're gone I can't hold you at night.

Did you know that you stuck out your tongue when you slept?
Did you know that no one was safe were you crept?
Or that when you were mad, your jaw would drop down?
That you were the angriest darling around?

When you were too lazy and tired to care,
You'd finally allow me to play with your hair.
And you'd stretch on the bed, and glare at me,
With those young, tired eyes, as green as the sea.

I can't count the tears I've cried all this week,
At the thought of your fingers dug into my cheek.
And here's what I wonder if you'd approve of, my friend:
I will not fall in love, not ever again.

I am a human,
I have emotion,
I act like a fool;
It depends on my mood...
I scream and I cry,
I argue and I fight,
I mess up every little thing that's good in my life...

I'm sick of my heart ruling me; it doesn't do it very well.
If I mute the pain, will I be able to escape this hell?
I will lock it up inside, and I will let my heart grow cold.
My mind will have it's time because my heart has let my weakness show.

I am not human
I feel no emotion
I feel no pain
I feel nothing
I'm unable to cry
No matter what I try
Oh how I want to feel something and know that I'm alive

I'm sick of my mind ruling me it doesn't do it very well
Now that I've gotten here I hope I'm able to escape this hell
My mind knows of the love that's there but my heart is a deadly cold
I have become mechanical a statue nothing more than gold

I am half human,
I feel some emotion
My mind fights to win,
To lock up my heart again
I'm not sure what to think
Should I float, should I sink
My heart is fighting for its life, but my mind can't blink

I guess I feel the need to linguistically,
like poetry,
express everything that's wrong with me
emotionally,
and I guess that ironically,
canonically,
almost comically,
that led to my downfall in all honesty...

I promise me
we're meant to be,
cosmically,
and things change allegedly,
but it seems to me
you swore to me
you'd let it be,
and truthfully,
the way you did that was painfully,
unchangeably,
not how I meant it to be...

And all of that won't change, you see,
that I love you unequivocally,
in a way most strangely,
and unmistakeably
the joy in me,
and the suffering
you're causing me...

I regret my attempt to anonymously,
incriminatingly,
express my need
in light of the unexplainably
vivid heartache it's caused me,
But who's to pay the price but me?
Who but I is eligible, conveniently?
To be,
Accidentally,
The ****
to your Germany?

We’re dancing on the edge
Between friends and more than friends.

Don’t come any closer,
My mask is on tight.
I know who you are,
But we’re strangers tonight.

No I don’t love you,
I couldn’t if I tried.
And I would never dare,
With the way you almost died.

Blood on the ground,
But we’re feeling fine.
When you take my hands,
We slow dance on the line.

We’re dancing on the edge
Between friends and more than friends.

Don’t say anything,
Some things are best unsaid.
Like what we really are,
If we’re really more than friends.

No I don’t love you,
I couldn’t if I tried.
And I would never dare,
With the way I almost died.

Time is running out,
But we’ll make it out, perchance.
The night is almost over,
But let’s stay for one more dance.

We’re dancing on the edge
Between friends and more than friends.
Our balance is maintained,
At this tightrope masquerade.