The smooth slide of his hand
Against the smooth curve of her side.
The rush of every pent-up emotion
Let loose in the fiery thrill of their skin.
Gentle, yet raging, this want spread quickly
Through the once torn scars of their minds.

Holding hands in the hall
Whispered stares about us.
“How can she have the audacity
To get together with anyone?”
The rumors poison her heart,
Slowing her stride
Until she hides her face away.
“It’s all for attention,” they whisper.
But her love grows more than the rumors.
One year goes by,
Classes go by, and they are happy.
“Look at the *****.
She doesn’t deserve that.”
Two years, graduated with honor.
Loving more than life,
More than the horrid thrown at them.
We can survive.
We are strong.
Our love is growing
Our future is drawing
With hope and trust.

they are searching for recognition in the fear of the night.
“look into my eyes.
     do you see my desperation,
my need for hope and love?”
     they ask, grabbing at everything they can
to pull themselves back up onto something they can call stable.
     each level of their being is cracked,
breaking down slowly until only rubble and wishes are left.
     one by one,
their friends leave,
     their pieces of laughter trailing behind
like the wants that are so often forgotten by them
     until only the two are left, side by side.
their trust is so deep, so old
     that even the mountains cannot understand the foundations laying there.
they hold hands, looking into the night, fearless.
     “we will conquer this fear,
this loneliness,
     this anger,
and we will triumph in the end.
     We shall live a dauntless life,
an adventurous time.
     Together forever.”
Strong and beautiful.
     Eternity

Blistered feet and worn out minds
We work the day away.
Who am I to scrape together these coins?
“Pain demands to be felt” he says,
And of course, work does too.
Scarred hands and tough skin,
Harvesting the last thoughts from their minds.
A little thinner, a little prettier.
Will this product be bought?
Is it good enough?
Am i good enough?
Dig deeper, hit harder.
The product must be sold perfectly
The rest is thrown away
Just like my values, my opinions.
Hold it in, work harder, longer.
More, they want more.
Tear it up, burn it down.
Give it without imperfections.
Try more, work more.
Work until your dead.
Explode it until it’s gone
Restart with nothing
Fail the product
Try more, work harder
Until....
I’m dead

Soft are his hands who so caress my cheek
Warm is his smile who brings happiness to my eyes
His eyes are raging pools of soft light
Oceans to swim in, exploring the depths.
His hands are worn as his expression late at night,
And his tears are emotions firing into the abyss.
His skin is tan, but hidden under walls of clothes are the white insecurities.
But she also holds a piece of my shattered heart.
Her humor keeps me alive,
A slow heartbeat barely lighting the dark.
Her hidden depression is mine to share,
Her happiness the fruit of my efforts.
Her love so strong,
Building like the tsunami terrorizing her soul.
Together, we make a crooked whole,
A misshapen heart
A sideways soul.

Save my life
Fill me with oceans, no, galaxies of hope and happiness and Emotion
Heal my scars, end the Voices
Hello, dear Poetry
It’s me again.
She has twisted her words into a vicious knife
Stabbing it into my fragile skin again
Fix me, and I will grant you new words
I will heal your thirst
Hello, dear Poetry
I’m here.
Let me coax you into a beautiful picture
Let me caress your gentle fingers into painting a mural
So that you may fix the blows that landed upon my bruise ridden skin
And in return, I will pour my heart
Hello, dear Poetry
I’m back.
Our relationship heals one another
Our love is unbreakable
We are one and the same
You heal my eyes from being hidden
My soul is sound in paradise
And your soothing voice has made my scars beautiful.
Hello, dear Poetry
I thank you
For all the times your palace has given me shelter
And the times when you have held me close,
Rocked me gently and sang a free lullaby into my mind
Goodbye, dear Poetry.
Until we meet again.

Spiteful words directed
Towards my bodacious life.
Why should I apologize
For all of your strife?
I will help
And try to make it better.
Fix the bent
And wipe away the tears.
I will contribute
I will be audacious in my moves.
Every willing, daring play
Towards your happiness.
My heart is yours to take,
My mind is yours to use.
The souls inside you use as bandages,
But do not insult me for my happiness.
Do not push and shove and take
Only to want more.
I am here to help
To love
To repair.
But I can do so much
Only if you let me.
Do not deceive
Into victimizing yourself.
You are not broken,
Just a little bent.
Do not bend me too,
Because I will contribute everything
Towards your cause.
Let me love you.
Let me hold you
And finally....
Let me give everything to you.

Her tears held stars
Her eyes were the galaxies that cried.
All it takes is a smile
An invitation
To return the stars to their glory
For hers is the only light they need.

How do I say it?
Whom must I say it to?
Lost thoughts in my youngest mind
From years ago.
I am in love with a woman
And a man
And maybe even someone who is man by morning,
And woman by night.
He is mine, worried if her words will steal my heart in the darkest hours.
But my heart is only truest to his song,
18 months in the making.
My parents are shamed,
My siblings are scared,
But I am my own.
And she and he and them are the same to my heart.
But for now on he shall hold it ever more.

hidden in shadows
it is the light
that you stole
to fix yourself
and destroy me.
don’t worry
it worked

I would have trusted his heartbroken smile
And his forgiving eyes.
Maybe this scarred skin will smooth over
When I forgive her lost hopes.
Maybe those eyes full of galaxies would sparkle with stars,
For maybe their light is the only one I need.
But these are in the past,
And reaching into this forbidden jar of regrets
Will only hurt more

Fluttering against the screams
Like the silent echoes they can’t hear.
Questioning the meanings
Of the things they never said.
Torturous moments of pain
That paint the scenery on your walls,
Slow brush strokes to antagonize every moment.
These are the broken pieces,
Fragmented across your life,
That control the crystallized teardrops you cry,
Safe in your bedroom.
Where there is no sound
But the cracking of your mind
And the groaning of your bones.
Compressed into soft syllables
Whispered in the night
To ink and moon and stars and blood
Until the veins are empty
And the ink bled out,
Until no other sound utters
And no other soul knows.

show me
show me the most damaged part of your soul
show the pain and the tears
show me the nights covered in fear
and the days showered in anxiety
show me the most damaged part of your soul
and i'll show you
how it still shines like gold

Add 1 moment of laughter
3 rings of defeat
Mix it with 15 years of happiness
Cool it down with 1 month of depression.
Sprinkle 3 best friends on top
And bake with the fallen tears of your past.

Every piece is perfect
The recipe for you
Never needs to change.
Every day, it is made in perfection.

I'm pulling out my parachute
In a last attempt to survive your butterfly kisses
From my stomach to my chest.
These butterflies seem to stab,
And fold their steel wings against my skin.
So I might try to fly away
In my broken parachute
Red as the blood we spilt.

It used to be a haiku
     full of pain and sadness.
But I broke apart that form,
Tore apart the words,
     and rearranged them into shields.
Now, I have a wall of shields
     each one a haiku I wrote
     about you.
Every sword was forged from each tear
     I shed from your bloodied words.
You have created a soldier
     Hardened in your spite and anger.
I would tell you not to worry,
     But I don't think you ever did.