It's a blessing and a curse,
    this connection that we share
A balance between the love we feel
        and how much we should care

I can feel anxiety crawling into my mind, feeding me with unnecessary thoughts.
Self-doubt reaches out for my soul; fear smiles at me as I quivered my lips.
My trembling hands strike down on the concrete, and my head spins.
I slowly shut my eyes, hoping my demons would leave me.
But they persist, making me feel like I have to plea for peace.

I grasp my reality behind a mirror and watch the clock unwind.
I hear the faded children laugh, it echoes through my mind, and I feel the fear within my heart.
I wish my thoughts were sane, so they didn't fall like rain.

When I look ahead of the storm, I see a generation full of demons.
Darkness may rule the world, but I kept holding on.
With every battle I withstand, I fear the shadows will bind my heart and take my breath away.
But somehow, my spirit will never give in.
-Niko

The guitar makes my heart sing in melody,
giving me a remedy of specialty.
Somehow it calls to me desperately,
telling me endlessly its my destiny.

The guitar and I have chemistry,
Somehow the guitar is a legacy.
The music of the guitar makes me breathless,
making me feel weightless.

I feel light-headed to be exact,
its making me relaxed.
This attraction,
this passion,
Its electrifying.
Its what I dreamed for, for so long.

~Niko

There have been other years
when the gross ache of being apart
was caused by the spiral growth of life,
but it was ours,
easily fixed by a Boxing Day trip
or a warm January shindig.
This year’s exponential spiral
stifles all but the cold binary of a zoom call
and fans smouldered ire at the avoidable