You gaze out into the distance
Your eyes; big, glossy, frightened
I call out your name
You don’t hear me
I try again
You snap out of your trance
Your eyes, red and dangerous
The puckered remnants of your lips
Poke out
As you cup them between your thumb and finger
You smile – but it’s too hesitant
Too needy
Unnatural
You’re lost...
A ghost – living in between the land of the dead and the living
You can’t break the hold
Oh, though you’re desperately trying
Trying
Too hard not to suffocate.

*...Eyes are the window to the soul.

It comes, it goes,
When it comes we know
For every time it comes
A battle comes unseen
Each time, every time
We lose a soldier,
We lose a love,
We lose a life.

Yet we look up and thank
Thank that we have got time,
Time to fix broken promises
Broken friendships
Broken lives
Broken ties:
We think, we cry,
To live a better life.

To foreshadow living a better life.
With no lies, to live a fantasy life.
Yet, we seem to forget
All the promises we made
And how it will come again
Maybe for me, maybe for you
One day it will take us all
Even if we have friendships to fix,
Promises to make.

It has no boundaries
No stopping, no pleading
It will come for everyone
And everything -
                            Death.

Taking the pain
To release my pain
The pain I'm feeling deep inside
My heart
My brain
Emotional pain
Which I'm trying so desperately to hide.

Taking the pain
To release my pain
The pain I'm feeling deep inside
Anxious
Worried
Mental pain
No one for me in which to confide.
(anymore)

Taking the pain
To release my pain
The pain I'm feeling deep inside
Horrified
On the edge
Physical pain
Turning over to the dark side.

Taking the pain
To release my pain
The pain I'm feeling deep inside
My heart
My brain
Emotional pain
Which I'm trying so desperately to hide.

Just ten minutes after I'd revved the engine
I was only nine miles away from the love of my life
Day dreaming of when we’d met just eight short months ago
Soaring at seventy down that country road
Only six more miles until she’d be in my arms again
Five years ago thoughts of love would have seemed so far out of sight
Yet four times I've already proposed, “too soon,” she’d always say
Amazing how in three seconds your entire life can change
With just two tires there’s little room for error
When one blew out I hit the asphalt, hard
In a wreck like that there’s zero chance I’d survive
One hour later the ambulance arrived at last
EMTs pressed two paddles against my chest
Shocks were delivered three times
At the hospital doctors performed four operations
Five months I spent in a coma
Followed by six months of physical therapy relearning to walk
In time all seventeen broken bones had set and healed
It cost me eight grand to buy a new bike
Now nine years later I’m still riding, fearless, wife on the back
The tenth time I asked, she finally said yes

In the broken kitchen chair he sits
Running his filet knife across the grindstone
The blade mustn't be dull for what he’s about to do
Across the kitchen hangs his days catch
Dangling from one large meat hook
Dripping, warm, fresh, and glassy eyed
Running the blade across his thumb
A future scar in his one of a kind prints
With bulging biceps his prey is lifted from its loft
Tossed carelessly onto the granite counter top
A dangling arm falls into the kitchen sink
The subtle sound of a ring is heard
As it hits the stainless steel basin
This jewelry is soon removed and set aside
With a felt tipped pen he outlines his procedure
Like a world class surgeon preparing to operate
He makes each incision with great care
A soft touch and a steady hand
Experience shows this isn't his first rodeo
Every cut running long and shallow
He grins like a child as warm blood flows over his digits
Setting down the tools of his trade
He takes a moment to admire his handiwork
The body before him lies ravaged
Professionally massacred, filleted is his trophy ****
Having fully enjoyed this beautiful sight
He reaches down gripping tightly onto two ***** of skin
By either side of the shoulders his fingers burrow under flesh
He begins to peel away
Within minutes the body is bare
On the counter lies nothing but muscle and bones
Tendons, sinew, organs that will never again function
Like a cadaver to be donated for medical research
He holds the hollow man up to the light for a better look
A perfect skin suit, warm, tanned, tinged in red
Cuddling it as a toddler might carry his blankey for comfort
He walks to the room adjacent the kitchen
At the tug of a blood soaked hand
The washing machines door swings open
Gingerly he sets the skin inside
Adding just a dash of fabric softener for good measure
He shuts the door and starts the cycle
Back to the kitchen he drudges
Washing the blood from his hands, his arms
Cleaning his knife, polishing the blade until it gleams in the light
Leaving the corpse where it lies he sits patiently and waits
As the wash is finished he removes the suit from the machine
Now clean, dripping, wet, marker gone
He places it in the dryer
Turning the **** to low heat, careful not to shrink his new outfit
He sets the dial to permanent press and pushes start