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Contracts, don't need 'em
Not worth their weight in sand
Make a deal with me, it's good when
I shake you by the hand

A bond that's like no other
Only two good men can make
Is formed when they agree and
They give their hands a shake

Give me your hand brother
Grip it nice and firm
Look me in the eye son,
And this is where you'll learn
A man with a strong handshake
Is a man who'll seal the deal
So, grab my hand, hold firmly
And show me what I say is real

No fancy city lawyers
No judges making deals
A handshake strong and firm
You know the deal is real

Two men, their reputations
Out there laying on the line
Committed by a handshake
And to me, that is just fine

Give me your hand brother
Grip it nice and firm
Look me in the eye son,
And this is where you'll learn
A man with a strong handshake
Is a man who'll seal the deal
So, grab my hand, hold firmly
And show me what I say is real
Sometimes you read something so good
That your heart stops beating
Or starts skipping in your chest.
Something so real, so right
That you break out in a sweat,
Glaze over for a second
And come to, drowning, re-reading,
The entire world receding.
You know, you know
You will never write like that,
But you feel you could be slightly better
Just for having read it.
There is someone who writes on here and every single one of his poems makes me feel like this.
September, those first Autumn mornings arrive,
The ones that bring to mind bonfires,
And make us want to shop for coats.
Things are darker, somehow
Even though the sun still shines,
The yellow is muted
And our skin remembers goosebumps.

October is inescapable.
Implacable. Winter is coming.
Mornings are uncomfortable;
Sly frosts make us slip.
For supper; soup or sausages,
Children wait for Halloween
Eager for costumes, and candy.

November is noisy
Fire, bangs, and squeals.
The promise of Christmas;
Puddings are made, and stored
We snuggle into scarves
And hurry everywhere, seeking warmth and light.

December is all colours and music and closing the year,
Excess is expected.
It’s hard, for some who need to escape,
There is no refuge from the festive,
It is both dark, and bright,
A month to hide, or emerge.

January is white-blue
And feels like being underwater.
There’s a melancholy,
Dreamlike feel.
The year is born
And shell-shocked, waiting to begin.
 Sep 2013 A Mareship
Eliza
Suffocated.
That's what I am.
I am suffocated.

So many people
and my hands and legs
won't stop shaking.
I can't breathe
but I can't run.

Is this what it feels like?
To be so scared and afraid?
All you want to do is stay at home
forever and ever and ever...

No friends, no one.
Only me, only me...

I think I like it,
the suffocation and darkness
and this loneliness.
What's gonna happen to me?

I think I'm going crazy,
and that's absolutely fine with me.

*(n.d.)
 Sep 2013 A Mareship
Sand
In just seven steps, you can find out:

• How to make the best scrambled eggs
        [pepper ‘n love]
• How to improve Scrabble scores
        [suffixes are our friends]
• How to buy a house
        [budget before sealing the deal]
• How to think like Leonardo Da Vinci
        [infectious curiosity and commitment]

But despite the obscene amount of time,
I spend scouring and scrolling,
I can’t seem to stumble upon,
The part of the Internet,
That has the instructions,
To keep your heart happy,
While keeping my mind sane.

Perhaps the sadness and insanity,
Will be a welcome change,
Allowing us to rediscover each other,
In the most honest light.
 Sep 2013 A Mareship
Shelby LoAnn
Intertwine our pulmonaries
Pull tight, tie together our coronaries

My superior vena cava resting near yours
Hear that, the sound of opening ventricle doors

Beautiful looking aortas fixed
Winding together as a double helix

This heart of mine will skip a beat
Just so my arrhythmia and yours might meet

This ticker will only continue to tick
If next to yours it may stick

Not a murmur because of bad health
A murmuring of loves bountiful wealth

Atrium to atrium, heart to heart:
Blood's continual pumping, so long as our valves never part.
"Good morning Mattie! How'd you sleep?"
"Oh, I slept wonderfully!
I fell asleep quickly and didn't work until morning."
"Any cool dreams?"
"Oh no, you know I don't remember my dreams."

I laid on my back for an eternity,
While my mind bled uncontrollably,
Painful thoughts flowing.
They won't leave me.
LEAVE ME BE!
It takes hours for me to fall asleep
And when I finally do,
I wake every half hour because...
Well I don't know why.
Maybe because my brain is too lonely.
I guess he needs someone to keep him company.
So he wakes me, begging to help him think.

Of course I have dreams!
I just lie so you won't ask.
My own dreams sicken me.
It's the only time I lose control.
I am a monster in my sleep.

"How are you?"
"I'm great!
How are you?"

I almost killed myself today!
Why can't I go back to first grade,
Where the hardest choices were choosing
Which game I should play,
Or how to convince my mom to let me
Wear my favorite jeans,
Instead of those silly looking corduroy?
Does my Darth Vader action figure win today,
Or is he defeated by my batman toy?
Do I climb the tree from this branch,
Or that side?
Oh none of that matters anyway.
Because if I don't find the answer,
I'll just be the incredible Hulk
On my trampoline and dodge
The sprinkler's water bullets.

I guess the hard things in life change.
My decisions were a little different today.
Do I slit my throat and watch it bleed,
Or pop the pills to set myself free?
Or maybe I shouldn't end today,
I could just use the razor blade,
And wear my heart on my sleeve.
Or no, my scars on my sleeves.
Or no.. My heart on my wrists?
I DON'T KNOW!

So maybe I'm not so great.
I don't know if I'm depressed.
I think I'm just lost.
I'm happy when I'm with people.
But when I'm alone,
I think a little too much.
I get sad often.
Okay so maybe I am a little depressed,
Maybe a tiny little bit.
I'd just hate to admit it.

When I was little,
I would get annoyed with emo kids.
I was convinced depression was fake.
It was a mind game.
"If you want to be happy,
Just be happy."
I'd say.
"Depression happens because
You want to be sad"
Well I sure don't want to be sad!
Or maybe I do.
It gives me something to write about.
No, I definitely don't want to be depressed!

When I lay in my bed,
I ponder for hours how many times
I lied today.
I didn't lie.
Why would I?
Well maybe I lied once or twice.
But that's just because I didn't want them to know,
It was a bad day.
But then I can't help but wonder
If something else I said was a lie.
What is the truth?
I get so confused.

Maybe it's because I've had my fair share of memory loss,
Or maybe I've lied so much that I've forgotten the truth.

I really don't think it's the second option,
But I can't help but wonder.

I wish we didn't lie so much.
I wish we could tell the truth,
Even when it hurt.
I dream of a world where our pains,
Are not contained within.
But one that we could walk without chains,
Free of our masks.
Why must we lie?
2/23/2013 A spoken word poem
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