We stand idly, our backs against the wall
Unknowingly the darkness awaits a time to fall
Though in the glory of your presence
You offer hope; life's undying essence.

Many still fall victims,
Caught amongst the shadows.
But, Lord, you wipe away their sins,
And guide the warriors in their battles.

Each day we pray and offer thanks,
To you alone shall we devote our ankhs.
Granting praise and seeking salvation,
All connected as sisters, no divide in cognation.

You stand as our king, our prophet, our priest,
Three beings in one God, to none we owe the least.

You hold us in our struggles,
And watch your children grow in faith.
You let us fall with the gift of free will,
Yet act as a guide through life's inevitable skaith.

Now we ask for your sacred blessing,
The gift of clarity to all our guessing.
We hope for entrance into your kingdom,
Life in eternity, led by your wisdom.

You look to the clock and wait for the bell
Work set aside for thoughts of tomorrow
Unable to endure the rest of this class
This day
This year
You view high school as the dark  tunnel of your youth
And ask if there's a light at the end
You lose the purpose among other things
Though constantly haunted by reminders of grades
College
SATs
Taken over by stress
And eaten away by  uncertainty
Forced to test your comedic abilities
But
You are built with the power of strength
Knowledge
Patience
And each day you grow in these attributes
Maximize your potential
Take weaknesses to your advantage
Now, you look to the clock and wait
Wait for the future you shaped in this class
This day
This year.

It falls heavily, it falls softly, it falls...
Each carving of nature, formed by divine hands,
Made to its own unique shape,
A pebble, a stone, a monument.
Attacks free of arms, escapes free of guilt.
Leaving its mark on history without a trace.
A simple charm of luck, a complex sign of love.
Holding up the world, until the moment it must fall.
Expanding the limits to block out what once was.
A brave mountain, a gentle church,
Offering open sanctuary like a warm embrace;
Delivering gelid confinement like an icy prison.
It is abundant.
It is forever.
And always.

I don't need to look into a mirror to see that I'm turning into you.
I already know that I am slowly deteriorating.
Nightmares plague me,
So horrible I am trembling and barely breathing when I wake.
There isn't a single person who makes me feel safe.
You always told me you were wary of everyone.
Including yourself.
The words that fall from my lips are formal, protected, carefully calculated.
My words sound like their coming from your mouth,
Like you have possessed me and will never let me free.
The wanderlust is the most painful.
I'm pulled by the sharp knife twisted into my gut.
Wanderlust makes me reckless. Wanderlust slowly kills me.
Tell me, darling,
Am I haunting you like you're haunting me?
The further we are apart, the more we see we are alike.
Before too long you'll look in the mirror.
You'll see my face instead of your own.

i hate my heart for betraying me whenever i see a rare smile on your face

My life is tied neatly in a pretty red bow, ribbons of inseperability threaded between my planet and my soul,
braided into my hair and my heart

I do not know how to breathe without hearing the sound of others gasping for air
And I ask again
When will the world change?
though I mean to say
When will we teach each other how to swim?
Because we have always been drowning in tragedy salted by tears, drowning in the sea

Somehow, I opened my eyes on an island made of gold, bright enough to blind me from the sea, but not bright enough to stop me from hearing
I still hear you choking on the water in your lungs, still hear you drowning,
drowning
The ribbons unraveled but snapping at my feet

drowning

I can't help but wonder
if I'll ever be happy when pretzels taste like tragedy
if I'll ever be happy while I can still hear the tears

If ever I will be happy when red ribbons on presents remind me that the whole world is drowning

I was the lock and she was the key.
She opened me up and beautified me.

Remember when you told me you had never seen snow?
Somewhere so far away, so unknown to my own Northern tendencies
Obviously wouldn't know frigid temperatures like this.
While you dreamed of drowning yourself in rushing waves,
I fantasized about being buried under the blanket of a blizzard.

But, darling, I wanted you to know the beauty of snow,
For nothing else can glimmer so beautifully while it suffocates you.
So I wrote you a story about you and I in the snow.
I can't remember where I placed it so long ago.
It must have been taken when you were ripped from my arms.

Harder than ice, I believe
Stricter than the Amish
Colder than the Artic, I say...

You can weave your best iron together but it takes
little but a rainbow glint from my eyes to see through it.

I know you, best not to say so. I know more than I let on.
I know, I know.

So weave your titanium shield and hope for the best,
and I'll sit here harvesting rainbows and waiting for a sign, a break.

Perhaps one will never come.

i can't tell you the number of times i've wanted to take back what i've said before the words had even left my mouth