Our sleeping thoughts reflect
our awakened minds.
The madness we hide from
Rolls like a cinema reel
behind resting eyes.
A movie of our lives
In distorted forms.

26 Dec. 2015

Here is my heart
Can you see the love
Radiating dreams for two
Can you see the tears fall
A stream of golden blue
I waited a lifetime ago
Along the infinite possibilities
That ended with little tragedies
That made my heart have scars
That are invisible to the eye
The night knows from my cry
Weeping with each thump that came from the rain
The watered down pain
That I hid from your smile
For decades

At this moment
While I reveal my illness
My feverish chill
That came with the river upon my cheek
Endless echo of words on repeat
That cut me deep
That made me weak
Said "I cannot love you"

For I cannot love you in the dark
I cannot kiss the air
And pretend that you are there

And I cannot MAKE you love the dark either
I cannot MAKE you see what's waiting inside the darkness
Even if I shine brighter then the moon
Darkness will always be a place you will forget
In that darkness...

My presence never existed

It’s just after 5AM but I am up,
Compelled to write and share with you
Bad images
From video and TV.

I gave you a newborn calf being killed by a lion or something.
But there are countless more.
Young seals being swallowed by killer whales.
A young queen bee stabbing its rivals to death before or after they hatch.

An unlucky wildebeest is pushed by a panicked herd
Back into the river
And into the jaws of a crocodile.
Survival of the fittest
Or luckiest.

Animals running about some abattoirs
Trying to escape death.
Fighting for their lives.
Watching their siblings die.
Enter Man.

A groggy man has survived being shot by a firing squad
So a soldier walks up to him
Puts a pistol to his head and fires
So the man falls
Fountains of blood pumping up from his head
To Beatles music.

Rows of orange shirted men kneeling
A hooded man behind each one
With sword ready at the throat…

So many horrors.
No fiction.
I wonder what God thinks….

Paul Butters

We feel what
we write.
We struggle over
what might.
In our head is the battle
that we fight.
Sometimes we just
want to know.
Do I stay or should I go.
In our mind so much thinking.
We stare at this wall
without even blinking.
In life we feel different emotions.
A trusting heart brings
love and devotion.

Tears streaming down my face,
Hands trembling,
Voice cracks,
Can't breathe...

I try to call for help,
But there's no reply,
I try and try,
But it's no use.

I fall to my knees,
Finding it harder to keep my eyes open,
Air getting thinner,
As the walls around me crumble down.

I wake up screaming,
Awakening from the dream,
That from which I could escape,
All I have to do is wake up...

But when I awake,
From the nightmare...
How do I escape the ones,
That aren't asleep??