Blinking back a constant wave of tears,
Like trying to see the road on a rainy day
And smiling to avoid the things you need to say.
Swimming for the breakers, 'cause you don't care anymore,
But they always let you down and bring you back to shore.
Rest easy, baby, close your eyes,
You know it can't hurt if you're empty inside.
You're not at the top of the food chain if you're not there alone,
You don't need a mirror to tell you you've grown.
You never know what something's worth 'till it's almost taken,
With every headline and phone call you feel your heart breaking.
Never been so scared in your life and you know
That that's the thing that scares you the most.

You dream of that week sometimes, late at night.
You feel like a doll in a constellation of light
When you realize that you're only dreaming.
You're only dreaming, babe.
Breathe deep in the dark, count your fingers and toes,
Honest to God, only He knows
What's good enough to allow us to keep,
So live and let live and go back to sleep.

Words cut as sharp as knives,
Every dotted "i"
Stabs through the paper,
Right to the heart.

Time flies if you ask it to,
And shattered trust can mend.
Faith stretches like elastic,
Iron hearts can bend.

Invisible hands will carry loads-
As heavy as Atlas's globe,
Lives suspend on crystal love
And tiny threads of hope.

Coal can be taught to shine
As bright as Athena's eyes,
And no matter how far it is from shore,
The tide will always rise.

Right, left, full circles-
He was just ***** trained!
Negotiating
Only how long it will take
To get back to the start.

Deaf open minds,
"I'll do it if he does."
Would a lollipop make you feel better?

Science and progress
Vying with unchanging
Human nature
For position of
Kindergarten teacher.

Everyone know's they're right for sure.
They tell their friends,
"Go on, shut him up before he speaks!"
"You both say he started it? Time- out,
Both of you go talk it out
Over my teacher's table,
And if you **** each other
On your way there,
I'll look the other way."
After all, death in the name
Of righteousness is sacred,
And not to be mocked.
To teachers with 6/6 vision, sometimes
Blindness is a gift-
"There's no wrong, and no right.
Hug it out, avoid a fight."
(Kicking under the table.)
Hopefully, the explosion will miss her.

Where there are people,
There will be the same stories-
The world is a huge daycare center.

Red words in black ink,
Seductive kisses never leave
The lips of thorny roses,
Full bordeux mouth prints,
Desire for hell's angels
Unrequited, as is planned,
Pain is the ultimate man,
Hands don't approach,
Sight is as intimate as ***,
Whispers of agony,
Enjoyable as only love could be.

Pounding heart, diseased but strong;
She sees his hands and knows that they're where hers belong.
Under attack, she must get back
The things she felt before the virus killed her song.
Unraveling knots disturb her sleep;
A red haze on her young face as she gets to her feet.
She won't let go, through the vertigo
She clutches love and things almost too beautiful to keep.
I know her hands, I've heard her voice
When she called me back to her a hundred years ago.
I love her still and even will
Feel for her what she can't take and hide things she can't know.
She made mistakes, she lost her taste,
And now that she's finally hungry they take her food away.
In love , misused and bruised by hate,
A list of martyred lovers too long for her to say.
A veil of tears, a mask of fears,
Those who know her know she's not difficult to please.
She is shy, and if you ask her why,
She'll cry you tears enough to fill the seven seas.
She was ill and still is frail,
But when you've got eternity it's difficult to fail.
She survived, and she's alive,
With each past life she's gotten harder to unrail.

The Brits were twits in '29,
I reckon mandates were not their cup of tea.
I suppose silence speaks louder than a noose,
And that as long as one is civilized, we may agree to disagree.

Enemies share common grounds-
Blood to be spilled, one pair apiece of shoes,
Salaam, shalom, auf wiedersein, tootleoo.

What was is gone,
There's no more music on my tongue,
The fire that was there's gone out.

My pen's too full to lift,
There are only tears within,
And all the aged pages won't open.

There are only crude summations
Of disappointed expectations,
No curiosity left for questions.

Shards of the past blowing in the wind,
With fragments of an anthem
And long- forgotten hymns.

Insatiable fatigue,
Irrational though it seems,
Drowns all conscious thought in a sleeping sea.

What was is no more,
I've forgotten all the notes
On that far- away, hazy, unreachable shore.

The exile was not the punishment.
The return home was.

Darling, love, sweet lullaby,
I don't know what it's like to die.
Will it take long? Will it hurt? 
Will I just turn into dirt?
Will I still remain your wife,
And reunite in afterlife? 

Dearest treasure, sweetie pie,
Will you promise not to cry?
Will you try with all your might
To stay strong when I see the light?
Will you please hold your head high,
And certainly from pain not shy?

Though ignorant, I do know this-
Escaping is a sheerest bliss,
Not well afforded in one's life
For pride does come before all strife.
Though not deserving,  I suppose
I'll merit an early repose.

Angel with those eyes so sweet,
Please pray it to be swift and neat.
With pen in hand and tears in eyes,
I write to you 'fore my demise-
If wait you must, then be content,
Live life full and then ascend.

Hold my hand, I feel
like we're jumping off a cliff,
now we know it's real,
and what can happen if

you hold me tight
and don't let go
at least not 'till
the moon stops being full;

there was a fog
but now it's clear
and it's quite obvious,
to me over this beer

we're sharing something
that if lost cannot be
found and it's dumbfounding
how you lose me

in a place where only you can go,
when you pick up my hand,
we drop our guards down low
enough to finally understand

all the passion in a kiss
in a moonlit country night
with barely any lights on in this
town that's never felt so right.

It's looming over me,
with its gaping maw
full of sadistic
jagged teeth,
each one a stab to my
already itty- bitty
sense of security-
and did I mention they gleam?
Yes, I can see myself
and my flaws
and my doubts,
staring at me
from the mouth
of the beast,
my beast,
the beast that lives
within the black part
of my soul.

I stand right there,
on the precipice
threatening
to devour
me alive.
I balance on the eggshell teeth,
on my bleeding toes,
my poor throat
raw from sobbing.

But I don't back away,
though I could try
to struggle against
the evil magnetism,
dark and alluring,
calling to me from
the depths of my sorrow.

I don't fight it
because the beast
knows something
I don't presume to,
and heaven knows
I can't resist logic.

That night, it was scrawled in silver dust into the stars,
to brand our names into the sky.

That night, our story was written in the indelible ink of the gods,
and my favorite lipstick, and sealed with an immortal kiss.

That night, we came to life, with eyes that were able to tear
and hearts that could suddenly pump our lives' essence with renewed fervor.

That night, a romantic with an angel's smile
and a siren with a history of self- delusion became one, never to part.

That night, we fell in love.

Memories come to life
in movies cast by furniture,
while my nightlight plays the role
of a projector, breathing life into my walls.
I realize, with a sharp intake of breath,
that my foot is dangling off the edge of my bed 
and yank it back under the covers
that I sleep under, despite the temperature.
When you're little, you're scared of the monsters,
but growing up is knowing exactly who they are.
Everything is so much scarier in the dark.

I cradle the cardboard cup in both hands
And bring it to my face. 
The warmth still lingering on my cheek,
I take a sip and swallow,
Ignoring how it scalds my tongue.
It burns a path through me
As I touch the cool metal of the kitchen counter,
And the caffeine courses through my veins
Never reaching my slumbering heart.

Minute by minute,
The long hand makes its way
Around the sun,
And I count the seconds 
Until I can get out of here.

Three shadows from a distant past,
Each  more solid than the last.
The first I knew for just one night,
His shadow longer than his mind.
The second, more substantial one,
Despite his heart, caused me to run.
The third and last of those above,
The one whom I am writing of,
Is more than just a fleeting dream.
They were three but it would seem
That one to me became more kin
Than those whose words I did not feel within.

We're always balancing on some ledge.
The moment we find a balance,
And catch a breath,
We turn around and, gasping,
Find ourselves on the edge
Of another dark precipice.

Certain ledges threatening my sense of security presently:
1. My bewildering love life.
2. Certain dictators with power over me.
3. The boring, seemingly never- ending summer stretching ahead of me.
4. Fear of conveying false emotions.
5. A unhealthy sleeping pattern.
6. A sense of obesity, coupled with a justified concern regarding different eating disorders.
7. A need and refusal of nicotine.
8. An overwhelming and rapidly reclining sense of loneliness.

Don't speak of ledges.
They're all around you,
Waiting for you to mistake a shadow for a solid step.
Proceed with caution,
For if you don't,
You'll soon wish that you hadn't advanced at all,
But merely remained in the safe tedium
Of the middle of that floor of holes.

Mountain air as sweet as wine,
Stone layers forested in pine;
These are another's words, not mine,
And it is she that they indeed define.

She basks in a light that's all her own,
From newly paved streets to ones of cobblestone;
From her blackest of nights to glorious days,
Halos of holiness blanket her mazes.

For those who love her, she does treasures unveil,
And if you will hear it, she'll tell you her tale:
How she fought for her children, tooth and nail,
So that she could newcomers hail.

You'll hear it in her winds' faint sighs,
Her buses' roar, her peddlers' cries:
How long she's suffered through the false claims and lies
Of the ones afraid to see her rise.

If I say no,
Please let it go-
It's personal.