Every tear we cry
Burns away the fears inside
Our flames grow stronger

Crumpled up paper
Strewn across the bedroom floor
Someday you will know

Love is like a sea
It will refuse no river
That stands at its gate

560

It knew no lapse, nor Diminuation—
But large—serene—
Burned on—until through Dissolution—
It failed from Men—

I could not deem these Planetary forces
Annulled—
But suffered an Exchange of Territory—
Or World—

I painted a girl out of sunshine
with brush strokes that glitter and play
And glow gold and pink and sweet

But I overlooked a few things in her making
Her head cannot pivot
Only move up and down
Nod yes
Yes, I'm fine
Yes, I can help

And when I painted her face,
I gave her a smile
The brightest, most heartfelt smile I could make
To make other people feel okay
But I never realized that meant she'd be stuck that way

She grins, teeth glistening
Whispers my mistakes,
I take a closer look
And find that the pink paint
is in fact the red of my blood
And the brush, my own bone
You'll give until your death! she smiles and laughs

Too late to un-create this destiny
It is all I can do to prop the sunshine girl up in front of me
A screen for others to watch a lie
And not the sad silent soul behind

While the sunshine girl does the living, the girl behind retreats to words, trying not to
Die.

"Will you stop smiling already?"
I can't. I'm laughing at life and how momentarily intense it is.

I think that answer might scare some people

1, The princess never has to do anything for herself
2, The princess isn't allowed to do anything for herself
3, The princess must do exactly as is said by everyone else

Strike the first from the list- this is the real world, no time for fantasy
The other two work out, the second especially now that

Time is splitting away! This down the rabbit hole, this through the looking glass, until
all that's left is a shame, there's no time at all for the princess

Lock your lips, breathe in, breathe out.
How do you keep choosing and choosing to do the right thing
when time and again
everyone else pushes poisoned apples and sharp spindles down your throat?

Take your orders, little marionette, dance away your nights and days
Tatter your shoes, dear princess, step by weary step in this dazzling cage
And pray that when the music stops
someone will notice that you have started to fade.

It’s funny, sort of
Every one of us here, at least most of us here, are alike in one way

We all share the same secret

Push your hair to the side, lean closer
I’ll whisper what you’ve refused to know in your ear

It isn’t good for us here

After all, catharsis works in both ways
We’re throwing our darkest soul corners out at these screens
Hour by wasted hour, the horror we relieve is refilled by haywire empathy

Why would we stay, you ask?
It’s an addiction, impossible to stay away

Imagine no rush of sharing, no reveling in thought,
No hiding in the words of others

We’re drawn back to these alphabet keys
The poetry of life haunting us all,
Chasing us through our deepest pain, herding us toward revelations we won’t understand
Controlling the world we see

We repress this whisper of truth, of course
We all know we’re not going to stop

But shhh! This is a
Secret
        Secrets are no fun unless you share with everyone.