Sand sprouts leaving traces of sea knots
Naked lovers ripening with each embrace
Tripping through landmines of uncertain love
Crevices of truth finger traced as if a masterpiece
Gardening fingers pruning and uprooting
Wires of shadows touching the shore
As the dust of flowers caresses the sky
Translucent kisses and enthralling truths
Chasing the song of the sun

Run, hide, cover your eyes,
Won't you play the game?
One, two, three, four,
Don't you try to peek.

Listen hard, in the dark,
Five, six, seven,
Listen for the screams of fear,
The rumbling of the earth.

Feel the world crashing down,
Eight, nine, and ten,
The concrete crumbling into dust,
The crushing of the bones.

Breathe it in, breathe it clear,
Eleven, twelve, thirteen,
The smell of fire and smoldering embers,
Dangerously near.

Open your mouth, let it free,
Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen,
Let the shrieks of pain and sadness,
Rip away from your throat.

Don't uncover your eyes,
Keep your hands over your face,
*"It will protect you my dear,
From the anxiety and the fear."

last night in my dreams i went to a bar

in the void

it was all darkness

dimly lit

there was an over-sized jukebox making otherworldly sounds in

what looked like a round corner

while the space felt crowded, it was almost deserted, almost empty

except for

the promise of wakeful suffering

the past's burn of *****

dinner, unsettled but unmoved

and an empty bag of fancy chocolate

to keep me company

long dead gods sometimes showed their faces and were unrecognized

i never drank a thing

i wasn't thirsty

but i sat at the bar, staring at everything but the jukebox

an empty, chipped glass in my hands

an empty, chipped smile on my face

"Keep your head up,"
My mother used to say,
How could I now,
When I barely could stand?

For my knees are too weak,
To hold up my fragile frame,
Anchored to the floor,
By the weight of the world.

"Ten tiny breaths,"
My father used to say,
How could I take ten,
When one was a struggle?

For each tear down my face,
Holds an ocean of sadness,
Filling my lungs,
With each staggering breath.

"Don't you dare give up,"
My sister used to say,
But how could I not,
When life was this hard?

When every step I took,
Cut the soles of my feet,
When every smile that I forced,
Felt like pins to my face?

The apologies I feel,
The thank you's flooding my heart,
Are simply not enough,
To tie me down to this life.

So I'm sorry to my family,
But it's killing me inside,
This life of mine,
Is not worth your lines.

In a world of black and white
I am grey
striving for perfection
as I wake up each day
isn't that what they want?
perfect grades
so theres something to flaunt
because the person I am
Just isnt enough
so they label me
but they label me wrong
so I'm expected to be
someone I'm not
yet they still wonder
why kids fall off
the face of the earth
with their heads in the clouds
like some kind of bird
deformed at birth
falling from the sky
because theyre taught they cant fly
glued to the ground
like statues
perfectly sculpted
to do as they're told
robots, with blood in their veins
not zombies
because we still have our brains
they've simply been washed
cleaned out and drained
then rebooted to believe we're all still sane
and whose to blame?
for disrupting the natural flow
all these rules and regulations
just let me be free
there's already order
how much more do we need?
I forgot how to breath
amidst these trees
which are written off
as property
and sent through factories
that make and create
a paper thats green
that rules our lives
in a world of greed
its always want
but what about need?
are people so blind
that they truly believe
cash is the key
in the persuit of happiness
we all reach to achieve

my world is messy
I can never be still
this feeling
that feeling
I never feel calm

I can be happy
Joyous
Funny
Laughing
and then
I can be sad
miserable
melancholy
serious

it's all a giant mess
and I can't seem
to gain control
and the only emotion
that's never changed
is the one of
love
and
suicide.

funny how even those are
complete
opposites.

-r.y.s