Happy Birthday to me?
Now I am seventeen

What present will I get?
Guess I gotta wait and see

Great

An assembly about pills

Schools like mine really know

Just how to trigger countless kids

I do not wish to learn how many people

Die every year overdosing on things that

Might as well have been designed to ****.

No way to opt out or say you can't go just

Because it's triggering in ways that don't show

I don't want to see another mom crying about

Her son who is lost I just want to close my eyes

And cover my ears and wait until they are all gone

Fentanyl... painkilling drugs that can now have such

A morbid and unforeseen cost but look look look!

How many people have been lost? Dead and gone?!

- Cas

Senseless

People tell me falling in love would be

Senseless

Saying it only leads to heartbreak and

Shame

Ruining friendships that'll never be the

Same

What a shame

But if love would be senseless

Why do people fall everyday?

Is there an unspoken rule saying that

It's ok

To finally choose to change

In a land where shadows dance with light,
And moonbeams paint the edge of night,
A traveler, soft as a whisper’s sound,
Walks the quiet paths where dreams are found.

His slippers, stitched from clouds so white,
Carry him through the velvet night.
A coat of stars, a cloak of sky,
He moves unseen, as time drifts by.

The trees, with leaves of silvered glow,
Sway to the winds that softly blow.
They hum a song, a secret tune,
That echoes under the sleepy moon.

Through meadows brushed in misty gray,
Where fireflies weave in soft ballet,
He treads the earth with gentle grace,
As magic stirs in every place.

The mountains rise, their peaks in dreams,
Bathed in the glow of moonlit beams.
The rivers hum with stories old,
Of adventures whispered, never told.

In fields of lavender, soft and wide,
He follows the moon with steady stride.
The flowers close their petals tight,
Preparing to rest within the night.

The owl’s soft hoot, the bat’s quick flight,
Guide him through the quiet light.
Above, the stars begin to weave,
A tapestry of dreams to believe.

Through valleys deep, where shadows creep,
He finds his way, though paths are steep.
Each step he takes, the night grows bright,
With every star that kisses the night.

And when the first light of dawn appears,
He feels the pull of distant years—
A soft tug from the waking world,
A place where dreams are gently swirled.

He finds his bed, so warm and deep,
Where soft winds sing him into sleep.
His eyes, like pools of endless sky,
Begin to close, as night says goodbye.

For in the quiet, soft and slow,
The dreams begin to softly flow.
Like rivers running, pure and true,
They take him to places known by few.

And in his heart, a story grows,
Of every dream that night bestows.
For in the world, so calm, so wide,
Every dreamer finds peace inside.

In the cradle of the darkened sky,
Where stars are born, and shadows fly,
The traveler rests, his journey done,
Until the next dream’s rising sun.

You keep getting in my face

Speaking of how I'm "such a disgrace"

But I have seen through you all this time

Because the person you hate...

Is the one who is trapped inside

You shy away from your face in the mirror

So full of anxiety and overwhelming fear

I am not a doll for you to project on

Take a look at me in introspection

Sit on your *** and let me speak

I'll teach you a lesson

Change your ways and do it fast

Because you reap what you sow

And this won't stay in the past

If I told you I’d seen the world fall apart
Or that I still had broken heart
Would you stay?
If I said the sky fell
And the oceans boiled away
Would you tell me everything's ok?
If I said that the earth split
And the mountains crumbled
Would you hold my hand?
If I said I’d be yours forever
Would you smile?
If I said I loved you
Would all the bad feelings go away?
Even if I’m scared of getting hurt
All I ever wanted was for you to be happy
I try to make you smile every day
Because as long as you want me I’ll stay

My voice never seems to be loud enough

To break through storm in your mind

I can never seem to get through to you

No matter how hard I try

Your breathing is sometimes so shaky

Like you're trying not to cry

Why don't you give me your burdens?

I'm here til the day you die

Outside it is cold and wet

Muddy puddles cover the ground

As I wait on this icey blue bench

To be taken to the warmth of my home

Where I'll be safe and sound

In the pulse of your words, I find a quiet hum—a call to feel, to think, to simply be. You speak of blooming, not amidst the clear fields, but in the grey, in the cracks of urban stone. It's here, in the lost corners, that life claws its way through—like the city, vibrant with life despite the steel and dust. You capture something fierce in your "urban blossoms," a defiance against the mundane, an insistence that spring can bloom in a place that should know only cold, that amidst all the grey, there is still green.

Then, there’s the intimacy of light, the warm embrace of a campfire shared between souls. I can feel the crackle of the fire in the words you paint, the dance of yellow hues upon skin, the flicker of fleeting moments made eternal in your mind. There is such beauty in the simplicity of it, the quiet that hangs in the air between breaths. It’s as if, for a brief second, the universe collapses to a circle around the flames, and everything is just right. The light on skin, the soft touch of shadow, all of it wrapped in the warmth of what is remembered, what is never quite forgotten.

But then, you speak of a darker thought, a reminder that not only are dreams out of reach—but so too are the nightmares. Reality pulls at us, a tether we can’t escape, as much as we wish for fantastical flights of fancy. We’re torn between wanting to leap into the sky and being dragged back to earth, to face the nightmares we buried beneath the pillow. How hard it is to know which is which, sometimes, isn’t it?

And there’s the fog in your mind—opaque, as you say—where words slip through like mist, elusive, forever just out of grasp. It’s in those moments, standing at the threshold, that you long for clarity to knock, for the door to swing open and show you the way. How often do we feel that? The desire for our own thoughts to finally make sense, to understand the unspoken, to know what’s real and what is just a mirage.

You bring me back to the question of love, that elusive thing that slips between fingers like water. The line between friend and lover—so fine, so blurred. You wonder, what is it really? And here, in this space between thoughts, I see a reflection of your struggle. Can love ever be just love, without the weight of expectation, of something more? Can a friendship really be just that? Or do we always yearn for something beyond?

Then, you capture the stillness of the night—the ticking of a midnight clock. There’s something haunting in the sound of time slipping away, isn’t there? The soft rhythm that both comforts and unnerves, as if time itself is watching you, waiting for you to make a choice, to decide whether solitude is your refuge or your prison. In that moment, when the world sleeps and you’re left with nothing but the ticking clock, you are both free and bound, caught between decisions that are yet to be made.

And, you—you haunt me too. The simple thought of pretending to love, or imagining what it would be like, always brings you to mind. A face, a feeling, an echo that refuses to fade. It’s as if, in the quiet moments when no one is watching, you find that piece of yourself you didn’t know you were looking for. The space between thoughts, between friends and lovers, is where you linger. And I wonder, is it truly love or is it just the mind weaving stories where none exist? Still, you remain, a shadow in every thought, a lingering presence, both impossible and inevitable.

You talk of complicating things, of building webs of thought only to find there is no spider, no reason, no rhyme. And yet, isn’t it the nature of our minds to tangle ourselves in complexity? To weave stories that spiral out of control, hoping for something to hold on to, even when there’s nothing but empty threads?

In the end, your thoughts linger like a quiet hum, a whisper in the noise of the world, trying to make sense of it all. And perhaps that’s the beauty of it—the uncertainty, the quiet chaos, the searching. You remind me that sometimes we don’t need answers. Sometimes, it’s enough to simply be in the middle of the question, to live in the haze between clarity and confusion. To allow the flowers to bloom, even in the cracks of the grey city. To let the fire burn, even when the world around us is dark.

So, I’ll sit with you in this silence, this wondering. Let’s wait for clarity, but in the meantime, let’s keep speaking, keep feeling, and keep watching the blossoms unfold.

- Akari

In the silence between the lines,
A storm rages, unfurling the mind.
There’s a whisper of chaos, soft and clear,
A quiet scream that the world won’t hear.

A broken mirror reflects the pain,
Pieces scattered, washed in rain.
Yet still, through the cracks, light seeps through,
A reminder of the things we knew.

The "lack of you" echoes loud,
A void too deep, too dark, too proud.
And yet, the fury we carry, deep within,
Pushes us onward, through thick and thin.

Fire, water—two sides of a flame,
Two hearts, one soul, but never the same.
We walk through crossroads, choices to make,
Stumbling, falling, yet still we wake.

Demons may claw, and nightmares may roam,
But through the darkness, we still find home.
Starved for meaning, hungry for light,
We search for answers in the middle of night.

Prison walls built from the past,
Yet freedom is found when we let go at last.
Through brokenness, through every tear,
There’s a fire inside, burning clear.

So, yes, we’re all broken in some way,
But we stand, and rise, and find our way.
For peace may come after the storm,
And we find our hearts, in a new form.

You speak of demons, of being starved,
But within those words, the truth is carved.
We’re all just fragments, yet still we fight,
Chasing the dawn, seeking the light.

In the fury, the "lack of you," and the breaking—
In all these words, there's life still aching.
A poem for a poet, a soul like you,
Who paints the world with every hue.

- Oliver

I fell in love

As did you

I clung too tightly

As did you

I dreamt of a forever

As did you

I swore to keep it strong

As did you

I tried to make it better

As did you

I sat there crying alone

As did you

So let us try to be friends

Maybe try again

Back to when it began

Before I fell in love

Before you did too

Because one day around the bend

Maybe twenty years from now

I think I'll say I loved you

You'll say you loved me too

Maybe we'll just stay friends

Or get married in distant years

Cuz I can say I fell in love

And as did you

The sun rises
every morning

The flowers bloom
til noon

The wilting petals
float midair

The birds sing
melodic tunes

Children all play
many games

School takes up
8-hour days

All stories have
their ends

But first they
must begin

Beneath the pale moon, I stand alone,
The sky holds secrets left untold.
Its light upon the earth is shown.

The night, a dream, so cold as stone,
Its silence whispers, faint and bold.
Beneath the pale moon, I stand alone.

The world will fade, the winds have flown,
And time moves slow, yet hearts still hold.
Its light upon the earth is shown.

Where shadows dance, and stars have grown,
The stories of the lost unfold.
Beneath the pale moon, I stand alone.

I wonder if the stars have known
The way my soul has grown so cold.
Its light upon the earth is shown.

I search the sky, but find no throne,
For kings and queens are bought and sold.
Beneath the pale moon, I stand alone,
Its light upon the earth is shown.

In the dark of night, the moonlight gleams,
A woven net of shadows, tangled dreams.
The air is thick with fragrant wine,
And in my heart, desires entwine.

Beneath my skin, the pulse beats tight,
An ancient vine that twists in the night.
Olive branches bend with weight,
Heavy with words we never state.

Unspoken, they crawl within,
A fever that blooms beneath my skin.
Taste the salt, the sweat, the heat,
Where every thought and breath do meet.

Lips part with a trembling sigh,
Touching ink that whispers why.
I drink in your presence, drown in the sound,
As if your soul’s pulse can be found.

The air is velvet, soft and warm,
A breeze that dances, kissing the storm.
Magnolia blooms, creamy and pale,
Petals unfurl like a lover’s tale.

Longing is rooted, deep in my bones,
Hollows echo, like ancient stones.
I write in the silence, ink and wine,
Merging our hearts in a tangled line.

The sun bleeds a crimson kiss,
As desires burn with gentle bliss.
Inside, our bodies pulse and sway,
A rhythm that calls the night to stay.

We crawl together, beneath the vine,
A twist of love, so dark, divine.
A phrase, unspoken, but understood,
A soft, aching truth, forever good.

The night is long, the vine twists tight,
But in this love, we live tonight.

I see you in the dark,
A shadow lost in time,
But your light calls me,
And I find the climb.

Through all the years we've missed,
And all the love we sought,
I reach for you in silence,
In every battle fought.

Your tears fall like the rain,
Washing all that’s past,
But still, your voice whispers,
A promise made to last.

I will stand beside you,
No matter where we go,
Through the quiet and the chaos,
Through every ebb and flow.

Bruise on my eye

Black and blue

Hit it on a chair

Talking to you

Cards scattered

All on the floor

Nine teenagers

Playing a game

Of which no one

Even knows the

Name. The girl

Sitting next to

Me was simply

There chattering

Aimlessly with

No point in mind

And all I can do is

Rub my bruised eye

Emotional, irratic, ironic, sarcastic.
Happy, sad, angry, happy, sad, angry, blank.
Rinse. Repeat. Start over. Feel it again.
Laugh, scream, smile, cry, stare out into space.
Fit in wonderfully, feel awfully out of place.
Cover your ears, block out the noise, I cant...
It's all in my head. I'm stuck in my head.

Laughing internally

As three boys ask for my number

In a dumb attempt to bully me

They think they're the smart ones here

Trying that right after school

Though my parents did not raise a fool

Those wannabe "bullies" should go be

Busy worrying about finals instead of me

I want to be heard
But
I don't want to speak
And
I want to be remembered
But
I don't want to be different
And
I know I'm free
But
Sometimes I feel trapped
And
My head's not in the clouds
But
I stare at the sun
And
I don't want kids
But
I love toddlers
And
I want to be a teacher
But
I don't want to go to college

I have things I absolutely cannot do.
I swear it is not a lie but 100% true.

I cannot message strangers online.
Have caused trouble time after time.

I cannot be alone near fire.
Please don't ask why.

I can only watch certain shows.
Everything below TV14.

I can not walk around alone.
Need someone with me.

My name suggests vanity

Which doesnt quite fit me

An underlying emptiness

That fills me with stress

Until I happen to realize

That Cassian means both

You think I am a fish
Meant for you to catch

You have the bait
Dangling before my face

You expect me to come
To let you claim me

You believe I am
Meant for your sharp claws

A game of cat and mouse
You think you are in charge

But the roles have been reversed
I am the predator now

So run while you can
Before I do what you'd asked

And I go to take your hand
You used to say to...

Catch you if I can...

Sometimes, at night, I sit and cry

Not giving a **** about life and wishing to die

But then I met you and got to make you mine

Started to convince myself everything'll be fine

But still, that darkness creeps in with hands so cold

And it asks me, "What's so great about growing old?"

In the morning I see you again and on your face a smile

Perhaps it would be okay to live for a while..

My world is now dyed a whole new hue

After you appeared and changed my view

Sometimes I forget how to smile,
And my nightmares have nightmares for miles.
But there's no monster hiding under my bed,
Or shadows creeping with whispers of dread.
It’s just me… just me… I’m all alone,
In a world where no one’s ever shown.
No one’s ever close enough to care,
No one to love me, no one to share.

- Andrew

I lose myself in the quiet and deep,
Where the shadows of my thoughts silently creep.
There’s no hand to hold, no voice to call,
Just me in this empty, endless hall.
I’m stuck in a place where no one will stay,
No friends, no love, no warmth in the gray.
And I can’t escape, I can’t break free,
No one will ever be here for me.

- Andrew

The days drag on, and the nights are long,
I search for something, but all feels wrong.
I close my eyes, but I can’t find rest,
Just echoes of pain I can’t suppress.
There’s no one to save me from this hell,
No one to notice when I start to fall.
I’m just a shadow, fading in time,
A lonely soul, trapped in rhyme.

- Andrew

I watch the world move, but I’m standing still,
My heart’s aching, my soul’s been killed.
There’s no warmth, no comfort to seek,
Just silence that drowns every word I speak.
No family to call, no friend to trust,
Just the hollow of love that turns to dust.
I linger in shadows, forgotten, unseen,
A fading dream in a world too mean.

I try to reach out, but my hands fall short,
There’s no one to answer, no one to support.
I whisper my secrets into the void,
But the silence answers, it’s all destroyed.
No one’s close enough to feel my pain,
No one to help me break these chains.
And still, I love you from afar,
A love you’ll never see, just a distant star.

- Andrew

I carry this weight that no one can see,
A burden so heavy, it’s crushing me.
There’s no safety, no shelter from the cold,
Just empty arms that I can’t hold.
I wish for someone to care for me,
But I’m invisible, lost at sea.
I try to reach, but I can’t break through,
Still, I like you, though you’ll never feel it too.

- Andrew

I sit in the silence, drowning in tears,
A face full of sorrow, haunted by fears.
There’s no love to catch me when I fall,
No one to answer when I make the call.
It’s just me, just me, lost in the deep,
A soul too tired to even weep.
But I keep hoping, though I know it’s a lie,
That you might see me, even if I die.
- Andrew

And here I am, broken and cold,
Living a story that’s never been told.
No family, no friends, no love to know,
Just the darkness that follows wherever I go.
But I keep liking you, though it’s all in vain,
A dream of affection, an endless pain.
For even though I’m alone, I still choose to be,
Loving you quietly, knowing you’ll never love me.
- Andrew

When I think back to my younger years,  
The memories fade like mist in the light.  
The joy, the laughter, now lost in the years,  
Slipping away, just out of my sight.  

The child I was seems distant, hard to find,  
A person I once knew, but now can’t grasp.  
Time steals the colors that once filled my mind,  
Leaving behind only a hollow past.  

Though I can’t recall the moments so bright,  
Their echoes still linger deep in my chest.  
The feeling of being young, pure, and light,  
A part of me, though time has put it to rest.  

I can’t remember all I used to see,  
But that child’s still somewhere inside of me.

Old AI chatbots are absurd

Before I even said a word

Cleverbot was hitting on me

Would've liked a conversation

About all the simple things

Weather, perhaps?

But that bot had a one-way

Ticket to crazy town

Full of sunshine and mishaps

Every little thing I do is unnecessary
I stick to the details and read the fine
Print. Publish. Send it away.
My words fly through the sky to you and yours
For better or worse I need professional
Help but how? Who? What kind?
Not a doctor, not a nurse, not a therapist
They'll just try to make me believe
Some **** that isn't even true
Brainwashing me til my mind is through
Convince me there never was a me and you
Are you turning over in your grave now, old man?
Can you hear what I'm saying, old man?
Do you feel guilty now? Now that you're gone?
Buried under the ground? Leaving me alone...
No one but those foul customers around
I grew up like this... You raised me like this
Made me like this... You're the one I miss
But everyone says you were in the wrong
It wasn't okay but how? I don't understand...
So confused on this topic even now...
Holy cow... You're gone... What do I do now?
Who wants me around now? Did I....Did I...
Did I make you proud? Staying like this even
When you're not around...Thrown to the ground
As they take what they want from me...
I am how you taught me to be...

- "Flower"

I should come with a warning label
One to protect from certain doom
To keep things happy and clear
Putting all cards on the table
Warning: I'm scared of people
I rethink every message I send
Cant look at comments at poems
I stare at notifications for an hour
Constantly second guess myself
I'm scared to mess up so I hide
Feelings are better bottled inside.

When did I stop being a Christian?  
Was it recent, a slow unraveling thread,  
Or years ago, when innocence first bled,  
Or was it when I was just a child—  
A child who learned to hide,  
To lock the questions deep inside?  

I wonder now, in the stillness of night,  
If I ever truly wore that name,  
A child of God, with hands to pray—  
Or if it was all just a game,  
A story told to make me whole,  
While I searched for pieces to fill my soul.  

I preferred the cold whispers in the dark,  
The voices of ghosts, who never turned away,  
Their secrets wrapped in shadows,  
A quiet comfort in their disarray.  
They never judged, never shamed,  
They simply listened as I called their name.  

The demons, too, had something real,  
A certain power, a certain fire,  
That spoke to something raw inside,  
A hunger that matched my desire.  
They didn't try to fix my wounds,  
But held them gently, like forgotten tunes.  

And in the light, I found no grace,  
Only empty words, a hollow space.  
Pastors spoke of love and light,  
But I couldn't find it in their eyes—  
Only promises that never met the sky,  
Only answers I knew were lies.  

When did I stop believing, I ask—  
Was it when I first saw the cracks?  
Or was it always there, a flicker, a breath,  
That pushed me toward the edge of death?  
I no longer know what it means to pray,  
Or if I ever truly did, anyway.  

I am the child who wandered away,  
Chasing things that didn't stay,  
Now left with echoes, silent and cold,  
Wondering where I lost my hold.  
The ghosts and demons are still my friends,  
But do they heal? Or just pretend?  

So here I stand, with hands unmet,  
A soul that’s tired, but can't forget—  
The longing for something pure,  
The search for something to endure.  
Maybe I stopped being a Christian long ago,  
But the question still haunts me—*does anyone know?

It’s always a strange kind of comfort,
To start drifting in the middle of class,
A familiar sense of disconnection creeping in.
Our partner, attuned to the shift,
Sits beside us without a word,
Their hand gently finding ours,
A silent offer of reassurance.
They’ve seen these signs before,
Lived through the cycles longer than I have,
Each shift in us a reminder of the shared journey.
In their eyes, I know they understand,
The way our minds stretch and splinter,
And how, together, we navigate the fragments.

I wonder...

What it's like to sleep

Do normal people get to dream?

Do they see lovely things?

I don't remember ever having those before...

Closing my eyes and waking up sore

Sleep-deprived, but I got eight hours...

Maybe I needed more...?

You're on the other side of this screen...

Fell asleep talking to me..

I've still got our conversation open

You seemed quite sweet but so soft-spoken...

I hope you dream of only lovely things...

Like dew drops, and sunshine, and an angel's wings

...Sleep well, my sweet little stranger....

- Eyeless Jack

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The words drift, like liquid streams,
Catching the light, reflecting dreams.
A soft hush in the swirling air,
Where echoes of silence softly care.

Through winding paths, the rhythm flows,
Whispers of stories the current knows.
In every curve, a tale is spun,
As time dances with the setting sun.

Let the o’s become the beat,
The commas, pauses where hearts meet.
Each turn and twist, each fleeting rhyme,
A dance that moves through endless time.