Usually my thoughts get the best of me
But what they don't tell you is
You are not your mind
You are your emotions
Your thoughts and words manifest the way you think
not what you feel

Ancient civilizations considered words and writing a lower form of communication
because they talked to each other non-verbally
And I agree, however hypocritical that might seem

I agree because no matter how many times I write
I can never quite capture the way my heart feels
About the beauty of a sunset on a busy day
or the way the stars shine brighter on a calm and silent night
About the stray dog who loves you with all his heart because you pet him that one time
or the old man on the street who fights through his days with a smile

I can only talk and write about these things so many times
before they lose meaning in my mind
But my heart remains the same

So maybe all the 'I love you's have become redundant to my brain
but you must believe me when I say
you still have
all of my heart.

All my life I've been told
How to act and how to think
What to do and who to be

"Don't use those words"
"Don't stay out late"
"You should have fun!
Just not that way"
"Keep your grades up"
"Keep your laugh down"
"But whoever told you
you should frown?"

I've always been good
I did as I was told
I never misbehaved
But now I'm growing old
My youth is passing by me
And how have I spent it?
Obedient - I'm seeing it
Never the miscreant
But always the misfit

"Don't talk back"
"Don't disagree"
Can't you see
your words are hurting me?
"Honey, I always wanted the best for you"
Then why don't you let my real self
shine on through?

Never had any friends
and you ask me why?
How am I supposed to blend
when you never even let me try?
But that doesn't matter
it's not what I want
What I want is out there
and you keep me locked up
But it all ends now
though you still ask how -
how did this happen?
Why did I change?
Well now I'm here to tell you
I broke out from my cage
All these
Obligations
Frustrations
Condemnations
Aggravations
Your fixations
and my deprivations
They're done now cause can't you see?
From this day on
I'm doing me.

Give me your hand
my forbidden one
Let me lead you to the darkest corner
where our truth can come to light
Because that's the only place
we can exist -
in between the spaces of words
always left unsaid
Where you're not afraid
to show me your soul
And I'm not afraid
to let you take a step closer
But the flame can't burn for long
Because we both know
when morning comes
we'll play pretend
The whispers of the dark
will lay forgotten
Because in our world
of unfinished sentences,
where more often than not
there is a coma where a full stop should be;
"U" and "I" will never be
side by side.