Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
10.8k · Jun 2011
The Human Connection
Daniel Farnam Jun 2011
We share this theater together
And watch the act patiently.
We applaud those who perform well,
And even louder and harder for those who only had the courage to try.
We watch the dancers on the stage,
Our youth on stage,
Ourselves on stage.

It is beautiful.
It is raw.
It is real.
It is not perfect and some will fall,
But we all feel together.
We lift each other up.
It is love.

We are all together
On the stage as actors,
As graceful dancers,
And brilliant musicians
Performing as one.

We are all connected
In the audience as proud parents,
As loving relatives,
And respectful friends,
Cheering as one.

It is not perfect.
It is life,
Raw and real.
Some will fall,
But we all feel together
And we’ll lift each other up
As one.
For ourselves,
And for each other.
Original 6/19/2011
I wrote this after attending my little half sister's first dance recital. I was moved by the unity in the performance, as well as in the audience. At the beginning of the show, a little girl dancer could only cry, immobilized by embarrassment and fear. However, as soon as she got the courage to twirl in rhythm, the whole audience burst into applause and she finished with an enormous smile on for the rest of the routine. It was as if she was surprised to be accepted so easily. A few of the father's from the audience shocked everyone when they all at once walked on stage and had a whole coordinated dance performance for themselves planned. I can only imagine what this did to bolster the little dancers' courage to see their old man up there in front of everyone, as well as connect the audience to the performance. It was special and I am proud of little Sophia Farnam.

Also I wrote this while listening to  Nostrand by Ratatat. I feel that reading and listening helps to connect the piece together and gives it voice. Just a thought.
2.8k · Oct 2010
Untitled
Daniel Farnam Oct 2010
Feeling numb
Hollowed out
Tired of not knowing
Who I am
These past couple of days
I have been in a bubble
I have friends to talk to
I go places
I see beauty
Just that I don’t feel
I’m tired of myself

I went back home last weekend.
It wasn’t the same.
All my friends were gone.
It was better to just leave the memories
And move on.
I think I needed that moment,
To realize there’s nothing left there.


Nothing left?

Except my favorite memories.
Everyone who made them with me
Is not going to be there later in life though.
I want a new place.


I need a new environment
New people, new ideas, new trees
New stars, everything
Just want to be at a place to start creating
I can start right now
Or tomorrow

It’s all bittersweet
Makes you want to cry a little and smile.
I turned an actual Instant Message conversation I had with a friend of mine named Eesl, into this. Not sure if it's poetry, but I like it. I didn't add any words, but I rearranged the order of how things were said. 10/18/2010
2.2k · Jun 2011
Wish You Were Here
Daniel Farnam Jun 2011
Where did my love go?
Where is the friend that I always knew?
This dream is void of meaning.
This song is without lyrics.
This heaven is lonely.

I wish you were here

I’ve already forgotten the way your skin felt.
The curves your body made…
The slight raise of your smile…
I’ve forgotten the way your hair smelled.
The way your eyes locked onto mine.
The softness of your lips…
I’ve already forgotten those sweet words you said.
How they made me feel.
Such a beautiful image of us framed for one night
Only to be forgotten the next day.
I wish you were here,
Here where I am…
Trying desperately to remember the night
When we were together.

My friend who is always away;
My brother, tell me who is my mother?
Where was father when I was born?
Do we really have sisters?
Or are we all just alone together?
Absence has played a large presence in my life…
Where did everyone go?
Our youth was torn from us,
But at least we kept our lives...
Some of us weren’t so lucky.
I wish you were here,
Here where I am…
Trying desperately to remember the past
When we were all together.

Where did my love go?
Where is the friend that I always knew?
This world is void of meaning.
This symphony is without lyrics.
This paradise is lonely.

I wish you were here
2.2k · Mar 2011
My Quiet Indecision
Daniel Farnam Mar 2011
Come back to me.
Tell me your life is hard.
Lie with me,
But tell me no.
Ask me to love you,
And see my quiet indecision.

You’re torn,
Your body from your mind.
Tell me yes,
Then tell me no.
Tell me to go,
And see my quiet indecision.

This has gone too far,
But yet you still lie.
You need to leave,
But yet you still lie.
Lie with me; lie to me,
And see my quiet indecision.
original 3/8/2011
1.7k · Sep 2010
Cheated
Daniel Farnam Sep 2010
Falling...

Feel the air between your fingers.
How it feels solid in your hands.
Feel it around your arms.
Making the skin cold.
The wind envelops your entire body
And stings your eyes.

No memory of how this happened...
Falling into thin air.
Maybe the ground you were standing on wasn’t really there...
Maybe gravity betrayed you?

Maybe she betrayed you...

It doesn’t matter,
You can’t stop the inevitable.
Gravity is fact
And now it’s going to be the end.

Enjoy the fall.
Enough time to see it all flash before your eyes
And remember the good.

How often do you get to feel this alive?
original
780 · Sep 2010
Swept Away
Daniel Farnam Sep 2010
I’ve been swept away
Fallen into yesterday
As nostalgic dreams cloud my mind
I have come to find
That I’ve been spirited away

Floating, falling, fading; in and out of time
Submersed in a reality of past memories
Drowning in the thought of the present
My mind won’t stay afloat in this sea of nostalgia

I’ve been swept away
Haunted by yesterday
As these dreams strangle my mind
I have come to find
That I’ve been spirited away
original
752 · Sep 2010
Proper Etiquette
Daniel Farnam Sep 2010
You’ve been gone so long…
Too long.
I’ve missed you so!
Now come embrace me.

You’ve picked up a new scent?
Is it of violets and roses? or is that nightshade?
If it be of roses, surely they are yellow.
Maybe the smell is from all those wonderful places you visited.
Were they as fond of you as I am?
After all, we are the places we want to be.

What’s this?
A gift for me?
You don’t see it?
But it’s so sharp and shiny.
Still no?
That’s probably because it’s in my back.
I got you one too...
But as they say,
True friends stab you in the front
original
747 · Sep 2010
Tragic
Daniel Farnam Sep 2010
In the middle of the night
I see your face
In the middle of a dream
I see your face
Your face so young, pure, and sincere
Your face so mangled, ******, and lost

In the middle of the night
I scream your name
In the middle of a dream
I scream your name
Your name is horror, fear, and plague
Your name is death, grotesque, and gore

I have no rest after I saw your face
There is no sleep to those who know your name
Death of innocence at such a young age
Witnessed by innocence at such a young age
original.
742 · Sep 2010
Perspective
Daniel Farnam Sep 2010
On the way to the mental hospital everything looks exactly the way you’d think…
Think… thick… trees.
The trees are all eerie, the sky is grey, and the air around is stale…
Stale…stall… small. Small!
The rooms are overtly large and colored so… beige… benign? Why yes, the staff is nice.
I’m visiting my sister here for she is not so nice.
Killed her dog and her… our, mother in the most absurd way.
Who would have thought something so.. ordinary... as a pen could be so deadly?

Pens are such discrete weapons.
Hiding in the open; much like she was.
Only after the blood dried could they read the story she... poked... into our mother.
And the holes they can make!
All of those...dot, dot, dots...
So punctual...
my sister is right on time; as usual.

I can see her now.
She seems so sad.
Sorta slightly somber she is.
I tell her I can’t keep coming back here to see her.
She starts to weep. Whelp. Well…
I tell her how well I’m doing and how she is missing out out there in real life.
But to no avail. My words do not reach her. She must be off her meds again...
Silly sister! What good are you without your meds?

Well it's time to go.  Bye little sis, here come the men now.

What's this? You’ve got the wrong guy! She’s the crazy one, not I!
Not I, no! I know not I! No. No.... I do know.
Oops! I forgot. I played the wrong role. Goodbye little sister of mine, see ya next time!
original
735 · Oct 2010
Endangered
Daniel Farnam Oct 2010
You are the last of your kind.
So sweet and tender,
Don’t run away.
Stay.

You’re magnificent.
A wonder of nature.
Majestic.
A beautiful aesthetic.

This ship has left corpses
Trailing in its wake.
Floating bones and carcass.
The machine is heartless.

It comes nearer.
The sound of its low groan
Makes waves
That can be felt through the chains of the slaves.

You will be shot.
You will bleed.
Your body will be disrespected
And our conscience neglected.

I will hold your memory
After you are gone.
The ship will be blind
For you are the last of your kind.
original 10/11/2010
inspired by http://www.rodneymatthews.com/stopslaughter.htm
728 · Jun 2011
My Dark Wonderland
Daniel Farnam Jun 2011
Within the hour I’m twisted.
A different person.
New insights, new light,
A new world.
Wandering around familiar places
With a new sense of feeling.

The weeds that have taken over my yard
Are now connected to me.
My yard is the outcast in neighborhood.
Unclean, unkempt, unwanted.
But now I can see,
That my yard is me, personified.
These weeds are mine.
They sprouted and spread because of me.

As I walk through them
They no longer disgust,
But cling to me.
I take root near them.
I feel I have always been here.

The willow tree gives me shade from the stars and the moon.
Its hanging branches cover me with open arms.
Its leaves, just upside down weeds;
Reaching out to me,
Melting me in…

The air is humid.
The wind blows heat.
And now the ground turns soft.
My yard has become a marsh.
My own swamp.
I am unafraid,
But left wanting.

What have I turned into?
A new being
In a different world,
But all alone.
Has it always been this way?
Will it ever change?

This scene is forever marked on me.
A memory that can never be left
Or forgotten.
A portal on my skin.
Now I can always return to my marsh,
My swamp,
My kingdom.
Maybe I can take you there and never be alone?
http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc390/dfarnam1/IMG_0907.jpg
722 · Sep 2010
Foolish
Daniel Farnam Sep 2010
The air is stale and the sky is empty
The earth is barren and dead
The only thing left is the two lovers
They walk hand in hand
They follow the path that leads to nowhere
The man is loyal, loving, and lost in her eyes
He does not notice the death around them
The empty and pointless path before them
So lost in her eyes, he does not see the wall
The wall ahead is forever tall and forever long
The two could never make it over
He is so lost in her eyes that he does not see the blade
The knife that’s been in her hand all along
The knife that she slowly sinks into his chest
He never leaves her eyes
Through the pain
He never leaves her eyes
original.
661 · Sep 2010
The Kill
Daniel Farnam Sep 2010
The sunlight
Shining through the leaves of the trees
Onto the forest floor
On and into my skin
Warms me as I wake.

I stand
On these skinny and agile legs
That move me through my world
And protect me from the unknown.

The green grass
That I eat so hastily
Fills my stomach
As I couldn’t love life more.

I freeze
Something in the brush
Cracks the twigs and rots the ground
It is evil and cannot be seen

The demonic sound
Cuts through the air
And into me
As I fall engulfed by pain.

The sunlight
That shines through the leaves of the trees
Falls not on me, but a hovering shadow
Red seeps out and makes me weak
It chills me as I start to sleep
original
661 · Sep 2010
Codename Colorado
Daniel Farnam Sep 2010
What is a home,
if you’re not happy in it?
Sometimes you can’t change what you’ve got.
I know we’re young,
but sometimes
you’ve just gotta change where you’re at.

What is a family,
if everyone is fighting?
Most times people won’t change.
I know we’re young,
but sometimes
you can’t let things stay the same.

What is a friend,
if he’s not there for you?
Sometimes they just don’t show.
I know we’re young,
but sometimes
you have to let them go.
original
651 · Aug 2014
today...
Daniel Farnam Aug 2014
today at 10:55 a.m. a man died.
today at 11:00 a.m. I ate lunch
today at 10:10 a man was hungry for air.
today at 11:10 I was hungry for lunch
at 10: 30 a.m. a man was given morphine
at 11:30 a.m. i was given a prayer
at 10:50 a.m. a wife was cursing god
at 11:50 a.m. I was feeding someone who was dying in front of me slowly
at 11:00 am. a wife was dying inside alone
at 11:04 p.m. I was drunk
at 11:05 p.m. I was alone
at 11:05 p.m. I was
my third day of clinical at nursing school and I witnessed a 78 year old patient with Parkinson's disease die. its incredible to witness a soul leaving.
640 · Sep 2010
I
Daniel Farnam Sep 2010
I
I am from sand.
I was born in the ocean waves.
The salty taste and smell.
The splash of the water.
I am from the beach shore,
With all its brightly colored shells.

I am from the sky,
Riding with the clouds.
Taking me to foreign lands.
Taking me to new sands.

I am from adventure and exploration,
From history and culture.
I am from the steep incline of the pyramids.
The smell and spit of the Arabian camel,
The women lost behind black cloth.
I am from mischief and “Halas.”
I am from wonder and sand.

I am from the monotony of suburban life.
I have returned to country.
To safety,
To boredom.
I am from ignorance,
Stubbornness
Religion.
I long for home.
I long for sand and water.
original
635 · Sep 2010
This Wretched Life
Daniel Farnam Sep 2010
The streets are empty tonight.

This city has been deserted.

The walk back is lonesome…

I let my mind wander. Walking methodically and without purpose. As if my soul’s been stolen away.
The coffins around me were once the embodiment of what man strove for.
To be larger than life. To be secure. To be structured.
Now the buildings and skyscrapers personify man in a different light.
Cold. Lifeless. Empty.
The grey walls **** you slowly.

The frigid air reflects the mood of the buildings.
And as the wind blows, the mood is passed into me.
I shudder from the thought of being so hollow.

There is a man near the corner of the road.
He is lying on the concrete.
Hundreds of flies and nats hover over his body.
The stench is putrid.
I shuffle around him and try not to breathe his diseased air.
He moans.
Rises slowly.

The dead coming back to life.

“food”
Is all he says.

I stare into his eyes.
I see only myself.
I’m not surprised.

I lie back down on the concrete.
Feel my stomach curse me.
And wonder,
What happened to me?
original 9/18/2010
614 · Nov 2011
Patient
Daniel Farnam Nov 2011
When I finally get to call you mine

It will be like the first breath after a coma

It will mean life for me

Until that moment

When I get to call you mine

I will be holding my breath in a deep sleep

Where I can only dream of you

That first breath after a coma,

Will give me life

And when I finally call you mine

I will be sorry that I wasted so much time

But forgive me

Because I’m lost

I’m lost in the dark

I’m lost in my mind

I am out of my mind because of you

Now I’m lost

But I’m coming to you

I can feel it. I have too

You will light up the darkness

I will see you with my own eyes

For the first time I will see into you and feel with my own heart

I will move my steady hand towards you

And I will touch you and hold you

And I will say I love you

With my first breath
11/9/2011
594 · Sep 2010
Become the Future
Daniel Farnam Sep 2010
The air is rancid here and the sky is dead.
All the green is gone here.
Nothing but grey and black and white.
I am still young but I know this is wrong.
There is a few of us left.
We are children.
We wander this barren land searching for nothing;
Cursed by our parents who burned the sky and the land.

A man appears before us;
High on a throne of stone.
He wears a grey robe that covers his body.
His face is plastic and pure white.
It is friendly and smiles at us.
The other children can’t or refuse to see the horns above,
They are small but sinister.
His long, grey hair helps to hide them
But also contrasts the paleness of his face.
He extends his hands.
One is pale white and stiff,
The other is scaly and green.

He speaks to us
In a voice that reminds me of my mother.
The other children fall for the comforting sound.
They move toward him.
I take a step back.
His fierce dead eyes lock onto mine.
He tells us a story,
A story about the future.
But I’ve heard this tale already,
It is the past that my parents spoke of before they passed.

He holds out a paper in one hand and a pen in the other.
He tells us we can build the future.
The future that he wants.
But I know better than to trust the man.
The man sitting in the throne of cold and death,
The man with the fake pale face,
The man with the horns and a plan,
The man with the pen and paper.
I see his future.
It is already before us;
Empty,
Cold, and dead.
original
587 · Feb 2014
43,000 Feet
Daniel Farnam Feb 2014
at 43,000 feet            it's easy to see the big picture
  Time moves different at 43,000 feet
            I feel older          than I am  
I've left my friends behind     I can't even see them up here
At least I'm not alone      
        it feels like I left nature behind I am so high there is nothing near me
I am on my way to paradise
                 I have to fight the urge to free fall
                              plummeting down
                                      going back             in time
                                                    to where I was before I left
                                                                        falling is easier than flying
but I've got to keep looking up. I'll never get to paradise if I look down
43,000 feet is a long way to fall. How would I pick myself up from a fall like that anyway?
43,000 feet        I will be there soon
february 4th, 2014
original
529 · Sep 2010
Lament
Daniel Farnam Sep 2010
I will never forget
That first hot summer day
The day when we first met
I was nervous of course
My first best friend
How was I supposed to know?

The days shot by that summer
We were so young
Running up and down the stairs
Playing in the woods
Innocence and imagination at its best
I wish things had never changed

That day in the woods
After playing with swords and magic
You asked me if I wanted some hard candy
I said thanks but no and you ate yours anyway
We were alone in the middle of the woods
In our fort made of sticks

The sudden **** of your throat scared me
I watched as you gasped for breath
Your eyes were bulging in fear that mirrored mine
We were both so confused
You started flailing your arms around your neck
Then towards me

I couldn’t do anything
I couldn’t do anything but scream
You tried to speak but nothing came out except a gurgle
You started to throw up but nothing came out
I watched your eyes roll back
You fell to your knees
And then you were gone

I sat helpless near you
I cried and begged you to come back
Your face was frozen in pain and sadness
I had to make the journey home alone
I could barely tell your mother what happened
Her tears flood my memory each day

Who knows what it would be like now
If you were still here
What if I had eaten the candy,
That was too sweet for you to resist?
I can’t change what happened
And God knows that I don’t love Him.
original
483 · Sep 2010
The Monster in Your Life
Daniel Farnam Sep 2010
You worry like the child in the night
Worries about the monster under the bed.
But finally when you see the light,
You’ll realize it’s all in your head.
Sadly in all your blindness,
The light means death for you,
And nothing but god’s kindness
Could make the truth askew.
So while you hide behind religion,
So afraid of death,
I’ve made my decision
To cherish every breath.
For when I die, I am dead.
The afterlife is just in your head.
original
483 · Nov 2010
G
Daniel Farnam Nov 2010
G
Give

Come back…
It’s not fair to them.
They need what I can’t give.
Why’d you have to leave?


Gone

Life is empty.
We are lost now.
The children…
And you are gone.


Ghost

Are you here now?
Can you see?
See what you’ve left behind.
It’s hard to imagine
You’re gone.
original 11/5/20010. I wrote this thinking, what if my father died while I was young? This is what came to me.
464 · Sep 2010
The Red Sea
Daniel Farnam Sep 2010
Innocence out in the water
Take me back to that day
To see the world as I did
Mysterious, pure, safe
Before it was lost in time
Now confined to memory
Fading fast

Innocence lost in the water
The tide of time pulls you out
Struggle to go back to youth
But the years weigh you down
You can’t go back, time presses on
Death waits in the open
You can’t swim forever

Innocence died in the water
Drowned by time and responsibility
Age is a sinking stone we’re all forced to hold
Everyone goes under eventually.
original
463 · Jan 2011
a lost friend
Daniel Farnam Jan 2011
Don’t you know you’re falling?
Can’t you see it gets worse?
This grave I’ve dug
will be the end of us.

Don’t you know you’re falling down?

You signed your death
sending me away.
You’re falling,
there’s nothing left for you to hold on to.

I don’t understand
why my heart falls with you.
There’s nothing left for me to hold on to,
except for the past.

Don’t you know you’re falling down?

Before I bury you
with new souls,
I want you to know
That it’s me, not you, who will be missed.

You’re dead to me.
original 1/20/2011
425 · Jul 2014
this dreaming universe
Daniel Farnam Jul 2014
here in this room with lucid thoughts in this dreaming universe I am exactly where I want to be. I'm in the future. if i want to fly I just have to realize that i already am flying. outside I'm running through fields. with infinite endurance. i come to a man i know is my father. I ask, "father, are you god?" he looks to the sky. a planet is falling from the heavens. it is going to land and send a massive wave of energy towards me. as it does a voice says, "A change in the wind is coming." and im awake here in this room with lucid thoughts in this dreaming universe
rough draft. about my first lucid dream. that came true

— The End —