Never be afraid to be quiet,
For you don’t have to be the loud Extrovert:
Putting on a life and soul of the party act,
While secretly sad inside.

Just be yourself.
Be cool and calm, and of course, collected
As they say.
Be happy with yourself,
At peace with all the world.

Esteem yourself and others will esteem you too.
Be cool,
For that is cool.

Just feel that tranquil lake,
Within your mind:
Rippling gently in the moonlight,
Stirred only by a sighing breeze.

Then bask in golden sunshine,
Reclining on the shimmering sand.
A thousand summers all in one.

Engage with people
And listen
To all they have to say.
Then when the time is right
Make known your point of view.

Until that time,
Stay quiet…

Paul Butters

His name purred on her lips; 
She loved the way it
Rolled around on her tongue,
Loosened her vocal chords 

Every time she said 
his name aloud,
It felt as though she were 
Becoming more and more
Well versed in him; 
His character,
His very being

I still dream of you from time to time.
not the good dreams, the pleasant ones,
where you wake up after a restful night’s sleep
and can just barely hold on to the happiness leftover

when I dream of you I dream the dark ones
that wake you up in the middle of the night
falling from some imperceptible, nonexistent height
gasping for breath, grasping for life, drenched in cold sweat

even on nights I don’ t recall ever dreaming at all
a vague feeling of unease will settle over me midday
just when I am certain I have finally moved on, I realize
no matter how deep its buried the past is never gone

Hands, plural to make us one
Near the end of August the heat told me to stop
It's vicious, wanting you
No milder than the jaws of winter

And every person not you cuts
On the street, our wounded lips
Before October and on silver screens
Your face projected on everything

You wanted the cinema, I thought
So I spoke fumbled niceties at your door
But the camera was stuck in my eye

And the words I scripted shifted into your mouth
The breaths I take, the breaths I shout
Your smile corroded in the rain
Your endless longing,
My endless shame

It keeps me in this thought
That what I feel has no name
But the credits crept up with the dregs of December
Money is noisy, and I liked your quietudes

But the snow will blanket my blood-buoyant bright
And I will drown into night
To lay by you until dawn
To lay by you until you are gone

I clutched onto the edge of the bus seat
Like it was a white cliff
Stringy hair covering my cheeks
Stained and littered with tears
At 7:31pm
I passed your street
And for a moment it all stopped
I remembered what it was like before all of this
So forth I rocked on the cliff edge
Wondering whether I should jump off now
Or save it for later
A little glimpse of hope that you might come back
The only thing holding me back now

you claim to know me. that you
can see through my fake smiles and
hear the stutter in my words when i
try to cover up what's wrong,
(i never was a good liar) but if that
was true, why can't you see that i
am as broken as the shattered
glass in my bathroom floor?