I read your words
Combinations of
Combinations of words
Combined
In a way that is uniquely
Yours.
I find it awe-inspiring
Truly.
You make me want to
Cry.
When I hear your feelings
Expressed so beautifully.
Your worries
So sincere.
It makes me worry
Which makes me stop worrying
Because it shows me that I
Still care.

My lover asks me:
"What is the difference between me and the sky?"
The difference, my love,
Is that when you laugh,
I forget about the sky.

1.  If it doesn't take place at 4 in the morning, immediately change the setting.
2. You should center all your work. Centering makes the piece unique and improves readability.
3. You should invoke the idea of The Mask. Paul Laurence Dunbar didn't do it well enough.
4. One word lines improve readability and do a great job of making emphasis. Use them a lot.
5. On the other hand, really long lines explain points wonderfully. Feel free to be essentially prosaic.
6. The subject should be obvious and everyday, that way everyone can easily understand what you're trying to say. Subtext is dated.
7. Confessions and heartbreak are unique to you.
8. Not editing makes the work extremely human and relatable.
9. Emoticons and the ilk are the cutting edge of the English language. Feel free to use them without reservation.
10. Rhyme scheme doesn't need meter.
11. Making a word into waterfall letters tells the reader you're falling apart (See #3).
12. Journals, diaries, blogs and Tumblr are old news when it comes to venting. Write an angry poem about your day instead.
13. You're probably going mad according to the DSM-5. Definitely write about that.

Time isn't wasted at the end of the day
When you're in bed thinking about all the things
You could've done,
You could've said,
All the empty boxes left on your to do list

Time is wasted
When you're standing on a rock at the edge of a waterhole
And decide to not jump
When you're sitting in your car trying to justify reasons
For not going in
When you anxiously hit backspace
Instead of expressing how you truly feel
When you ignore your heart that's screaming
"You deserve better."

It's lost in I could have and I should have,
In missed opportunities,
In letting fears override judgement

Time is not necessarily wasted
In passing minutes, months, years
We waste time by
Counting seconds,
And by letting seconds pass
When we could've made
Those seconds count

I'm not benching 290 for nothing
It's easier than cutting cake
More natural than breathing
Yet recently my shoulders
Are bearing to much
Unloaded all at one time
I'm caving in from head to toe
I don't need a spotter
I need old friends
The ones I turned to
When times got rough
When weights were over bearing
When I just wanted to rack the weight
Take a shower and drink a powerade
Yet they're gone
Nowhere to be found
Guess I'm all alone again
Suffocating tonight between the weight
And my blood stained pillow

I was knee deep
in the trenches
with a good girl
a beautiful girl
smile that struck
like lightning
right to the bone
--you know the ones
I know you do--
the ones that
walk light on
their feet
as if all of
life was a choreography
some beautiful dance
--you know
the ones--
the ones that
look at you
with eyes that
tell more than
any sentence

when she hit me
she hit me hard
I fell in too far
before I could
stop myself

I was knee
deep in the trenches
and this girl was
dancing and
smiling her way
right through me
what is a man
supposed to do?
faced with
a love like that
faced with a threat
like that
to my safety
to my sanity
what is a man supposed
to do?
when a girl can hit like that
when a girl can break
you open
steal your soul
eat you alive
without a word

I was knee deep
in the trenches
with a good girl
fighting off friends
and foes alike
keeping my head low
away from the open
praying to get out
of there alive
but even the mortars
can't hit
like that

Nights, days and in betweens
Crazy thoughts, confusing dreams
Revelations don't come to me
As I lay awake in reverie
There are no pictures to memorize
Only absence to criticize
Round and round spinning away
Maybe it's time to breakaway