Sometimes it brings happiness,
Sometimes it brings pain,
Money, if you mess with it,
Will go straight to your brain

There's this inner rawness
That comes at night
Lawless in its flight
Not afraid to fight
Because it's honest
The innocence of it
But so naïve and so me
I'm the sum of all I've done
Minus all I've thought
Plus all I've fought
What I regret equals what I'm proud off
So I forget the past, move pass it
To prove my point and not disappoint
Grasp the tomorrow, forgoing the sorrows
And accepting my soul for what it is
My very flawed essence
God, I'm not God or even a sun
But a son on the run
Lost into the sprawl
Finding myself - alone
In the forest falls
On a star lit night, feeling unlit
Scratching at the surface for purpose
And despite my fright I still ask
Suppose we're alone
And the skies really are empty
Would it matter?
Either way I'm still here, alone
Looking up at the closest star
So far away
So I look down instead
I listen to my soul
Like quiet waves
Gently lapping at the shore
Within my very core
The tide resides but only to surge forward
I fall down only to get up
Regardless of everything
Because it's only me
Just me.

The strain of survival in its most righteous form
Fighting arrogance through a repetitive storm

Day in and day out I pled guilty to incompetence
Bowing to the man who wears a crown of dominance

Seen through his lens of ineffectual views
Is the man of abhorrence yet to pay his dues

The roars of demise are seen as sweet
To the man who is begging for rigorous defeat

The man screams and he shouts for an endless battle
While I stand from afar seeing him beat from his cattle

The man seeks for loyalty in all the wrong places
True colors can't be veiled behind multiple faces

**Weakened with regret of abusing all his peers
He is forever lost in his home made of tears

-Joseph B Schneider

lays
gently between
my cage...
ribbed
in bone.
Combed with jaws
of
soft, sinful, slight
of hand
me your soul
survived the stoning
of ALL the words
they threw foolishly
thinking they were only
sticks....

and stones,
may
break my bones....

But,
IT
will always hear me.

I know I'm not good enough for you
It's cause you're amazing
everyone one loves a talented, intelligent, beautiful girl
I'm barely scratching the edge of just ok
"She could do so much better"
Something I hear in my head
the soundtrack stuck on repeat
"She's too good for you"
I whisper to myself.

"You're never going to be good enough"
I know.
Help me
help me
help me
Help me be good enough.

"You're hopeless"
I know

"And she is hope"

*I know