it's not your fault baby bird
they never taught you how to fly.
you were forced out of the nest
while they watched you fall and die.

The very first thing a poet should do
Is throw that ego in the bin.
For being Great, or finding fame and fortune
Should hardly be your goal.

Just say whatever you have to say
With passionate heart and Voice.
Forget about Perfection
As all is relative:
And simply be Inspired.

Don’t be a slave to rigid forms:
Variety is the key.
Pulsing rhythms may match the heart
But missing beats have clout.

Be respectful to other poets at all times
And always return their praise, where you can.
Never criticise in a negative way:
Always be positive and supportive.

Keep out of inter-poet politics:
Such a waste of time!
Just write and write and write and write:
I simply cannot help it!

Paul Butters

The pieces of my soul crack under forbidden touches
Yearning for more
I don't care if I become undone
Feeling the passion
Is worth more than the pain
Of numbness
I want to feel
Revel in the kisses and touches
That come from you
But belong to me
More
I want more
Of you

I'm sorry I'll never fall in love with you
But I can pretend so I make my mother happy
And I found a boy who's too innocent
He just wants to cuddle and he's never showered with someone else

I'm sorry I'm still searching for someone to test my limits
The floor can be a bed and that's what I need
But he hesitates and I can't take it

I don't want to fall in love
I can't fall in love
It's been over a year since I've actually cried

im searching for my sunshine on a planet where it only rains
Now, I need you to fall in love with me
It's nothing personal.
I need your sugar filled comments

Maybe you'll remind me to love myself
but I don't know what I'm doing
And I hope you'll forgive me
I can tear you apart, and I won't mean it
And you can pray to the god you don't believe in
That one day I'll be okay.

If I don't take my sleeping pills
I stay up all night and you infest my thoughts
It feels like an obsession,
It's not even every night.
when I close my eyes I see your colors
Taking up my eyelids and I fall asleep
And in my dreams you're so much close,
And in your dreams you told me
We were closer than ever
I still want to know all the details

It feels like an obsession.
It feels like when I move,
I do it for you
And you'll move into me

Slow down,
I have to slow down

To answer your question,
I believe it would've worked
And I never got over it
I think you would be happier than you are now

Please keep me from thinking anymore.

His fist broke the drywall and paint
Like it was a glass ornament.
His knuckles pulsed
His heart pumped.
His tears built up
And flowed.

Time;
I remember
a time when
cities were made
of nothing but Legos
and one's imagination.

Still,
even now
I can't help
but wish harder
that the cities we walk
were still made of that stuff.

Cardboard,
took us miles,
and paper planes
really did bring us flight.

So,
I ask;
Please,
don't let
your imagination
fall into stagnation,
like a Lego block
that gathers
dust.

Ahab was searching for a reason to live
Ahab was searching for his big win.

Ahab was searching and boy did he find
That finding is bad and now nothing is fine.

Its train floated like silk along a long winding river
Floating in the direction of a cool breeze.
Lace tapping on her flesh made her shiver
Memories thawing as if from a deep freeze.

Little roses sewn on by hand were on the bodice
Trailing over her shoulder and down her back
The dress made her feel like a godess
Or like a Princess on horseback.

The dress gave her confidence, made her feel brave
Feeling special whenever the dress was worn
But there is a secret which she took to her grave
Nobody knew but the dress was torn.

You pull on my lip like an aircraft emergency oxygen system.
Our engines catch fire
as our tongues flutter like the wing's peeling metal,
and as our eyes peek at one another
between each plane crash of lips.

We've lost cabin pressure
as we can no longer control our bodies.
We gasp for each other's breath
as our shimmering structures
roll around on the sky of my bed.

We kiss like we've only got seconds left,
when in reality,
these moments will never die
even if we do.