You are expected to tear yourself open
To be stretched taut to the limit you weren't aware you had
The amount of bravery it takes isn't comparable to the pain you must endure
And finally when you are able
You are exposed, stripped bare of the walls you once held dear
Their eyes wide open, yet minds not quite
Looking at every minute detail until every shred of you is no more
You are resented for what they have seen
By the very ones who forced your hand
Given to you almost instantly, a golden plaque of solitude
For now you are alone
Left naked and vulnerable
But instead of covering your whisper of a body
You open your arms, inviting anyone who dares
On display is every bit of you
Like an exhibit
Let them criticize, you are already judged
For every brush stroke, you communicate the truth
*Darling, you are the art

What is this tide they speak of?
What consists of the tide?
Who is the all knowing entity deciding where it shall turn and break?
How exactly does one follow it and go against it?
Which truly is the lesser evil between the two?
Every mundane urge forcing you to be either or
Society splitting you in half
Bleeding and confused merely trying to decide which direction to go
Why do you have to choose just to go this way or that?
For both you will be frowned upon
The tide controls anyone who lets it
This vast deep blue breathing creature wrapping its swelling tendrils around anyone close enough
You don't give it the chance to ensnare you
*You are you and who you are is the type of person who plants your feet firmly where you stand and wiggles your toes in the sand.

I would like you to think
If someone's life was on the brink
Would you stop and stare
Or help if you dare

Would you put yourself first
Or give water to those who thirst
Give up your food
For the common good

Would you risk your life
To save someone from a knife
Would you not eat for a month
If a hungry village could eat lunch

To **** a few is to save many
Would you sacrifice one to give life to plenty
Would you endure the pain
If someone somewhere had something to gain

What I would not give
If time did not deceive
I would retrace our steps
Go back to our silhouettes
Hold me once more
Whisper to me once more
Make me smile once more
There's only you I would fight for
Let us be what we were
Say the promises we swore
If only I could
I'd make you love me once more

You walked pass me
You did not notice
You did not even shift focus
You went by you heard a sigh
But your head was held up high
You were right in front of me
I was in your periphery
Yet you failed yo see
All those times you did not look
I was always looking

Never have I ever saw a person like you
With your messy brown hair
And your skin unbelievably fair
Your eyes wandering and deep
A face with secrets to keep

Never have I ever met a person like you
Funny and serious at all the right times
Your mistake or mine you paid all the fines
Adventurous, kind and sarcastic
Getting the chance to know you was fastastic

Never have I ever loved a person quite like you
Loving, caring and sweet
My knight to sweep me off my feet
I tumble and fall
Everytime you catch me with no fail at all

Never will I ever fall for a person like you
I made that mistake once
In the end, I was just a nuisance
All the happy moments you forgot
Our memories, you threw out the whole lot

Once I longed to disappear
It was a solution to make everything clear
No one seemed to care
Truth was not an option in the game called life
Only few could understand my strife
Those few never admit it
From their high thrones they sit

Once I longed to be forgotten
To escape a life so rotten
It would have been so easy
If only everyone failed to see
My name would mean nothing
Let go of everything I was grasping
Wipe the slate clean it would mean
To be unknown it would seem

Once I longed to disappear and be forgotten
Close my eyes
Take a breath
Cut the ropes
With all the hopes
But then I took a peek
Not knowing what to seek
I saw what I could not see

Life was magnificent
With all its cracks and dents
All its wonder and beauty
We all have a duty
Mine I failed to do
Now I long to live
Long live me
Long live you

Fluorescent lights and tiled floors
Uncomfortable seats and printed paintings on walls
Fake plants in fake pots
And fake people with insides that rot
You wait for your turn
Burried in the corner
The corner of your mind
There where no one can find
A deep cavity in your heart
Too worn out and broken to start
Corkboards with wheels
Filled with false promises
No one needing their services
The receptionist staring into space
Curtains with dusty lace
The clock on the wall keeps ticking
Louder than your pulse racing
Your thoughts are reeling
Never releasing
Keep them in
Minds full of sin
Never forget
Relive your regret
Tissues in boxes
Signs to keep quiet
Fishes swimming around
You don't dare make a sound
Outside trees are rustling
People bustling
Dried leaves are falling
You look at the leaves that keep falling
And falling

Inhaling clouds of promised dreams
Life more perfect than it seems
Flying high into the night
We were unstoppable
We were free
Under the influence of Cannabis
We were inching towards the abyss
We lit sticks between our fingers
With no guaranteed future
Making our lungs endure
We consumed the liquid
Into the unknown we drifted
We were light as a feather
Slurring words into the ether
We didn't care
Smoke wrapping its tendrils through our hair
We were eveywhere and nowhere at the same time
No one could tell us being happy was a crime

I saw yellow in your smile
It felt like sunshine
So radiant it went for more than a mile

I saw green in your eyes
Full of life and sincerity
Twinkling and never empty

I saw orange in your touch
Welcoming and warm
It felt as if you could never be rough

I saw blue in your tears
Rare yet sad
Mostly caused by your fears

I saw red in your heart
Unmistakably true
your love was the hardest from which to part

Now I realize how fast it all passed
Your darker colors I failed to see
Covered by all the others

I regret what we came to be
Now your blinding colors
Don't seem so bright to me

Regret is what keeps me up at night
Thoughts of how I could have kept better secrets
If I gave a fight
There would be no regrets
Now I'm caged up
Like people with pets
You'll be free again
They say to me
But they don't see
How tightly they have chained me
I'm the only one that sees
The cruelty of what they've done to me
The image of what used to be
Replays itself in my mind
Something I can never leave behind
It's something I hold on to
There to remind
I know I let it happen
But never again
I will never let them
I will fight to be happy again
It will be worth it
I just know it
But for now
From where I sit
Regret... Regret is what keeps me up at night

As I stood there, I watched him leave.
He was walking away. The crowd he started to weave.
A crowd full of empty faces with empty purposes.
They were like fish, going in a single direction.
Nowhere but everywhere at once.
The halls were full of silent mindless whispers.
Before I knew it he was gone.
Suddenly the whispers were louder.
His back disappearing in a sea of people.
The deafening sound of his leaving too loud.
I turned around.
I walked the other way.