Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
 
Jul 2016 · 1000
Old Fashioned
Jack Ghaven Jul 2016
I can only play the hand I was dealt
So no I'm not sorry for what I've felt
Life is nothing short of a gamble
And I know I tend to ramble
I'm just making the most of what I've got
Seeing if you're interested or not
Because I find you rather amazing
I'm really not the best with the phrasing

I'm a little old fashioned
With how I express my passion
Though if you would take the time
To converse with me past the rhyme
I'd hope you'd come to see
There's a whole lot more to me
Than some scattered paper and ink
Allow me to show you how I think

It's a little crazy and far-fetched
Enough that I often get shipwrecked
I blur my reality and dreams
Still don't quite know what it means
But with the woman I see
Could you really even blame me?
I can't imagine anything better
Though I fear the day she reads this letter
It's been awhile since I've written something of this length, which I find funny because that's kind of how I began when I started writing poetry.  Nice to get back to some of my roots.
Jack Ghaven Jul 2016
Many days I feel worthless
Even more I question my purpose
Too much to explain
Everyone feels pain
Everyone cries their eyes out
Has something to talk about
I don't need someone to understand
Just someone to offer a hand
To let me struggle and break down
Knowing that I will come back around
Because if there's one thing I'm sure of
It's that I know how to love
But continue to learn every day
That there is always a new way
We all struggle, though hardly ever in the same way.  We all love, though again, in many different ways.  I know how to love but am constantly humbled by the fact that I can learn new ways every day.
Jul 2016 · 362
Gone
Jack Ghaven Jul 2016
I no longer wish the waters would calm
Those days of dreaming are long gone
After all smooth seas don't make good sailors
I stumble but refuse to be a failure
I'm still writing my story
Pleading never did anything for me
So let the storm rage
And I'll continue to turn the page
I decide when it's the end
I don't break I bend
Over backwards if necessary
Though I'm tired and wary
I'll find my place
Not settle for saving face
So come find me here
And we'll know love dear
I often use my writing to cope with my own demons and depression.  A lot of times it can take a very graphic and violent form.  I wrote this sitting on the shore of a lake that I longboard down to quite often.  For some reason this place brings me peace.  This poem is most definitely about dealing with my own depression and trying to learn that the only person that can solve my issues is me.  Learning to not give up is a daily challenge for me and I'm sure many others.
Jul 2016 · 386
Conversational Inspiration
Jack Ghaven Jul 2016
You'll always yell "shotgun"
Begging someone to follow with "wedding"
But with every single shotgun
Only comes a pounding headache
Until it finally blows my head off
I only ever gave myself to be guarded
The only cocktails we share are Molotov
Yet I still don't regret what I started
Inspiration from a conversation with a friend, as well as from a song that sticks in my head
Jun 2016 · 848
HEAD:SPACE (daydreams)
Jack Ghaven Jun 2016
I honestly enjoy my head space
Even though me and my demons come face to face
So often it has become mundane
I am rather fond of my brain
Though I know all I do is overthink
So often it puts me on the brink
I've come to appreciate the extremes
And for that matter my daydreams
I fall in and out of reality
Without the slightest feeling of abnormality
Yes I am indeed quite odd
I'm broken, I'm ****** up, I'm flawed
Every day is a discovery
No I'm no in need of recovery
Intended to be happy.  A kind of awareness of my own quirks and insanity, but totally thankful for all that I am, no matter how strange.
Jun 2016 · 740
No Bad Bets
Jack Ghaven Jun 2016
It's so nice to be lost
In something other than my mind
No matter what the cost
I have definitely come to find
That this is me at my best
With a chance to care
A chance to let my soul rest
And I am acutely aware
That this is the highest I get
Consequently the farthest I fall
But I never find it to be a bad bet
Because all good things start small
Though I tend to move quick
It's by no means in a rush
It's just you give my brain a kick
And here I am with a bit of a crush
Writing something happy always feels weird.  No matter how much I love writing this kind of content, it is very difficult for me to have the proper motivation.  I always jokingly call this portion of my work, "About A Girl" poetry, but there's a lot of truth in it.  For some reason women always tend to be my muse for more joyful or thankful content.  I wouldn't have it any other way...
Jack Ghaven Feb 2016
I did it!
...Well for a week or so
Partial credit?
...I tried real hard though

Or at least this is how I feel during sobriety
Rather after I have just ended a short stint
I drift off and become a member of my own society
Get quiet and hope the world will take the hint

I really can't handle myself or how I misinterpret things
I'm lost in the translation from my head to the real world
You'll never know the pain the memory of you brings
I was lost and found, nothing and everything all because of a girl

I never did it...
And never will!
I only hid it...
Have you had your fill?
Not sure what's going on here...
Feb 2016 · 622
So Called "Friends"
Jack Ghaven Feb 2016
I genuinely hate this situation
I put myself in isolation
To honestly see what I am to everyone
As I thought before I am no one
Days of silence could turn to weeks
Yet no so called "friend" speaks
I am lost within my own contradictions
As were my initial predictions
So here I sit ****** up off something
Knowing all I'll ever be is nothing
I can barely see what I'm writing
With my blurry vision and this dim lighting
But it'll all be over soon I hope
I'm so far past trying to cope
The title is honestly inspired by A Day To Remember and the content is straight from the past few days of my refusal to reach out to anyone who doesn't reach out to me first.
Jack Ghaven Feb 2016
So close to falling off the face of the planet
I wouldn't ever expect you to understand it
I'm in my soul's embrace with eyes closed
I'm entrapped in these beautiful prose
I am safe here in this bliss
Where I can't remember what I miss
No I'm not jaded I'm fully aware
How long will I be gone before someone cares?
Another long title, been in a kind of weird, eccentric, pop punk, nerd, mood that way lately.
Jack Ghaven Feb 2016
I would love hear what you think it looks like to care
Because I think we have very different definitions
Can we have a show 'n' tell, could you possibly share?
My hope is a target and your words are ammunition
And you spray the whole ******* thing
But trust me I'm not bulletproof
No matter what song I seem to sing
You always seem to see right through
How could you possibly know me so well?
Yet be so absolutely unaware
Feelings haven't changed there are no secrets to tell
I just don't think you care
This delicate balance of relationships between human beings is so odd. I can write something like this and know I'm just expressing a feeling that has roots in falsities.
Feb 2016 · 543
Faceless
Jack Ghaven Feb 2016
I can't feel my face
Do I know this place?
I've been here before
I can't take any more
I'll fall off the ******* map
Pick up and go and never look back
Afraid to say most wouldn't notice
It took awhile but trust me I know this
Everyone wants you to try so **** hard
But God forbid you expect an inch when you give a yard
Than again how much could I possibly comprehend?
I'm just slouched at the keys, sketched out, at wit's end
This is just a poor excuse for a freestyle
Stream of consciousness once in awhile
I'm so close to ending my effort to care about others
I've had family had friends had lovers
But never found my mutual muse
So I'm stuck with these things I abuse
Mary Jane and John Jameson are good company
Though they tend to lead to a different me
I've come to be scared of my mirrors
No matter how I stare I can't see clear
Feb 2016 · 1.2k
I Would
Jack Ghaven Feb 2016
Do you hate me?
Because I know I would
Of all the things I see
I never do I what I should
Drunk at the keys
Going absolutely crazy
Writing whatever I please
While the record plays me
Drives my inspirations
I'm sorry but I'm not
All these crazy sensations
Cause me to give everything a second thought
Double takes and instant replays
Slow motion to analyze every motion
But it only leaves me in a daze
Stuck on your love, my drug, my potion
Freestyle off the top I guess
Feb 2016 · 478
Cover Up
Jack Ghaven Feb 2016
Call up the doc
Time for new meds
Stuck on the cell block
Feeding my simple head
Solitary confinement is so loud
At least until they bring me pills
I can't say that I'm proud
Of all these cheap thrills
Of all the things I abuse
At least they're always there
Something I can constantly use
To cover up the fact no one cares
Jack Ghaven Feb 2016
I wish you would've just set me on fire
It probably would've hurt way less
Better than knowing you're a liar
Then again I'm just a ******* mess
Just an obsessive addict
Looking for the next best fix
You were just another drug I picked
Was it all just for kicks?
That's how it all feels
You caught me up in your eyes
Persuaded a heart you could steal
And now I wish I'd died
Feb 2016 · 484
Shaky Hands
Jack Ghaven Feb 2016
It's so hard to get inspired
When I feel so **** pathetic
Drugs get my brain so wired
Lately life just feels so synthetic
So fake so pretend
My head is buzzing hands shaking
Through it all in the end
I just don't want to be faking
I feel like a waste of time
Stuck in my cycle of inebriation
I feel like I'm wasting rhymes
Teasing myself with my imgination
Feb 2016 · 598
Record Store Romance
Jack Ghaven Feb 2016
I found the woman I adore
Wandering through head shops and record stores
Glowing eyes behind her sunshades
My depression my melancholy fades
Tattoo parlors and rock shows
Are all I've come to know
My punk, gypsy, hippie queen
More beautiful than anything I've seen
But romance doesn't happen this way
I'm left without the words to say
I choke on my intentions and fears
Past pain echoes that I still hear
All my doubts break me down
Stuck on the girl I never found
Jack Ghaven Feb 2016
I met my soulmate years ago
A love I never got the chance to know
However I try to push past it
I just can't seem to mask it
All my attempts to numb this pain
Strand me to shoulder my own blame
All these conversations all this history
So well known yet such a mystery
Even as I pen this line
I know she will never be mine
Love is simply complicated
In a sea of souls I'm isolated
Somehow not myself without her
There will always just be something about her
Some feelings never completely fade, these recurring themes fill me with both joy and sorrow.
Jan 2016 · 1.2k
Trippin'
Jack Ghaven Jan 2016
Lazy imagination and a
rushing mind
I try to shine light on
the thoughts behind
These vacant stares
and shifty smiles
Like you know I hate you
but would let you stay awhile
I'm dececptive, receptive, stressed out
and so simplisitic
But these images are so perverted
yes I'm so sadistic
Trippin' away in my own
******* basement
Noddin' away to this muzik
content to feel complacent
My mind ebbs and flows
entranced in ink
As it floods the pad it is
everything I ever think
Sort of an odd style of writing and formatting which I don't usually use, but I felt that it added to how my thought process went along with the lines.
Jan 2016 · 313
My Anthologies
Jack Ghaven Jan 2016
The toughest problem we face
Is that we can't put faith in people
They only leave us feeling out of place
Sooner or later let us down it's so evil
I'm no better I'm no saint
Though I feel I give my all
With the emotions I use to paint
The detailed images of my everyday fall
I've lost all my faith in humanity
Just pathetic people making every excuse
I'm content here in my insanity
Happy to hide away as a recluse
Sorry world but ******* in every way
I have no regrets no apologies
I've tried each and every day
As is written here in my anthologies
Jan 2016 · 507
Love Addiction
Jack Ghaven Jan 2016
Is my tongue stimulating?
Because chasing your love is so frustrating
I was only ever after your heart
You only ever pushed us apart
It seems I can never win
No matter where I go or where I've been
I always lost myself in you
There's nothing else I can do
I search my soul and wrack my brain
To find some other cure for this pain
There is no cure no prescription
To feed my love addiction
Dec 2015 · 666
Panhandling (Down Not Out)
Jack Ghaven Dec 2015
I dabble in dreams
Singing with the sirens
Masking my shrill screams
I'm searching for guidance

These eyes are empty
I'm living outside of me
My demons tempt me
Form a different reality

I spend days in a cloud of smoke
With my nose buried in my collar
The more I try the more I know I'm broke
Living lackluster life in squalor

I'm panhandling on the corner of the street
With only pieces of my broken heart in my paper cup
Yet I find it so hard to admit defeat
I'm down not out I'll pick myself back up
This seems somehow hopeful, though it doesn't feel as smooth or in depth as I'd like it to.
Dec 2015 · 460
"Therapy"/"Sobriety"
Jack Ghaven Dec 2015
This bottle is my baby
This smoke is my lady
These rhymes are my therapy
Need my shades just to see
My eyes stay low
A soul you couldn't possibly know
The word rehab makes me laugh
My self-medication helps me with my craft
At this point in my existence
I lack any sort of persistence
It might as well all be gibberish
Honestly if I had one wish
It would be to never gain my sanity
Because I already lost faith in humanity
So this craziness keeps me somehow hopeful
These substances make me vocal
Breaking the levee to let the words cause a flood
My own thoughts and emotions boil my blood
I could never aptly describe this concept
Even after years of searching I'm inept
This person isn't even slightly reminiscent
Of who I once was and is now so distant
I am a shadow a ghost
Afraid of what I desire most
My effort has only ever shattered me
Beaten, broken, and battered me
Though silence accomplishes very little
I am stuck somehow here in the middle
Of constant outbursts and pure withdrawal
As is the definition of my constant fall
Into depression and anxiety
Only worsened by 'sobriety'
Random. Free flow of my current state of mind.  Not really even sure if any of this makes sense or goes together at the moment.
Dec 2015 · 1.8k
A Second Is A Lifetime
Jack Ghaven Dec 2015
Incense and candle wax
Roaches and hookah haze
**** my panic attacks
Numb me into a daze

Guitar strings and piano keys
Gentle breeze and rustling trees
Whispering secrets to my soul
Filling the void patching the hole

Skinny jeans and baggy shirts
Long hair and gentle skin
It heals all of my hurt
The environment I am safe in

Your eyes and soft subtle smile
Content to just stay for awhile
Let my fingertips dance along your arms
Unaware of notifications and ringing alarms

This is my Heaven my Nirvana
My heart talking not the marijuana
You are my drug without the crash
Each passing moment gone in a flash

With you every second is a lifetime
Each one worth repeating
These are simple lines put in rhyme
I just want to feel your heart beating
Again feeling silly writing about a girl.
Jack Ghaven Dec 2015
Girl you've got me crazy
Heart racing and head hazy
With thoughts of "I love you"
Could you ever love me too

I want you to warm my soul
Please come make me whole
I want to warm your heart
Never let anything tear us apart

These are such silly feelings
That seem to fill my head
They send me reeling
Remind me of passionate words I've read

I only wish I was half as eloquent
Or brave enough to say
The words I know I really meant
Maybe the time will come one day

Until then I sit here and write
Amused by my own anxiety and nerves
It's just another late and lonely night
Sitting here wishing I could trace your curves
I always feel silly writing about women and how nervous I am around them.
Dec 2015 · 390
Take Em To Church
Jack Ghaven Dec 2015
There's too much in me to get out
I don't expect you to know
What all of this is really about
All I can do is try to show
My deepest and most serious intentions
I don't expect you to understand
All of this pain and all of this tension
Life has far too many demands
For me to try to comprehend
So I search and I wander
Looking for the means to meet the end
But all it does is continue to make me ponder
Why I continue to do this
What's the purpose?
How do I get through this?
Is it worth it?
Thoughts in a place of reverence.
Nov 2015 · 2.2k
Love (Earned Not Given)
Jack Ghaven Nov 2015
I can't quit it
I can't forget it
I'll admit it
I've been at if for a minute
Playing a game and trying to win it
No matter how I spin it
This is who I am
Without any plan
This is the man
That through it all emerged
After traveling a road that diverged
My demons have been purged
These paths are not paved in gold
Though I walk through the cold
It all seems so old
For every time I fell
For every story I tell
For every single hell
I struggled to make it through
It was all that I could do
To come out as someone new
A few more tears a few more scars
Yet I am still gazing at stars
Daydreaming of things so bizarre
An image in my head a smile on my face
My troubles all vanish without a trace
Knowing all the while that this is my place
I have been broken, beaten, and burned
In all of this I have learned
Love is not given it is earned
Sat down and hammered this one out.  Feels good to write something beneficial to the soul.
Jack Ghaven Nov 2015
In the end I hope  you're all justified
In knowing no matter what I would've died
It really has nothing to do with any of you
I'm just done with what I've been going through
Honestly my only regret is trying so ******* hard
All the while knowing I'd only end up broken and scarred
I was broken long before anyone found out
I'm past wanting to know what life is about
I have tried to nurse my crippled soul
No warmth comes from a heart with holes
Both have been frozen for so long
I still can't find where I went wrong
I'm stuck up in my own issues and ills
So I'm ****** up off these papers and pills
Just a ghost leaving what's left of me
On this pad for the world to see
Writing as an outlet.  The grip of depression and constant questions is far more than I can handle at times.  Long roads of contemplation and soul searching await me.  Only trying to come out stronger each time.
Jack Ghaven Nov 2015
So many false truths
Even more honest lies
From beautiful youths
With such eager eyes
It is in such contradictions
We all become such slaves
To our own convictions
Until we fall asleep in our graves

These pits six feet deep
Tucked away in the back of the mind
With all the secrets we keep
Hoping no one will ever find
So afraid of what people think
About our scars and flaws
Knowing they won't see the link
Between the effect and the cause

Little do we know
Everyone has their fair share
That they won't show
For fear no one will care
As such all demons feed
On this cycle of pain and shame
Not only this they breed
Bringing more players to the game
Playing with my own thoughts and demons is fun sometimes, but for the most part it is a very scary and very real part of life that I know many people struggle with.  Poetry can be such a relieving outlet.
Nov 2015 · 414
Past Lessons In Romantics
Jack Ghaven Nov 2015
Sometimes I go a little crazy
My thoughts get a little hazy
I lose track of reality
Get caught in my own brutality

Sunglasses hide bloodshot eyes
Hood up hiding host of lies
A soul stuck in the shadows
A heart hanging in the gallows

I'm just another flare for the dramatic
A poor excuse for lessons in romantics
Because looking back at my past
All I've learned is love doesn't last
Nov 2015 · 560
I Remember
Jack Ghaven Nov 2015
I remember sixteen
Watching a family fall apart
I remember eighteen
Giving love a fresh start
I remember twenty
Walking away from a girl
Knowing there was plenty
Of life in the world
Yet now I'm twenty two
Had some fun and bad breaks
I remember having you
Thinking I had what it takes
I can feel twenty three
Coming up far too fast
When I look back what I'll see
Is a polaroid of my short past
Still be the same punk I am now
Chasing all the same little thrills
All the while wondering how
I've survived the smoke, the drinks, and the pills
I'm not looking for lessons or lectures
I've already walked the stage twice
Sorry but I'm not lookingfor direction
Towards what you people call a life
Short history of an almost twenty three year old.
Oct 2015 · 437
Ponderings and Commentaries
Jack Ghaven Oct 2015
I've been raised in a generation...That has lost the meaning of love.  At least, the idea of lasting love.  This generation has been fed the ideas of constant upgrades.  They've been brainwashed to believe that something better is always out there.  Change after change, to the next channel.  We're a channel surfing generation.  Swipe left, swipe right, like after like, up on our social media pages.  We don't nurture, we don't grow our souls.  We feed our egos based on so called friends' clicks or lack thereof.  I've romanticized every relationship I've ever had.  Whether they be friendships or significant others, I have always given all of myself.  Witnessing others around me, I wonder if they ever do the same.  I wonder if they ever truly stop and engage in NOW.  Do we ever stop waiting for the next text, tweet, like, or comment?  Do we ever fully appreciate who and what is here and now?  Sometimes I think we've just lost our focus on what the point is.  That's alright though I suppose.  We are, after all, a medicated generation.  Got a problem?  Here's a bottle, here's a pill, just wait til the joint rolls back around.  This'll make it all better, or at least numb your reality temporarily.  This is not to say I don't fall guilty to the same sins as my peers.  My closest friends will tell you I self-medicate frequently when lost.  My panic due to being alone and at a loss happens so frequently.  My calm and collected side is such a rare occurrence.  I over analyze anything and everything so much I feel delusional.  Even writing this seems like an empty release.  No matter how much I write, I can't get the voices out of my head.  I'm stuck thinking of who is or what is next.  I begin to not exist in the now.  All I seek is to give myself.  Yet I get so trapped in that it becomes vague who I even am anymore.  This isn't supposed to be some cry for help, this isn't some pity party.  I'd really just like to be someone's priority.  My own wants all seem so selfish though.  Isn't that all of humanity?  I really like to think not.  I like to think that most of us have the ability to care about others.  Though right now, that dream seems so distant.  Nothing significant in my life has taught me that people care enough to stay.  There's no point to risk one's self for another.  Yet, I constantly find myself doing so, in a generation of human beings so dehumanized.  Love isn't love.  It's money, jobs, taxes, work, frustration, ownership, and responsibility.  We wonder why we don't have families anymore?  Why our divorce rate is so pathetically and shamefully high?  We don't like responsibility!  Everything's supposed to be instant and easy.  No "thick and thin".  No "in sickness and health".  CERTAINLY no "til death do us part".  Whatever works for me now, and when it doesn't, on to the next.  Like a ******* playlist on shuffle of people and places we think we'll experience again somewhere down the line.  It's all such *******.  I'm over the not-so-distant future.  I want to live now.  I want to love now...  It's all just so **** hard when love is simply a fantasy that exists somewhere outside of so many people's capabilities and capacities.  To give your all is the best anyone could and should ever expect.  Expect to be shot down, but never hesitate to get back up.  Love and passion exist.  Find who sparks your fire, and spark theirs...  It'll all makes sense then...
Not really a poem, really just a flow of thought from my consciousness I guess.  Really just want this out there somewhere other than my notebook.
Oct 2015 · 345
I Was Already Dying
Jack Ghaven Oct 2015
I slit my wrists today
I didn't even feel a thing
I watched myself fade away
I listened to the voices sing
As I slipped into the dark
My clothes drenched in red
I left no note no mark
Just thoughts replaying in my head
My clothes are in the garbage can
My notebooks are all on fire
This was all my plan
This was all my desire
Find my funeral clothes hanging
The only part of me that's left
Hear the funeral bells clanging
See the people in their Sunday best
I hope they're not crying
To be honest I'm better off here
I was already dying
I just needed to escape my fear
Every now and then I just get this idea of a narrative of my death in my head.  It's scary really but it needs a safe place to escape.
Jack Ghaven Sep 2015
I can't handle this
I can't battle this
There's no way I could ever do it again
I won't survive where I've already been
There is no recovery after my relapse
My heart will decay and my soul will collapse
On the verge of breaking
No I'm not faking
This isn't a help me cry
If it comes to this just let me die
It just reminds me of my darkest places
All my schizophrenic echoes in empty spaces
And this time they'll get the better of me
I will suffocate I will cease to be
A short piece on my mental health and hind sight.  Sometimes it's so painful to be so self aware and realize how dependent you are.  Depression and anxiety are such scary demons to deal with and they never quit trying...
Aug 2015 · 684
Six Sad Statements
Jack Ghaven Aug 2015
A painting in red
And finally silence
An infinite flat line
I am not dead
There is no violence
Trust me I am fine
Simple rhymes.
Jack Ghaven Aug 2015
I hope you're sleeping well
Because I surely can't
When you're gone it's hell
This is just an exhausted rant
About how much I miss you
I'll fit right in with the so called poets
Crying in writing and feeling blue
Knowing that no one will know it
But I'll drop another line
About how my heart is on my sleeve
And that I know I'm not fine
Every time I have to leave
I'm sure I'm stealing from someone
Because all writing is a crime
Everything has been said and done
There is no new line or rhyme
But I hope mine hits close to the heart
Pulls out some passion hidden
Lets you know I can't stand being apart
And that every line is a gift given
In good conscience and spirit
I know my ears are ringing
But do you hear it?
All these recycled notes I'm singing?
It's all a remix
Jack Ghaven Jul 2015
You changed my life in so many ways
I struggled to make it through the day
Before you walked through that door
And showed me what life was for
I could never explain what you mean to me
I could never describe all the beauty I see
Your smile reflects my soul
To hear you laugh makes me whole
Nothing could ever be better
Than when we're together
Every moment every minute
No matter how you spin it
To me is pure bliss
With every little kiss
Every whispered word of affection
Strengthens that connection
You're what I have missed for so long
And all I have is this simple song
There's nothing quite like having a positive reason to write.
Jun 2015 · 889
Every Day She Saves Me
Jack Ghaven Jun 2015
I still think of ending it all
Every now and again
Been awhile since my last fall
But now is different from then
I have a reason to smile
She gives me one every day
And it's been a long while
Since I've felt this way
But old habits die hard
And I'm really not that far
From the same schoolyard
Where I got these scars
From the pain I let overtake me
From all the nightmares on repeat
But that's not all that makes me
I will not wallow in defeat
As each day dawns
I find strength in her eyes
To continue to carry on
To break away from all my lies
There is no love like a woman's.
Jun 2015 · 2.5k
My Soul (Not For Sale)
Jack Ghaven Jun 2015
To everyone waiting to see me fail
I came to let you all know
That this soul ain't for sale
I'm sure you enjoy the show
But this sure isn't for you
It's all for me and I'm all in
You don't know what I've gone through
And you sure don't know where I've been
I've been in the deep end
I've gone through hell once or twice
Enough to know that I'll bend
But won't break in this life
And I spill it all in these lyrics
I'll sing and scream loud as I can
To make sure you hear it
And know I've become the man
That I want to be
But we all know
No matter what we see
There's room to grow
So I search for my answers
I continue to strive
To cure these old cancers
That try to eat me alive
Reflecting on the past through writing. Hoping to learn and grow each day.
Jack Ghaven Jun 2015
Once an addict always an addict
And I'm back in the attic
Blowing dust off picture frames and knickknacks
Stirring up old feelings and panic attacks
These memories so fragile
These demons so quick and agile
None of it ever goes away
Just covered until a cloudy day
When my soul decides to do some housekeeping
But this is something no spring cleaning
Could ever completely sanitize
Until I come to realize
That this is no longer me
Just remnants of what I used to be
Struggling with the pen lately. First bit in awhile that I feel happy with.
Apr 2015 · 3.9k
Poetry In Motion
Jack Ghaven Apr 2015
I just want to make you gasp and moan
Run out of breath but screaming for more
Treat you like a queen on her throne
Spread your legs and make your spirits soar
It's all so filthy romantic
To you just ***** bedroom talk
Simply playing with semantics
But I'm more than talk I walk the walk
It's not about you and me
Because Lord knows I'm a lost soul
It's about us being we
Because that's what makes me whole
The claw marks up my back
Just the graffiti of passion
Still dressed in black
That's just my fashion
I'm not me unless I'm bleeding
So scratch and bite and tear me open
I'm begging almost pleading
My blood is poetry in motion
The content is a bit different from my norm.
Mar 2015 · 429
How It Had Been
Jack Ghaven Mar 2015
Furious
Curious
Fractured
Enraptured
By the gravity
Of what it had to be
Tender
Slender
Tragic
Magic
Dreams slipping through my fingers
As the memory still lingers
Suppressed
Depressed
Songs
Wrong
About every little thing
And every bit I sing
Dramatic
Fanatic
Drunk
Punk
Up all night
Still in fights
Potential
Credentials
Passing
Fasting
From something unhealthy
Maybe someone can help me
Leech's
Speeches
Lamented
Invented
These twisted nightmares
In which I can't care
Various
Precarious
Situations
Frustrations
So intense you can't imagine
How it once had been
Funny
Sunny
Living
Giving
But these days are long gone
And I've simply moved on
Interesting different approach stylistically. Let me know what you think!
Feb 2015 · 520
A Reason to Live/Die
Jack Ghaven Feb 2015
Give me a reason to live
Or give me a reason to die
I can't handle in between
Do you even want to give
Anything other than a goodbye
Just another somber scene
I lie awake in bed
Wanting nothing more
Than for it to end
But I can't stay out of my head
I can't settle the score
Breaking after the bend
Shattered in to countless pieces
That once resembled a heart
Pushed too hard to find
Meaningful releases
But I ******* fell apart
Lost hope and went blind
Heartbreak seems to be a theme lately. Not sure why.
Feb 2015 · 390
A Feature
Jack Ghaven Feb 2015
One more drink is way too many
Life is so dense and heavy
With heartbreaks and I've had plenty
Love is not a crazy little thing
It's a massive wild creature
That wails and moans and sings
And I'm on the track as a feature
Just a small pawn in the game
In fact so much so
That you won't remember my name
Or so I claim to know
Inspiration from Queen. Knocked off the theory a bit I guess.
Feb 2015 · 471
Pride and Pain
Jack Ghaven Feb 2015
You give me peace of mind
I give you a piece of my heart
Searching only to find
That this is just the start
Of something more
Or maybe it ends in disappointment
Feeling like we're meant for more
Some special soul anointed
To spread something we don't know
Something lost on this world
But there must be room to grow
A small yet significant pearl
Of the wealth of greater beings
And it's impossible to explain
What I am sitting here seeing
Through all my pride and pain
I'm always cut back down
By repercussions of my actions
I crash back to the ground
Surrounded by distractions
Can't see through the mist
Can't hear through the static
Feeling the sweet kiss
Finding love is automatic
Odds and ends writing lately. Not sure what it all means or if it holds weight.
Dec 2014 · 702
Soulmates?
Jack Ghaven Dec 2014
I miss you so much
Even though you're still here
But we're out of touch
And I'm caught up in this fear
That one day you'll walk away
When all I want is for you to stay
Soulmates destined to be apart
And it will always break my heart
That I never really had you
The one person that made me new
Someone somewhere is waiting to be found I suppose. Or at least I hope.
Dec 2014 · 7.7k
Fridays Like They Used to Be
Jack Ghaven Dec 2014
Stumble in at 3AM
I'm drunk again
Kick shoes off at the door
Drop my keys on the floor
Fumble for the lights
Man I miss Friday nights
Crashing on the couch in my clothes
Being somebody that no one knows
Days of the past come back to haunt me often.
Dec 2014 · 2.1k
Push You Away
Jack Ghaven Dec 2014
I hope you hate me as much as I do
Maybe that's why I go through what I go through
The decisions I make
And the chances I take
All excuses to push away
The love that I want to stay
But I am undeserving
My fear is unnerving
I desire to build
But I only destroy
My dreams are all killed
By my own selfish ploy
Just one of those thoughts of 'every time I think I'm on the right path, I do something to mess with it'.
Jack Ghaven Dec 2014
I stand on the open porch
Out in the winter cold
My cigarette is my torch
Though they're making me old

My soul has been there for awhile
I hope my body never meets it
I want to go out in my own style
I hope my old age never greets it

That's if I reach old age
I guess I hope to do so
See life in a new stage
And help others learn and grow
Just thoughts over a cigarette I guess.  Trying to format it the way I want was difficult.  Kind of a play on "Soul Meets Body" and coming to terms with my fear of growing physically old.
Jack Ghaven Dec 2014
Tight pants and baggy shirts
I haven't eaten yet today
Right now my stomach hurts
Smoke later and I'll be okay

I have this obsession
With being sickly thin
Caused by my depression
I hate the shape I'm in

I'm already so skinny
So there isn't any logic
You probably wouldn't pin me
For someone who cannot stop it

My mind hates my body
My soul hates my mind
My mind tries to rob me
My soul leaves me blind

So I wage this war daily
Until one of them fails me
For now I let my ribs show
Like feelings you'll never know

And this isn't some kind of joke
Or some sad poetic fiction
I live off cigarettes and Coke
Struggling with this odd addiction
Body image is a terrible thing, and my self-image is worse.  I am my most critical mirror, and every now and then my mind attacks me a little more than I would like.  This is one of those days.
Dec 2014 · 674
No Rest
Jack Ghaven Dec 2014
Peace is never mine to keep
I find no solace in sleep
I wake and I want to weep

For no dreams come to me
No visions of beauty
Darkness is all I see

For me there is no rest
Struggle to be my best
With my heart torn from chest
Trying to put words to how I feel lately has been a struggle.  This feels choppy, but so have my feelings lately.  Let me know what you think!
Next page