Woke up feeling kinda good today,
Actually got out of bed on the first try.
Not every day has to be a struggle, right?
Thinking maybe things are finally looking up.

Took a walk, breathed in the fresh air,
Oh man, even my coffee tasted better.

Don’t know why, but I laughed for no reason,
I guess this is what normal feels like.
Everything’s fine. Totally fine.

Do not promise
To love me to the moon
And back
I don't want that
Just love me
Right by my side
And do not leave

I haven't prayed since that fateful day back in sixth grade
but lord knows for you
I would've knelt beside my bed
clasped my hands
and spoke to god
I would've asked him for a girl like you
with hair that calls for my fingers like the call to morning prayer
a laugh that wakes me better than a steeple ever could
a smile brighter than the pearly gates
eyes more beautiful than any stained glass window
a voice that sounds better than the loudest hymn
a mind that holds my own personal bible
and god would've sent me you
the angel he knew I needed
to make this place feel like heaven

Feel free to mourn me when I’m gone,
When I will not be back again.
It’s natural to grieve at death
For those who miss you so, I know.

But don’t forget to celebrate my life
And all I’ve done on this fair earth.
Be full of joy about these things:
Immortalise me for my deeds.

I hope to live for many a long year:
If possible cheat Death immortally,
Perhaps by going somewhere safe
From the Grim Reaper’s deadly scythe.

I hope for many table tennis wins
And trending poems, before I leave this mortal coil.
Iambic rhythms throughout cyber space,
Free verse expressing a greater vision.

I’ve planned ahead by writing this,
And might have jumped the gun maybe.
But when you read this out perhaps,
I might by now be Free.

Paul Butters

© PB 19\6\2016.

I am of a strange alchemy.
Iron and tarnished silver,
with porcelain hands.
The rest feels like glass.
Fragile.
Vulnerable.
As though the smallest tremor
could send me falling
to shatter.