I used to criticize people,
For being shallow,
For being empty.

But I, too,
Have dried up,
And now remain with nothing.

ill
    at
        the
             thought
of
   her
        head
                 in
                     the
                          spot
where
           mine
                    ought
                               to
                                   be
but
      is
         not
                 -

if you take time to think about it -
water has many different personalities.
it will burn you, unapologetically, if it's boiled
but it can be so cold that it chills you to the bone.
water can flow freely, or be stagnant.
water can be clear, completely transparent -
or clouded & dark, all depending on where you find it.
water is life-giving; it will save you if you're dying of thirst,
but it can also be a poison - if not properly treated, before taking a drink.
it's powerful enough to destroy entire cities,
but gentle enough to bring life to flowers.
water can hold up a ship- but it will still slip through your fingers.

(water - was the color of your eyes,
  and ever since the day you left -
it's all that seems to come from mine.)

Though it were bright
It is most assuredly overcast now,
I basked in the radiance of your love
Before you married him.

I thought maybe heroically to interrupt the wedding
When the Minister exclaimed, "Speak now or forever hold your peace"
But instead settled to sit in my car as the rain fell, my tears flowed,
And the rice showered upon your exit of the chapel.

Years have passed, yet memories still fresh
I think often of our young unbridled love
And still it hurts, this dull ache within my heart
To wonder how beautiful we would have been.

Once upon a time ago, you told me you loved me, constantly
With the tears that rolled down your cheek when we kissed
Today the sun's rays are still radiant
Yet I live in the shadows of this oxymoron for the rest of my life.

-----ChawzzyScript

the world wasn't always so cold & black
won't you let me take you back
to a time where lightnin' bugs lit up the skies
and we'd play in the creek & make mud pies
baseball in back yards, homeruns past the fence
back in the day where life made more sense
and the biggest worry was your mama getting mad
you didn't know what it was like to really be sad
we'd make a bed, right there in the grass
didn't know the world was made of glass
back then things were so sure
and we were all so pure
so beautifully untainted
oh the life we had painted
we'd play without worry, without fear
laugh so loud the whole world could hear
find the joy in such simple things
playground tag, racing to the swings
and it was impossible for us to hush
always moving, always in a rush
too ready to just grow up
time couldn't pass fast enough
so now i tell my children to take it slow
because they still have a long way to go
but that time will pass before we know it
sometimes you can't go back but you can remember

Instead of a bell jar
I am trapped inside an hourglass
Sand scrapes my skin
unsurfacing memories of
your voice, your eyes,
faded images of me looking into them

Dust rains on me incessantly
eroding the shield I worked so hard to maintain
Drops of you grasp tightly onto me,
your nails are grappling hooks in my skin

The past swells with each dropping grain,
becoming heavier, until
your pulling weight unravels me.

North
East
South
West
It does not matter on a sphere.
The faster,
          The harder,
                   The longer,
you run- may take you far...
but then near.