What right do I have to light their way,  
When shadows cling to me each day?  
How can I offer joy or cheer,  
When inside, darkness is all I fear?  

I stand and smile, a fragile mask,  
Hiding the weight of each unspoken task.  
What worth are my words, my soft embrace,  
When my heart drifts in a hollow space?  

Yet still, I try, despite the storm,  
To bring warmth, to help transform—  
For in my giving, I too might heal,  
And find in others the strength I feel.  

So even broken, I’ll still give,  
For sometimes it’s through others we learn to live.

I know there are many here who pray,  
So if my words aren't yours today,  
Please turn away, for this is mine—  
A truth I carry, yours not to define.  

When they speak of God, their voices pure,  
I can't take it in, can't feel secure.  
For God was not there when I called,  
In moments dark, when I had fallen.  

I search for answers in the silence, deep,  
Wondering why I was left to weep.  
So when they speak of faith and grace,  
I question if it's just a trace.  

I don’t deny their right to believe,  
But in my heart, there's a different weave.  
For God was absent when I needed light,  
Leaving me alone in the longest night.

The moon hangs over the earth
A dead thing
Over a dying thing

A boy who shouldn't be alive
Who couldn't be his own person
Learning how to breath without permission
And live without hurting

To be born
your body made a pact with death
And from that moment all it tries to do is cheat

This is a story about two boys
The taller one has a gun tucked into his waistband
And thinks the bullets are meant for him
The older one has a record player in his head
He sings along to the same five songs
They know each other
Down to the color of blood
And the sound of bones breaking
But they are strangers
The one with the gun keeps forgetting the words
And the boy with the music Won't let him shoot

rage smells like smoldering embers,
rage looks like bloodstained fists,
rage sounds like elevated heartbeats,
rage feels like a tidal wave,
yet rage tastes like charred ashes,
because its twin causes upset,
her name, after all… is regret.

The taste of your touch lingers
On the contours of my body
Ripples of a dream swirl through
My vision's like raindrops entering puddles
Only if they knew how your presence intoxicates me
Looking sober to the spectators in the distances
Never let the honeymoon feelings fade
Only playing the fool for you