I've been told that dead men don't tell tales,
but even worse are those that live and scream out truth through their wails.

A bleeding heart stored on the cusp of each evenings glow,
I clap my hands at this life's end, such a terrible show.

There's pressure planted at the base of each king's throne,
a different taste, desire and let down for something more homegrown.

A rupture in space through the waves of one heart mimic,
harder and harder to face life's twists and turns by setting unreal limits.

I picture time leaned back, relaxing; testing its own struggle,
a few more breaths, here and there, is what I'm trying to smuggle.

The end of days has a commonality with that of a dial tone,
both calling out, trying to be heard, but ultimately dying alone.

Evicted emotions are the envy and the end-all of the wax and wane,
forgive and forget so that in the near future you can fall prey the same.

Disregard feelings like a dusty souvenir sitting on a high shelf pawn shop,
push on, take names, and whatever you do, never retreat or stop.

Regurgitated fears as I choke back free flowing tears,
taking another crack at your misguided attack has set me back fifteen years.

Using your wit, a bit, you must admit has helped you climb the ladder,
but wholesome, and truthfulness, no, that's an entirely different matter.

Solitude, in itself, is just another form of loneliness,
sometimes a faint smile is equal to forgiveness, I will confess.

A hundred wrong decisions, life shattered and splintered,
Cover me deeply, this coffin,  protecting me from the winter.

You can’t come here - you belong buried where heartaches seeks,
Hammer holds, reaching, bidding, pulling back life nails as they shriek.

Silence. Absolutely brutal, savage silence.
Darkness. Terrifyingly cruel, misquoted guidance.

There’s time for me yet, even as I bow at the last curtain call,
at the end of this life, no regrets, no mistakes, “I lived” as a reply all.

Minor memories stir up old trouble behind closed eyelids,
a silly mistake here, a proper reply there, it’s just what we did.

Shut out, bow down, a troubled childhood led to substantial grief,
Hold on, power through, persevere it’ll be brief.

Death held my hand which is such a sad way to live,
His bony fragmented clasp, helped me learn to forgive.

I’ve practiced what you preached, always hoping it was correct,
In the end, I was wrong, because it’s my life that you wrecked.

I step back and hand you the reins, to this, my sinking ship,

only truth knows lies, as it passes through you, your lips.

I struck a chord, or a nerve, it helps me value my worth,

desperate eyes have been searching for someone like you, since birth.

An idea that is formed in the minds of man,

You and I together - Fate had another plan.

I smile as sadness invades my pores,

Our mystery and intrigue, your beauty the stuff of Lore.

For comfort, I whisper your name at night,

It gets me through the darkness until that morning light.

My eyes renewed, a new day has begun,

you, before me, until the setting of the sun.

I reach for your hand, to secure it in place,

the life of past loves, gone without a trace.

A wall made of words, my past: my mortar,

the time that we have only gets shorter.

The days fly by, just gone in a flash,

tomorrow becomes yesterday, our forever past.

Late nights spent together, asleep in each other's arms,

all that I ask for, as you resist my charms.

Cautious you crept, and slowly you caved,

unsure still, based on past loves that you gave.

Greedy mind of mine, glued to your side,

instead I chose clever words, for my feelings to hide.

There's a smile buried somewhere, there, in your heart,
let's retrace our steps, rewind, back to the start.

Forever forgiving you were to me, I, persisting,
together at last now, more than simply....existing.

Thoughts turned to words based on what we believe,
the length of time: forever, is what I perceive.

Trusted ties to reveal bolder men's lies,
with you, walls collapse and heartache dies.

An island, you seem, set all alone,
me, your rock, your safety and pillar of stone.

A finger brushes lightly against your face,
your smile reminds me that I'm in the right place.

An ocean of wonder reflecting the brightest stars,
a lifetime of forgiveness, healing our deepest scars.

I searched in myself to help try and find the "me",
how do I prepare myself when it's you that I see?

They say out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks,
that must be why "I love you" is what your ears seek.

Like a shadow in the night, you stole my heart from my chest,
like the fists of a fight, you fought and confessed.

You're the arrow, the fear, the calm before the storm,
you're beautiful, magnificent and love in its truest form.

You're the anger, the strong, the hope that I need,
as each beat of my heart, your name, it bleeds.

We stand there listening to our hearts increased pounding,

screams are no longer heard, they’ve left us to our drowning.

Your words encourage, lift up, and wash away all ire,

A mode of respect, a taste of morale victory that will always inspire.

Every future idea, a moment of consistent need,

all of your energy, attention, and efforts fuel my greed.

A hidden meaning presented in perfect plain sight,

a loose embrace, or hand held tight gets me through each night.

A way with words, and each syllable increased meaning,

the curve of these lips lift up a soul that’s comfortably beaming.

There’s a knock on Death’s door as you perform compression's,

A stable stream of stagnant lies that helped cover me in depression,

some half-truths, and even more half-measures,

have led me to reduce my self worth and avoid most pleasures.

Then there’s you: a light-wielding saint with unmatched power,

a simple word, or look helps raise me up in my darkest hour.

You are warm and welcoming, a shelter for my deepest hurt,

a shovel fit to bury each woe and regret under a world of dirt.

I loved you yesterday- I just didn’t know it then.

when the wind whistled and brushed the branches against the shed,

that was when I put the image of you and I in my head.

I loved you today, and I didn’t realize it then,

As new snow fell, it reminded me that no two flakes are alike,

and our similarities are ghost like, existing between worlds.

I loved you tomorrow, and I’m realizing it even now,

I swore at the ******* morning birds singing their song,

and it reminded me of you in the mornings and how i’m always wrong.

I loved you since I can remember, and it’s apparent now,

from the moments that as a baby I took my first steps,

sometimes cruel and calculated, they led me to you.....somehow,

I loved you in my early years, and I never put it together,

since I could form sounds and words, it was to tell you “I love you.”

I’ll love you light years from now, when our bodies are busted and turned to dust,

I’ll hold each memory of us failing and succeeding together and all of our trust.

I love you in the here and now, with each mistake being almost enough for me to break,

it’s us, it’s you, it’s everything that falls in between yesterday, today, and tomorrow that I can take.

I loved you yesterday, I love you today, and I will love you tomorrow.

I have a death grip on this razor blade against my wrist,

praying to whatever god will listen that I slip, wishing I had a nervous tick.

Then I’d have someone or something else to blame it on so it wouldn’t be my fault.

We’re the salt of the earth?

Being drug behind a stalled out hearse?

A family in disbelief, “There’s no way they’d do this! It must be a mistake!”

Tell me that as I sink deeper into sorrow and produce this smile - so fake.

There’s a lot to learn, an image ingrained which we’ve been told is to help us succeed.

I’m only halfway home and I’ve already halfway loaded the gun,

only a pound of pressure is what’s needed for us to proceed.

Numbers exist to call as a stranger pretends to care,

their eight hour shift almost over so they can delete the buzzing in the air.

I’ve never really wanted toast in the tub until I saw what it could do,

I picture myself, my life, my beginning and my end,
and all I can think about - is you.

You are my beacon, my comfort, the reason I breath,

A piece of fate that’s fallen out of it’s trajectory and landed you with me.

I love you. I love you. I love you. Again, again and again.

But now it’s time to sleep, and hope that the darkness isn’t there or selfish enough for me to keep.