Moss now grew upon the school door
Creaking as it twisted open upon my arrival
Only dust accompanied my descent
Setting sun rays filtered through the murky halls
Straining past the discolored windows
Pieces cracked beneath my steps
Trees had grown and clung to the walls
Wind whistled with the breeze
Steps echoed as I walked
Bouncing along the long narrowed halls
Leaves crackled, jostling as I crept along
Wood moaned and ceilings groaned
Water softened the once sturdy frames
The building wanted to die
Yet something kept it up
Something evil
Forcing the tired school to stay ***** deep within the wood
As if holding it up, dangling from the trees
Hanging
I could feel them
The eyes
Watching me as I walked down the rotting hall
Behind me I felt their little hands
Reaching out trying to grab me
Pulling my feet
I saw their faces
Twisted agonized faces
Shaped by the contorted wood on the walls
Wailing
Frozen with the fear that now gripped this place
Shadows danced along the setting sun
On the walls and across room
I past the classrooms
And in the corner of my eyes
They stood
Black figures made of shadow
Strung along
Black wiry bodies
With only two bright eyes
But when I turned they fled
Back into the walls whence they came
I reached the end of the hall
To where the stairs still stood
I heard a tune come from the basement
But stopped suddenly as if inturupted
The sun had now faded to gray
Only a scarlet tint colored the halls
Bleeding from the walls
The basement was dark
As I neared the bottom
The door still stood ajar
To a blackened room
A cold rush met me
Behind me they gathered at the door
I could feel their stares
Their cold blank stares
With mouths wide in a constant scream
I propped up the rope
And stepped up on a powdered box
And fell
The noose around my neck caught hold
And I kicked
But as I spun they were right there
Silently screaming right in my face
And I screamed for just a moment
As they grabbed me with their little hands
As they choked out their killer

Have you heard?
Have you heard?
Of the land of Scramble Doo?
It's a place of pure joy in
Scramble Damble Doo
I tell ye the truth
Of this land not faraway
I journey through it en mass
Each passing day!
Call it Damble Doo Scramble
Or Doo Scramble Damble
Or anything you want! They were but example
But don't let anyone tell you how to unscramble your own place of joy
For Scramble Damble Doo lies in every girl and boy!

When I was young and simple
I never understood why and when
Adults lost their color

When and how did growing up
Into an autonomous being
Become the wasting away of eccentricity?

Until that is
I grew up
And saw first hand how it happens

Gradually, you begin to dull
Until you look around the world
And realize the color has all but vanished

Every step along the way
To "growing up"
Means at every stop, you must sell another piece

At every station along your life
You have to shave off another slab
Another offering, to get you "back on track"

Until you finally made it!
As retirement nears
You begin to remember that basket

Full of all the childlike wonders
You cut off to get you where you are now
And it pains you

Retirement finally comes
And you are handed back that basket
With all the once glowing ideas

But it feels heavy
And foreign
And what was once the inspiration of your entire existence

Is now dull and grey
And so are you
Who sold all the imaginations and innocence

To grow up.

Oh why my friend do you give up so
When life gave such a promising hand
With your brains and smarts you could but go
To any place in all the land
Why squander gifts which you hold inside
Your mentality reflects only shame
You say you don't care, though we know you lied
Playing life like a frivolous game
I shake my head at you, my friend
My trusted captain my first mate
All I wish to lend
Is advice for when you turn your next bend
Don't waste your talents
Or shrug it off with no care
For you will die a regretting soul
Wishing, you could have done so much more.

A man walks his dog
He is too far to see his face
He wears a faded button down shirt
Khaki pants
The dog looks to be a West Highland Terrier
But that's the only kind of dog I know
The man fumbles along the path
Stopping slightly to let the dog smell
The smell was of a summers day
A day of pollen
I near him as I walk down the same sidewalk
Briskly measuring my steps
I finally pass him
And he smiles as I pass
This older fellow of aged years
Looking content with what his hands have built
I near the turn and look back briefly
He remains where I had left him with his four legged friend
He waves
I wave back
And I round the corner and disappear

It is easy to stay silent
To watch intently from the quiet comfort of your home
Silence is an action
Taken either by those who hold their own tongues
Or silence is something forced upon others
Nonetheless, complete and utter silence results

But those who are silent, be not afraid
Your words and ideas are not trivial
For if you feel within your heart of hearts
The burning desire to break the silence
To scream and shout and ask "WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?"
Then you are steps away from breaking free

Silence is a choice
A choice made by those to escape
It is a quiet room where we have the privilege to stay safe
A choice made to stay away from arguments and confrontation

But hear this and hear well.
Silence kills
It killed the Native Americans,
It killed the slaves that built this country
It killed those seeking freedom
And it is actively killing those who need to be heard

Donate, go to marches, stand tall, and speak your heart
They will try to mock you for your words
And point fingers at you for your seeming inability to shut up
But if your words are so minuscule,
Then why do they wish for you to stay silent?

Speak up.
Or else silence kills us all.

They removed all the music
All the resonating themes
All the reverberating halls
They burnt all the notes
All the colors
All the past
They stomped out the language  
All the crescendos did they wipe
All was lost and thrown away
They stole all the music
So only their treacherous tune would be heard
And the trumpets of war did sound
And when it ceased-
Silence overtook us

She stood their still

Like wayward tree

A weeping willow

A weeping woman.

Whose branches bore

Those salty tears

And caught the rain above.

Alone within the meadow

All the other trees had gone

So I ventured out

And grasped her tight

Reassuring her all was well

Reminding her all was right

We like to think we are hard to understand
Intricate mazes with twisting chaotic paths
Leading to numerous outcomes
Mysteries woven within our stories
Constantly changing and always anew
We like to believe we are elaborate structures
Constructs of pure ingenuity
Winding corridors with infinite knowledge
With mysterious doors holding plethoras of secrets
Darkened halls to shroud our true motives
Stairways up and down, leading anywhere and everywhere
We like to fool the world
Building these zig-zagging stories
Losing the truth the farther we burrow
Forgetting who we are in the labyrinths of our minds
Forever lost in what we have become
We lied to ourselves
With broken confidence, striving to be who we want
Rather than who we are
Living in a world of other grande designs
Trying to keep up against time itself
We doubted ourselves
Unable to look at the mirrors which spoke the most truth
Turning away and hiding in the lies we fortified around us
The barricaded conscience, locked away and ignored
Emotion took hold and there you sat
We all sat and wondered
Where would "I" fit in this broken world
Of towering deceptive motives
Glimmering pedestals of deceit
Trick rooms and evil men
We all asked ourselves "Where will I go"
When people see the place I've hidden myself away
Calling us out, asking to venture, deep through our halls
We felt simple opposed to the world
Far greater stories, fascinating, colorful
And our structures crumbled
And there we sat
Alone, where the world could see what we ignored in that mirror
But we understood
That Truth can set you free
Despite the lies we make ourselves believe
For simplicity is truth itself

Life comes like a smack,
Which slaps the fact
Right back
At you
If you react
Shows what you lack
Or if you're on track
Emotions in tact
Slipping past the smallest crack
Into a dismal state
And all these things proliferate
As they irritate and exaggerate
Is it always fate to wait
And see this all crumble down
For as we sit and stay a while
As another tile in this grand design
I only watch as time ticks by
Asking why did it have to ever leave me.

Rain is such a beautiful thing
The way the drops splash
Drenching all in a liquid sheet
All encompassing it rains for miles
Swallowing the world in a dreary state

I love the rain
Rain means no smiles
No sunny days
A world with rain
Where the people feel my sorrow
Where my darkness becomes reality
And no matter how much they despise it
They cannot escape

Rain is cruel
Trapping you
Holding you
Rain is misery
Rain is my reality
That I gladly give to you

This quiet of the night.
A serenade to my soul.
Hushed whispers of the nothing.
Frozen landscapes, and silent halls.

Stillness yet unmatched.
But peace appreciated.
This nothing that I drift through.
The serenade of my soul.

We have become accustomed to believe
That what we make
And create
Must follow the directions that come in the box
Or else we hate it
For being wrong

We have set a standard to our lives
That our accomplishments must fall in line
And fit perfectly into the boundaries we conjured

But there is something beautiful in chaos
When we shed the delusion for the need of order
To let go and free fall into the unknown
We finally see what can be
And the hidden potential
Is something beautiful to experience

There's something inside of me
And I'm afraid of what I see
It matters not how it came to be
For I am here, For I am me

I cannot turn away from its glare
It's piercing eyes and slanted stare
I look inside my sins laid bare
These muted lies I dare not share

The broken glass of a shattered soul
A gaping void and endless hole
I sit awake at night, as the weight takes its toll
Searing pains like scorched coal

A wasteland sprawls across my war torn heart
Where no mans land has torn apart
And wiped away the canvas art
No longer sweet but bitter and ****

I see something inside of me
And it's too hard to admit you see
For when I turn away to break free
I see a world as bleak as me

Sometimes I sit
And with deep gaze  
I look into myself
And wonder,
To whom will I give the bitter sweet maze
Of my heart
That goes aflutter.

Somewhere above the clouds
As the evening sun sets in the west
I am captivated by the sight of the sky
Looking north to the unknown
I dream I could float above the earth
Resting on the foamy clouds
Seeing the cars pass beneath me
Somewhere above the clouds
I wish I could see forever
And witness eternal beauty

No words can bring to light
The images in which I stare
Of an unseen world miles away
Where cruelty has taken refuge
I feel worthless sitting in my chair
Only able to writhe from the pictures on the screen
When in fact, inside my soul, I scream
Helpless eyes stare back to me
And all I can do is watch
True despair, in this world
Is when all you can do is watch
So far we have drifted from feeling
So cold we have become
The warmth we were born with  
Has truly, sadly, gone

Man looked outward toward the stars
Always wondering what they held
Each passing thought like busy cars
In our heads imagination swelled

So giddy man has always been
Curious like a cat
No longer is it what but when
Technology has seen to that

Stare into the abyss with me
As it stares into our souls
The darkness shines eternally
Into ourselves it’s black like coals.

I looked out toward that metal jungle
A man exhaled cigarette smoke and it rose up fading away
Light glimmered off of windows
The setting sun on an iron casket
I leaned over to pick up an old beer bottle
I threw it away
Yet, still the leaves fell.

Cars dotted across the jungle floor
Red lights, green lights, directing those where to go
A cyclist rung his bell as he swerved around me getting by
It smelt like asphalt in this granite biome
The sun releasing the smell from the highways
At a store I held a rusted door open for a woman and her child
Yet, still the leaves fell.

A puddle survived on the pavement in my parking garage
It was cool here
It shimmered with a rainbow film from car oil
The crunch of loose gravel under my feet echoed in the halls
A man dropped his wallet in here once
I picked it up and returned it to him
Yet, still the leaves fell.

I lived my life doing what was right
I lived my life doing what should be done
Still, the leaves fell.

Enjoy the pause and delay
The times you stare into the day
Feel the breathe that you intake
The sun rays beaming while awake

Enjoy the shade that comes from trees
Listen to the working bees
Speak softly to the flower beds
Enjoy the colors of their crowned heads

Enjoy the simple
And be present today

Be content
Embrace the delay

And when my name is spoken
When opportunity is at hand
I shall not waiver nor be broken
For my might is all too grand
And through all pain and punishment
With bruises and ugly scars
Alongside my brothers I will carry
Breaking through the stars
And when you hear us calling
With our colors flying high
Prep your greatest warriors
For heroes never die

There once was a tune which did but play
A melody of heavenly descent
Able to mend the broken heart of man
Washing desolation of the soul
All doubt drowned out and gone
And sewing the pieces back again
But this song when final notes sound
Would take the life of those who heard
So no man listened or attempted to endure
In fear of the consequences of its curse
Until there stepped a broken boy
Torn by shame and shattered dreams
With nothing to his name he grit his teeth
Immersing his mind in the deep waters of this elegant sound
Journeying through the crescendos and diminuendos of life itself
When final verse of notes did play
Opening his eyes, the old man which took the boys place
Realized, that he was reborn again
And his desolate life was good again
Thanks to his decision
To endure that song
As he died with a smile upon his face

Life may very well be about taking
But not the kind that leaves others bitter
A taking that reciprocates with giving
And one realizes that one can take it all
But give it all back
Then they will truly master the world

Unknown, so far yet right before us
Paths divided we choose our destiny
Leaning on the hopes of adventure
Forging onward, we all secretly pray
That life will give great tales
Of heroic feats
And golden days
Moments of grand designs
Friendships lain
Enemies slain
Times where endurance is our only ally
But we endure all the same.
People say these are lies
Fictional worlds
Empty rooms, but
Look past the flat world we inhabit
Into the adventure of our lives
The running water and quiet forest trails
Soft sunlit evenings and mountainous storms
This world we live
The greatest map ever made
Holds chances for legacy to be born
But only if you grasp it
Take it in your hands
Feel it burn
See its light break through your fingers
Glimmering it desires a main character, you
Let it drip down your arms
Across your chest encasing your soul
Look onward my friend
And join me on this adventure.

Words that point
Jagged to the touch
Words that slice and belittle
Do they hurt that much?
Words are merely perspectives
Shaped by those who speak
Some to hurt some to help
Don't let them show you're weak
For you posses the words that shape your own heart
and destiny
Don't let them make you cry or ever make you weep
For action costs so much more, when you know that talk is cheap.

Spewing forth the lies of man
Dripping with deceit
Sopping up the foolhardy gents
In shadow do we meet
Out the corner of my gaze
He stalks the darkened halls
Watching those who are lead astray
And from the path do fall

With courtship and loving words
Oozing sticky sap
Stench of rotting milk and curds
Of fleshy skin and tight burlap
Two eyes do pierce the thickened fog
His body a black wiry frame
As he offers you the deal
To keep his lantern aflame

And from the trees he'll feed
Sipping souls straight from the shell
Beware the beast who turned his back to heaven
And shunned from the gates of Hell

There once was a story of a little bird
Who lived in a cage by the window
And everyday, the little bird would look outside
To see the sky sprawled as far as its little eyes could see

The little bird knew not was out in the skies above
But he knew,
And it burned within him
That someday,
Someday, he would make it into the open world

For many years, as it watched
It saw rain, and sunlight
Storms and tranquil nights
Always in love with it
Always yearning for that world

Finally, the day came when the bird made it outside
Finally on the other side of the window
Without bars or cages to stifle his flight
The Bird had the every and all direction
To fly into the endless horizon

But.
The Bird went nowhere
Despite the absence of the cage
Because now that he had his moment
He realized he was far too afraid
To decide for himself his own journey

So he waited
And waited
Until many years later
The Bird decided what he wanted most
But time had left him older and slow

And the Bird never left
Despite the open world around him
Because he feared
That his decisions
Could be wrong.

A candle burnt through the dark
Light piercing through the shades of doubt
And all alone it flickered and fought
To shine across the barren land
As faint as it whispered cross' the moors  
The subtle tune it played ever grande
Catching your ear and welcoming you home
It brought you back to good hands again
Through wind and rain did this valiant light
Best the hurricanes and storm
Blazing loud and ever so bright!
To provide the softest warmth
For those who found this candle here
Resting in this secluded spot
It hoped and dreamed it could brighten your life
When wearied souls thought so sorrowfully not.

The hands of the expert move in delicate fashion
Like the wings of a swan across an icy pond
To him he just breaths, slow and drawn out
Concentration thicker than any steel
His hands cracked and chiseled
They fit perfectly into the workers setting
Like grease in a car shop
It wouldn't make sense to have it
Any other way

Glass hangs above his nose
Like birds upon the perch
Waiting and watching his every move
He doesn't smoke
His work acts as his drug
The toiling with the trinkets
Each part installed
Like a piece of him desperately
Needing to be put back into place

A slow tick dictates his life
Like the grandfather clock that chimes
His days are filled with time
But never is he satisfied with his work
Racing with the second hand
Vaulting over the minutes
Meticulously fiddling with the hours
The final gears are set in place
He winds the newborn with his hands
Pinched around its heart
And begins to beat so soft
So gentle
Tick Tick *Tick

A content man is the happiest man who never knows it
But perhaps he never should
For the content man is the middle man
Not the worst
Nor the best
Which makes him the only one
Who can truly be happiest
For when the dam breaks
As the water washes away the best of us
And carries the worst out to sea
Who is Left?
The content man is free
Observer of those who fail
Observer of those who succeed
Watcher and onlooker
The one who will always be
But never forgotten
Neither mightiest foe
Or courageous under dog
Can ever be rid of the content one
Forever shall he be
Forever shall he reign

When I was young
With timid heart
I feared the monsters in my closet
The things that lurked in the darkness
The beasts that lived in my imagination
But as I have lived
I have grown to learn
That there are far worse things
In the reality of it all
And the safest place in this world
Is in the refuge of that dark closet.

Ages ago, too many to count
A gift was gladly received
Time had no bearing and my body trudged on
Despite how much I did bleed
I lived through the wars
The trifles of man
Saw many perish as this gift decreed
My tears had run dry
From unfailing eyes
For those who called on death in need
I dream every night I will die as I sleep
And be taken to the clouds high above
For I can't bear another day
When I sadly say
I could not save the ones who I loved

You could hear them chew away at the fallen corpse
It's crisp burnt arms still outstretched, ironically shielding itself from death
The skin had burnt and dripped off the bones, the blazing heat caused the skin to bubble the night before
White teeth all but gleamed in the light, the eye sockets swollen and plastered with soot
Pieces clothing draped across femurs and skeletal remains of hands and hair still clung to the scalp(in patches)
Flies buzzed and landed, ******* the nutrients from the flesh and giving themselves a hearty meal
The body behind the first was charred as well
Leftovers of smoldering eyes still remained.
She had tried to protect her child to no avail
From the devastating power of nature.
I walked away,
Letting the maggots--
Enjoy their meal.

A cranky locomotive used to yell
Every time it passed my house
Nobody liked him as he shrieked past
The windows rattled and shook
He woke you up from a peaceful sleep
And worst of all he was unapologetic

He was a locomotive built proudly
And he emulated the confidence
Built in a time of proud and honorable men
A fire burned in that old frame
A hot sweltering fire that always pushed him forward
He was blunt and to the point

One day that locomotive failed to fly by
No hollers or shouts or rattles
It was peaceful without him
But.
It was quiet without him
An unnerving quiet that people admittedly
Missed

If I had known that it would have been the last time
That rambunctious, cantankerous, and proud locomotive
Was tearing through the town
I would have waved
Or smiled more
Or even cried  

A cranky, loud, and obnoxious locomotive
Used to let everyone know what was on his mind
But in the silence when he no longer passed through
Everyone wished they could see him again,
Wanting to know what he had to say

First comes the tickle
from the chest it pulses through:
Upwards.
Your body wants to jolt
but you remain still.
Second comes the tingle of the head
from the spine that connects it all.
All you do is stare.
Callously as you process the emotion,
intertwined with information,
crescendoing into a storm without reason.
Without need of reason.
For it is simply that.
Unreasonable hatred.
Your breath:
Steady.
A disgusting numbness shrieks
Sickening rage courses back and forth
Pulsating
Third comes the grinding
The gnashing of teeth
Until your jaw eases back
Fourth comes the flooding
the pain attempts to touch you
Stop you
You stop it
Fifth comes the hush before the ******
Raw energy building
Pressure now balanced throughout
Sixth comes the explosion
And with all your might you hit back
Breaking your fingers
Smashing your wrist against their cheek
Their jaw cracks beneath your shattered fist
1/100 of your anger now exhausted
You don't feel a thing
You're numb now
Then it happens
In one crashing chord
comes the fury.

No forceful push
Nor violent gust
Was needed
To tear down his house
This house made of paper
Where the paper man stayed

His thin white walls
Without any windows
With a light in the middle
Gave shapes
To those outside
Trying to peer in

But along she came
With her fiery heart
A soul with warmth
Like embers from a hearth
And she easily burned down
That timid paper house