I stare in the mirror and reflect,
Can't believe this face is my own.
Hypocracies align and intersect,
Muddling everything I've known.
I say I want to be a friend,
Someone who will truly care.
My words I claim until my end,
The badge I choose to wear.

Criticize the acts you do,
The venom drips from my tongue.
Every wrong of yours I knew,
Out in public they are hung.
And I'm not any better,
In fact I'm ******* worse.
Your flaws drive my petty letters,
These jagged lines I write in verse.

And I'm no little choir boy,
My mistakes I'll take to my grave.
But my flaws don't inspire your joy,
Maybe it's my soul I need to save.
But this is not to garner pity,
This is for me to say I'm wrong.
Our paths will cross in this jaded city,
And I want us to still get along.

No more judgment, no more scolding,
I'm moving on from being that guy.
My goal is to be always emboldening,
And let the pilot be the one to fly.
Your potential for greatness is evident,
It's the reason I haven't jumped ship.
But it's time to repay the time I spent,
Firing shots until I emptied my clip.

So this is my apology,
My intentions strayed from being true.
Our stars not aligned in astrology,
But I'll make it up to you.
Take from this what you may,
Do with it what you please.
I've run out of negativity to say,
I just want us to be at ease.

I can't believe I fell again,
Forever cast the fool.
I sat and tried to comfort you,
While you cried alone at school.
I tried to tell you everything,
You just didn't want to hear.
And now this beast has come to life,
Everything I always feared.

I'm everything you need in life,
But not enough you like.
I give my best performance,
He just winks and drops the mike.
His perfect hair, his cheeky smile,
That boy just sure can spit that fire.
And keeps on splitting what your inhaling,
While you only only just get higher.

But I just can't be hateful,
In fact I'm green with envy,
I only wish you'd tell the truth,
There's no need here to defend me
Glad to know I'm an appetizer,
To prepare you for the meal.
I hope he says he loves you, then lies.
Then you'd know how how this ******* feels.

My god it's truly tragic,
That this is how it ends.
I would have accepted honesty
Cause I thought that we were friends.
But instead you show your colors,
Shining bright for all to see.
And the reality of the matter is,
The only fool here is me.

So take another snapshot,
With some whiskey and your lens.
You sit and cry about your life
And all your dead end friends.
When the truth is that you'll never change,
You didn't care at all.
And now I'm stuck with all the pieces,
The shatters from the fall.

A bird will never learn to fly,
If it refuses to leave the nest.
The bird that just won't touch the sky,
Can never soar above the rest.

And although the nest will keep it warm,
While safe under mother's wing.
The bird will deal with too much harm
If the bird can't truly sing.

So be the bird that takes the chance,
And flies towards the setting sun.
Because a bird that's caught in passing glance
Is better than a cage built for one.

Here's a story about a man
Who put it on the line
Mostly calm as best as he can,
It's rare to hear him whine.

But never the fool he has to play,
The man's usually on top.
But in this moment he's nothing to say,
His eyes scream to make it stop.

Relationship woven with a pattern of trust.
Gone up in ashes with drunken lust,
A spark into a flame,
He turns his head in shame,
He lays his cards upon the table,
He's folding from this game.

He'll never say it, but we all know
That this cut him pretty deep
And to be strong, he won't let it show,
But inside he'll silently weep.

A soldier leaves no comrade behind,
A brotherhood bond struck true.
And as our friend we shall remind,
That he's better off without you.

Two birds leave their nest and begin to fly together.
A dark omen in the sky predicates nasty weather.
Undeterred by their state, they choose their own fate.
And fly like one under a lone ruffled feather.

Thunder and lighting echo in the dark of the night.
These birds can sense that they are in for a fight.
The wind begins to shift, their flight begins to drift.
As they soar in the sky looking for a beacon of light.

The winds shift again, the birds caught in its path.
Mother Nature begins to show her draconian wrath.
The birds begin to ascend, precious energy they must spend,
Hell's fury unleash, no salvation for the birds nature hath.

The birds begin to fall, descending to the ground.
But nowhere is safe from the echoes of the sound.
Lighting strikes the Earth, completing the circle from birth.
Crescendoing with the raindrops, death begins to hound.

My lungs keep me breathing, but am I really alive?
24 years later, and I'm just living to survive.
Because cowards end their life,
With a gun, pills or a knife.
And none of those are the answer I'm trying to derive.

My life has been flipped, in every possible sense.
I fear I'm becoming always mentioned in the past tense.
I work at night and sleep all day,
No one to hear what I've got to say,
I'm staying afloat, but at what expense?

These are my feeble cries to a unconcerned crowd.
I continue to chant "when will I make you proud?"
Because the people don't care
All they will do is stare.
As I cause a scene with a voice that echoes loud.

Your voice is my alarm clock
Your scent like salts to bring me back
To another day of conflict,
As I brace for your attack.

The guns are blazing in this fight
It's high noon in this Wild West
But before I have time to load,
You've fired two into my chest.

Trust was lost with innocence,
But you still will play this game.
Only, you can turn it off,
I wish I could do the same.

I finally find a moment of peace,
But you decide that you want more.
I emptied the bench hours ago,
While you just run up the score.

And after all the struggle,
I collapse and close my eyes
On pillows of broken promises,
Blankets quilted out of lies.

I've made this bed I rest in,
Toss and turn throughout the night,
A greater foe, this time myself
As I relive every fight.