he's got a vice grip on my soul
and his icy breath chills me to the bone
he's got me stuck playing the same old role
and living in a place that's not my home

the accuser's got a plan for me tonight
and right now he's got me in his sights
he's taking his time drowning me in shame
now he's gonna make me forget my name

you remind me of someone  from one of my past lives
so pardon me if I stop and stare
and I'd like to take the time to get to know you better
but I've got no time to spare
you seem unaffected by the gloom of other people
so wherever you are in life, I wish I was there

I woke up cold this morning
and I had an old song in my head
all my friends are moving on
and I'm 12 steps higher but not any further ahead
daily the ghost of you
haunts me in the strangest ways
all my friends are moving on
and I'm 12 steps higher but not any further away

does the gloom of other people surround you
does the fog make it harder to breathe
cause I know I can suffocate in ideas and emotions
along with all the lies that I believe

there's a murmur just below the surface
there's a tingling just beneath the skin
all my friends have outgrown me
and I'm growing upwards too but not within

does the gloom of other people surround you
does the fog make it harder to breathe
cause I know I can suffocate in ideas and emotions
along with all the lies that I believe

I woke up cold this morning
and I had an old song in my head
all my friends are moving on
and I'm 12 steps higher but not any further ahead

does the gloom of other people surround you
does the fog make it harder to breathe
cause I know I can suffocate in ideas and emotions
along with all the lies that I believe

I-I don't fit in here
but it's not my fault
I-I don't fit your mould
but I guess I'm evil by default

so send me down to the river
see if your suspicions are true
they think i can't drown
but they don't care if i do
it doesn't really matter
'cause in their twisted view
I don't belong
I don't belong
I don't belong

I tried to cut myself down
trim away the rough edges
but I grew back sharper and stronger
broke the mould that they thought was so precious

so send me down to the river
see if your suspicions are true
they think i can't drown
but they don't care if i do
it doesn't really matter
'cause in their twisted view
I don't belong
I don't belong
I don't belong

icy water looks almost inviting
compared to what I'm leaving behind me
there's really no point in fighting
what's already been decided

so send me down to the river
see if your suspicions are true
they think i can't drown
but they don't care if i do
it doesn't really matter
'cause in their twisted view
I don't belong
I don't belong
I don't belong

love is like the diamond industry
your love particularly
because you withhold
so your product can be oversold

sit back relax
focus on the sound of your breathing
sit back relax
breathe in breathe out
county hospitals aren't much to look at
but you gotta love the view of the city
sit back relax
sit back relax

there's not much to do until the shock sets in
not much to say
not much to do
so just sit there fidget with the hem of your shirt
'til the shock sets in
'til the shock sets in
relax your eyes let the view out the window blur
'til the shock sets in

sit back relax
focus on the sound of your breathing
sit back relax
breathe in breathe out
county hospitals aren't much to look at
but you gotta love the view of the city
sit back relax
sit back relax

okay it's morning now, anxiety turns to boredom
not much to say
and no one to talk to
so try not to focus on how much your head hurts
just try to breath
just try to be
just try to focus on the beat of your heart
just try to be

sit back relax
focus on the sound of your breathing
sit back relax
breathe in breathe out
county hospitals aren't much to look at
but you gotta love the view of the city
sit back relax
sit back relax

maybe they'll let you go home
or they'll send you somewhere else
but for now
sit back relax

When I'm with you I will always be warmer
Not just because you lend me your coat
As we wait for snow, we'll watch the sky together
But I'll sneak a glance at you and get a lump in my throat

Cause what's the point of cold if there's no snow?
And what's the point of staying now if eventually you'll go?

By next Christmas maybe I'll learn to live without you
But I swear to you you'll never be replaced
If we meet again, I hope we don't need to start over
I hope everything we've written down together isn't erased

Cause what's the point of memories that fade away?
What's the point of trying if I can't get you to stay?

one day there will be others
a constellation
you won't be the only one anymore
but you'll always shine the brightest
and in my mind
the ones yet to come
will be ghosts of you

one day there will be others
a constellation
you won't be the only one anymore
but you'll always shine the brightest
and in my mind
the ones yet to come
will be ghosts of you

you're the toaster to my bubble bath,
the canary to my gold mine

they opened their lips
and out flowed poetry.
their intoxicating words
blinded me and drew me
to them, in the same way
a light draws a moth:
senseless, longing, entranced...

please think about. it ask yourself why you can't sleep. don't be afraid to dig down deep. deep down we all know that we were meant for more than this- more than burnt out days and nights and flickering lights that poison our minds and leave us with static thoughts behind dark eyes because we never wondered why or how we wake up day by day even with souls crumbling away, or if or when we may just find what we have gotten used to hiding, biding our time for nothing at all until we find something more than typical.

i will not* cut myself down just because
my prosperity makes you uncomfortable.
i will not shrink myself for
someone who refuses to grow.
i am a garden of spirit and life.
i will not apologize if
you would prefer a desert.

soldiers desensitized
prisoners dehumanized
images that burn in your eyes
it seems like a crime to breathe this air
this air that weighs so heavily
upon our minds
trees old enough to have seen
the sins of mankind
unspoken words hang above us
as we stand under the gallows
and echoes of
"what if that had been us?"
and the chimney
dwarfing the cross

but purple lilies grow here now

your words were a pill that i knew i had to take-
a pill that was impossible to swallow.
i just held the pill inside my mouth
until the coating dissolved
and i was left with the bitter taste of those words.

telling those brightly colored lies over
and over again
never makes them true.
it just wears away at the coat of paint.
too bad.
the shade of ******* suits you.

mistakes
or second guessing
no one will know now
what that eraser dust was

i didn't understand
how the emotions of
love and hate
could be so close
to each other...
and then i met you <3

there was a boy who ran with the wolves
there was a boy who flew with the birds
and their worlds were just far enough apart
for everyone to know what happens next

there was a girl who was afraid to fly
there was a girl who was afraid to fall
an exposition just tragic enough
for everyone to mourn their dilemma

there was a poet who loved to dream
there was a poet who longed to sleep
a pairing, it seemed to all
to be as obvious as day and night

"i'm an open book"
but what's the hidden text?
are you simply a nursery rhyme,
or something much more grimm?

no matter how many times you say it
"i need you"
doesn't hold a candle to
"i love you"
and no matter how much
you needed me
you never really loved me

greedy executives will feel no shame when they count their coins
handed over from the wallets
of dying people
with brittle nails
ashen skin
dark circles
hoping that a few more dollars
will make them feel pretty

they sell us cigarettes
get us addicted
so that even when
"smoking kills"
is stamped on each box
we keep buying and buying
maybe it's just another marketing trick
intrigue the hopeless addicts
with the possibility of their destruction

whispering that i'm all alone
but never leaving me alone

crumbled under pressure of trouble
reborn from ashes and rubble
creation brings about destruction
destruction brings about creation
day is born from night
dark turns from light

hold onto it.
she used to look at me that way.









and losing her...
i wouldn't wish that on anyone,
certainly not you.

is my real problem how much i need your adoration, or how hard pressed i am to find it these days?

far to close for comfort,
but it feels so right.
heart beating like a hummingbirds wings,
but i feel so calm.
both eyes open,
and i can't see you clearly.
but you look nicer like this,
all you sharp edges
soft to my blurred vision.
lines are wavering,
colors swirling together,
but never has anything seemed so clear.

i don't get it.
you care when i cry,
but never when i bleed.

why does everyone hate the blood in their veins?
they'll drain it from their wrists
replace it
with morphine
with liquor
do you hate living?
or do you just love bleeding?
do you just love replacing
sustenance with poison?

there's no way to be the truest
when you think about it
every blue is sky blue

i guess she got under my skin
and i tried to cut her out
maybe by the time i wake up
i'll have bled her out of my system

how did we go
from popsicle-stained tongues
to ink-stained hands
to blood-stained tiles?
where did we go wrong?

whether it's a jagged gasp
between sheets
of a queen sized bed,
perfect handwritten letters
between sheets
of notebook paper,
the words
"i love you"
don't mean anything
to him anymore.

it was never supposed to be you
                                           but you were the only one who cared
                                   now it's you i go to
     half of what i write is for you
                                        and  you are what i wish for when i click my heels
it's like everything aligned...
                            to bring me you

you float among waves
i float among stars
show me the oceans
i'll take you to mars
we can follow the sunset
because this world is ours
in a wave of emotion
we'll forget about scars
i'll show you my mind
though it is quite bizarre
i'll hold on to your words
like fireflies in a jar

teardrops on lashes
and knives going missing
bright crimson blood stains
arms scratched and tongues bitten
gritting your teeth
when it begins to sting
why are these some of my favorite things?

the moon turned her back on the world
she plunged us all into darkness
and the clouds began to bleed
and their blood rained down
and soaked into the dying city
and the city-
it moved
it changed
the city,
fed by the blood of the clouds
began to breathe
began to scream-
began to tingle,
buzz,
burn.
as the clouds breathed their dying breaths,
the flames of the city licked the sky,
and when the clouds bled out,
the city burned out.