These are not human beings
flourishing amidst their modern backdrop
of screens and social media
and likes and retweets and the like

These are not smiling faces
aboard the train on their daily commute
heading to the job they hate
so they can come home to the family
who doesn't love them

These are not happy marriages
packed with love and affection,
But more like a failure
just a worthless, shattered piece of glass
that we grind beneath our shoes on the floor

These are caffeine and adderall-driven bodies
holding guns to their heads
as they **** down a coffee
right after getting no sleep for the millionth night in a row
so they can go to work and contribute to society

Society that is cutting-edge
Society that is the greatest yet
Society like a train with broken brakes
Humans like robots

These are silhouettes
with their souls ripped out of them
These are dead bodies
murdered

A Friday night.
A slippery street.
A man, intoxicated.
Sitting in the driver's seat.

A family.
A man and his wife.
A young child.
Worthy of life.

A young adolescent.
A night with a loved one.
Never thought for a moment
It might be the last one.

A poor decision.
A light turned red.
A delayed reaction.
Head-on collision.

A first responder.
A face, bleach white.
A shirt stained red
They've lost their fight.

A stretcher in an ambulance.
A paramedic on the call.
A dreaded flat line.
They've tried and lost them all.

A police officer
On the phone, against the wall.
"Hello, this is the police.
I'm really sorry I have to make this call."

A funeral for a family
Every casket closed.
Everyone is asking why.
They never got to say goodbye.

A female kneeling at the grave
looking down with bloodshot eyes
"I love you and I want you back,
I hope you hear me from the sky"

That poor decision was a choice
You said it wasn't worth catching a ride
And you can't ever take it back now
These are families torn apart and dead inside

I planted a seed
I watched it grow.
I watered it daily
I loved it so.

Every morning I opened my eyes
So I could admire you.
And you used to look back at me
and you admired me too.

But I looked to the horizon,
and I saw death in the sky.
Then, the storm took you away from me
and I couldn't understand why.

It's been a long time
since I lost my sweet, pretty flower
Sometimes I want to plant a new one
But I don't think it will grow.

Sometimes I feel like I've already planted one
Other times I feel like I never did.
Maybe I planted it but never watered it.
I don't really know.

I want to ask you to be my sweet, pretty flower
But I think I forgot how.

Imagine if these words meant nothing.
This is a blank page.
A string of letters is not a word if it is meaningless
There's hardly reason to read on.

This road is a dead end.
There's nowhere left to go.
I don't remember what it means to feel.
Happiness doesn't exist if emotion isn't real.

A world of color hardly exists in the dark.
A stagnant river could **** you.
Love isn't real if emotion doesn't exist.
I checked my pulse and I felt nothing.

I saw you break down
sitting on the ground
saying what's the point of life
if there is no you and I

I saw you look into my eyes
and you told me you want to die
Said there was no way to be happy
if we were breaking these loving ties

I tried to make you feel alright
Tried to tell you it'd be fine
But I can't stop your tears from falling
For the very first time

I never thought it'd come to this
and I thought we'd be just fine
But things just aren't the same anymore
For the very first time