So make me braver than I'd ever be
You'll bring it out of me
I can dance all night in the dark
If you're in front of me
Who needs sunlight
When I have your eyes?
Your voice is music to my heart
Your hand is my guide
Let's get in hold
We'll take turns leading
It won't be cold
For long with my heart beating
Faster and faster
With every spin
Your light's so inviting
So let me in

A chattering of metal to metal
A hushed whisper
Broken only by the limits of closeness
No message lost along lines of muttering
And those confused caught quickly
No patience stored within those thin sheets
All rushed to fill this screen

My heart calls, restless
I hesitate to answer
So unease remains

On a night like this,
Hate is beyond reach.
On a night like this,
Love is not just winning,
Love is killing off evil.
On a night like this,
Hands cannot help but join.
On a night like this,
Lungs cannot resist singing.
On a night like this,
We cannot stay silent.
Until everyone hears
That love is here.

All my friends need medication
I need injections to stay me
And everyone around me's in love with insanity
The deluded speak the truth
They see the world as it is
Cause really life is bleak and tough to quit

Are you going out tonight?
Please just stay until its light
Are you heading into the dark tonight?
We'll go together you and I

Fairytales say there are wolves about
Did we really have to go out?
What if we can't make it back in time?
Just keep your hand around mine.

Our spirit tripped
And the onslaught began
Spat on, beaten, kicked
Teeth, boots and hands
Dragged through dirt,
Gravel, splinters, stones,
Pride and courage hurt,
Love and hope dethroned,
No hint of relent,
No easing of the fight,
No sitting on the fence,
Either Left for dead or Right.

A vanished smile on my lips
Music through my dark
Caresses my ears as I walk
No urgency
No slumber
Every step content
To fall softly on the earth
That cushions my journey
With no direction
But not needing one
Accompanied by my song
I explore the depths of my mind

Behind me,
Years,
Too few,
And too many,
Spent afraid,
But so many,
Left to live,
Left to smile,
To be myself,
For my sixteenth year,
I will be me,
Every day,
For the first time.

If I were to stand outside,
I'd look up to the stars,
And see across,
Endless voids,
That sing to me,
With distant whispers,
Drawing me in,
Despite the chill,
Despite the dark,
Beyond the dark,
Something more,
Something there,
Where nothing can be,
What?

Learning for so long,
Becoming mechanical,
But the rhythm dies.

A word.
Just one.
Repeating.
My vision blurring.
Blinking fast.
A warmth tingling across my skin.

A voice.
Not mine.
Repeating.
My head hazy.
Confusion.
But feel a clear change.

No more.
Same old.
Repeating.
Do as I say.
Speak up.
Be who I promised.

Breaths screeching and trembling
As my legs shake and mind drives in
Confused circles around what I need to
Convey with some degree of
Beauty but inside all is
Screaming and strange and over-analysing
Every hair of their eyebrows.

Between the houses, a slim gap,
Allowing a ***** of low sunlight through.
Harsh beams gleaming in
Thick air dripping with ice
A small field breaks the monotony
Of white terraces and ageing fences
And a streak of yellow glances off
The semi-frozen blades.

**** it!
No!
Come back!
Those words!
I spent so long!
And now it's gone!
How can I get them back?
They were all there!
Exactly how I wanted them
They've vanished!
I can't remember them now!
How can I not!
How did it start?
Oh was it?
No.
**** it!

And here we begin,
To build our dreams,
To move into action,
Turn hopes real,
What we talked of,
But never quite believed,
Is within our reach now,
Within sight,
And change will come,
We will be freed,
All may enter,
All may be,
Their true self,
No more lies,
So here we begin,
The long path ahead,
But passion drives on,
And will not dry up.

The night holds terrifying things,
Shadows in shadows,
Sounds with no source,
Not knowing so much worse.
But the night has a beauty,
Found in the absence of colour,
Eyes drawn to different angles,
Different shapes,
Never noticed before,
Reflections never seen,
Except in moonlight,
Dotted with blurred stars.
There's something about stepping forward,
And not quite knowing,
Where your foot will fall,
Or if it will at all,
An excitement?
Fear, certainly, but enough,
Confidence to keep,
Walking through dark.

My pencil,
Shakes,
And makes tentative contact,
With ageing paper,
To create,
Reveal,
A figure who slowly,
Becomes fully formed,
Gains character,
Then takes control,
And bestows life upon itself,
Becomes real,
Unique,
And more than just,
The rough strokes,
On a flat page.

Where can words reach?
How many ears will hear what I say?
How many eyes will see what I write?
Will they understand what I mean?
Or see no further than the words on the screen?
Can my humble words strike a chord?
Reach a key note in their heart?
How deep can words made for me be for them?
Does it matter?
Maybe I should just write,
Call them poems or ramblings,
I'll write anyway,
For me,
In the hope they'll mean something,
For you.

All the sky collapsed upon
The dashing to the shops
And ushering kids into cars
"Quick, come on, in from the cold"
And with faces pressed tight
Against streaky glass
They watch the clouds crumble
Into a thousand tiny cannonballs
Hit after hit after hit
And then white noise
Made of ice.

The symbols that I see,
They have no flow, no soul, no meaning,
Those lines don't lead to beauty,
Nor swirl to colour dance.

Where is the flavour?
The scent of their description is empty,
Shallow,
Senses sense no more.

No charm, no hints,
Not even flirting with art,
Just simple, dead symbols with no heart.

What can be found in the intricacies,
Of this organic design?
How many lives yet unborn,
Will know its rocky core?
How often will unknowing feet,
Walk the corridors?
How soon will memories fade,
Of where we used to live?
How far will we stray,
From autumn leaves?
Will the seasons live on,
Even now, when we are gone?
Will I find hope here?
Or just another life to lose?

Sleep child, dream away,
Ignore the world and slip away,
Until the new day.

Where do I go when my world crumbles?
Sometimes I feel as though I just
Let the earth fall away
Beneath my feet
And wait
To hit the bottom of some pit
That already collapsed once.

Sometimes I try to run from
The inevitable destruction
And hide in corners
That might
Just about
Survive the end
But they never do.

Sometimes I search for a hand
To lead me to a safer place
And hold me tight
As everything
Comes tumbling
Down around us
But I can't find reach their fingers

And they're
Just
Falling
Too

Singing along to songs I know too well,
Finding new ways to hear,
New meanings in old words,
New words in old meanings,
In the hope that I will forget the days,
When these songs were our theme songs,
When these words were our poetry,
Not mine.

It's been
Too long
Trapped
Lost
Confused
By nothing more
Than my own
Mind
But
Released
Perhaps
Yes
At last
Free
Sort of
Almost
Maybe
One day
I will not
Have to fear
Stepping
Outside
As
Myself

Fade  me away,
Out of sight,
At least to me,
For just a while.

In forgetting a five minute act
Six hours condemned to discomfort,
The irritation upon my face
Will not fade until scratched away
And here I have no blade,
No sharp edge to free myself
From the torture of this body
That will not stop hurting me
Until I break it
And am reborn from its remains

The heat presses down
Clammy hands over my mouth
The air burns my brain

In my head I had it all planned out
How I'd ask her for that dance
I'd rehearsed my smile and tone

But in the end she never arrived
And never took my hand
So I sat alone and watched the others' joy

My throat tightened, choking me
With the pain of pointless time
And after all I went home empty handed, empty hearted.

We are chasing a beam; a glowing path in the dark
but as we start to get close, we're growing further apart
we're not leading the charge; we're falling into retreat
this is the hour we fall, the day of defeat,
we cannot go on if we just go on to lose
this is our chance, time for us to choose.

We carry love while they bicker and bite.
We share a hug while they share a light.
The fumes in the night are filling the air
but we are a people, and people should care
when their fellows are bleeding and scared,
so we offer all that we can spare.

We hold the flag of justice high,
with all its colours to the sky.
And though we cannot promise new lives,
we can build a home for all to find.
It's time we pull together not apart,
Remember, we all have a heart,
This is our moment to decide,
What kind of world we'd like to start.

Is this a new love?
Or just wishful dreams
Latching onto friends?
That skip in my heart
Is just part of my pulse
But if it beats faster when she'd around
Does that mean...?

No, not again, I won't let another
Friendship descend into brokenness
By my selfish desires.
But that's never enough,
Maybe it would work out this time,
And caring could grow,
No, I musn't.

For the first time in so long
The notes spelled a smile as they flew
Through my fingers to the keys
And the chords I hardly knew.

For the last time in as long as I can
The blade's glint is locked away
And left untouched as the empty nights
Skulk and slip away.

And another time for longer
I will see and feel like spring
And the warmth and life and subtle breeze
Will lift my heart within.

Sick of politics?
Remember when you're sick
You could have voted.

Tired of policies?
Remember when you collapse
You could have voted.

Bored of arguments?
Remember when we're divided
You could have voted.

This is an offering -
Of no expected return,
No bargain, no barter,
No deal, no debts,
Here: take my words.
All of them.
They are yours.
If nothing feels better, I want to make that last
So these words can rest in your mind when it's dark,
Rest in your hands when you're shaking,
Or your heart when it's breaking.
And when you run out -
I'll write you more.

A whisper in my ear
A suggestion: wild
Pointless and fruitless,
But an unending desire,
Her skin shines,
Revealed and displayed
Tempting me,
The hungered denied,
But a hint offered,
A glimmer of quenched thirst
But stolen so quickly,
Leaving me longing,
Again.

We used to call having a job
'Making a living' but we can't
When living costs more than
£7.50 an hour.

The way working works
Isn't working when
Employment is no rescue
From poverty.

You can't budget
When you can't budge
The ever looming baggage
of debt.

Look me in the eyes,
And see the real me,
See me beneath what you're told to see,
Look don't just see what you believe,
In these holes in my defense,
I will let you find my soul,
Open with naked honesty if only,
You would choose to see it.

Friends, though I've never seen your faces
At least, not most of you,
And those I have, only through pixels
On one screen or another.

Friends, more so than any I'd known before,
A surrounding of arms,
Hugs and hands and words all ready
To hold me when I'm crying.

Friends, never looked at me like a freak,
Never judged for anything,
Never told I'm worthless or even
That I need to change.

Friends, what can I say?
My life was turned around by you,
You accidental saviours of my soul,
Between you, you performed a miracle,
Took me from the fringes of death,
To hope, happiness and comfort,
What can I say?
But thank you.

These days would be
Easier
If I just hid away
And stayed quiet
To let it play itself out.

The conflict would be
Simpler
If I ignored my own feelings
And just let them
Find their own solution

This journey would be
Shorter
If we just stopped following me
And kept to the
Paths they need to walk.

Seeing in my reflection,
Someone I don't know,
I used to see them everyday -
But that was long ago.

The sadness in his face,
Is matched by only sighs,
And the heavy will to keep on,
With weary, tiring eyes.

There was once a tale of a girl in her coat,
Who ran with the stars in the sky,
You'd only see her if you'd lost all hope,
And had no reason why,
She'd find you in the darkness and tell you where she'd been,
Then tell of how she used to be a little boy who sinned.

It was often said the tale of the girl in the coat,
Was made up and false,
But many swore they's seen her ghost,
When all their doors were closed,
They say she finds you in the depths of your despair,
To tell you where she'd been and how long it took to grow her hair.

Now many years have passed and the tale of the girl in the coat,
Has somehow died,
The say it's because she could never cope,
No matter how hard she tried,
But if you look in the dark when you're lost she'll still find you,
To tell you where she'd been and tell you what you ought to do.

We used to call having a job
'Making a living' but we can't
When living costs more than
£7.50 an hour.

The way working works
Isn't working when
Employment is no rescue
From poverty.

You can't budget
When you can't budge
The ever looming baggage
of debt.

I will not steal
Unoriginal streams
False flow frees no-one

I know you don't like to stay in one place
For too long
I know you don't like to sit around
I know you don't like to see the same face
Day after day
I just want you safe and sound

Can't I keep my arms wrapped around your waist?
You don't have to go away
Can't I keep singing in your ear, locked in your embrace?
Without you I'm afraid
Girl, you make me brave.

My heart's begging to be broken,
For some love-tangled tragedy,
To rip me to shreds,
And for maybe an hour,
I want to care about nothing else.

I was longing for someone,
So I wrote her story in my head,
And songs on my guitar,
For a while she was my whole life,
But even she turned away.

And maybe that's what I wanted,
To feel the full cycle,
All the way from bliss to utter sorrow,
For it seems no part exists,
Without another.

I'm not afraid,
To step out of the shade,
And be myself.

I don't wanna hide,
What is inside,
My head.

But now I find,
My mind,
Is on the outside,
And in my sky,
Birds fly,
For the first time.

I'm coming out of my shell,
I'm coming out of this hell,
One step at a time,
I'm finding reason and rhyme.

From running through trees,
And chasing the breeze,
To piercing the dark,
With an honest open heart.

The future scares me
It's full of old men and women
Signing deals and orders
That make no difference to them
But for those different to them
Change prospects, steal hope,
Silence their voices first with
Shushing, then with a finger
On their lips
Then a hand on their mouth
A gag round their face
And water in their lungs.

The future scares me
Because the people making decisions
Are a generation behind
And instead of being
Slowly replaced with fresh
Younger voices, they're
Making choices that reflect
Back their views
Onto the minds of those to follow
In some never-ending circle
Of whims that feel like fact
Based on nothing
But conditioned instinct
For self-preservation.

The future scares me
Because half the world
Missed out on social progression
And discovered social media
And turned it into social war
Against those who grew up learning
How not to be like them
How not to repeat their mistakes
And not to mistake hate
For justice granted by
A God that they crushed down
Into a 3-line weapon
Against anyone they deemed unworthy.

The future scares me
Because I cannot understand the
Rational of the irrationality
Sweeping the world.
Because I was taught
To love others as myself
And base facts on evidence
But it seems like those things
Burned so deep in my core
Matter no more
And if I cannot understand
The reasons behind this
How can I know what to do
To fix it?
So I'm scared
And I'm praying that my generation
Will not be lost to the same fears
As the one before.

Don't write themselves,
But I'm not going to write them for you.

In one day perhaps
All is changed
A renewal of hope
Meets with mixed mind
A confusion within
Becomes confusion without
Limits to hold back
But maybe there
Is nothing to hold
From view
But the shadow
They already see