This poem has been submitted for possible publication.  It will be reposted as soon as possible upon final determination.  Please feel free to peruse my poesy at your leisure.

Thank you so much,
PrttyBrd

Everyone is in a mood
Happier when unhappy
At home in wistful, lamenting desire
Everyone is emotional
Though we truly are emotion
Everyone has a reason
To feel what they feel
And some of us
Feel what we feel
Feel what they feel
Feel what we would feel
Feel what they should feel
Feel what we want them to feel
It is those of us who can feel to the extreme
Who can fill up a universe with tears, bleeding hearts, and love
Yes, it is the few who can find the beauty in pain
The joy in sadness
The comfort in the last wistful breeze of the season
The rare few who are gifted with depth of emotion
It is those who we call poets

The air my lungs grows stagnant
Between heartbeats
Heartbeats that dance
As he pumps it in his hand
Squeeze release. Squeeze release
Slowly, fluidly
Keeping time with his own
Basking in the moments between moments
Increasing and decreasing at his will
By his hand
Rolling on the sea of tympani
The music of his heart
Bleeds life into my own
Riding the crescendo
Between the stillness
Hidden in the silence of time

In the silence of a day like today
In the wake of yesterday's dreams
Forgetfulness feels like noncompliance
In a world where defiance still seems
Like a benign inaction of innocence
Though it feels like a stabbing of spite
Willing to kneel to your Goddess
Yet unable to yeild to Her might
There is no weakness to worship at Her altar
It takes strength to relinquish control
Relax and trust in the knowledge
Acquiesce and watch it unfold
There is freedom in the smile of an angel
There is love to be had all around
There is power in making Her smile
Don't be the sadness beind every frown
Inaction, as innocent as it seems
Breeds disappointment that infects every smile
And all those little requests
Will stop being wanted after awhile
See, for all the deeds left unfinished
And all those tiny tasks left undone
Will chisel away Her hearts desire
Leaving Her another invisible no one
An empty shell of a Goddess
Whose glory, in your heart will remain
While She curses her very existence
Languishing in true-love's refrain

No marble stare as cold as ice
Can be found inside your gaze
For it is there that heart's desire burns twice
And your eyes set me ablaze
❤
Hazel hues of wanton need
Make my cheeks flush crimson red
And make my deepest parts take heed
As you lead my love to bed
❤❤
You see me as a vision
An angel of your very own
Through a tarnished crooked halo
A pair of horns has grown
❤❤❤
Still, you see in me perfection
In fact, I am your missing piece
And I pray with everything I am
That your love will never cease

The sea is all flow with no ebb
As the moon hangs full in the sky
He pulls her to him on a breeze
Salty, heavenly, mesmerizing
She comes as he softly beckons
The magnet draws her in close
She inches toward his cool gaze
With the warm water he yearns to drink
For he is parched
And she is giving
Flowing in gentle waves
He calls and she slinks to him in shadows
Locked in the gaze of desire
A gaze broken only by the pleasure
of the deluge of their union
And in that union there is tranquility
His peace releases her
She ebbs, quietly lapping the shore
She turns to see him smile upon her
As she sparkles in the warmth of his glow

He sings
And she loves him more deeply
He croons
And lulls her in peace
A bard
Who sings for his Goddess
His voice
Keeps her heart skipping beats

He speaks
In hushed tones of a lover
He watches
With love in his heart
He sees
The joy that he brings Her
He knows
That they'll never part

He can't
Understand how he moves her
He'll sing
'Til she tells him to cease
His voice
Like a choir of angels
She swoons
Inhibitions release

He sings
And she loves him more deeply
He watches
With love in his heart
A bard
Who sings for his Goddess
He knows
That they'll never part

Oh how I miss you most in the morning
When the sun speaks in volumes of light
When my world is hushed
And the earth is high

Yes, I miss you most in the morning
When the day begins anew
When fresh eyes see truth
And dreams still linger

My, how I miss you most in the morning
Facing the day wrapped in the warmth
Of my dreams
Eyes open to empty arms and a full heart
Oh, how I miss you most in the morning

Tracing the shadows behind your smile
Smelling the pain that bore your demons
Seeing the heart that masks your soul
Watching your gaze mesmerize
Observing the depth of honest emotion
Beneath the face that lights the world
Still, it is your kiss that offers your greatest truth

Ah, to write with glorious sight
All life's joy and all its pain
To color in the shadows and highlight their beauty
To fill emptiness with gradients of emotion
Oh yes, a pencil can pierce a lung if stabbed with enough force
A sketch can elicit unexpected responses
And the words of a stranger can feel like home
In the subtleties of one's own emotion
In the thoughts that build our fear,
There is only loneliness when the pictures don't hit the page
For in our isolation, there is unity
In our pain... passion
In our hate... love
And in all things... beauty
2815

You are...
Everything
I ever wanted in a lover
The best friend I've ever had
The dream I've dreamt since childhood
The fantasy of perfection
Always and forever
Forever and always
Timeless
Ageless
Eternal
...and mine

In those words
On an empty page
That you would write
For me
I found a heart
Strength forged
From molten iron
Cooled by frozen blood
It's beauty never fully beheld
Until the muse
Broke a welded seam
And fire poured
Love on an empty page
And I saw you

The deluge of love cannot be caught
In a shot glass or a stein
For it will flow eternally
When i can call you mine

Forgive my thoughtless words
Forgive my careless heart
Forgive my open nature
And the pain it doth impart

I beseech your inner kindness
I beseech your loving soul
I beseech you to have mercy
For the lies I never told

If I'd shown you all my love
If I'd truly let you see
If I'd made sure you had known
You're the greatest part of me

Perhaps my nothing words
Would mean nothing more to you
Than the frothy fluff they're meant to be
They're not the evil that I do

In his hand he holds a heart
A heart that was once her own
It has no wings to fly away
To where the PrttyBrd has flown

Since it could not follow
It awaited the return
To dwell in the empty cavern
Of a love that will ever burn

Ne'er to be filled with purpose
As the cavern is sewn in steel
The fire will char the surface
Where there is nothing left to feel

She could not bear the weight
Upon her wings so frail
A heart so full of love
Returned to no avail

For it had beaten just for her
Though she never realized
She had thought she set him free
But epitomized his demise

In the darkness of night, or by the light of day
Waiting for hours with nothing to say
When wonder turns worry and knowledge to doubt
The truth becomes lies and silence to shout
The louder the cry the more muffled the plea
Lost miles away from where we should be
Open and honest and ugly and raw
Without wasting time with the hem and the haw
Memories fight oversights hidden by masks
Begging a thought is a torturous task
Still waiting for a hint or a clue or a sign
That the strength of a heart beats the power of mind

It rolls in slow like the fog
Helpless to stop it from stealing
Stealing every emotion you're feeling
'Til you're a bump on a log

Colorful, vivid trails of motion
Consuming visual acuity
Leaching verbal perspucuity
Making reality a useless notion

Wringing  beauty from stagnation
Colorizing gray cement
Brick by brick it paints lament
Into farcical animation

Taking over fantasy
Cartoon smiles and laughing fits
All the fruit without the pits
Beautifying all you see

Kicked into the mud
Stomped on
Submerged
No river in which to cleanse
Caked on completely
Perfection disappeared
Becoming one with the woods
A product of environment
Born for greatness
Forged into......nothing

Time has passed old friend
And a call across miles
All came to an amicable end
Once again I heard you smile

Catching up is good at times
Wrapped in warmth across the wire
Listening to the sweet talk chime
Fading that you were a liar

Still more than a footnote so it seems
I stained your heart with mere affection
I'm glad that I dance through your dreams
It pretties up the recollection

Thank you dear old friend of mine
I love that you just had to call
I miss the good ways we entwined
The rest, I just don't miss at all

Time stamped messages
Instant gratification
Checked in
Logged on

Time stamps
I C U
Instant disappointment
Overlooked, ignored

Time stamps
Phone updates
Notifications
Instant insanity

Time stamps
Back check lies
I C U
Checked in elsewhere
When, where, why

Time stamps
Insomnia
Where R U
Ah, I C U

Sitting in the aftermath
Of shattered dreams on broken skin
Left to wonder how
Realizing we are all capable of unmentionables
Steeped in regret
Begging forgiveness
Accidents are accidents
Still, there is no forgiveness
Self-affirming the negative
Unintended consequences
Alter perceptions
Who are these people
Who, then, have I become
Though, that who feels more like a what
And the demons laugh
As they frolic in the real world
Let them run free
Let them dance
Who I was
Will hide in their dungeon
For it is safer in there than out here
Yes, it is much safer
And there is no one
To say differently

          Punish the guilty
                    Punish the guilty
                              Punish the guilty

Who needs proof
What is proof
It was only an accident
Unintentional circumstances
Affirm nightmares
No one will find me in here
Safe in the lair of the beasts who bore me
Alone inside my head

There is nothing

                               But darkness

If you cannot forgive

                                              Yourself

I see the days end drawing nearer
Still foggy without getting clearer
The choices I've made
My dreams they invade
Staring back as I look in the mirror

Forgiveness is merely a virtue
Won't alter the fact that I've hurt you
Now filled with regret
Wishing I could forget
Still, my treacherous acts don't avert you

You see me as some kind of Savior
Despite my appalling behavior
My smile cannot hide
The demons inside
From that truth, I'm unable to waver

There is peace
In a heart that can't be given
For there is no fear
Of it ever breaking

She wept for her children
At the end of the day
Wishing God gave them a mother
Deserving of their best

She wept for herself
As she lay upon the pillow
Feeling she fails them at every turn
Hating herself for their shortcomings

She wept without knowing
Her best is more than good enough
Their tests strengthen her resolve
She is exactly the person they need her to be

Change
On the horizon
Pockets are empty
Black meets blue
In hues of the pain of yesterday

Change
In hand
The vending machine's empty
Six miles out of reach, out of juice,
And out of gas

Change
The television channel
Vapid Anchors are empty
Teleprompter madness
In full make up and air conditioning

Change
Her mind
Her heart is empty
Abused by the fallacy in the word love
On the lips of liars

Change
Of venue
His smile is empty
He feels the souls too deeply
There is no one here to notice the smile isn't real

Change
A life
The Child's eyes are empty
The streets are kinder
Than the junkies who sold him for a fix

Change
The world
The people are empty
Media drones brainwashed
Into apathetic zombies

That is how to stop
                                         Change

I see it in the sound of your voice
The world beat you down
There was no choice
Still you smile......
                                       For me

I hear it in the pain in your eyes
In the silent screams
And deafening cries
Still you smile......
                                       For me

When it passes as it always does
And you're pastel happy
Just because
Still you smile......
                                       For me

Wind chime laughter's hypnotic tones
Dancing
Through the telephone
Still you smile......
                                       For me

Through every mood, emotion and sigh
You're by my side
No question why
Always you smile......
                                       *For me

My wings have been broken repeatedly
Though healed
I remain on a golden perch
Afraid to flap my wings
Afraid of the pain of trying
Afraid to fail
Afraid that someone might see
I'm completely defective
So, I sit pretty on my golden perch
Flightless
Without a cage

I hear, there is no caring just lingering thoughts
Of what it's believed to never have been
Still your demons awakened my own
As i fulfilled my promise to give you all that i could

The evil surfaced in acid burns on the soul,
Your sulfur dragons born of barren dreams
Spewed fire that licked my flesh clean
And as you consumed the charred bits of my essence
I experienced the kind of freedom
Birthed in a place I never wanted to be

Relinquishing so much of my past, my pain
To have you grow stronger
As I dig my nails into my own flesh
To crawl out of the shadows I, myself, created

And I hear your gentle voice whisper vile commands
The hint of an evil smile as I dutifully acquiesce
Claimed in the darkness found in the corners of daylight
I kept my promise
And you claimed me
Mind, body, and soul

When my demons were quelled
As you slay them
As you bashed them into submission
My knight, in empty armor
My heart, now unbound, became full

Perhaps you believed that my heart would feed your own
But your heart turned to ash
The last time it loved
Still, your monsters were hungry
And my heart was full

You held me in the darkness
Your hand in mine
Keeping my sadness company
Turning friendship into love
'Tis who you are,
Who you hate yourself for being

In that place where your sweetness flows,
Where there is no doubt that you care
Your monsters ate my heart
Consuming chunks of my emotion
And I, having an abundance,
Was grateful for the chance to feed you

But my heart, now full of holes
Still mocked you in its ability to smile
So, you kissed me and held my heart once again
So I  would not drown in my own fear

And I gave you what you always wanted
Mind, body, heart, and soul

And there you were
All the while disgusted
That my promises
Don't feel like your reality
That my heart is more sweet than savory
And that my demons lie dormant
While yours are ravenous
Looking for new prey

The holes in my heart smolder
As I feel that familiar burn
The burn of the birth of new demons

Chained to him
Bound to you
A promise of forever

Logic or passion
Pain will ensue
For I am not that clever

Not enough
To erase the doubt
In everything I do

Distance screams
As silence shouts
All I want is you