Stale air crosses the lips of past love
Time has turned the sweet; repugnant
Until the heart flutters again in hope,
Veiled emotion builds a wall
Weathered by time, or crumbled by loves successor

Gray skies and broken rain
Sliding down the windshield
A lifeline ever-changing
Droplets, in contact they merge
Yet, some sit lonely, isolated
Only to be ****** into the paths of others
Left behind or swept away

Walk into a room
There lies the new one
There lies the one who has your heart
Blink and all's forgotten
No scars to hint of pain
Nothing left but happiness to gain
And so you hold on and you're held
Effortlessly there is more room in your soul
Days so readily wasted
Just looking in those eyes
Melting the outer shell
That took a lifetime to build
It is so easy to love you

I do believe
Tonight, more than all others
The distance pierces my soul
A deeper depth
For each mile apart
A thousand punctures through
Still, after the red gums black
What is left
To course through my emptied veins
Is nought but you
The very life within me
The very beat of my heart
Your sweet breath
My only air
'Tis love that bridges the distance
But pain flows in rapids beneath
With you souls soar with angels
Anticipation of your return
Leads each day
As my smile is painted
With the memory of your own
Traversing the bridge
A tricky feat on stormy nights
The rain sparkles like diamonds
The moonlight never more beautiful
As in their reflection
Feeding the river
Yet, somehow, fortifying the bridge
Love is rooted deeply
Bound in eternal light
To a world tinged in darkness
A beacon within
Home is always in sight
If just out of reach
With eyes closed in slumber
United in bliss
Wrapped in the last time
Living for the next time
As much as it can be called living
Being stabbed by each
Of a thousand miles

So much locked within bubbling at the surface
Pinholes of strain attempt to release pressure
Its immensity can't be touched by a million such holes
Desire to discard the cloak grows with every breath
But the fear of being unveiled and naked prevents it
As the molehills burn and the fires are extinguished
Mountains emerge in silence, born of the forgotten ashes
Smoldering embers give rise to the unfathomable
Gargantuan by comparison and seemingly unstoppable
Can such enormity be reigned in,
Or will trying be a harsh lesson in futility?
Never give up or knowing when to do so
Holding tightly or letting go
To analyze or forget
No clear cut paths in the forest of self-destruction

Tall grassy fields full of sunflowers
Warm sun dancing through the swiftly moving clouds
Wildflowers sprinkled across the meadow like confetti
Butterflies scatter as you pass
Filling the world with movement and beauty
The tickling wings flutter by and a smile emerges
Unsuppressed and innocent

I celebrate the joys life brings
Cry through all the saddest things
Yet, throughout all these happenings
You are there
When the broken arrow stings
We still share

You still give me consolation
When I fall short of expectations
If I should lose negotiations
You hold me
In overindulgent celebrations
You scold me

When you call me to your side
I heed the call, I must abide
Our yearning seems to coincide
We're in sync
When my heart is cold inside
It's you I drink

Through the hot and through the cold
There through all the days of old
Tomorrow's journey is not yet told
I know you're there
There is no other hand to hold
My soul I bare

Sweetness be ******
I'm dancing in hell
Dipping my feet in the sea of souls
Breathing in the scent of deadly sins
Slow and tender long faded past
Slapped to the precipice with a pendulum of flesh
As the sacred dagger of life
Stabs bouts of ecstasy
To the hilt
Hammer of the Gods
And all is right in the world

hearts bought and sold on whimsy
dark secrets screamed aloud
resonate in empty heart chambers
dislodging logic
as ripples shift sense to passion

sold for a song
bought for practice
eyes open, heart shut
heart open, eyes shut
bubbling cauldrons
casting spells
deeper, deeper, deeper down
darkness blinds normality
and bends reality

let go/ hold on
tighter, until hands weaken
watching shadows of self
chasing shadows of yesterday
fear or excitement
aroused or afraid

enchanting eyes in navy winter
trust a stranger and lose yourself
trust yourself and lose a connection
tied in musky fog
to the inside of another
chained to that which claimed you
for nothing more than cupidity

I am the her that is his muse
I am the her that makes him shine
I am the her that called to him
And caused the stars to realign

I am the her that is his breath
I am the her that is his smile
I am the her that made him see
Joy is not synonymous with guile

I am the her that fills his heart
I am the her that gives him life
I am the her that takes away
His suffering and strife

I am the her behind his words
I am the her that sees the man
I am the her that shows him how
The power of love is in our hands

A poet's heart has called to me
Beckoning, I come willingly
A soul so open I can see
The imperfections
Reflecting mine in harmony
Shining reflection

So bare and raw from years of pain
Scorched from all the dragons slain
Still, a peaceful core remains
With hopeful of laughter
Seeking love without disdain
For ever after

Through the blood poured on a page
Soaked from all the tears of rage
Gathered wisdom of a sage
The words are calling
Freeing birds from in a cage
No fear of falling

To the Scribe:  I offer you
An honest soul to shelter you
There is nothing left for you to do
Your words have won me
Wounds have healed, and hearts renewed
Bestowed upon thee

So take my humble offering
Hold it close and hear it sing
Perhaps some very special things
We'll brew together
As souls are tied upon a string
Forever tethered

With words so strong to pull me in
Bleeding tears right through the skin
Boring passion deep within
We have united
Lovers heat burns oxygen
Through words requited

He turned around and looked at me
And his vision made me sick
So I ****** his eyes out of his skull
And skewered them on a stick

Roasted on an open flame
Turning evenly to toast
Hoping as his pupils pass
It's me he sees the most

Tongue chewed from within his face
No screams of discontent
He tried to say, "you're beautiful"
But lies on the tongue ferment

His rancid meat is useless
So I feed it to the worms
Now, wasted words are gasps for air
And no longer my concern

He tried to write, "I'm sorry"
With fingers drenched in blood
So I chopped them into pieces
And spread them through the neighborhood

So as I whispered in his ear
Of all his evil ways
I saw that bitter molten tube
Grow solid as it swayed

So I ground it into sausage
While it was still attached
And wondered, quite in passing,
Why unto me he chose to latch

So here we are me and my feast
And him bleeding on the ground
As buzzards rend the flesh from bone
With me laughing at the sound

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

Foggy days in absentia
Caught in the ripples of a memory
The sparkling bay laps the sand
Soaking in the love
Tanning in the brightness of a smile
Living behind closed eyes
Where the heart is full
And the soul lives with its mate
In that bliss, glowing red
That is where eternity continues
Bliss found in a gaze
Perfection in a kiss
sigh, foggy days in absentia

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

With all the exhuberance of a child on Christmas
The smallest gift was received
Ten words on a page
Joy beyond measure deluged a happy heart
Pieces of a soul....more precious than gold

And in return
With all the exhuberance of a child on Christmas
The smallest gift was given
More excited at the giving
At the anticipation of joy

Waived off upon receipt
Forgotten on a page
Unread pieces of love
Bore holes in a happy heart
Chagrin unassuaged by reluctant glances spurred by pain

Longing for all the exhuberance of a child on Christmas

-Believe it
-Trust it
-Nurture it
-Feed it
-Love it

You said in dreams I am your perfection
I am more than you hoped you'd find
You never dreamed I'd return you affection
I never dreamed you wanted mine

I will wait
blindly scraping through each day
on skinless knees
clawing through with bloodied fingers
searching for the truth to clench to

I will wait
in the bowels of a twisted mind
bending flickers to shadows
in endless search of the light
that teased with relentless promise

I will wait
for this Hell to freeze my bones brittle
buried in glacial daydreams
of a time that day meant
I could feel the warmth of the sun

I will wait
for the accidental happiness
that covered me like a puddle I fell into
while stumbling through existence
simply drawing breath

I will wait
in jagged darkness for the only reality
that makes sense of this place
for in that union is peace so pure
it washes the universe in light

So, yes, I will wait
an eternity of gaping wounds
bathed in the brine of silence
never giving voice to the grated truth
of the best part of who I am

Tracing the thoughts with a fingertip
Lining the clouds with silver
Present feelings from past mistakes
Proof that change is good
Perspicuity from a lazy dream
Thoughts like jumping beans
Bouncing off of shady corners
Waking what lies in quiescence
Scratching light into the darkness
With a stretch and a yawn
Folding what was into what is
Forming what will be

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

Heart stuck in gray dawn. Subtle remembrances, consume. Longing for more. Lingering for, "used to be".  Vulnerability in pain gambled for strength in love.  Held in place by promises.

Spoken words deny
Actions scream in love and pain
Hearts splinter and crack

Time cannot heal what was not meant to be broken. Change is slow coming.  Dreams of warmth take hold, trying to leach into reality so abruptly ripped apart.  Something once so perfect, so beautiful in its purity, in its simplicity. Forever tainted by selfless gestures turned selfish motives.

Promises broken
Dreams relive yesterday's bliss
Stopping tomorrow

What's good for one, not enough to sustain.  Love enough to last, pushed under, forgotten. Lost to fear. Submerged in darkness.  Yet, there lies the sun.  Warm and alive.  More than a seed, a field of flowers ready to bloom.  Still, flowers of love do not bloom in tears of despair.

**You are the warm sun
Watered by my salty tears
Flowers turned to hay

Eggshells crack under the weight of words
How is one to walk on them?
Fear breeds silence
Silence builds walls
Speak your mind or go
Remain not in silence, but freedom

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

It was taken without asking
Held without contempt
Moved by emotion
Stolen by a lover

It was abused in disguise
Bound tightly by fear
Rejected, unforgiven
Damaged by another

It was reclaimed at long last
Caged for its own safety
Clipped so it couldn't soar
Numbed by the experience

It was afraid to be free
Blindfolded by life
Relegated to dull existence
Content in acquiescence

It grew colder over time
Ignored and soon forgotten
Shriveled up and hard
Unnoticed and discarded

It was stumbled upon by grace
Warmed slowly by another
Held fast in times of trouble
Trying hard to be less guarded

We have this thing
It's always been there
Hiding beneath the words
We are both afraid to say
Behind the feelings
We try to keep at bay

We have this thing
It cannot be denied
The embers never cease
Living far beneath the skin
Behind the innocence
Deep within

We have this thing
Connected within and without
Beyond our understanding
Never letting go
Facing what we want
Believing what we know

We have this thing
It's tied to you and me
In ways of blissful hunger
Tethered at the heart
The mind and the soul
Unable to want to part

We have this thing
Which makes us more than friends
Which binds us stronger than lovers
That makes life technicolor
And makes things better
Just being with each other

There in the closeness
A hairs breadth away seems a million light-years
The sweetest air fills lungs in hurried breaths
A quickened heartbeat drowns out the world
The mind twists and sways in thoughts that soon become a blur
Melded into emotion, into heat
And time stands still

Drawn like magnets to fill the gap
That electric blue spark lingers behind a gaze
Current runs high
Feeling the blood rushing through the smallest veins
Every cell electrified, every hair on end
The weakening of unwanted defenses
That moment the body and soul acquiesce
And time stands still

In the stroke of a cheek
The almost intangible sensation of gliding on smoke
Rising as the embers burn from within
And each breath fans the flames
Proximity feeds passion
As time stands still

The past, erased methodically, deliberately
For there is only this
This birthing of eternity
This moment when the tentative brushing of lips
Burns into soulful coalescence
This one reality
This moment
When time stands still

Empty places and missing friends
Time alone to contemplate being lonely
Reaching out to no one
Reaching out but no one is there
Reaching within the emptiness
Finding nothing but self
Self-loathing? at times
Self-obsessed? so it seems
Self-analytical? always
Self-conscious? about everything
Reaching out and still passed by
Take my hand and smile "hello"
Look in my direction and make me feel...real

Your words lead to your soul,
They have guided me, heart in hand,
To the truth of who you are,
And with bated breath I read them.
For it is there,
That your essence flows through me,
And carries me straight to you

Open
         *Bare
                  Insecure

A mere *wIncE deals a fatal blow

Floating
Hoping to catch an eye
Even the eye of a storm
Waiting
For someone else to do
Wishing
To be noticed
Not wanting to be judged
Longing
To have some course of action
Non-action is an action of choice
Looking
For someone else to see
To see importance in what has been left
Floating in mid air

Have you ever just wanted to hold someone so desperately, and hope against hope for the days that hugs used be magical and heal all that ails? It is now that a tear falls, because 1000 miles is too far, and my arms aren't long enough, and I can't change that.

We are all depraved
                   You just embrace the darkness
                                          Most choose to ignore

All I want is to hold you and let you eat me alive so that your emptiness is filled with me and you are never alone.

Misty sunrise beautiful
Pale gold and icy blue
Steeped in iridescence
Each color alive within the other
Today I saw love
And it felt like you