I've been given a challenge
A duel of sorts you'll see
Not over the love of a women
But over the love of poetry

Both starting off standing back to back
Walking twenty paces like gentlemen
I slowly turn, only to learn
The true power of Carl's pen

As I lay on the ground, poetic heart bleeding
It all flashes before my eyes
That is when it is I see
I've lead a typically boring life

From childhood to adulthood
Flashing by at supersonic speed
No need to slow down the reel
Not much to see that interesting

But then it all starts to sputter
Slowing to a normal pace
Stopping at the best day of my life
Which just happens to be yesterday

I woke up just like every other morning
Hosed off out front like I always do
Of course all my neighbors were out there watching
They can't seem to get enough of me in the ****

I got the paper from off of the driveway
(Still in the **** mind you)
I was already out in the sun with my moon a shinning
What else was I supposed to do

On the front page I saw the winning numbers
My treasure staring back at me
Whooping and hollering through the neighborhood
I'd just won the lottery! Maybe I should throw on some jeans...

I went straight to Tallahassee
To pick up my multi million dollar check
Spend it like there's no tomorrow
Till there is none of it left

I bought boats and planes and automobiles
Had a babe on all four arms (I even bought extra arms)
Then flash forward to today
Where it is I bought the farm

So alas my life's movie stops
To where it is I am now
Having taken up this challenge
Laying on the cold damp ground

Yes, I finally had the chance
To put my typically boring life behind
Snuffed out by the Master's pen
Left with no rhyme and dying
Thanks Carl...

How to make sure
That there is a measure
Between actualities
And the mind's fantasies?

How to make sure
When the caricature
Is more probable
Than the real trouble?

How to make sure
Of one's nature
Only in sentences
Without presence?

How to make sure
That one's kind gesture
Is not given to deceive,
But what you need to perceive?

How to make sure
That you will be treasured
For the way your brain twirls,
When you're a pretty pearl?

How to make sure
You aren't only for leisure
If you can't read
When they play or heed?

How to make sure
That under seizure,
You are held captive,
Even when unattractive?

How to make sure
Your every feature
Will be embraced
Even if you're crazed?

How to make sure
That the pressure
In the sender is equivalent
To that in the recipient?

How to make sure
That one's exposure
To a safe hydration
Won't lead to explosion?

How to make sure
That the only fracture
Happens when you break,
Not when you can still take?

How to make sure
Your preserved stature
Will only be buried
Once you're no longer carried?

How to make sure
For a future
If nothing will remain
But memory stains?

How to make sure
That the adventure
Is worth the cost
Of getting lost?

Sometimes I get so
weak the only answer I
can think of is death.

The stupidity of these people is unknown
I treat them so well. Yet I am mistreated

Why? What have I ever done??
Someone needs to tell me, please

I listen to every rant
I listen to you more than often
I am your "accomplice in crime"
Why am I not liked??

Am I doing something wrong again??
You can correct me.
I don't mind being corrected
You know how I treat you and your opinions
I won't judge you, I never did.

You were my outlet to reality
But now, I am being treated like the rest.
I have lost everything
Dont make me suffer
I suffer a lot
Nothing more
Please.

I beg of you.

30 Days:
30 days...
The memories are the only thing she can see
The blood is all she can feel
The screams are all she can hear
30 days since her reason to live was torn away from her

30 days...
The bullet ripping through his body
The warm blood oozing from the wound
His breathe growing weaker and weaker
30 days since she lost the one she ever loved

30 days...
She has not moved an inch  
She has not spoken a word
She just stares off into the abyss
30 days she has been lost

30 days...
The voices have been calling to her
They whisper into her ear
Words of poison, words of venom
30 days ends now.

Alone:
It began when she moved to a small town. She was not the town's normal girl. She was different. Her skin tone, her voice, her eyes. She played suddenly, walked differently. She could and would never fit in.

She went to the school where she was made fun of. It was tolerable at first when she was younger. Buy as she got older it got worse. The one person who would stand up for her left. He left her to the torments and the teasing.

Soon all they did was relentlessly make fun of her. Push her buttons. They could not see what they were doing to her. They were destroying her. Her love for school turned dread. She would have to face their voices as they called out hatred, mock and scorn. She would dread seeing or talking to them.

The little things grew as she kept them to herself. They started small, inconspicuous. Then the grew. They grew bigger and bigger. Deeper and deeper till they became the center of her universe.

She would put on a fake smile everyday the real on had been gone for some time. Her love of school had faded some time ago, but now her love of life was like the faint flickering of a dying candle. She would talk to no one unless talked to. She ignored their looks and comments, but their whispers were heard like shouts to her.

Finally one day they pushed her over the edge. Three simple words. Three words that don't mean much to anyone else but to her, those where the words that finally broke her.

She went home that night knowing it would be her last. She was done with life. She had played their game and she was tired now. She was tired and she wanted out. She left no expiation. Just a short note saying that she was sorry.

A single gun shot rang out into the quiet night. Her patents came home later that night calling to her. She gave no answer because she was gone. Rushing upstairs her parents found her body.

Her mother collapsed. Her father broke. Her family that loved her mourned for her. Those who taunted her and teased her finally realized their wrong but it was to late. The damage was done. She was gone.

I'm withering away,
I'm vulnerable,
my legs are weak and I can barely speak.

I'm wandering astray,
I'm on the run,
the feelings inside are burning me alive.

It's tearing me apart,
to see you depart,
to see you walk away,
to see you leave me.

I hold onto the hope,
that you will come back,
but hope won't hold back,
hope won't hold back.

I'm burning up inside,
I'm half alive,
and this fire won't be going out anytime soon.
I am a fool,
for thinking that you will be waiting too.

And it burns a hole in my heart,
to know you don't care.
It eats me alive,
and I know you don't care.

But I hold onto the hope,
that you will come back,
but hope won't hold back,
hope won't hold back.

I'm holding into hope,
but hope won't hold back.