Mirages outline the shadows on the ground
The way of my soul in the middle of August sound
The crevices of the pictures, when they vanished
Lost under the other's stack, in the middle of this

This is what it's like when fate changes its mind
Forever turns to a moment that's lost in time
They don't witness this goodbye.
Only a second, was it right.

Don't overcrowd your mind with hopelessness
Humans wander until they find themselves astray
That's the bittersweet beauty of life, of this
Find yourself, don't quit the game.

Don't keep messing with your mind
Can't you see, you keep saying this is your life
Don't let them intervene
All of you is proof of the greatness in your mind

Don't quit.

I think those lyrics had other intentions
But they make me relive those moments
When I would sit inside a quiet room
Smiling to what her voice was setting loose
Before, my mind never doubted your emotions
Things conform to passing rhymes, I guess

I understood those heartbroken words
Never until you
You taught me more than I signed for
That's the catch to young love
Youth brings ignorance
I had no way to know.

I may have lost you
But I gained new favorite songs
Received more knowledge
And for that, I thank you.

Will I be okay if I let go of this devotion
Let it be with the rest at the bottom of my ocean
They seem alright on that same old beaten road
Making it, though barely, and not entirely alone.
This is a butterfly I've been chasing all my years
I don't think, though, that I'll ever get out of here
Envisioning it, it is not the same
Now I see me in front of no one on a stage
They tell me I can do anything to my heart's content,
Insecurities are overpowering their comments
Caught in this overpowering riptide,
Will I ever get there alive?

The feeling panicked my veins
Racing through me like a hurricane
Drowning all ability and faith

For years, my soul was the way of a drought
Rations of strength became food for doubt
Childhood dreams kept falling, from me, out

Like a shooting star, it was an intoxicated rush
I licked the future's candle out, but not enough
There I was, and there it came all at once

I was floating the air with a net
The intention of it getting set
But this wasn't the newest and best
Rather the same, but bigger than it used to get

I may not be the prettiest,
Nor am I the most easy-spoken
But I thank you for believing that I could be.
"You're not held back by those degrading ideas."

I might be insecure
And think that I can't end up getting my dream
But thank you for not listening to my rumbling
There's no occasion I'm writing this for
I just wanted to make sure you knew that
I love you, mom.

Masks and fiction we wear as protection
To keep us safe from vulnerable situations
Make-up we plaster as our happiness
The mentality of only you... no trespassing,
Because self-inflicted hurt is less agonizing
Than others getting to close to our truths.
Covering the life lessons with a layer of skin,
Cautioning any soul we begin to let in,
Keeping our mindless thoughts ever-dwelling.

This life promised happiness, tragedy, forgiveness.
But, in adulthood, it doesn't provide protection.
Rather, it hands us elders and guardians
That remind us vulnerability is unhooking your
Body from the steel-anchor of problems.
That the winds may knock you off your feet, but
We'll fly again as the water flows along the breeze.