**** the life
right out of me
It tears 
the life
right out
of me


Happy
I'm happy
I swear 
I'm just
so ******* happy


Tear it down
We'll build anew
but all my parts
are broke in two


You never listen 
anyway
But I don't have
a lot to say
You never listen 
anyway


Your mouth,
it lives on
interrupt!
Your tongue
and lips
they flap away


But I don't 
have a lot to say
and I know
your answers 
anyway
so i don't have
a thing 
to say!


Not to you!
Turn your back
it's okay
I'm most at home
when you walk away


And I don't have 
a lot to say
No, I don't have 
a lot to say
All I have 
is hate to spray
so I don't have 
a lot to say
Trust me
It's better that way….

Locked
cocked
and itching to rock 
Ready for an attack
of modern made wack-ness 
I already waged war once 
when I ripped my heart 
out of the blackness


Destruction!
I'm a killer son!
Y'all didn't know
Laser-focused aim
with words waiting to go!


Bullets don't fly slow
and they'll land true
like planes on a glide *****
While you stutter and stagger
I'll be in the breeze
because your words don't matter
begging on your knees


You can censor me
but I know my enemy
and I see you as a frenemy
it's plain to see
and easy like 1, 2, 3


I don't need to leap tall buildings
I got tnt!
I'll burn it down like a village
in a DMZ!
Take a break
for some cake
Yeah! 
Y'all know me!


Both barrels loaded!

There are dry spots in mourning
Terrible moments when 
the tears stop flowing
and the nose 
stops
running
And all you feel 
is numb nothingness 
mixed in with a blank stare
and an emptiness that almost
consumes you


It's not that you don't care
After a wave crashes to the shore
and before the next one rolls in describes it well
A lull
A break before being picked up
and pushed under again
to fight for air


There's a dry spot this morning
as the rain falls to ground
I hope I don't stay here long
I'd rather ride one wave in 
and be done with it all at once,
but that's not how it goes
No, my friend 
So keep fighting
We will press on till the end

There's a power in presence…

I've heard that said before

And some of mine is mine to keep

But if I give some to you

When you're at your lowest,

Then my smile will light up

The darkest of nights

As I watch you climbing


There's a power in presence

And so I'll be there when you're

Near the end and I'll motion 

You to me because we all know

That it's not how you start a race

It's all about how you finish it

And you will finish it my friend

We'll see this through together

Because there's a power in presence

And I will be there to the end

My sweetest friend!

By Steven L Herring

If I were a poet,
I'd be damaged goods
and all the world would whisper
as I sought beauty in the woods

If I were a poet,
a peculiar one I'd be
Robust in every single way
morning, noon, and end of day
all I am is me

If I were a poet,
an oddity in fact,
I'd start my days with gasoline
and the brightness of a match

If I were a poet,
I'd bleed on every page
Silence,
sadness,
laughter,
love;
crescendoing in rage

I am a poet!
A wordsmith if you will
But even if you won't,
a poet I am still!

Perfeck
By Steven L Herring

Psst!
Wanna know a secret?
I got pimples on my chest
and a hairy back, too
Believe it!

My lungs are scarred
from all the cigarettes I smoked
and sometimes I can't sleep
since I'm always anxious

I'm a human,
so I've done a lot of terrible things
but my life is ******* perfeck
Just look at all the likes
my Facebook brings

All the bad stuff might
have hit the cutting room floor
but the negatives stuck to my feet
and you can see them stuck
from where my smelly ten and a half's
kicked open your front door

I've gone a million miles
and I got a million more to go
but I might die tomorrow
so I really don't know

Imma get there though
Even if it's just in spirit
And your little perfect life
is full of rust like a dull spear tip

I'm not trying to read it
Your feed is a wasteland
and all your silly little highlights
are worse than two broke hands

I'm not a fan
Give me ***** because that's real life
Keep your ego in your back pocket
and be a little more honest about your fight

Step into the light
Nobody's perfeck!

Release and Recover
by Steven L Herring

Winds whisper words and disappear
Rain and tears
are maternal in the face of a tempest
Hot is the anger in your eyes
Tickling the tips of your ears red

Pain is addictive
Holding on to the reins
like you were the one in control
I read your face
and it tells tales of fears and resentments

Consequences buried
A helping hand should be very temporary
One that lingers hides a shovel
and soil to hide the body
You dug the grave for yourself!

Stand and fight
Turn the tears into resolve
Turn the fears
to One whose Hand
was made to take them
and wash the blood from yours

Let loose control
You never had it anyway
You never will
We're all just a couple
of bumps on a timeline
To let go is Divine!