I'll use you as a warning sign
That if you talk enough sense then you'll lose your mind
I'll use you as a focal point
So I don't lose sight of what I want
I've moved further than I thought I could
But I miss you more than I thought I would
I'll use you as a warning sign
That if you talk enough sense then you'll lose your mind

I found love where it wasn't supposed to be
Right in front of me
Talk some sense to me

I'll use you as a makeshift gauge
Of how much to give and how much to take
I'll use you as a warning sign
That if you talk enough sense then you'll lose your mind

I found love where it wasn't supposed to be
Right in front of me
Talk some sense to me

Death patiently files his nails
And smokes a casual cigarette
Grinning and eyeless
He says so calmly
"Catch you later
Brave little dreamer"

Despite such brittle certainty
Men and women build
Despite such small mortality
Every space is filled
In the midst of death's destruction
Men and women build again

Fear, like a cringing bowel
Exudes an acrid stench
And whimpers and whines
Simpers and cries
"Don't you dare
Don't you ever dare"

Despite this clinging dread
Some will need to dare
Despite the bursting head
Dreams insist on birth
In the midst of our stupidities
Something wondrous strives

                                    By Phil Roberts

Gagawa ako ng tula
Para sa inyong mga paasa
Sana inyong basahin
Para kayo'y matauhan at magbago rin!

Sisimulan ko sa simula,
Kung saan ichachat nyo kami at sasabihin 'hi'
At kami'y mag rereply ng 'hello'
At dun na kami aasa hanggang sa dulo.

Dederetso ako sa gitna
Kung saan yayaain nyo kami mag date
At sasabihin nyo pa na seryoso kayo
Pero yung pala'y labag sa kalooban nyo.

Eto na ang huli at alam kong di tatatak sa puso't isipan nyo.
Sana malaman nyo na sa ginagawa nyo maramjng umaasa at nasasaktan.
Dahil sa inyong labis na kahihitnan.
At aking sasabihin na sana matuto kayong masaktan at magmahal,
Dahil sinasabi ko sa inyo, di kayo banal!

Trouble came calling today
Bringing rack and ruin
Tried to push them away
But there was nothing doing

So conscience dropped by
Attempting to make it nice
Said all I had to do was try
If only took this little advice

Think of the good things
And save it for later
See what your heart brings
If you save it for later

Rain clouds gathering in the mind
The whole world is going black
I seem lost and nowhere to find
That right road going back

So the Sun wanted to shine
To melt away depressive ice
Told me everything will be fine
If only I took this little advice

Think of the good things
And save it for later
See what your heart brings
If you save it for later

Like a flower
a thorn too
is a  wish
that has a
point to make,
it stubbornly
sticks out
awaiting it's
chance to *****.

My dreams are slowly turning into nightmares again.
When will the misery end?
Sometimes it doesn't seem so bad.
But then I remember all the things that I lack.
If only I could write beautiful words.
But I'm a mistake in this existence haven't you heard?
I just want to pick myself up, but I'm not that strong.
It seems everything I do and say is wrong.
How did things end up like this?
I just want to leave, I can't keep living like this.
If negativity is all I'll ever feel,
How am I ever supposed to heal?
God my existence sickens me.
But I'm stuck living like this, or so it seems.
Stuck drifting through this world, always a loner.
And it seems many faces are growing colder.
So I'll keep trying not to fall apart.
Hoping this world won't further break my heart.

I tried to write a sonnet once
But only wrote twelve lines.
With number I am ever the dunce,
Make errors of all kinds.
Ten syllables is what’s required
Repeated fourteen times.
It makes me oh so very tired,
Before I find those rhymes.
And now I need a turning point,
A solution to the problem.
It’s time for me to rock this joint
From Cleethorpes up to Rotherham.
It looks contrived does each old poem,
So back to the drawing board I am going.

Paul Butters