The rolling stone-cold plumes, all shadow-bent,
Bearing the frosty ghosts of gallant souls
From fallen forts and earthly cities spent
Ascend from fleshly ash and hellish holes.
The scratched and fallen foes shall lurch to stand;
The silent, broken knights shall stagger high
And seek with vengeful eyes the wicked hand
That sought to quench the sunrise climbing nigh.
Some rise to fight, some rise to heal, and some
Will never rise again. The love-top spins;
The stars hurl by; we pray for kingdom come,
We pray to heaven's hosts to heal our sins.
The smoke a-rises; all collapse to knee
Weeping that goodly God might set them free.

Rock, paper, scissors, shoot
Bouncing words and blades for two
“I’m rubber you’re glue”
How much longer till we’re through?

Breaking bones and grinding teeth
Clenched jaws with fire beneath
Tempers rising with the heat
Rock won’t stop until you bleed.

Rumors splashed across a page
Filled with malice, filled with rage
Money floating to the stage
Get the paper, make it rain.

Cut them down with dagger smiles
Ignore the wounded battle cries
Metal words until they die
“Stick a needle in your eye”

Rock, paper, scissors, shoot.
Look what growing made us do.

She hits the bottle
like she’s playing blackjack
Always wanting more
And inevitably losing it all

She stands in the remains
Of the destruction she’s caused
Filled with regret
Finding salvation
At the bottom of a glass

Coming home jubilant
To speak of all her successes
And all I hear is a buzz
The slurs in her speech
And lose sight of all else

Hearing loosely threaded stories
From that point on
Trying to find the holes
Where the honesty shines through
Knowing she’s far too happy
To be telling the truth

Filled with self loathing
Reeking of liquid courage
Losing her grip on what lies
She’s told before

She loops
And falters
At which point
I close my ears and walk away
Not wishing to waste my time
On tall tales and a tossup
No matter which side the coin lands
I’ve lost myself
In this battle with your illness

Before the autumn comes
Before the trees are torn by the harsh winds
And the world is consumed by leafy snow

Before the fires edge and burn out slow
And dark soiled Earth is turned to rust

Before the autumn comes again and then
I will find myself
Once more and last
In the springtime of my youth the pass

For there my fate will not be determined
For all are falling, all are fast

But before the autumn comes again
I will outstretch my strong summer arms
And try and hold the winter back

In the springtime of my youth to pass

Hello my friend,
You have been gone for too long.
A hug that was once so warm and comforting has left me hollow and cold.
You have latched yourself back onto me.
Your grip is so strong.
I do not want you here.
So, please, please be gone.
I cannot hold onto you the way I once did.
You are so toxic to me.
It's getting hard to breathe.
I will not let you control my life,
not like you did before.
You do not own me.
Get out of my head.
This temple I have built.
I am stronger now.
I will not be filled with guilt.
You are a small part of my life,
you are not my world.
I refuse to let myself drown
in the darkness that you are.
I will come back on top  
and you can watch from afar.
One day I will be strong enough to not fall back into your arms.

Tonight you feast,
getting ready to slay the beast.
You'll mount your ride,
and get ready for that slide,
into battle you will go,
running past any enemies that may slow,
down your progress for the two days you'll be gone,
until the moment you're back where you belong.
You'll concur and succeed where others have not,
your enimies will run cold, as your blood runs hot,
to sleigh them all, with your wicked spells.
With your words you can summon the strength to send them to hell.
They'll try to trick, and try to betray,
but you'll be on top and victor of the day.
I look forward to the tales that will be told,
because a warrior as fine as you, is among the most bold.