It starts like a whisper
threadbare promises,
soft hands hiding clenched fists
beneath the skin, bruises bloom quietly,
seeds of silence sowed in the dark corners of a home.

A smile fractured at the edge,
where love's architecture crumbles,
and the voice that was once free
is twisted into the shape of a question:
Am I not enough?

A door slams, not in anger
but in fear.
The echo swells in the bones,
stays in the walls,
turns a house into a prison
where every footstep is weighed with caution,
a rhythm of dread,
beating louder than the heart.

The world outside spins on,
but inside; there is no time,
no refuge, no escape.
Even sleep is just another war fought alone,
dreams choked by the shadow creeping
over pillowcases and quiet sighs.

And yet,
the grasp tightens with a smile.
It is tender, this violence,
a slow suffocation dressed as affection,
coated in apologies that evaporate
before they touch the air.
It doesn't arrive with storms,
but with lullabies that cut deeper
than screams ever could.

What is love in a house that forgets
the meaning of sanctuary?
Where the windows close
to keep the world out
and the mirrors crack
under the weight of too many lies told in silence?

It hides in plain sight,
in the slow erosion of spirit,
in the small sacrifices of self
until nothing remains but an echo,
a ghost tethered to the earth by fear,
too afraid to walk into the light
and too tired to fight the shadows
that cling like a second skin.

And the world wonders:
Why didn't they leave?
But it's not the leaving
it's the unraveling.
Each thread of identity,
each step towards the door,
pulls against a gravity that speaks
in the quiet voice of terror:
You'll never make it out.
You're already gone.

Still, in the deepest night,
there's a flicker, a spark,
a refusal to be fully extinguished.
The insidious grasp weakens,
as the heartbeat that remains
remembers its strength,
knows that hands meant to hold
do not leave scars.

And someday,
a door will open.
The house will breathe again,
and the quiet will become
a sanctuary once more.

I held you dear
Treasured you
Treated you well
Never a frown to be seen
So then why did she ask wheres your smile?
Where was it?
Ive checked everywhere
Inside,Outside, no where to be seen,
This sensation befell on me,
As if my lungs gave up
A calm feeling
As if the ocean has finally swallowed me whole
Is this it?
Is this the end?
Dear God i hope so.

Always glistened under the rays of the sun,
The warmth on the leaves always reflected to your surroundings,
Head in the clouds,
So try and explain
How have you managed to make it so far down here?
Once the greenest leaves,
Now all turned to a dark brown
When did you stop caring?
When did you become this sickening thing?
When did you lose your way?
This is all your own doing,
You dark, oak tree.

Old and new, side by side,
always riding changing tides.
Ebb and flow, rise and fall,
topsy turvy times for all.
Old church clock strikes at noon,
a smartwatch plays a tune,
then and now we measure time —
see how our times seem to rhyme

one phonecall
one sentence

changed everything forever

late wake ups
everyones gone

soobing on the cold tiles
throwing up in front

the only thing left

childhood shows
comfort food
sunset swims

For one last time, the sun sets on the stacks of notes, dreams and piles of unfinished business
And one last time we'll put down what we're asked on a lonely piece of paper
For after that we all change and we stop the old habits forever

As we walk through the memories, faded behind glass
It takes just a moment to go back now, but soon we'll forget
And all we'll know is how it made us feel, the euphoria within

What I'm trying to say is,

Would you stop to thank yourself?
If i took your hand and brought you here.
To see how far you've come and what you've done
Would it blossom in your heart, like it does in mine?

To hope is to forgive, and to let go is to learn
And to be hurt and to be picked up again is to stand up for ourselves
One last time before the Sun sets
Would you take my hand and reminisce in what will become the foggy past?

And we're a bit far apart in minds and hearts
But this one room seems to blend us into one
To remind us of the flesh and bone we all share
And the pain that we bear, all together still
That we'll soon have to take back, heavier than we gave it away

What I'm trying to say is,

Would you stop to smile for a moment
If i took your hand and brought you here
To feel the uncertain envelop us silently
Would you do it, but even if you turn away
If i could tell you one thing: don't let this be crushed to dust,
Don't forget the last of us.

I am stuck in limbo
awaiting tragedy,
as a leaf awaits a gust
to tear it free from its branch.

I am shrouded in stillness;
a blissful peace.
I will look back on these days and think
"I did not know what I had"

Not far from now,
life will twist into a cascade
of irreversible losses.
I can feel it stirring,
an everlasting sorrow,
like the wind kicking leaves at my feet.

I will change forever.

Yesterdays leaf
springs lithe and green,
of promise fine and fair,
todays is dry and parched and brown
its lifeblood fled elsewhere,
a cracked and fragile brittle thing
where hope no longer flowers,
how could this be,
how came you change,
full cursed by bitter hours