Even the most beautiful flower
must carry the curse to wilt
and even in its dying hour
new life upon it is built.

No longer will it grace our eyes,
but through death it is still giving.
A new purpose is served through it's demise:
the chance to nourish the living.

Be proud of those who are proud:
You are then, in turn, proud of yourself,
And the cycle of healthy pride repeats.

The silence and darkness are like twins joined at the hip,
like lovers holding hands,
like tress rooted to the soil.

Why do you let fear fill up these crevices
that form because
anything dim yearns for the quiet,
and silence curls her fingers around the dark,

The bond remains, however twisted,
till the end of time,
a bond of love.

7#

Breathless, unable to grasp humanity.
Drowning in others mistakes.
Losing grip on my sanity,
Caused by these profanities.

Exclaimed by others in power.
Standing over me in their towers,
Just to shower themselves with greed
As I’m left to bleed and weep in pain
All for their gain.

Its all just a ******* game…
My life, my heart all up for grabs.
All for a life in a lab?

Might as well just stab me.
I will endure less suffering.
Than living in a cage,
With a stamp of my age
And a page on the labels placed upon me,
By those who think they own me.

Breathless, unable to grasp what happened to humanity…
As I lose the rest of my sanity…
-AVII

Waking up is the worst part of my day
It’s this awful reminder that I exist
That the nights I pretend life isn’t real
I’m forced to wake and feel like this

But that’s the issue with breathing isn’t it?
You don’t exactly have a choice
You can’t shut off your heartbeat
Or it’s persistent, pestering voice

Asking what you’ve managed to remember
Before passing out atop your bed
Wondering how it’s managed to come to this
And what the **** was going on inside your head

Because now the sun has risen
To cast light all over my shame
Cutting straight into the darkness
That hid my face and name

Blurry, awful recollections
Swirl around inside my mind
I try not to search too hard
Because I’m scared of what I’ll find

It’s amazing how I manage
To keep myself afloat
When every ******* weekend
I poke more holes inside my boat

You ask me why I do this
Believe me, I wonder the same
There are many reasons, honestly
But I think that I’m mostly to blame

I allowed myself this problem
I’ve allowed me to be used
I cry when people punch me
Then I pick and poke the bruise

So then it starts to heal
And my reasons go away
There’s nothing for me to show for it
But the hurt chooses to stay

Still I smile and laugh and joke
Pretend that everything is fine
All the while wishing me and Misery
Weren’t so very intertwined

There is comfort in the sadness
Because there’s nowhere left to go
I’m already sprawled out on the ground
Each time Life hits me with a blow

What would happen if I were happy?
That’s a long way for me to fall
Rock bottom is much farther
When you’ve managed to stand tall

Of anyone, I know this
Having started from the top
And now that I’ve started falling
I just don’t know how to stop

As most would feel about me
I’m sure this fact would leave you stumped
I wasn’t pushed into this place
I wasn’t pushed; I jumped.  

There’s an enigmatic balance
In choosing to self-destruct
It’s brought on by other’s actions
And sustained by one’s own conduct

Then you’re stuck inside a circle
Of your own turbid caprice
Wondering desperately how and when
This cycle will finally cease

Feels like just yesterday
You were, taken away
Your that spark inside
That keeps me alive
You are the reason that I write
You are the light in the night

Hope you can hear this
Hope you can feel it
Hope you see when I perform it
This is what I can do
To send my love to you

Imagine if stars
were souls just passed
Imagine if shooting stars
Were souls being
reborn again
That's a cycle of life
I want to believe in.

I lay awake
I hurt, I break
I can give, I can take
I'm brave at the
same time afraid
I hope, I pray
Some days I lose faith
I fear, I shake
Without you here
Everything feels unclear

Hope you can hear this
Hope you can feel it
Hope you see when I perform it
This is what I can do
To send my love to you

Imagine if stars
were souls just passed
Imagine if shooting stars
Were souls being
reborn again
That's a cycle of life
I want to believe in.

I still think of memories
I feel pain, yeah I still cry
Feel like I'm dying inside
I'm hurting, broken, scared
I still wonder how you are
Do you receive my love
Do you hear my thoughts
In my prayers
Do you know I still wish
You were here

Hope you can hear this
Hope you can feel it
Hope you see when I perform it
This is what I can do
To send my love to you

Imagine if stars
were souls just passed
Imagine if shooting stars
Were souls being
reborn again
That's a cycle of life
I want to believe in.

©2017 Written By Benji James

I woke up at eight
Ate breakfast before it was too late

Wrote some poetry with a pen
Then took a nap at half past ten

I woke up again at one
Went outside and basked in the sun

I ate a big lunch at two
Before I tied my left shoe

I arrived there at a quarter to three
I was at the library filled with glee

I left the old books around six
Wandered around and kicked some sticks

I walked home at eight
Since it was getting too dark and late

I ate a snack at nine
And talked to some friends online

I put on my pajamas at ten
Then I went to sleep and repeated the cycle again