The colors, they won't
Bright, bea t ful c l rs
Flash ng, exp nd ng, piercing
Red, green, blue
An ndless
CACOPHONY
Of meaningless
noise

The noise, it won't STOP.
Viol nt, grating w vef rms
Sq e king, screech ng, piercing
SINE, COSINE, TANGENT
Like play ng a ch lkboard on a t rntable
Like playing a KNIFE on a BREATHING RIBCAGE
n ndl ss
p m
Of m n ngl ss

Delete Her

But he wasn't looking at me.
Confused, I frantically glance at my surroundings.
But my burned eyes can no longer see color.
Are there others in this room? Are they talking?
Or are they simply poems on flat sheets of paper,
The sound of frantic scrawling playing tricks on my ears?
The room begins to crinkle.
Closing in on me.
The air I breathe dissipate before it reaches my lungs.
I panic. There must be a way out.
It's right there. He's right there.

Swallowing my fears, I brandish my pen.

An old tale tells of a lady who wanders Earth.
The Lady who Knows Everything.
A beautiful lady who has found every answer,
All meaning,
All purpose,
And all that was ever sought.

And here I am,

a feather

Lost adrift the sky, victim of the currents of the wind.

Day after day, I search.
I search with little hope, knowing legends don't exist.
But when all else has failed me,
When all others have turned away,
The legend is all that remains – the last dim star glimmering in the twilit sky.

Until one day, the wind ceases to blow.
I fall.
And I fall and fall, and fall even more.
Gentle as a feather.
A dry quill, expressionless.

But a hand catches me, between the thumb and forefinger.
The hand of a beautiful lady.
I look at her eyes and find no end to her gaze.

The Lady who Knows Everything knows what I am thinking.
Before I can speak, she responds in a hollow voice.
"I have found every answer, all of which amount to nothing.
There is no meaning.
There is no purpose.
And we seek only the impossible.
I am not your legend.
Your legend does not exist."

And with a breath, she blows me back afloat, and I pick up a gust of wind.

The colors, they won't stop.
Bright, beautiful colors
Flashing, expanding, piercing
Red, green, blue
An endless
cacophony
Of meaningless
noise

The noise, it won't stop.
Violent, grating waveforms
Squeaking, screeching, piercing
Sine, cosine, tangent
Like playing a chalkboard on a turntable
Like playing a vinyl on a pizza crust
An endless
poem
Of meaningless

Load Me

It couldn't have been me.
See, the direction the spackle protrudes.
A noisy neighbor? An angry boyfriend? I'll never know. I wasn't home.
I peer inside for a clue.
No! I can't see. I reel, blind, like a film left out in the sun.
But it's too late. My retinas.
Already scorched with a permanent copy of the meaningless image.
It's just a little hole. It wasn't too bright.
It was too deep.
Stretching forever into everything.
A hole of infinite choices.
I realize now, that I wasn't looking in.
I was looking out.
And he, on the other side, was looking in.

The tendrils of my hair illuminate beneath the amber glow.
Bathing.
It must be this one.
The last remaining streetlight to have withstood the test of time.
The last yet to be replaced by the sickening blue-green of the future.
I bathe. Calm; breathing air of the present but living in the past.
The light flickers.
I flicker back.

A rotating wheel. Turning an axle. Grinding. Bolthead. Linear gearbox. Falling sky. Seven holy stakes. A docked ship. A portal to another world. A thin rope tied to a thick rope. A torn harness. Parabolic gearbox. Expanding universe. Time controlled by slipping cogwheels. Existence of God. Swimming with open water in all directions. Drowning. A prayer written in blood. A prayer written in time-devouring snakes with human eyes. A thread connecting all living human eyes. A kaleidoscope of holy stakes. Exponential gearbox. A sky of exploding stars. God disproving the existence of God. A wheel rotating in six dimensions. Forty gears and a ticking clock. A clock that ticks one second for every rotation of the planet. A clock that ticks forty times every time it ticks every second time. A bolthead of holy stakes tied to the existence of a docked ship to another world. A kaleidoscope of blood written in clocks. A time-devouring prayer connecting a sky of forty gears and open human eyes in all directions. Breathing gearbox. Breathing bolthead. Breathing ship. Breathing portal. Breathing snakes. Breathing God. Breathing blood. Breathing holy stakes. Breathing human eyes. Breathing time. Breathing prayer. Breathing sky. Breathing wheel.

Sayori: I'm so glad you're joining the literature club!

MC: Hey, I never agreed to join.

Monika: Oh, wow Sayori! Who's your friend?

Sayori: He's our club's newest member!

MC: thats...not set in stone....

Sayori: This is Monika! Yuri! And Natsuki! And you already know
me!

Monika: Welcome to our meeting!

Yuri: Are you into reading?

Sayori: No need for being coy!

Monika: We'll improve your uptake!

Natsuki: Have a friggin' cupcake! And must you bring a BOY?

Monika: Time to write some poems! Don't be scared to show em! The festival's days away!

Natsuki: You could help with baking!

Yuri: Or with banner making!

Sayori: And i'll walk home alone today....

Sayori: Maybe we're friends... maybe we're more! How could he love a simple girl next door? I'm just, not the type he's looking for!

Monika: Hey, Sayori you doing okay?

Sayori: I'm having a difficult day....

Monika: I'd say, you seem... pretty lonely!

MC: I wish I could make her grin... all she wants are things back the way they've been!

Monika: She's depressed and stressed and she's feeling blue, so I don't want Sayori, HANGING around you!

others: Just Monika! Just Monika! Just Monika! Just Just Monika!

Monika: I'm so glad you're joining the literature club!

MC: wait, what happened to Sayori?

Natsuki: Who?

Yuri: There's.... No one here named that......

Natsuki: Manga is my passion! Don't you dare be bashing! The writing's got finesse! Maybe you should borrow, these until tomorrow! WERE YOU LOOKING UP MY DRESS!?!

Yuri: Let's go read a story!

MC: What about Sayori?

Monika: Let's talk about me instead! I've been learning piano! And I sing soprano! And I can't get you out of my head...!

Yuri: Can't look away... Can't help but blush... Where did I get this overwhelming crush? It's sharp as a knife and twice the rush!

Natsuki: Yo! There's something I think you should know... Iv'e never seen Yuri so...

Yuri: SaNe AnD cHiIl AnD sTiIl KiNdA sWeAtY! And I don't mind CUTTING to the chase, i'm in love with you and your gorgeous face!

Monika: That's a sentiment I can't allow, so my dear friend Yuri, is getting the POINT now!

Natsuki: Just Monika! Juat Monika! Just Monika! Just just Monika!

Monika: Could you have guessed? Maybe you knew! Natsuki is next, i'm deleting her too! We don't need cupcakes or poems or tea, I only need you to love me....!

Monika: Wow, that's a lot of Crunchyroll you've been watching, you're really taking advantage of that free VRV trial...

MC: AH!

Monika: Hey, there's no one else in our way! So look at me and just say, right here, my dear, that you love me! And we'll, sit here to the end of time, cause i've earned this and you're finally mine! And i'm sorry what you've had to see, but it no longer matters, cause now you belong to me! Forever... Forever.... Forever.. Forever. Forever! Forever!! Forever!!! FoReVeR!!! FOREVER!!!!

Sayori: Well look what the cat dragged in!

MC: Sayori?! You're still in the literature club?

Sayori: Of course! I am the president after all!

Yuri: Wow Sayori, Who's your friend?

Sayori: He's our newest member of the literature club!

Natsuki: I'm GUESSING that's not set in stone....

MC: This time, I think it is.

Yuri: Hey! You should join us, I was just getting Natsuki here into my
favorite horror novel.

Natsuki: Hey! It...It's not like I like it or anything!

Sayori: So.... Are you walking home with anybody today?

MC: chuckles Just my friend Sayori.

Sayori: Just Sayori... JUst SAyori...JUSt SAYori..JUST SAYOri... JUST SAYORi JUST JUST SAYORI!!!!!!!

Cats can scratch
Dogs can bark
We can love, or not
The world can burn

Now the hour comes at last, spending time with Yuri is a must,
Her voice so sweet and gentle, lifts my soul from the dust.
And what a softly gaze it is, which she tends to return,
Why shouldn't I adore it ?
I can't look away now, that makes my heart burn
Such as the wonders, of these dark lavender eyes, tug me into an embrace,
I understand now, that Yuri, is truly made of elegance, beauty and grace
Softly, gently the wind runs through her alluring hair, makes my poor heart race
All lies, sin, agony and majesty begin to rot, beneath these corrupted files,
What is left is the memory of such gentle smiles,
Yuri, won't you take my flame ?
I gift it to you, so you may shine
Such as the dim light within your orchid eyes, a desire came to life to make you mine
You are but an orchid, wonderful and oh so sweet,
Talking to you, would be alike a treat,
So my dearest flower of noble, delicate growth and care
Your smile alone is able to beat every nightmare.
So please my dearest, darling, my treasure, just bloom
If we're together, I am sure there won't be any gloom

~ Umi