A discarded white canvas,
that stares with hazy eyes.
It sees me contemplating
as I smile and cry.
  
I try intuition.
I try to forget the insults,
the petty competition.
  
Yet, the ink flows not
and the infinite cackles.
A million choices,
a singular outcome.
A singularity of
a dozen truths,
a dozen lies,
and a dozen perspectives.
  
“What do I say?”
  
The canvas smiles,
and my heart giggles.
  
They open their mouths to answer.
  
“Be as you are.”

I set track with this map of mismatch
That just tracks, and it stacks, and its lax,
On everyone — yet it drains, and it saps
The codex, the freakin’ stats of anyone who fights back
Try to relax, take a sip, but they snap
When I’m sad, like it’s bad, like I’m whack
Like I’m trash yet have the audacity to
bid no eye, and just wave and goodbye
To the ones who just **** up to you while I’m passin’ 'em by
And it’s always just them, and them, and again
And again and again man it pains me to bend — even then
I’m denied to take a stand, but ******* — enough is enough
Of this band — I’ma snap, I’ma crack, I’ma jest, I’ma Laugh
I’m this far away from the end of my thread
But I swear on the pain that I won’t let it end

For The years of torment, and the pains I couldn’t vent
You’ll feel till the end so just relax and repent
These verses are godsent, You fools better flinch, better **** in your pants.

And since birth, I’ve been cursed with this curse to just curse
And blurt this berserk and bizarre **** that works
And it helps in itself, it’s relief in the tension
That’s seepin’ through these sentences, stress in extension
That’s been eatin’ me recently off of my chest
And I still can’t even rest peacefully
No patience is in me, and if you offend me
I'm liftin' you ten feet in the air
I don't care who was there and who saw me, just jaw you
Go call you a lawyer, file you a lawsuit
I'll smile in the courtroom, and buy you a wardrobe
I'm tired of all you
I don't mean to be mean
But that's all I can be, it's just me
And I am whatever you think I’m not
If I wasn’t then why would I say I’m not
In the paper, the news everyday’s a ****
Everything I’m not made me everything I’m
                                                                    -Asher Graves

Miles of Grit

Before the dawn, I rise and ride,
Legs like stone, lungs stretched wide.
Gravel roads become my prayer,
Spinning through pain, gasping air.

Unbound waits—one hundred miles,
Through Kansas dust and brutal trials.
Each climb I face, each breath I take,
Is built on choices others break.

I’ve trained through storms, through aching bone,
Pushed past the doubt when I felt alone.
Skipped birthdays, dinners, bedtime songs—
Chasing this dream for far too long.

But guilt, it rides my back some days,
When pedals steal the time that stays.
My family waits while I chase more,
Yet still they meet me at the door.

And then—the race.
Heat and grit beneath the sky,
Mile after mile, I wonder why.
Cramped legs scream, the wind cuts deep,
I think of every night I lost sleep.

But near the end—I see them there,
My son,  my love, their arms in air.
Cheering loud with muddy pride,
As tears break loose I’ve tried to hide.

This isn’t just about the ride.
It’s every moment I almost cried.
It’s every hill, each stubborn scar,
And all the hearts who brought me far.

The finish line—just gravel and paint,
But it holds the weight of what I ain’t:
A quitter. A shadow. A halfway flame—
No. I burned through every claim.

Proud not just of what I did,
But of the ones who let me live
This wild, relentless, grinding dream—
Together strong. A human team.

© 2025 Shawn Oen. All rights reserved.

The flame was afraid to leave,
Did not want to be,
In a lamp,
A fire pit,
Alone.

Yet it can still shone,
To carry on,
And be the light,
For those in fright,
To signify those who carry him are not alone,
And with that,
He found his home.

I let the light fade away,
to chase an unattainable dream.
My thoughts assail the blistering glow,
a silent echo of what I know.

I wander the endless fields of lore,
never looking back, nor doubting more.
For I have embraced my truth at last,
and paid the price for sins long past.

Now, this once empty shell stirs to life again,
clinging to old habits, reliving the past.
Only time will tell if my penance was in vain,
or if redemption still lingers beyond the veil.

What happens when you finally decide
to change what you’re doing and swallow your pride?
Is it like when the fog clears away
and you find where you stand?
 
Or is it more like the unveiling of art,
struck by what you see yet unsure in your heart,
because it is nothing at all
like what you had planned?
 
For with resolution comes new eyes to see,
and new understanding of how things can be.
Yes, new faith that changes the path
of what lies ahead.
 
For everything’s different the day you decide
to follow your heart and let go of your pride.
You’re no longer a prisoner…
but rather a free man instead.

Nothing can stop the unquenchable fire,
fed by the flame of the deepest desire.
 
Born of a purpose, intent that is true
in the one who's determined to do what they do.
 
One who believes it can always be done.
One who won't quit till the battle is won.
 
One who gets up every time that they fall.
One who dreams big, regardless how small
 
they may seem in this world of confusion and doubt.
No, nothing can stop one who's figured it out –
 
that the universe bends to the purpose and fire
of the one who holds true… to their deepest desire.