The words I could never say
Fall as silent tears now
By tomorrow theyll be forgotten
But I can only escape them for so long

No words
slip from my tongue.
No words
emerge from my fingertips
as they race across the keyboard.
No words
spill from my mind,
trace the recesses of my brain,
leave my lips with the taste of butterscotch.
I have traveled far and wide,
from one pole to the other
then so far west I'm back in the east,
but I still have no words.
No words
to describe this feeling,
the one at the back of my throat every time I speak,
the one tingling at my fingertips whenever I press them against the keys,
the ones zigzagging my mind from dawn to dusk and even after that.
No words
to describe the tightness of my chest,
whether from the way she tucks her hair behind her ear
or the weight of today on my shoulders.
The thoughts --
I chase them, but they always slip away
just as I can feel them in my grasp.
No words, no thoughts, no way
to finish this poem
not when it's ever-flowing, ever-growing, ever-changing, ever-there.

Everywhere I look tonight
Somebody in pain
Somebody trying to run away
Somebody just wanting to be touched
Somebody just wanting to be seen

Take a pill
Make the pain go away
Take a drag of this
Let the memories slip away
In the clouds of smoke
Take a sip of this
Numb the feelings I can’t deal with
Dance until I drop
Fake it til I make it
Go talk to them
A warm body melts the loneliness away
Turn the music up
So I don’t have to hear my thoughts.

Why do you sing this song with me?
Whilst you sharpen your teeth
before you sink them into your flesh
and dance like a drunken fool.
You close your eyes and colour your eyes
with old bittersweet memories.
My words, your words, their words,
like sharp needles pierce skin, and
colour skin with your fears.

Tell me why do you sing this song?
I wait in your shadow,
grasp life from your breath.
l await your tears,
my old friend.