Over the wild blue sea
across a world of turmoil

Through deep forests
and wild skies

Lies a place
ancient and mighty

High towers look gloomly down over iron gates and broken walls.

This was once a place of strength,
a fortress of might
a stronghold against the darkness.

But time has played Its role
rusting the polished metal
rotting away at the foundations.

Its time has already come and gone
The fortress is not but a heap of ruin
a long gone shadow in the distant past.

Over magnificent peaks
rushing rivers and sprawling cities

Through tempest
storm and shroud
Does it lie

Slumbering silently
in broken ruins.

My mind's played the scene over and over again
That moment when we become more than just friends
Lying in my arms, lip locked in a caress
Let the arms protect you, safe in my fortress
Protection from the elements
Don't worry I can handle it
I long for the next time I can get there again
But for now reality knocks on my door
I answer
And there stands
"just my friend"

You made us bleed.*

Bleed from a place deep within us. Where it does not appear as a light red, or even crimson.

But a dark scarlet.

Darker than the void you so carelessly cast us in.

You left us with nothing but the company of the Solitude, who recites our failures to us with each nightfall like songs of victory.

Our only food was the shattered promises that you left behind with your departure, as they shred our tongue which spoke only words of affection and adoration to you.

Our only drink was the burning passion we once used to keep you warm during your cold isolation, which has now festered and rotted, tasting only of boiling venom now.

Yet despite this diet of agony and woe, we cannot help but love you.

But you do not reciprocate these feelings which we hold, you merely mocked them by filling our ears with fantasies and false assurances.

So we have grown tentative.

We have forged a fortress from the flesh of the fetid Solitude, to safeguard that which you have left in fine fragments.

From its bones we have constructed monolithic walls and barriers.

From its soul we have crafted chains and blades, to stave off those who would seek to destroy what is left of it.

We have assured ourselves that none shall have safe passage within, unless we so willed.

And yet when you return after months of silence with nothing more than your beautiful sapphire eyes, and your lips curled into a gentle smile, you have shaken the very foundation of our fortress.

Even the sight of your very name causes the whispers of the Solitude to echo in its halls.

We do not know what has brought you back to our tormented path, but know that it will not be as welcoming as it once was.

There will not be any words of gentleness or amour as before, but rather a single, bitter phrase.

*En garde.

We all need our walls
They keep out that which is unwanted

So, you ***** a simple structure of wood

But wood can be burned
And is therefore, insufficient

So, you build it up with brick
Encasing either side

But brick can be crushed to powder
And wood can be burned
And is therefore, insufficient

So, you build it up with granite stone
Encasing either side

But granite stone can be mined away
And brick can be crushed to powder
And wood can be burned
And is therefore, insufficient

So, you build it up with wrought iron
Encasing either side

But wrought iron breaks if struck in the right place
And granite stone can be mined away
And brick can be crushed to powder
And wood can be burned
And is therefore, insufficient

So, you build it up with four-inch steel
Encasing either side

But four-inch steel can be cut away
And wrought iron breaks if struck in the right place
And granite stone can be mined away
And brick can be crushed to powder
And wood can be burned
And is therefore, insufficient.

But then you ponder
The wood
The brick
The granite
The iron
The steel

And you realize
In trying to protect your soft core
In trying to spare others from the radiation that is your uniqueness
In building your fortress
You have isolated yourself

And though you feel your wall
Will always be insufficient

In truth

Nobody
Will ever be determined enough
Or brave enough
To cut away the four-inch steel
To strike and break the iron
To mine away the granite stone
To crush the brick to powder
To burn the wood
And crush the brick to powder
And mine away the granite stone
And strike and break the iron
And cut away the four-inch steel

In keeping others out
You have locked yourself in
Your own private, frozen hell
Of toxic radiation

The ice consumes you
And only you can thaw it
The wall looms tall and dark
And only you can demolish it
You cannot stop being who you are
And only you can convince yourself that you are not toxic

But you were never truly trying to keep others out, were you?
You were trying to keep out yourself

You are your own worst enemy

Doors locked windows barred
Words spin, twist and turn
Exits they bombard
For freedom they yearn

Sentences here form
Ideas and thoughts
Seeking to transform
Cages into forts

Bars and locks dissolve
Prison now fortress
Past hurt words absolve
Offering redress

The repetitive sunset strikes again,
Seeking to withold all the power from within.
Striking without pity,
It beholds the truth silently through its benevolent fiery.
  
Yet alone it will not taunt,
As it requires an army to persuade its almighty flaunt.
One alone may not fight this war,
As the sunset will strike again and dissipate the power from afar.

Exacerbating all its forces upon the person,
Igniting a flame so passionately fortressed.
Vengeance may arise to the unforeseen eye,
Subtlety making its way through barriers once denied.

All throughout the tenacious journey,
One will realize the reality in obscurity.
Elucidating the truth as it becomes prevalently set.
One will wake up and become the sunset that was once a threat.

By: Michael M. De La Fuente

A solid **** being the turn
The mind in using what you learned
The base of one’s destiny
The negativity among the enemies
The door that stands before you
You have no idea of what’s behind being a clue
The history of people walking in
Their untold stories of decisions to begin
The mysteries behind a mist
It just turns into a theory of a twist
Yet again people have walked in
But also they never came out
Conscious to see, but no shout
Intrigue to know what the door was all about
One’s step at the door to open
One’s journey to explore and a door that separates
It’s the wonders that indicates
One must learn to appreciate
Vision of the human body, the mechanics close-up of the mind, and one’s inner soul of redemption.

My heart aches when I remember
The time we spent together
Talking, laughing, smiling, loving.

But time fades memories away
Like an old Polaroid without an owner.
All that's left is pain and torment.

A few tears can bring a whole fortress down,
As long as the pain is directed to the heart,
And nothing is left, but a terrible scar.

I want you, but I don't want you.