I dream of darkness
Its all that I do
No matter when I'm asleep
Its always that hue
Behind my eyes
There is no movie
A broken projector
No signs to move me
I can't make believe
I can't see farther
My own mind
I can't even author
I'm blank.

I'm tired
My body is older
My mind weighs more
Decisions are everywhere
Politics is suddenly relevant
The state of the world is not good
I hope I can make it through life at all
Happiness seems more elusive every day
My future is ever uncertain and unclear and scary
And every single day seems to get worse and worse
Does this madness not end do the trials not cease and why
Why is it so?
I'm so tired

Winds whip wildly
Cold completely caresses
Fire flees from
Sight swiftly smoldering
Ashes arrive abruptly
Death deals discretely
People plea profusely
“God! Give grace!”
Lacking love, lamenting
Rage, riot, refusal
To try tediously
Being bold believers

I am a poet
And as such, a fool
For it's stories they want
Great tales, heroes too
They want lies and adventure
They don't bother with poems
They'd rather read trash
They want gossip and news
They don't want the truth
They equate poems to math
Poetry is bland
Too tasteless
No ACTION
Give us the movies, the tv, the game
Yet, so am I guilty the same,
I admit
Great poets have stayed
In history writ
But what of today?
I can't name one poet now
Were I not a poet!
Would I even know how?

We live in a world of storms
No shelter to be had
Outside they rage on
Inside they destroy
War, Famine, Hurricanes,
Daily threaten the living
Depression, Anxiety, Fear,
Daily threaten the sane

He came to me with a cry of help
in his voice and his demeanor,
I felt a feeling too dreaded
Empathy
So lost on human souls that it is weakness
I listened to his tale
an accident,
a sister in need
I went with him, understanding coursing through my foolish mind
And we walked
And we waited
And we parted

Later, after I had recounted my story to others
I had learned
Scandal, lies,
a robbery
I had lost everything and more
The good deed I had committed was a lie,
a farce
I had helped him and been ravaged
My empathy and understanding
filled instead with pure rage
I had been nice
I would no longer
and if I saw him again
well, nothing…...

Let me breathe
I want to expand
I want to fill in a space that’s missing
Let me break
Shatter into a million
Insignificant pieces
Just like the inside
Let me fly
Anywhere else
Bring only what I need
Leave you and them
Let me feel
Some accomplishment
Some feeling that isn’t
Complete and utter uselessness
Let me scream
At you
At me
At the world
Let me show
My passions and
My bleeding heart
You will know me
Let me free
To be myself
To think for myself
To start again
Let me be
Stop
Stop
Stop making me you
Let me rebuild
Sweep my pieces together and
Glue them
Maybe they won’t break
Let me sleep
One way or
Another
Mine or yours
Let me dream
Eternally
Or just the night
I need this

I, being just a simple man
Lost myself for
Oh, probably way too long.
Very near the edge of reality
Each day dragged on
Yet, when I saw her
Often, I may add,
Underneath, everything left
Bringing me something new
A feeling that I still carry
Because I see her almost
Everyday and I could
Swear. I love her.

One by one, through the machine
I’ve watched them go, boys and girls
Not yet mature, not yet solidified
They come out different, I barely recognize
Some I can still see, changed but still intact
One by one, through the machine
I’ve been there too
The fear, the expectation, what was I doing
Could I object, they said I could
I never believed it
One by one, through the machine
Every day, someone goes in someone comes out
I’m pained because I know it
I firmly want to explain to them
And to those who will others in
One by one, through the machine
They come out soulless,
Are they dead inside or have they found it
I never did, but I wasn’t ready
Who says that you have to
One by one, through the machine
But on who’s terms are we going?

She asked and I delivered
But of course I didn’t mind so much
That’s what you do isn’t it?
Give and take?
I always heard is said when I was young
A relationship, it’s a give and take
You give, they take
So far, I haven’t seen it that way
In fact, I feel selfish
I keep this girl to myself
I refuse to share
So if a relationship is a give and take
I guess I’m breaking up with you
Goodbye cruel world
You’re done taking from me
For now, I’m giving all I have to her