Dull raindrops leaving trails down the glass
As they land in my mug brimming with
Feelings of missed opportunity and swatches of colors
That have all bled into something of a cloudy grey

Clouds that hold demons at bay behind sheets of rain
Fires that burn in the cold quiet mornings
Pronounced and protruding slowly it comes to me

Sinister thought crimes that etch themselves woven lines
Plots long forgotten and discarded memories
Pronounced as it seems, still slowly It inclines

And out from the shadows painted by steady hands
Carved out of mistakes, they know from the memory
Creatures are calling me, out from the darkness
Festering innocence offers me a reply

Each one was made from the stroke of a pen
And what sort of unknowns have I begun to deify

They were made for me

They call my name, still taunting me

All I can do to stay here a while more
Ending my efforts in each ignored symphony
Along the back wall and in every corner
As soon as my back is turned, they all start whispering

I try and hide away

Still, I hide away

The forest is shrouded by miles of brickwork
Fast talking incongruity
Of iconography, smoke stacks birthing machinery

That's how it starts

And here I hide away

I’ve started to hate those eyes of yours,
And how they see through me.
Even after all these years,
I don’t even know if it’s five, four or three.

My night rest is haunted by your laugh,
The bed in which I sleep is no longer safe.
Meeting you has cut my life in half.
You left me to die, now I am a waif.

I live just a street away,
Yet you were never reachable.
How can your heart be so gray,
And act completely unimpeachable?

Through the years I’ve been on this Earth,
I have learned one thing.
Love is a birth, but what is it worth?
Love is a throne for only one King…

It's never black or white,
Up or down, night or day
In the twilight of the plight,
In the banal and malaise.
I can wish for better sight
In the mist, in the haze,
But I'm left with waning might.
See the dimming of my gaze?

But then, AWAY...

Lift the veil with burning blaze!
Evaporate the mist
As if the sun had come to play!
Push the pastel and fluorescent
Past the limits of distaste!
I see the best of light's forays
In the spectrum of your face,
And through the tears of blinding beauty,
You are the color in the gray!

The sun painted gold on my rugged skin as I stepped out of my gray world to take a peep of the vast blues, blossomed yellows and the lush greens.

Tick tock, tick tock,
It’s fading, have I erred?
The clock strikes callously,
Leaving me empty and unheard.
My beard is long and grey,
My eyes, they droop with sleep,
I know my time is rushing to an end,
Oh tell me, have I erred?

The sounds mirror silence,
I’m feeling quite alone,
I choke and sob and scream and beg,
Please someone take me home!

My life has been lived,
But the mystery is still there,
I’ve got a feeling in my bones,
It’s really quite queer.

I know not where to go,
My legs shake with my weight,
I’m dying slowly, slowly,
And I have none left to embrace.
Tick tock, tick tock,
My breath is rasping, have I erred?

I’m scared of dying,
Though my knowledge tells me shush.
I’m scared of not applying myself,
God have I missed the rush?
The flow beneath my feet,
Perhaps this is me falling?
I can hear the reaper at the door,
Mighty early from him to be calling!

I’m outraged that he’d dare,
I swear I’ve taken each and every care,
Haven’t wavered in my healthy habits
For all this past and total year.
Now! Now? Oh, the audacity!

He steers me towards completion of his chore.
Whispers how I’ll be here nevermore,
Though I choke, sob, scream, and beg,
Please, please, I need another door!