The generations rumble on,
I know no reason why.
We build our countless tower-blocks,
Reaching to the sky.

Jacob is our newest one.
He’s only two years old.
Who knows what things he’s going to see?
Great nephew who’ll have…great stories to be told.

We saw men land upon The Moon,
For him it will be Mars.
His kids may go much further,
Even to the Stars.

He’s such a cheery chappie,
Chapman his mum’s maiden name!
I hope he will stay cheerful,
Though Life’s a funny old game.

I hope the world gets better,
For him and all his peers.
I’m sure he’ll be a pacesetter,
And not too many tears.

So here’s to futures bright,
For Jacob and the rest.
May there always be plenty of light,
Let’s wish them all the best.

Paul Butters

When you walk past me, I can feel the hatred burning in your heart.
When we make eye contact, I can feel regret swelling in my throat.
When I hear your name, I think about all the good times we had.
When I see you smile, I start screaming inside my head to look away.
When you run your fingers through your hair, I feel myself die inside.
When we avoid each other in the hall, I know everyone can see my pain.
When I talk about you, I feel like you're there with me, That's why I do.
When I see you, I taste the blood from my cheek warm on my tongue.
When I look away, I unclench my jaw before I realize it was even closed
When I realize what happened, I make sure nobody saw me staring at you.
When I know the coast is clear, I swallow the evidence.
When you’re through with me, I will have scars nobody can see.

The mirror is shattered.
So without any reflection on the misuse of this image,
The shards will be incarnadine.

The bleeding will ne'er end.
It drips drops of thick sick thoughts,
Smothering the scattered shards.

A sight bred for horror.
Speckled endlessly, sorting sorrows
Into uniquely spattered shards.

The fulmination of self-imitation.
No longer are little words taken lightly.
You are now obscure shards.

I, too, once saw clearly.

I've been there ~
She listens with ears that only hear the pain of lovers past ~
He sees with eyes that are blurred with visions of everyone who went away ~
Love spears your insides ~
It disrupts old memories ~
It stirs them up into toxic mush ~
Until all you see is ALL the people that used to be ~
Not each other ~
The glass is stained with the past ~
Clean it off ~
Clear the smudge ~
Look at the water with clearer eyes ~
Listen to the night with ears that have long since shed an old lovers sin ~
You still can't look at each other ~
But don't let go ~
No one will hold you like she does ~
No one will protect you like his jealous arms ~

You are hers and she is yours ~
And that's all you both should see ~
Listen not to whispers of people who can never be ~

Push aside ~
The pain and pride ~

Listen to each others hearts again ~
Because the beat didn't skip ~
And when you hold his hand ~
And touch her skin ~

You'll realize that a love like yours ~
Can never be apart again ~

Needless to say
I'm a disaster.
Peaceful breathing
Next to my
Endless seething
About the constant feelings
That confuse me
And enslave me
And ravage me
And leave me craving an escape.
Your peaceful breathing
How it ever so slowly calms my raving mind.
I can't sleep.
You're lying next to me and I am
Helpless, needy, and hurt.
Helpless - though your attempts to calm me are caring and sweet, I can't help you sleep by staying awake.
Needy - I desire your company at 3AM when the world should be silent and yet here I sit wanting your attention.
Hurt - I can't hurt myself anymore than to know I am hurting you.
I love you.
I lie here and weep.
I need what you have,
Your peaceful sleep.

Sometimes I just want to see another way of being me
Another way of being free of all insecurity
But there are times when that is hard
And there are wounds that have been scarred
And now I'm trying to get by with what in my life has been marred.

I keep trying to escape all of the lies that cover my eyes like tape; such a disguise, I can let out only sighs.  
It's hiding all of my fears deep inside all of my tears that never flow, I don't let them go, so I keep moving, I reap what I sow.
So no, I'm not fine, I walk a fine line between peace and what is at least my foreseeable destruction.
And I know I'm laughing and requesting you leave it alone but what is worse is the curse of knowing I am and will always be unknown.

All weight will drop off my shoulders, but before, it gets much colder,
So cover me in this vacancy of emotion and make me bolder.
Make me able to stand under the pressure of the hand that smacks my hand and tells me "Man, it's just a phase." which does the opposite of
Raising me up and making me new, so if you only knew that what you do makes me rue the so-called man that I've become and now
The future man that I will be will never rise up from his knee
So I'm left stirring in this mind of never-ending insecurity.

I walk
Nightly
To the place where I find
Silence.
Silencing the world
Silencing the mind
Silencing all that creates
Havoc.
I create havoc.
Day after day
I walk
Wondering when I will
Finally
Be able to find that
Silence.
But day after day I am
Silenced.
That is why
Nightly
I walk
To the place where I find
Silence.
To the River
Where drowns the havoc
Around me.
Where flow the souls of the silent.
To the River
Where I find
Silence.

I used to think there was a common lure,
A common attraction to the love we built.
But every relationship begins to crumble
As now we are.

If I could simply explain that all of your
Words cut me. All of your flowered colors wilt.
But I simply cannot and I fall into mumble
As now we are.

What was clear between us begins to blur.
There is grey area, no clear sign is felt.
But how is it we never used to stumble
As now we are.

You were impossible to blame
And as was I.
But the Moor left life due to outwardly shame

And the lure into our deceit was too great
And what we had built no longer held meaning
And the stumble was hardened by the foundation
And it was no more,
As now we are.