Because you fractured my heart in two;
Traded rooms for a better view;
Poured out barren, uncouth excuses
As swift as fragile lit fuses—
You wrought a novel shade of blue.

Delicacies taste bittersweet,
And frost resides where once your heat
Engulfed me where all tensions drew
Tight with lust and passion dew.
Now I bestride that wayward street,

But prudence never was my game.
By flesh or soul, I owned no shame.
Yet by your tongue, all should surmise
That I'm the **** before their eyes—
And my good name you defame.

It's your conquests that merit praise
Within those deep, August dog days.
And your deceit grew into tall verity,
Disauthenticating your rarity.
My veracity is now ablaze.

A lonely heart yearning for connection,
Wandering soul, searching for purpose,
Conflicted, unsure of whom to listen to—
Mind, body, or the heart.
Scared, yet determined on this hopeful path,
Walking the road one step at a time,
Leaving his trail behind.

It was never a walk in the park to try and fit in the niche,

Patterns altered,

Values allocated differently,

Galaxies were spun,

Poles far apart -

When I turned into you.

Your algorithm modified,

Borders merged, goals changed,

But, the race starts again,

An endless search to find a place.

She keeps this beast  
Locked inside,  
Feeding it wine
To settle it down.  
When you look at her,  
She looks like she has it  
All together.  
But nobody really knows
What it's like.  
To stay up half the night,  
Clawed from the inside out.
It terrifies her.
Most days she doesn't say a word
And keeps to herself.
To the one she loves,  
If she reveals those pieces  
Of herself,  
Will you stay? Will you go?  
Like everything else that  
She’s lost.
She drinks to keep herself at peace,  
To keep the beast
from growling too loud.  
And for a minute, she forgets about  
Those broken pieces that didn’t  
Heal quite right.
That it's okay to breathe.
Even if it's for a minute.

If you’re reading this,  
She’s afraid  
To let you in.  
That once you’re in,  
You’ll smell those rotten parts  
That hide behind her eyes,
Or that you’ll hear the toenails screech  
Of the beast she keeps subdued,  
That you’ll realize it’s not  
A beast at all.
It’s the part of her that realizes  
The possibility that you cannot  
Love her, without loving the beast.
Those not so good pieces of herself.
Those frazzled insecure pieces
That despite everything she cannot
Control.
And in the end,  
She’ll regret it all if you turn around
And walk away.
No matter how strong the cage.
One of those bars loosens
Everytime she stares at you

I was not made to be quieted,
nor to shrink into the spaces they expect.
I am the storm,
the fire within,
learning to rise with each breath.

In the quiet, I find my power—
it is mine, not given,
crafted through pain, through growth,
and the wisdom that comes from standing tall alone.
I don’t need their validation—
I am whole,
I am enough.

Society taught me to hide.
A mask became my survival.
Now I wear the crown they covet,
and my truth drowns their silence.