Bobbing and weaving,
Slipping and jabbing.

The fighting stance against a thousand opponents,
All of whom, look like me,
Is a stance I can only articulate,
In a mirror,
Shadow boxing that guy,
Strangely looking like me.

Pop-Pop BANG,
I throw punches at the air in front of me,
This bull can rage like Cinderella in a cage,
A square, roped cage,
Where life’s uppercuts put me in a daze.

The fighter in me,
One stubborn little *******,
Iron-jawed and iron-clawed,
Always taking one to the gut,
I fall down and so ruthlessly get back up.

24 and 0,
I’m the undefeated world champion,
My opponent remains consistent,
But I’m not afraid,
I got this far,
You think I can’t go a few more rounds?

Warm tears run down my face
The pain to great for my heart to bear
It breaks
At losing you
But my love is tenacious
And yours alone, my Rachel
I have caused you heartache
I have brought you shame
But know that you are sacred to me
A gift from God
And still, my love is yours

I am not yet complete
Not yet competent
Nor worthy of your love
Yet in vows now written
Unspoken
And still, my love is yours

My soul is wrenched from it's moorings
My mind now must face my flaws
No longer can I hide in false naivety
And still, my love is yours

Mark my words, Sweet Treasure
Watch for the day, My Beloved
For I will make you proud

*And still, my love is yours

With every breath
I feel the kryptonite continue to smother my heart
Slowly but surely
In this miracle
This is my part
The ostracised great kid
It is then that you're at your pinnacle

You've always been my hero
But you're the first
The first hero I know
To hurt your followers
Except I've always been your only follower

Since the day you took my hand
And walked me through the forest, tight gripped
When we got to the desert
It took it's scorching toll on you
And your grip got weak
You forgot that there was a child holding onto you with his life

Even though you trudge Along
I know you'll get to the end
And when you do
I hope you'll still love me when we reach the forests again

Even though your Monday-blue eyes look at me
And send me spiralling down into psychosis
All the way down
I'll send you gamma ray messages
Saying,
I'll always love you.
My hero

Dickinson said that "hope is the thing with feathers."
Well I say hope is the thing with claws
it attaches itself to my heart and will not let go
it refuses to leave me.
"Tenacious" people say about me.
"Dreamer" is what I whisper to myself.
It is that hope.  Unrelenting, stubborn, confounding hope.
It tells me there is more.
That sad days end.
Frustrations can be beaten.
Dead ends become detours.
Failures are just lessons.
And endings are merely the next chapter beginning.
Hope is the thing with claws,
it has attached itself to my heart,
and refuses to let me go.

I didn’t ask
for harsh words.
I merely wanted
a ball glove.

Bruises of my youth
will fade,
but memories of your anger
are seared forever.

I sought protection,
but only received excuses
which smelled
of whiskey and
stale cigarettes.

You called me
a mistake of passion,
you treated me
as a little lower
than your dog.

Why?
No wait…
don’t answer.

Your cruel interactions
led me to
a determined goal:
to live free.

I’ve turned madness into
bravery,
teaching others
to be proud,
walk up straight,
be courageous.

I want the world to know
my story, the history
which made me
who I am today.

I am yours,
though your denial
rots away your
last chance at decency.

I hope you see
where you’ve gone
wrong,
for I’ve told your life
through the eyes
of a child.