a ghost of a child at the playground
swinging on a swing
laughing and having fun

a ghost of a child at the playground
swinging on a swing
he was never found at local cemetery

priests went out in search
exorcists did their performance
but the child was swinging on a swing

he hid himself in the closet
whenever he heard the footsteps in the hall
and when that man was in the room
he would stare through the open cracks

he knew it at the age when others were in playgrounds
the fear of a man who called himself his father
but nothing like one and only a tyrant
a monster who bullied his own kids

he locked the door of his room
closing all entrances, even the windows
to stop the monster in his dreams
roaming in hall from coming in,

he locked the door of his room
placed a chair and sat under the table
the sound of footsteps was getting loud
he just sat there talking to his toys

he locked the door of his room
he just stared at the pendulum bob
writing apologies on unsent letters
waiting for the footsteps to pass

she was too innocent to understand anything
too small to differ between love and pain
so she learned to express what she felt

she would lock herself in room with her dolls
and take out crayons and began to draw
a mother, a child and a man with big hands

I remember your words
and your face
I remember your eyes
and how they stain

He looks a lot like you did, and
he looks a lot like you once did

I remember your hands,
where they were placed
I remember the smell
and how it tastes

It feels a lot like you did, and
it feels a lot like you once did

And I was on the floor
with my head in my hands
The world turned black
There was so much red

Frozen by screams from the hall
I couldn’t stand
I couldn’t move
I couldn’t fall
I couldn’t live it again
I already did, I already did

I remember the calm
of the pain
I remember the slow
fade away

I remember the comfort
you took away
I fear the comfort
as it replays

You look a lot like you did, and
you look a lot like you once did

I remember your touch
on my skin
I remember the outside
and the in

You feel a lot like you did, and
you feel a lot like you once did

And I can only forget
with hands on my neck
And every touch
feels like an attack

Restless legs held still
I couldn’t breathe
I couldn’t leave
I was yours
I can’t make it out alive
I’m already dead, I’m already dead

Hope is a lie people cling to
a lie they wish upon believing it
But one day it'll disappear into the blue
Watching your dreams shatter bit by bit

Hope is a lie with feathers
Silently waiting for you
But once you get near it shatters
runs away from you like an unsolved clue

Hope is a lie, a cruel one
One which leaves you waiting for more
and when your happiness reaches its peak
It leaves you broken and alone
It leaves you shaken from the bones to the core
It leaves you empty and feeling like a freak

Hope is a lie, many learned to be careful fromButt those unfortunate souls dressing for prom
thinking they're going to get their prince
But leaves the floor drunk from drinks

And so goes for love
making a fool of us
tricking us, making us think we're above
The heartbreak it does is treasonous

We're running on a borrowed memory
of fading energy
that's losing its fire and desire to burn.
Strike a match next to
my heart
to
ignite the wick of serendipitous
romance
as we catch flame together
incinerating
stored pain and trauma
until we combust and turn to ash
in a dusty pile on the earth
swirled
together
for eternity.

sitting on the dinner table
where instead of food, he was served cold
silence turned into words that hurt

sitting on the dinner table
he was served disappointment from others
who questioned his existence

sitting on the dinner table
his father made a loud thump on the table
spewed out his hate he always keep close

he is always mad at his own child
for the stones that come his way
but his child will forever be grateful
for what he has done for him

he is always mad at his own child
the one he raised under his roof
to make him into a man, only to
crush him under his own trauma

now grown into an adult
he wishes to run away to a place
where land stretches upwards into hills and peaks
and there are valleys to jump into