I met with a vampire today
Standing, freezing, and so unsure
It pierced my heart and soul
Burned me to my truest core

As I sat there in it’s stare
Unable to breathe, think, or go
It whispered with a thundering voice
Asking what I know

I trembled upon the cracked cement
Not knowing what to say
Yet without words or spoken tongue
It went along it’s way

And in that moment filled with fear
I finally understood
The vampire was just myself
Draining my life for good

Have you ever been at your breaking point
Not sure where you’ll end
But the actions and words are telling you different narratives
And you can’t decipher either

When you’re about to fall and crash
And you can’t quite tell what’s going on
But you know what you feel
You just can’t place it

You know when you’re broken
And you’re picking up the pieces
And then you figure out what broke you
And you make yourself stronger than before

You know when you find it
And you leave your armor untended
And then at the last moment of trust
You feel the warm blood drip down your back

Disappear on me
Just like the rest
Loyalty put to the test
My mind is blown in several places
My heart pierced into....
Beneath the wind of guiltless nights
She waits in the cold air
Dry with fright
As cold as night
Sitting in that cave alone
Waiting for the day you will go away
Tear drops soaking in the rain
For now the day has returned
Warming her lips
Feeling the love wrap around
One more glimpse curls her lips
The deep sounds of his voice is soothing
Not mistaking these vibrations
Sun goes down in this valley
Unsure again
Waiting for the return or like always
The end

Why?
The motive of a peoples
The reason we are

Why?
The driving force of history
The catalyst of the future

Why?
The question asked every day
To learn our being here

Why?
The ode to my sadness
The reason of my doubt

Why?
The key to all questions
But couldn’t unlock my heart

Why?
The question I wonder when I think about you
The question I ask as to the reason I do

Why?
My silent cry in the dark
The haunting echoes of a chamber

Why do I miss you?

I am a simple man,
A grey in the rainbow clan.
I cry when pinched and smile when winked.
I lay on the grass staring at the stars, into the earth I sink.

I lie, I try, and I wish to live while wanting to die.
On the edge of the cliff I sway, If I jump will I fly?
Clutch my safe while it distorts to danger
I turn around and through the pain, I meander.

the thought comes all at once or not at all
a memory of something I couldn't name if you asked me
I'm in the zoo, California
my nose is sunburned
I'm walking through corridors of land-marked heavy handed people
as I coast through all the exhibits of animals
I spend too much time looking at the barefoot lion in his melancholic stare and I recognize something in it
he knows me through the crowd, there's a link there that I cannot grasp
not then, not right away but it comes years later in a bad acid trip I spend my whole life trying to forget
I can tell there's fear in his cage and the flies won't stop pestering
I feel sick and keep walking never looking back as the screams of awe and amazement come from behind me
I was once in terra firma too
the boy with the long jaw and the empty library after school that had only the sound of books waiting to be opened
collecting dust among with them, but also gathering knowledge that I was unable to use because I wasn't smart enough
there's a bubble in my brain where it has shoveled all the facts I am able to keep unlike friends or attention
i was always losing everyone in grocery aisles, amusement park parking lots and train stations
the unbearable part was how easy it was
how gently things shifted and sank
there was a dog in our neighborhood that was always tied to a leash never leaving the front yard as if it was part of the lawn decoration
it was always angry and the sign above the fence said beware
until one day it wasn't outside anymore, the noise had stopped and settled leaving it's owner to pack it's things and go
when I asked what had happened he said it had bit him when untying him from his post, shock and in pain he was unable to chase after him
years later in a different city with a different name, I swore I saw that same dog in the street with a woman walking beside him but he wasn't angry, the eyes were soft and the growl had turned into a delicate yip
I'd like to think he was happy
I'd like to think that there are always ways out of the leash

I think you take my breath away.

People always say that as an endearing thing.

But I think you actually physically take my breath away.

I don't know how.

Maybe it was when you layed your head on my chest.

Or tangled your fingers with mine.

Or felt safe enough to drift off to sleep in my arms.

All I know is that I think you take my breath away.

I just wish I was surer of you.

Because I want that feeling for eternity.

But I don't think you are my eternity.

~S.C.Kelley