Take your time and finish what you have to say
I’ll be here carving our names into the branches of these trees
Those dark clouds are always rolling in
Constantly screaming her name at me
The spiders spin their webs around our necks
Please whisper to me don’t let me forget
Sit with me and watch the whole world fade away
These hollow hands and silence hanging between us
Why can’t we see everything falling apart
It rains again and the spectrum falls down to grey
On these shores we’re sinking we’re falling helpless
We’ve lost ourselves in things we were never meant to feel
I’m the one who fled to the sea looking for safety outside of your hands
Somewhere in the deep
*~W.C.

The skeletons of clocks will always haunt these hallways
And I can never remember anything you said to me
I suppose the problem is the rope around my neck
Never mind the fact that you’re the floor under my feet
Maybe I just hate the idea that everything I touch here could become a memorial
All for a lost soul who never learned how to properly read a map
But I think I’m just scared of my candle burning out before its lit
I’m tired of the silverware tied to my wrist and the paperclips under my fingernails
We walk on eggshells and all we ever do is **** our own young
You hurt me more than anyone and my lungs still bleed everyday
This is not on me I blame you both for it but not for the tremors in my hands
I still remember that hospital room
And the twenty seven hooks that held up the curtain
Those condescending looks stick with you
After all I’m just another stupid kid spilling his guts all over your floor
I still remember that the part that hurt the most
Was when they took all the pain away
And I think about that a lot more than I should
Maybe that says things about me that I could never tell you
There are a lot of things that I have trouble saying
And I’ve never been fond of needles
Or the bed they told me I was meant to sleep in
This is not my own creation I know I didn’t work for this
I was aiming for the church bells and all I hit was the flagpole
Can you still fall asleep without my skin these days
Do you find yourself lying in bed reaching towards the ceiling
Almost as if you could cradle the stars in your hands
Because I do and I like to think you’re doing the same
*~W.C.

The sharks swimming around our feet
Never bothered us while we wasted time
Throwing blood bags into the ocean
I always thought if I created another catastrophe
You’d circle above my head again
More like a vulture than an angel
But my wrists have always been too frail
And you never cared that much
*~W.C.

She is not a prize but that does not mean you should not prize her
Keep her heart on the mantle but light a fire beneath it to keep her warm and kind
Don’t keep her hidden like a secret she has already been bottled up her whole life
Show her off like a lottery ticket it was nothing more than luck that brought her into your life
This was not your own doing and you will do well to remember that
Give her a place to hide when the sun is too bright and the wind is too loud
But don’t treat her like a caged animal she does not belong to you
She is a canvas but you are not the artist and you do not touch her without her written consent
The right to decorate her body with your fingerprints or your kisses does not belong to you
Keep your hand outstretched to her at all times
She knows herself better than you do and she will take it when she needs it
When she cries don’t stop her and when she smiles smile with her
These are honest forms of communication so listen when she talks to you
Never yell at her she doesn’t deserve that
Don’t treat her like a child anymore her parents did enough of that
If she falls asleep first she feels safe whatever you do hold on to that
She is already scared of the ways she can hurt herself she doesn’t need to be afraid of the ways you can hurt her
And whatever you do don’t give her a reason to leave
She might think you want her to
*~W.C.

I’ve been on this train for God knows how long
And the river beside us never seems to end
The sky has been bruised for the last seventeen hours
Honestly I don’t know what to make of it anymore
Smoke hangs in each of our lungs
The windows are all locked
They offer no relief
All I can do anymore is sleep and dream
To me that is enough because I see her there
She wears a little white dress that stops just above her knees
Dancing ankle deep in a lake I’ve never been to
A tiara made from white roses sits delicately on her head
The contrast of the flowers and her soft red hair is striking
She smiles and holds her hand out to me
I want to go out to her
To take her in my arms and hold her
But I know I will stumble and wake again
As it has been every time before
For now seeing her has to be enough
*~W.C.

If you look back can you remember
Can you remember what it was like
When you looked out over the ocean
And it looked like more than a compilation of questions
Can you remember when we could see past the horizon
And the air in our lungs tasted fresh
Can you remember when promises were like death sentences
When secrets were ties stronger than blood
If this is growing up I’ll keep holding my breath
Can you remember when guardian angels
Were nothing more than a nightlight
And the sound of the tv downstairs
Can you remember when it started to rain
But we didn’t associate it with dreams covering 654 miles
It was the key to the closet where we hid happiness
Can you remember what its like to measure time in minutes
And not in paychecks or homework assignments
Can you remember the exact moment when we lost ourselves
Living our lives to satisfy people we’ll never meet
*~W.C.

I spent the month of November living in the spine of a whale that washed up on shore
The only thing that kept me sane was the sound of the waves rolling across the beach
And only because it sounded like my fingers trailing across your bare skin or your lips against mine
I kept a fire burning just to stay warm
It laughed at me the whole time I sat across from it shivering
And it reminded me of how you would always laugh at me when I couldn’t keep myself from shaking
I hope your muscles are thinning out and the tremors haunt you now
There was an old lighthouse a few miles up the shore where I spent most of my time
I think the light at the top had a faulty connection somewhere
Because it flickered off and on at what seemed like irregular intervals
Truth is it reminded me of the way you used to smile at me
There must be a faulty connection somewhere among your synapses too
*~W.C.

Antarctica is just a hotel room that we passed sometime late last week
This highway only has a handful of exits but we don’t know where we’re going
And for some reason we’ve been measuring everything in heartbeats
It tears me apart because I would rather measure you in kisses
Confined to the hospital bed in the backseat I’ve never known such helplessness
Your smile lights the way but there is nothing to see except these blank white walls
I know what I want and thats a small victory in and of itself
But warm beds have always eluded me and the wings meant to bring you to me keep disappearing
They keep me tied down and I wonder if its because they think I’ll hurt myself again
I didn’t know any better and they never bothered to teach me
My father never warned me about the ocean
He never spoke to me of the currents
So how was I to know the real danger was hidden under the surface
My mother never warned me about the forest
She never spoke to me of the depths
So how was I to know the real danger was in my lack of direction
Now I just stare into coffee cups because they remind me of my mistakes I think it must be the smell
I had hoped they were just being careless but maybe it was me after all
*~W.C.

The cold bites
And the wind hisses
The rain spits
And the sun dies
The kids mock
And the teachers gossip
The depression hits
And the anxiety twitches
But nothing
Is as cruel
As you

All thats left are these shadows on my bones
The glass doesn’t cover your photograph like it used to
You’re not some precious protected memory anymore
Barely more than a raindrop on the window pane
You were the ghost on the other end of the phone
The bullet in the chamber inches away from the barrel
And the odds against the both of us
Despite all of this we both held on for so long
You taught me that its called a death grip because when you finally let go
There is a piece of you that departs with her
All thats left are these shadows on my bones
From where you held on too tightly when it was time to go
*~W.C.