Am I sitting in the middle
Of a room filled with

Mirrors

Or am I
The mirror?

The Judge
Stoic and unfeeling
Raises his mallet

Down it comes
Crushing us all.

It falls like a guillotine
Echoing through the empty halls
Of my mind

Anger rises
But is quickly silenced

The case is closed.
Nothing
Can be done

Sentenced to life
On the ground.

The plane descends
Into a smog
The sea barely visible
The runway appears suddenly.

A grey oppressive place,
Large mountains looming ahead
In the distance.
They seem to be watching. Waiting.

Cold, hard walls
Reflections are all you see
Staring back
At you

The customs were rough
And crowded.
A condescending look
And your passport thrown back at you

Out of the gates
More grey
The city's dead
Yet bustling with people

The smog just touches the top of the buildings
You smell smoke.
A concrete jungle
Cold and Grey.

Music
Just has a way
Of expressing everything
Worming itself
Deep
Deep
Down
Inside
Digging out the deepest
Hidden emotions
Explaining the inexplicable
Showing the unseeable

The Pain
Anguish
Reluctance
Sentiment

Everything you wanted
To say
To express
To think

Anger
Tears
Frustration
Turmoil

It all comes out
The instrument
An extension of your very self
The vibrations reaching
Your very core
And sometimes
You even feel a little
Pull

In the argument between
Melody and
Lyrics
The Music
Is the Power
The Words
Only give it
Meaning
But they can only do
So much.

There was once an
Angel
A young one
wings as white as snow
Smile as bright as day
Cheery
Optimistic
Happy go lucky
Bringing warmth all around

As she grew up
Her wings began to get darker.
First it was a few black speckles
Starting from the very tips
Through many storms
She went
The smile quivers
Shakes them wings
But they stay

She grew a bit more
The cherubic round face
Growing longer
The black speckles now covering half
Like a shadow
She fought
Blood flew
Her own and others
It soon didn't make a difference

She grew up
Tall and lanky
Her wings are now black
Like a raven's
Her eyes were guarded
The bright spark
Now a hard glitter
She barely smiles anymore

And when she does,
It isn't
The same

Leaving a trail of
Ice
Wherever she goes
An icy fire
Burning within
Keeping her going.

It's been so long
Yet not enough
We've come so far
Yet we've got so far
To go
The journey ahead
Is full of twists and turns
Forks and bends
But I trust
That through it all
These ties will hold

I still remember
The six years that changed me
Trained me
To be something
That I wasn't
Was quickly undone
In the seventh year
A new year
We shall count from one

With the weight of the mould
I felt lost and unsure
In this place of light
And warmth
And this new home
With an amazing family
New ties quickly formed
And with the mould disintegrating,
I was free...

It was YOU
Who taught me
There's no harm shining;
Being proud of what I have

It was YOU
Who taught me
Just give all you've got
That There's no need to hide or with hold

It was You
Who taught me
That history could
Last

It was You
Who taught me
To just be;
Take everything with a smile brightly

And

It was You
Who unlocked
That locked door
I kept shut so tightly in those six years
Trickling light into that dark, closed room

Thank you all
For these two years
You've helped me find
Myself
Not the old one,
Not the one that was
Buried
Squished and
Lost
But you've all helped me find
A unique
New
Me

And as I lay here
Staring at these bracelets
I can't help but feel
Wistful
That it's all going to be
Over

The smiles
The laughter
The undeniable stupidity
Tears
All those memories
All those things
We went through
Together

That we're all going
In different ways
And alas,
I shed a single tear

For what the future holds,
I cannot fathom
And there are mixed feelings
Of apprehension and fear
But at least these ties will hold
They will have to
Over long distance
And all

Because I can't ever
Bear to part
With all of you
Any of you
Ever

Despite all these
Changes

The last day
For the last time
A small team of five
Through everything we held through
Now it's time to say goodbye

Not to each other,
But to our wings.
The wings that we have grown
Through everything we held through
Now it's time to say goodbye

To the skies we'd no longer
Soar through,
To the fragile ties we've built
Through everything we held through
Now it's time to say goodbye

To a home that we have found
A cozy one of five and more
To everything we enjoy
Through everything we have held through
Now it's time to say goodbye

All our efforts
And all our dreams
Now all amounting to naught
Through everything they have held through
Now it's time to say goodbye

Thrown into a brand new place
With strangers, maybe enemies
We have to start again
Through all the pain to learn square one
Now it's time for us to die

Have our legacy
Fade away
Replaced by another one
Never to be continued again,
To just live in our memories

We may or may not
Choose to leave
But either way, it's still set:
What's ours will still
Be taken away

But in our hearts
Our very core
We'll still be yearning
To once more,
Soar

We'd always belong
To the Air, though Grounded,
Our eyes turn
Skywards
Forevermore