It won't feel real
Until it hurts.

Luck is not
A trait obtainable
By repetition —
To gamble
Is to learn
To lose.

If it wasn't
For you
I'd stay
Afloat.

Which answer
Do you prefer —
I can be
Either honest
Or fair.

In absence
Of affection
Even a most spartan
Flicker of attention
May cause a spark.

Fangs bared,
Claws out —
Like wolves to the slaughter.

Death will feast
In wake
Of this humanity plague.

Bound to
Obligatory participation,
Not until
The bell sounds
Will they
Snap to attention.

The depth of
Your annoyance
Makes me wonder —
Was your love
Ever real?

Defy the
Ever-changing rules
Or live your life
In paper shackles.

Trapped indoors,
Unable to ignore
The outside world
Calling —
“Come out and play.”

There’s no need
To change for me —
Just hide your flaws, please.

I'm confused.
Having never
Asked for your input,
I considered it
Suggestions —
Not law.

For the good of us all,
When confronted
With hate,
Intolerance
Or injustice,
Never just stand by
In shame —
Retaliate.

Burdens of morality
Birth survival's duality,
Unnecessarily
Weighing down necessity
With doubt —
When the one true choice
Is to live.

You cannot expect
To duplicate
My experiences
By retracing my path.

Sometimes I wonder
What binds us —
All we seem to share
Is an abundance
Of resentment.

Custodian of pain,
Too deeply hurt
To bare the grief —
Why keep suffering
Those pages filled with
Unshared words
Alone?

When short on
Fact or effort
Round your fractions down —
Half-assed attempts and
Half-truths
Will never add up
To a whole.

Their perfection
A conscious choice,
A deception —
They are but
What others wish to see.
Smiling, waving,
Stubbornly tending their garden
With their houses
Aflame.