Healing rays,
Warming smiles —
Spring is here
In full force,
And the world
At long last
Feels alright.

Afraid to do,
Scared to act —
Discontentment feedback loop.
Not brave enough,
And miserable.

Childhood’s end,
Innocence immaculate —
Unspoiled, yet
Eager to cross
The black ink line
To live the consequence beyond.

Let near, but never
Close enough,
Darkened rooms
With pretty curtains —
Wary, but never certain
What goes on
Behind those tastefully
Painted walls.

We waste lifetimes building
Houses of demeanor
On intangible foundations
Of hope and fear.

After seats
Not meant for us —
We hold the keys,
But not the locks.

That purpose is
Veiled obsession
Is a paralyzing truth
We cannot learn until —
Through success or failure —
We no longer have it.

Make it plain unfair,
And they'll never join in —
But make it a game,
And they'll want to win.

Self-proclaimed righteous,
Reigned in with the threat of
Damnation and hellfire —
Merely monsters on a leash.

Medium hopes
For mediocre days —
Disillusioned,
And it shows.

Shame, paling,
Stuck in the backseat —
Uncorked liquid wisdom
Defending the pink elephant
Thrashing the room.

Like the ocean,
Deep, tumultuous,
Unfathomably wide —
Right here, right now,
Such is my love
For you.

Laws of relativity,
Socially applied.
Raised to always get our way,
We've lived to see
The death of reason —
Better lives we never earned
Harbingers
Of harder times to come.

Expectation,
Socially ingrained —
Live for your fathers,
Care for your mothers,
Die for your fellow men.

My grief, my pain
Outweigh all else —
I rage, I scream,
And will the world
To stop.

Never questioned
Who I am.
I am the whim
That sails the moment,
Taking success and failure
For what it is —
Shades of existence
In the light
Of our ever-setting sun.

Tear-inducing
Burning spasms,
Crawling down
My trachea.
One week in,
And worsening —
Common cold,
How I hate ya.

Morals in descending order,
What you see is what is shown —
Thank goodness we are not exposed
To the depravity they practice
When they are alone.

For two breaths,
The chatter silences —
A hundred eyes follow
Cheese plates clattering,
Shattering,
The brie, debris flying,
Waiters crying out in shock —
Then it picks back up,
The mess
Not theirs to clean.

Woe to you
Is woe to me —
One at heart,
In happiness
Or misery.