All that matured,
Old hurt in new verses —
The melody changed,
Its meaning remains.
Over the years
Some words shifted meaning,
Their weighted memory
Still bearing the pain.

Entertainment, our betrayer,
Training grounds for
Games of death —
Fueling apathy,
Silencing reason,
Killing sensitivity.

Fear is Stockholm syndrome,
Reckless abandon,
Embracing the blight —
When letting go
Is certain life.

Chasing freebies
Earns us bupkes —
Free means
You're the currency.

Desperately
Doubling down —
Twice the slots
For twice the cost,
With still no chance in hell
To land on top.

The wise
Fear happiness —
Those random jolts,
So intense,
They dim
All ensuing moments.

Done with colors,
Wild, perilous,
Resigned to live
The gray of decent,
Just to make it
Through the day.

Our strength,
Not our cart.
Our need,
Not our heart —
Off-course,
Alone,
And worlds apart.

Parents dear
Of problems mine,
Save me from
The mental prison
I've devised.

Melancholy grounding me,
Collecting on a bill past due —
It's gonna be a lonely day
Of healing.

Unclean thoughts on sterile ground,
Trying to keep my posture decent —
What I feel should not be sensed,
Lest I burn this helium castle down.

You're such a cliché,
But that's alright —
I don't mind,
So long you're mine.

Out of hope,
Lost in ruins
Of unfinished dreams,
I see the contours of a man
That should have been
But never will be
Me.

Passive aggressive
Subliminal hate —
I'm fine.
Read that any way you like.

Whispered words
Sinking straight into my skin —
Breaths in cadence,
Unison,
Ecstasy,
Sharing bliss
At the edge
Where you start,
And I begin.

Fissures in a mirror brightly,
Letting in the dark of doubt —
Is reality what I see,
Or the hells I dream about?

The emperor's new truths,
Confusion worn
In search of answers —
Tell me what I cannot see,
Not what I shouldn't do.

Sun baking shifting sands,
Yet another virgin season
Of rebirth has arrived —
Skies clear,
And the world comes alive.

Eyes meeting,
Evading —
Heat signatures
Flaring
In the cold, cold
Crowded room.

Stardust oaths in daylight,
Empty as the summer sky —
Weaker moments taking detours
Into unexpected lives.