In the great construct,
Even Kings and Queens
Are but parts to be played.

Zeroes and ones —
Modern religion
Where saints and sinners alike
Can be either
Losers or winners,
Denied the middle ground.

Hurting and ashamed,
Afraid to confess
That the shoe
Does not fit.

White noise of
Advice not taken,
Discord frequencies
Ring true —
Silent language of
The screaming dead.

Smokescreens,
Gaslights —
Riding curved narratives
To false intent.

A tool is
How you use it —
The carrot
Is the stick.

Precious frailty,
Heart of love —
What cannot be lost
Lacks meaning.

Life is killing —
Time is willing
Only for the victor.

Never, says the coward.
Now, says the fool.

I cannot be
A better me
Without first becoming
A better you
To all of you.

Eyes on a canvas,
Tracing brush strokes,
Seeking the words underneath —
Lies on a canvas,
Painting
Needs beyond want,
Wants that can't be.

Humanist dreams —
Ideals, like appetites fleeting,
Wading through
A river of shit.
Is this life?
If there ever were
A wakeup call,
This is it.

Fear and pain,
Shame and blame,
Crippling negatives in cadence.
Suppressed self kept deep within —
Reshaped and silenced,
Forced to dance.

Clinical cruelty,
The calculating rational —
I'd rather see madness
The status quo.

Ill prepared we face
Winter's dawn —
At the end of Earth's Fall,
Season of men.
Brace yourselves,
It is coming.

I'll be the hand to bear the scar,
The accountable default.
Believe in me, or not,
It's all the same —
I'll love you either way.

If you graze your sheep
Where wolves can hide,
Don't wonder why
You lose a few each time
You turn your back.

Your back may to the thunderheads,
But heed the whitecaps on my temper —
Though inches deep,
The wave to come
Will tear you down.

Laminated youth
Gathering dust on a shelf —
Lost in captured moments,
Never to be seen again.

Cheated by
A liar and a thief,
Only one of which is me —
The sucker distracted
By a candy heart.