Tender

Cracked a rib for you to see
raw nerves tangled, exposed.
Now poke and prod;
I'm on display.
Say it comes easy,
like pulling teeth,
but talk is cheap -
cauterize me.

Heresy

Your voice isn't real anymore
your words are fallacy
I told myself long ago
this isn't something
it's in between
words and deeds
all I ever see
and
I can't reconcile what you mean
my head and heart won't meet

Midnight

Counting down
to count back up
I think I still love you,
never enough.

And who cares anyway
I'm overthinking everything
leading me back
back
back
to midnight.

Cue the clock.

Brutality

Sun's been down for days
only ashes of warmth remain.
I guess it's winter now
and it's a brutal one,
extinguishing my flame entirely.

Seedling

Good seed gone bad
and I won't wait around
for your poison to bloom.

I don't think you see
the red brewing inside you.

Work

My heart's still beating
full stop
despite the lies I find
I'll have to carry on.
Tabulating time spent
alone or not
I'm calibrating a path
I wish you were here to see:
the me I can be.
And its thoughts like these
that let me know
I've still got work to do

The Sting

Lacking purpose, my
state of mind is hard to find
always heavy, sinking low/
new depths, grey tones.

Built a bridge to burn today
no flame remains
no flame remains
waiting for the sting,
left hanging.

Camel

When does hard become too hard?
When does hurt become suffering?
What did the camel say as it's back broke?

I'm fighting the urge to self destruct
and fighting the urge to have more urges
but I can't.
Something feels inevitable,
lurking behind the last tear I muster.

How did this happen?
When did we steer into the thicket?

Breath is heavy and thick with soot.

Free Bird

Every no is searing hot
burns a thousand suns.
The wind blows in every direction
when a free bird wants to fly
and I could say anything
but a free bird wants to fly;
flap those wings until
those teared eyes begin to see
there's nothing beyond us.
And maybe I don't know my wings
see them catch wind
and wonder.

slump

melt into paralysis
i've been leaking all feeling
left slowly sinking
my guard is down when you're around