I walk along these city streets
Traverse these country roads
Conversations with the souls I meet
Setting down our heavy loads

Helping to build it brick by brick
The pathway of mankind
Placing markers along the way
In case I come back to visit sometime

Arriving at the center
Where man has made his stand
The crossroads of all humanity
With high hopes and less demand

I come here bearing gifts
Everything it is I have
As the years have filled my pockets
With empty promises

Of all man has to offer
Of all that man has done
No one is the victor
In life's battle never won

So I continue to walk these city streets
Traverse these country roads
Conversations with the souls I meet
Setting down our heavy loads

I promise I don't want to hurt you,
I'll leave you alone I swear.
Please keep my secrets unspoken,
Because I only have this life to spare.
I've tried so hard o hide it,
And all the problems it gave.
If you learn something of me,
Take it to your grave.
I want to hide in the shadows,
Keeping away from most.
And the only way you'll find me,
Is by letters and post.
I'd trade a lifetime in reality,
Fro a fraction of a thought.
A slave to imagination,
When it's the only thing I've got.
I've slaughtered entire armies,
With a staff and a knife.
If you ever catch a glimpse of my dark side,
You'll see that I'm not all that nice.
Don't try and fix me,
I was born to destroy,
The lives of those around me,
For monsters I'm employed.

I met a boy with the sun in his eyes and the sky on his hair and a brain far more elaborate than anyone could compare
But this boy and I were never meant to be,
For he was the golden land and I was the gloomy sea
And every time we touched, we would have to part again,
And I was in love
full of tidal waves and hurricanes
But all I ever did was flood him
Destroying houses and shattering window panes
The waves churn inside my entire body
Calm and collected, smooth sailing
I wasn't always the sea, I used to be a girl
But one day I told myself
"I will always carry a torch for you."
but you were the one who set me on fire
And I became the gloomy sea to avoid the flames
But sometimes at night
When the moon glows against the black
I can still feel the phantom burning in my chest

Funny, how sometimes butterflies
skip over your skin without ever landing,
how basketballs spin
around the rim without swishing,
or how things never seem to work out.
I’ve been wishing

for moments of high tide, gravitational
moons that would draw me to you,
in the middle of May on Coney Island.
I want you to pull my pigtails like it’s preschool.
I want to bleed neon, shout pop tunes
to accompany my words that sound like
a poem we all had to learn
to recite from memory.

Funny, how we store meat behind our popsicles
in the freezer, how we tear up things
before we throw them away,
or how defeated we feel when we wake up
to zero new messages.
I’ve been reaching

for the plug in the drain,
sipping champagne,
hearing your name,

when all I really want is lunchboxes,
the kind your mom leaves notes in.
I want to beat you in four square,
color on my Converse, catch crayfish
in the creek behind your house.

Funny, how we tone down our souls
to fit the mold, or interview each other
based on pieces of paper when we are
alive, and breathing, and it’s funny
how we save money for next time,
plan for tomorrow before we’re done with today,
count our accomplishments before our scars.

Funny, how all we ever wanted
was to finally be exactly where we are.

Poetry loses it's gravity
When you realize that there's nothing
You could possibly write
To make someone
Love you back.

You might be a sinking ship
Stuck in the middle of an ocean that is too big
Surrounded by other boats
All of them drifting with ease
Wondering how
They manage to stay buoyant
When you are drowning

You look around
To all of these people
In the midst of floating
All of them seeming perfectly intact
These people
See you too
And not one of them knows
About the hole in your heart

The one that is filling quickly with saltwater
It is heavy and aching
And the dullness is overpowering
To the point where you almost give in
Thinking that maybe there will be relief at the bottom
That there will be comfort in letting go

Do not let go

Instead
Breathe deep
Fill your lungs with air
And make your way back up
Take up space
As much as you can
Expand
And eventually you will reach the top

You are not drowning
You are merely swimming in rough waters
And it is possible
To make it out alive

So instead of waiting
For saviour
For your mermaid
Or sailor
To come rescue you
Rescue yourself
It is the only way
To truly stop the sinkage

In an ocean that is too big
It is easy to feel small
Do not let yourself drown
You were meant to swim.