We know why it rains
The clouds colliding
Suffocating the sun
Bringing forth life
Pouring over our heads
While we focus on strife
Our life is rife
Knife in hand to cut away the darkness
We know why it rains
But it never did anything
To stop it from falling

High altitude
Brought to a bigger status
Here comes the panic
Higher reputation brings a sobering mutation
Babbling turns to quotations, fame incarnate
Afraid of heights, embodied in metaphor
How can I rise with a fear of heights?
Making new flights to forget the time
A daily ritual, commonplace
Fusion of melancholy and lazy days
Afternoons turn to night
Nights turn to days
I can predict these things, they keep going
But the waves drag me under
Awake till moonlight, it's cold outside
Thinking "maybe this time", like the day before
Every day is disarray, how do I get away?

Love is essential
What can it manifest as?
Desire or joint love

Idealism, the evolution of optimism
Idealists need to remain cautious
So their wings
Do not burn

All things
Man has created
Founded
Organized
All things
Which are dual
For moral
And immoral
Purposes
As we push forward
The possibilities come further
Into our future
While good and evil
Evolve
Like all things

We all wonder
What it means to grow up
Child to adult
Free to spree
To live and leave
Yet when one becomes old
The rest become kids
Flesh with more scars
To hide the young heart
Dented iron, a sign of wear, tear
Tear stained faces in twelve different places
Adults don't exist
Because their fun can't coexist
Dead to the soul
Ripe for the picking
Listing out accolades in spades
Just to go home
Stare into the mirror
What face is this? Why does it feel fear?
If I am a success, why can I not feel?
Child of mine, locked inside
I can't hear your voice
Is it yours or mine?

Treated like a goddess
Slaughtered like cattle
Was she ever enough?
No one will know
Until it's too late
But of course
She had to jump out
Protecting someone else
Till her oxygen ceased
Yet why...
Did the goddess choose me?

Down below
Entrenched in a trench
Of barnacles, sea cucumbers
Denizens of moist seas
Lies a single figure
In the form of a statue
The symbol of a man, looking toward the sky
Hopeful expression, rusted by nature
An idealist at rock bottom, lying to himself, in wake

As the moon shines bright
My eyes go dim
Wondering how my life begins
Stagnation, elation
Passed by a whole nation
I look to the stars
Fewer than before, so far
The world is beautiful
But our actions are putrid
Fueled by illusions
Today, I stay
Tomorrow, give into the delusions

I can comprehend
The fear of life
Yet upon such an hour
No flesh shall disgrace
Serenity
That arrives
When the moonlight
Divides
Awoke early
For a single purpose
One beaten down
By circumstance
It's all chance
Nature, such an enemy
Purging those who care
And who never knew you
I pray that one day
Dreams will be fulfilled

When I open up my eyes
Look forward to you
Need no caffeine
For you revive me
Today you seemed happy
S t r i k e !
In came the doubt
Is this the path you want?
W a i t !
Why are you asking that?
You’ve gone this far
Close to the end
On the precipice of success
Don’t go back
To what ruined you
Inside you want to go
But I wont let you
Swear that it’s no good
The hurdles have been cleared
Yet when you jump over one
You create three more
Wish I could be your hero
Zero possibility
But how about
I knock the hurdles down
This wasn’t here before
Stop building up defense
For a threat in your imagination
Listen to me faintly
Cry for mom
Yell for dad
Whatever gets you out of this
Trip toward tragedy
You question the world
Daily
Why can’t you accept yourself?
Oh how I wish I knew
To save you from yourself
It’s not your fault
Life is just this way…
For now
Strike down the illusions.

Resident leaders
Citizen turned schemer
Lifting a finger
To guide others
Yet, let's list facts
Every resident
Becomes a percent
Numbers take precedent
Yet still in debt
Paid for on borrowed time
Labeled on a list of lies
Will it end with our demise?
Not quite sure
For it's where freedom lies

Goodbye to your joy boy
The sun shined bright
Touching the peaks and valleys
Now your optimism turned into an ism
Believing in love that never appeared
Cease your activism
The human race races toward racism
Check the algorithm and listen to the rhythm
Observe the mechanisms of our narcissism
The sun shined bright
Until we blotted it out
So play with your toys
They make excellent decoys
Until they employ and destroy your ploy

Why must my friends always run?
Do they have no place to be safe?
What happened to their home?
Has it been stained by hate?
If only I could say to them
You have one life with no reset
We were never equal
The dealer poisons our hands
But with the cards we have been dealt
We no longer have to dwell
For our welts enhance our strength
I know that you want to go back
I wish I had
But as the seasons change from bright to gray
All we have left is today

Housing the deranged
Protecting the estranged
Isn't it quite strange
That we treat the broken
But never prevent the downfall?
Sanity runs away
For the ones who live in dismay

Sometimes
We all have a time
Where we wish to
Be alone
Separated from the bunch
Cutting down on portion size
Of social time
Not sorrowful in heart
Nor empty in soul
Days just come where
We wish to be

alone.

Consulting a calender
Not for the date
But to see when the days will end

I am not afraid
Of the rambling man
Who has no filter
Speaks in rhyme
Proclaiming the clouds
Are diamonds in the sky
I am only afraid
Of what drove him mad
If it claimed one
When will it claim many?

Walking
Down life boulevard
Not a care in my head
Certain that I'm uncertain
But it's alright
As long as we all...
Jason
Rhys
Sylvia
Lily and Silver
Go down to the boardwalk
Soak in the sunlight
Until the day
It hides from our sight
So, my friends
Same time as always
As for me
Vacant is what I'll be.

During pure paranoia
The most prominent features
Do not have to be visible

Starving
For a missing piece
To become at peace
We must find what we seek

Lakeside view
Frozen over by a layer of ice
A blanket of fog
Dancing with the air
It is cold, yet...
Is that a bad thing?

I honor the beach
Yet abhor the heat
Could it be, personal preference?
Or no longer, enjoying warmth?

Knocking at the exit...
Can't see it.
I gotta find my old opulence
Maybe, the exit was always here
But, my eyes
Chose to ignore it

Please, reveal to me
Lake of contemplation, my
Twisted visage

We all have a canvas
Let me describe the pieces:
For one it was stolen
One it was broken
One had a heart
I asked if it was for her
Or for those who saw it
One had a crown
On a king most reprehensible
One had a faded landscape
It was how he saw the world
Or what he wanted to make it
One had a dream
But I didn't have the heart to say
That I could never see it
One had a fiend
They called it a "self-portrait"
One was blank
They were afraid to be one thing
Reduced to an exaggeration
One had an old man
Clinging to past days
With a love free from sorrow

All these standards
Independent of thought
Origin is classified
******, you and I
Are any of them real?
Or do they reside in expectation?
Look at my soul! Disintegration!
Burning like a phoenix
Until it gets cut off
Slicing through prices
Priceless like diamonds
The ark of our misery
Comes when the finish line is pushed forward
Indefinitely
When asking for a break
Get combed, more scratch than a rake
For when your looking for success
You gotta sell a bit
But, do we "sell a bit" or sell a "bit"
For when life is a show
Every day is just a bit

Paradise
Like succumbing to a spell
Touring heaven

Living through illusions
Becoming disillusioned
Leading to exclusion
Delusions and confusion
Packaging hope into an infusion
Marketed as inclusion
Executed as intrusion
Running into seclusion
Transfusion, hypoxia to asphyxia
Left with no ideas except extrusion

Everything we create
An extension of the mind
So when disconnection occurs
Pain and pleasure intertwine
The world goes into decline
While business increases, for the hotline

Rage, anger
Compulsion to yell
To scream at the sun
Drowning serene ambiance
With vibrating violence
Held under lock and key, so long
So many thoughts cloud my perception
Deep breaths cannot cure the sickness
So today, I yell
Tomorrow, it continues
For the future, more
For the past was a bore
But now that I am
I wish that I was not

The world begins
When I open my eyes
The world ends
When I close them.

"Keep up the good fight"
"Push on through"
Easy to say
When your body has no hiccups
Flaws dormant within me
Much more than skin deep
"Normal" has lost its effect on me
Never bow down to a standard
That fluctuates on the preacher
---------------------------------------------------
I'm lost in the rain
With no umbrella for the pain
Drives me insane, was I ever sane?
Maintained my domain, packed with uncertainty
My name is the only truth I can ascertain
When it rains, it pours
I feel it within my pores
Please, give me some rapport
---------------------------------------------------
Will it always be like this?
Waking up to a sun which I've grown numb to?
How long have I been like this?
Am I really me?
Does anyone know who I am?
Sending up a flare, no sign of a liferaft
Tripping over baggage I never knew I had
Listen to this S.O.S, I am in distress
---------------------------------------------------
Befo­re my name is spoken by P.I's
I wish I could regress, decompress
No one to impress, pure life enjoyment
Fighting for a reason to justify our existence, why?
What is this?
Is it my fault?
I wish I could've prevented this gestalt.

Peering into the looking glass
Reflection, refraction
Dividing my face into quadrants
One side droops while the other stoops
Incongruent with my own race
Do I feel human today?
Or is the feeling returning?
Looking into the mirror
Why can I not recognize this face?
Two opposites in one, rabbit and cobra
Fierce but gentle, violent yet parental
Two halves in one whole
Yet, the pieces don't fit.

Been looking
For a way
To help us and all
Just a man
Stuck in a phase
When will it phase out?
I don’t know
Yet who does?
The map hasn’t been charted
Come out
Of the trance
Submerged underwater
Cannot climb back up
Where did your life vest go?
Shed it like your memories.
Going around
Helping hand
Yet what if a touch
Turns into an attack
Took one step toward healing
Fell backwards
I’ve misstepped
Lucky to wake up for breakfast
Make sure you’ll live to dinner
Fly away
Not today
Clip your wings
Casted in iron
Born out of spite
Life is alive
Keep it that way
Torn away
Free of poison
Full of dignity
Yet you…
Prescribed the medicine
Yourself
Is it going to help?
Time will decide
How health will decline

Why do sea creatures
Wreak havoc on ships?
Is it an invasion of territory?
Establishment of dominance?
How do they perceive our attempts at transportation?
Many kinds, from distant nations
Folklore may sound fake
But the struggle reveals some reality
Nature versus our evolution
Invading territory turns life into a horror
If only we learned
From our own species glory
We may label oceans
But from the commotion
They are the ones whose loss breaks into emotion
A cycle of locomotion, a home called an "ocean"
So once the guardians come out
How can we act surprised?
Asking "Why do you disturb our home?"
We reply "Because we need more for our home."
The struggle persists, no matter man or fish.

As the seasons' change
So too do circumstances
Joyous, full of vigor
Bursting with vim
Next:
Asking for no more days
Especially today
Next:
What once died is given new life
Where does time go when our soul remains sole?
Next:
Fatigue, across the tri-state
World in a dry state, routine or temporary?
As the seasons' change
So too do circumstances
One day we dance
The next we change our stance
For life is more than a first glance

In a world
Full of darkness
The light has abandoned us
It's up to ourselves
To make a new light
Artificial, but functional

Done with all my tasks
While the clowns trade masks
Cast into a casket
Older than Damascus
It seems like today, probably tomorrow
All people do is what they have to
But never what they want to
Confined to the clock
Always in a hurry
Rushing for the door; bottleneck
Rush hour, every hour
What notion are we trying to elect?
No time for a party
No place for a break
All I see is busy feet and hurt soles
Where is the soul?
When will life become gold?

Even in death
We want to look alive
Glimmering and stunning
For no one to witness
A mummy is only alive in the likeness
Never in peace, can we rest?
Fashion and fame, left behind in legacy
Easily dismantled in the face of jealousy

Under the mouth
Under the muscles of his eyes
Take him not for granted
He may look like us
But surprises come when least expected

Tribalism, factionalism
To describe our modern world
Takes only two words:
Despondent reconciliation
Across the whole nation
Affirmations can't solve stagnation
Rather be a ******* crustacean
Watching as the world lacks declaration
Manmade abomination
A search for civility led to hostility
"Our way is peace"
"Follow our law"
Same agenda, a different vocation
Sitting on the side exclaiming:
You brought your own damnation
Yelling for compensation

I weep for humanity
The pain
The sorrow
The heartbreak
The bloodshed
Cold realities
Unearthed from years of living
I wish, one day, we could no longer suffer
But, to live is to suffer
And to suffer is to live

Death of life
Death of nature
Death of standards
Deaf to the world's cry
If no one cares
Why should I?

Remember when life made sense?
Care never knocked at the door
Doorbell is broken
From the high dive
Reality cannonballed
Now everything is twisted
Mangled from the start
I'd like to understand it all
Let it be for now, but...
Can I still swim away?
When my arms
Don't want to exercise
Tired from the trials
That set me up to collide
Into havoc and mundanity
I remember when life made no sense
Everyday.

Peak from the skyline
Out into the open atmosphere
Oxygen arrives
All I see
Pink in the sky
Beautiful essence
Taken for granted
Stop.
Stare at the beauties
Plural
Much more than just one
It all has a charm
Ball of furious fire
Romanticized endlessly
Sure, it may all be particles
Atoms in motion
Only if you suppress your emotion.

Peel back the flesh
Smash through the bones
Of enemies misunderstood
Merely
Piece of firewood
Tossed to the pile
Sicker than bile
Such a juvenile...
How did this come together?
No questions asked
Do what
I thought was good
Now it's not
Reduced to an ocelot
Cater
Toward the mass extinction
So many more
Go off to die
Mementos
Turn to memories
Remove this career
From around my neck
Diplomats reveal flaws...
...yet I extinguish them
But are these flaws
To the universe?

I leaned over to the man
With shaking legs
A face, weathered by tension
I looked into his eyes and asked:
"Sir, how did you end up here?"
He replied with no hesitation
"I cared too much about others
Now with my condition
I am no one without another."

Solo
Then I paired with you
Together
Now you stray away
Broken
Need to put you down
Solo
Again I am

Toxic sassafras
Poison to the bone, yet still
I desire it so