I'm overwhelmed and worried,
when nothing is around
I stand in a void of silence
but somehow hear the sound
of the voices in my head
screaming words so loud
tearing out their vocal cords
in search of what is found.

Words
fountains of colors
as you toss your coin
flashes in the midday sun
a swath of silver
a tinge of red
as it lands in the rainbow

where
are
you

cobblestones seem soft
as you sink through the floor
into your tomb
the torch extinguishes
as tears fall
in a river of blood

where
are
you

it seems sometimes They want me
as They hand me a trophy
Gilded Gold
Shining Silver
Crowning Copper

where
are
you

the walls close behind me
as They watch with smiting eyes
and lips curled in song
as i fall down

where
are
you

trees grow but you die
time goes but I stop
life ends but you haunt me

where
are
you

it's time to go
not yet

where
are
you

I'm here

I saw you walking on the street
In a plain gray shirt that seemed unique
And seeing you made my heart beat
Tapping out a rhythm only you can play

Wait a minute, hold the phone
this is a boy that has made me prone
under his dazzling smile my heart is shown
Jesus Christ, I think I'm gay

Another idea flitting by
Going of to soar in the sky
Leaving in my creativity
Another dead ideology

You analyze me like a therapist
But give advice like you’re a friend
You show the way like you’re a guide
Not knowing what’s around the bend

A young person sits on an empty park bench
a hat obscuring their face
tears sparkle in the sun when they fall to the ground
as their heart begins to break
the wind abruptly dies when the sobs begin
a token to their sadness
the trees stop shaking in the absent breeze
and the leaves cast a blackness
the shade that the young person feels
shelter from the burning sun
they conceal their emotions with a mask of pain
while their thoughts began to run

You always break
And try to take
The things we make
And try to fake
For all our sake
Why can’t you wake
And see the faith
In what we create
You say we sin
That we are a sin
And more akin
To dirt than friend
And what you send
To keep us in
The closet dim
Your hearts of tin

Not many see what has become of me
Just some more initials carved into a tree
That’s rotting, that’s dying, from an ailment unknown
And nobody knows how much we’ve all grown
Conveniently ignoring the things we can see
Conveniently forgetting where we carved out our memories.

It''s hard sometimes
you send me the invite
without proper foresight
I don't understand
nobody sees me
I'm no longer free
to sing what I need

I used to have a very good friend
But one day he decides to press send
To a text most frightful
Which caused me to spiral
All good things come to an end.

Inside my dream you seek destruction
An endless cycle of death and corruption
I seek to fight, and end the pain
But I am just a small disruption
With a study beat you march right on
Unknowing of all the hate you cause
Or maybe you see the coming rain
A storm of emotions you have spawned

A car drives on an abandoned road
I sit in the passenger seat
Hands on the wheel, no sign you'll slow
and my heart begins to beat
faster than it ever has before
I don't trust you in this ride
I said I wanted the gas to the floor
but this wasn't what I had in mind

Because suddenly you're in control
of every aspect in my life
To bad you never listen
to what I have to say
oh how I wish, to find a way
to open my door and fly away
but to bad you never listen
to what I have to say

The speedometer hand is creeping right
How did we get this fast
All you want to do is fight
I just want to breeze past
the thoughts that hide in the back of my brain
seem to be gaining in numbers
let all just pray they ease the pain
and make it so I can recover

Because suddenly I'm in control
of every aspect in my life
It's supposed to feel like freedom
But I just want to say
"oh how I wish, to find a way
to open my door and fly away"
but to bad I never listen
to what I have to say

A car slows on an abandoned road
I sit in the drivers seat
hands on the wheel, no sign I'll grow
and I just taste defeat
I hoped you would be beside me
when I turned my head
but empty air is all I see
something else I just misread.

Large and small
Silent and lonely
Still and antagonizing
Only if only
I took a hammer
To tear down the wall
Found it took more
Than a hammer to fall
The mighty divider
The conqueror of lives
The god who determined
Who lives and who dies
So it wouldn’t budge
No it wouldn’t break
Not until the earth
Decided to shake.

I tend to go through life crashing
like a ball from a cannon
in a bright flash of white and a roar of sound
I breeze past what's important
and tend to hurt those I love.

I tend to go through life fighting
with my words and my hands
punching out my imaginary enemies
berating those who I love
the ones who I called my friends.

I tend to go through life crying
at all the suffering we have caused
of all the things that I've done wrong
and all the nights I wish
that I was with you.

I tend to go through life walking
you might pass me on the street
I have a far away look in my eye
and my hands are clenched in fists
my mind is filled with you.

I've been called many things.

Cute,
Short,
Tall,
Ugly,
Pretentious,
Cynical,
Loving,
Kind,
Manipulat­ive,
Creative.

A homophobic slur from my neighbor,
A "fine young man" from my parents,
A disappointment from myself,
"Ashley" for a time, because I asked my friends,
and "messed up" from those who overheard,
"Smart and brave" from my therapist,
and "a sin" from those sermons I watch sometimes.
The thing that scares me most,
is that my name means nothing to me.
It's just another thing I'm called.

A soft melody I heard you play
You’re fingers danced along the fretboard
A ballerina of song
Your voice was jagged and hoarse
The voice of hurt
But you sang with such beauty
Your fingers bleed as the dance
Spills onto the wood
The steady tempo
Begins to quicken
Your jagged voice cuts deep in my wrist
As the melody grows frantic
And swells to a volume so loud
I wept with joy

You changed my mind
How could it be
My heart that you find

I no longer feel pain
A single droplet you see
In a maelstrom of rain

Rain, rain
Rain falls down
Spinning my whole world around

Tears, tears
Tears cry out
Sobs no louder than a shout

Ink, ink
Ink bleeds dry
Kiss your reality goodbye

Pain, pain
Pain I’m done
Everyone thinks that bleeding is fun

Stop, stop
Stop we’re cruel
Suddenly mental illness is cool.

Why?

Echoes in my mind.

Why, Why, Why,

I want to like you.

Smart and cute and loyal,

but I do not.

Flirt, Smile, and loving the feeling of being loved.

While knowing I can never feel the same.

You make my want to curse
why can't you let me in
I tried so hard to get through
your loud and horrid din
I mean *******
can't you take a clue
why the hell would I be here
If I didn't want to talk to you
No I don't want to get food
Or go out and chill
I want you to tell me what is wrong
or someone else will
I'm sick, I'm tired
and I want you
to tell me what is going on
so I can help you through

I know this is harder
than I will ever know
It's not my right to get mad
It's not like I'm a pro
I just want whats best for you
and for you to talk to me
so I can help you through this
and for both of us to see.

You hate me for me
Not for what I did, said, chose
Not for who I love, hate, listen to
You hate me for me
And it feels nice

Isolated and secluded,
Paranoid and confused
Getting some peace and quiet
Without appreciating the view
The trees they sway above me
While I sit here alone
In the thickening silence
I just want to be heard
The world’s not crashing down,
I’m just falling up
Searching for a sign in the sky
To find some piece of mind
Not to say it isn’t nice
Getting some time to myself
It’s always fun inside my head
Staring off into thin air.

People say "I love you"
as if it were just that easy
for all of them to say
with a completely straight face
that they feel an undying,
passionate emotion for little more
than a passing acquaintance.
"You're just cynical,"
they say
"Because you've never felt
the way I feel"
While that may be true
I believe I see clearer than they do.
or my favorite
"You have attachment issues"
as if ripping your heart out
and sloppily covering it with
last years holiday wrapping paper
and tying it up with a red bow
and handing it to the first stranger who
so much as glances at you
isn't the definition of attachment issues.

But when someone I know
someone I care about
someone I feel an intense protection for
someone who has put up with me for
so long says
"I love you"
It hurts when I can't say it back.

A soft breeze
Moonlight cuts through the dark
As a soft layer of snow sits
"Look," She says
Staring up at the stars
Pointing to the constellations
"Look," He says
Staring through the window
Pointing at the warm, bright fire
They get up
She glides through the snow,
He trudges towards the house
"Come," They say
I long for Her curiosity
I envy His self-preservation
"Choose," They say
I glance between the two ghosts
No longer a peaceful night

I wish I had wings for arms
and could fly free in the air
But I'd probably fly too close to the sea
and my wings would loosen and tear

Melodies flow with every step
As your feet slam down a beat
Your song flows and ebbs
As you smile so discreet

It may seem like another walk to class
But I hear so much more
My demeanor changes as we pass
And my heart begins to roar

Guitars play and trumpets sound
As your voice floats up high
It's hours past and I'm on the ground
Seeing you in the sky

I hate conflict, but I’m always looking for a fight. I just run away when it’s my time to step into the ring.

The curtains are drawn tight in the windows of my soul.

Creativity eludes me in the imperative moments, yet comes in waves when the time is so inconvenient.

The people who are the most cynical are the people who have been hurt the most. So why am I so cynical?

I watch you on the movie screen
you're shining face I've only seen
in my head with hills of green
a landscape only in a dream.