That's Where it Gets You

Bar fights, bro, he brought more than that.
A go-getter for the wrong types of things.
Sitting at the table demanding stability
and he was the most unstable fighter in the ring.
Watch him go and go and go.
He keeps it true but the truth ain't pretty
when the bills aren't paid and
his wife is pitied.
Nobody can get a word through his head.
The bullets ricochet off him, he said.
Nobody wants to test his claims at all.
They know he's been bluffing, and he's gonna fall.
But one day soon he'll see the stoplight
and he'll think he's entitled to go through.
With the impact fast, his life won't pass
in front of his eyes like they say it should do.
They'll say he was good, say what he would
have done had he survived.
But truth be told
he was way too bold.
That life would have been a lie.

Wordland

How do we pen down the words anymore
when they're already flying out of the
mouths of birds.
They're in the air and the wind
carries them to every inattentive ear.
Are we supposed to write them?
They're not mine.
It's a conflict I cannot resolve.
There's no solace in the in between.
I've got to find this treasure map
to a place nobody's ever seen.
And unheard of land that
even I am blind to.
The weight of that is...challenging.
So it takes caffeine and sleeplessness,
drugs and people,
and passing shadows we're fighting
to try and guide me to a place
even close on that map.
It seems I've been there before
but every time I try to come back
it changes places.
It's a cruel houdini and it bites down
on every syllable I try to take captive.
I thought I was on the horizon,
seeing land,
but I'm really just right where I started;
A soul alone with only keys
at my fingertips.

Who's more reckless now?

You're always going to think I'm sick.

Each decision I make, haphazardly thrown together somehow.

You think I'm still reckless, impulsive.

I'm a loaded gun ready to fire.

The hospitals are ready for me at any moment.

You expect me to go back.

And though you say you want more

and you believe I am more

your eyes show a lack of belief

that's a razor to my soul.

Take the pills. 

Practice the skills.

Breathe deep and keep going.

Your encouragement has become poison.

When things are two sided

they aren't worth twice as much.

They're worth nothing.

I am still in here, burning brightly.

My mind is ticking away 

just like it used to and always has.

You've made a trust into a treasure map

and blindfolded me

telling me to go earn the reward.

What more can I do to show?

I used to be a robot

and the doctors gave me new light

and new power.

But you keep unplugging me.
How am I ever supposed to see the light
when I'm being kept inside
to stay "safe".

Power Failure

The robot woke up 

fully charged, ready to be.

The day, cloudy but he

had the LED's shining 

from his face.

And friends.

He had those even if

they weren't metal and

cold, wired masses.

Then the sun sets.

The robot goes back

to the grid.

To charge

To be comfortable

He sits down

and closes his eyes,

expecting a new day ahead.

But somebody pulled the plug.

He never saw the sun.

Serendipitous

This is ridiculous isn't it?

The way we connect like it's been

all our lives?

What happened to the mind traps

that I was inevitably stuck in?

They weren't so invincible, I suppose.

You're an arrow into the center

of my being.

You shake things up

that I thought were nailed down.

Just the way

this keeps on working out

is enough to keep me on my toes.

Does it do the same for you?