Trust Your Own Madness

Silver moonlight danced along the black satin of the river as we sped past toward unknown destinations.

We could have danced all night had we not met at dawn.

Who am I? I am wildflowers and dying embers I am a hidden sun and the smell of rain I am the wind in your hair and the taste of snowflakes I am everything insignificant And in this, I have become somewhat significant It’s a paradox, you see I am not the stars But the space between

My nightmares have become daydreams. Anything is better than reality Even the haunting memories Hurt less than what waits outside my door

If the sun will not rise I will create a sun And bring in the morn On my own two shoulders

Life is a series of highs We chase each peak head on Only to jump from the ledge Dreaming of wind under our wings Wishing for a moment of suspension Runners high Artist high Lovers high Drug high We race for the pinnacle Of our fleeting being Hoping to forget the canyons The fissures Of what we leave behind And we fall Further than we rose But summit calls And I must fall

I feel as if I were destined for greatness, but I do not know in which direction it lies.

Things don't always get better with the sunrise. Sometimes all it does is expose the faces of our monsters.

I looked into the void Off the canyon cliff The darkness called my name “Be careful now, don’t slip But if you do, you will find rest. All suffering halted, Pain dissipated. On second thought, Just jump, dearie. Here no one suffers Peace is not arbitrary You can finally find rest From all your earthly woes Finally, your efforts will be blessed let the darkness engulf you Jump and find peace.” I come to as I fall forward Soundlessly, I follow gravity Encompassed by darkness No pain, sorrow, or woe No joy, peace, or hope They lied But now it’s too late Even from down here I hear the echoes of their screams Begging me not to leave While there is no pain down here I’ve left nothing but pain behind Do not trust the void It tells nothing but lies.

Be still, my stormy soul The wind has not yet passed Through waves erode your heart If you keep raging you’ll surely not last Be strong, my wavering soul Your trial is not yet through Keep fighting, stand tall Looking back, you’ll see how you grew Be humble, my lofty soul Forget your boasts and towers The higher you build, the further you fall Stay silent and strengthen quieter powers Be true, my faithless soul Don’t forget who you are Your experiences and choices mold you Look in the full mirror and not just a shard Be still, my stormy soul For night has come The day is over, the battle won Though we’ll meet our foes in battle again Remember how far you’ve come There is still too much undone To say their victory is won Stand strong against the winds Tall against the waves Continue on, let the storms rage Do not let the battle become your grave

Let’s hide tonight Under blankets, staring at the stars Let’s speak tonight Of old friends and new ideas Let’s learn tonight Of small details and secret loves Let’s remember tonight Dark skies and quiet words Let’s hope tonight That somehow, we’ll survive this world Let’s live tonight Even if just for a moment And believe Everything is going to be alright

They say hope is fragile, A flower bending with the wind This is not so. Rather, Hope is strong Just easily lost a beloved friend you’ve now forgot. Listen carefully She still whispers softly. I am not weak. My roots are deep, My branches strong You’ve just wandered away For far too long. Fear not, my weary traveler You can find the way back. First, you must grasp onto courage, Step forward. Take a right at decision, This path will not fail. Follow optimism, He’ll show you the way. Carry on, down the rocky trail, Follow the distant light. Soon, your destination will come into sight. Do not wander off again. Or you’ll find yourself, More lost than before. Stay near, my darling, Do not forget my strength, For when the night has passed, The battle field will be lit by the sun, Shadows of enemies shall disperse. Your battle has been won. Do not forget the path That lead to your victory.

I set my soul adrift Among the sea of stars Searching for the pieces of a broken heart The journey was perilous I lost my self along the way Through rivers of tears Jungles of confusion Salt fields unfulfilled expectations Shard by shard I pieced together your broken heart Through the journey I slowly fell in love with that broken heart When the last piece was stitched back together I hoped you’d allow a part of it to remain with me I presented you with the heart and gave you mine Disgusted, you threw my gift on the floor Shattered to a million pieces You walked away with your healed heart While beasts tore mine apart Now I stand here in a shattered night My heart lost to the winds Too fragmented to be fixed. I put you back together In return, You tore me apart

Tick tock Tick tock Every second mocks The weakness of the heart Our minds scream Silently Our hearts dream Of a better time A peaceful place Where our path was an easier climb But we reside there no longer Now we lay, in a dark abyss The world continues onward Leaving us to remanence On a time when we could believe Tick tock Tick tock Time knocks We dare not breathe For fear of what is too come Our swords are sheathed We fight no more Our time is up Dreams left at the door We follow time We hear the locks behind Tick Tock Tick Tock

We are all human What don’t you get? Man; Woman Jew; Muslim; Christian Gay; Straight; Trans; Asexual Black and White Can’t you see we’re alike? We are human Our boundaries are nothing more than lines in the sand On an Earth, so much bigger than ourselves You put us into categories Saying: “I am this. They are that.” No middle ground No room for compromise Don’t you see this isn’t right? We are human We are not isolated boxes In a world of labels Rather, humanity is one large Venn diagram Unique, but overlapping But you can’t understand that- We all love, hope, and dream We cry the same tears Bleed the same blood War doesn’t change that Hate doesn’t change that Power doesn’t change that What is so hard to grasp? We make mistakes That’s OK We are human Learn from it Power is not a necessity Lives are And love is love is love is love Why don’t you understand? We are past the time for words All that can be said has been repeated Only actions lay ahead To change the world, change yourself We may fall We are human We always, always, always, get back up We are human We hate and love in the same breath We are human We harm where we should heal We are human We learn from the past We are human We will change the world We are human We are one

It's been so long Since I allowed the idea of a possibility Although I never let the idea go past that possibility It stung a bit when you asked if we could talk We both knew what it meant I was prepared I was grateful for the Idea of a possibility While it lasted Now all I hope for Is a friendship remaining For that is more than I’ve had In such a long while I understand the reasoning behind Your logic But still I hope Although it seems so impossible That we can remain friends And this is why We never open up Because it can only lead to pain So lets just stay friends No one will get hurt It's safer that way But thank you For the idea of a possibility I hope we can remain friends At least

I do not know pain I do not know love I do not know hope Hurt Or sacrifice I do not know passion Temptation Or longing I do know the components of a cell I do know the proper APA citations I do know the six levels of morality Years upon years of education Of schooling Hundreds of tests Quizzes Essays Completed Knowledge condensed and stuffed Into the center of our existence Rote memorization Of dry, pointless facts Filling our mind Forgetting application I do know how about Descartes I do know DeMoivre’s theorem I do not know fear I do not know joy I may be knowledgeable Yet I have no wisdom