My Fear Unmasked

My Fear Unmasked

I panic over the paus,

cringe over old conversations.

I believe myself to be disposable,

because I fear I may be disingenuous.

Friendships make me smile.

They bring me joy and purpose.

When those same friendships go silent,

I shutter and shiver in the cold.

Was it me?

Something I said?

Something I did?

I'm sorry my friends.

My Last Friend

My Last Friend

When tomorrow becomes the enemy

death becomes a sought after ally.

When waking up means being lonely

staying asleep becomes the dream.

When the one person you loved is gone

joining them again becomes the greatest desire.

For every couple that makes it to the end together

there is someone who will be there for the other,

and then become the one who must reach their end alone.

Survive Behind the Mask

Survive Behind the Mask

Do not go looking

for your role model in me.

I am a teetering tower

down on my last knee.

I am withering center

behind a fractured shell.

My mask is a hopeful smile

knowing within I don't deserve it.

Happiness? Praise? Accomplishments?

Deserved? Earned?

Neither; I am without

merit motivated altruistically.

I do what I must to survive.

I am not a good man.

I am a survivor.

No Finish Line I Don't Create for Myself

No Finish Line I Don't Create for Myself

Drowning, suffocating, longing

to be better.

Forever striving for the unobtainable,

a struggle I once accepted as eternal;

but I'm tired,

so tired

...tired.

Apologies to My Friends, Family, and Familiars

Apologies to My Friends, Family, and Familiars

Who am I
if not a friend?
A phony filled
to bursting
with false flattery
and fake friendship.
I'm sorry.
If there's one facet
of me I know to be true
it's just how sorry I am.

Call to Action

Call to Action

Find for me
a hero of stature:
one who will answer
the call to adventure.

Dangerous perils await.
Undeterred courage
will be a necessary trait,
to succeed in this challenge.

I do not demand
they be loyal to me.
Instead, be true
to heroism over villainy.

Quiet Thoughts Across Starlit Flight

Quiet Thoughts Across Starlit Flight

A flight through the void,
guided, in part, by a droid.

Calculations made at great speed,
powering forth the hero to their deed.

A greater power lies within;
the second edge is a path of sin.

A hero must choose
and with a wrong choice
many are doomed to lose.

Giving In

Giving In

Temptation is bred from fear,
a fear of not only loss,
but an even greater fear
of being powerless to prevent it.

In the face of fear,
those who live in darkness,
lash out against it;
their fear wears the mask of anger.

The mask takes on its own life,
draining it from the wearer
until the mask is the ruler
of a heart and mind lost.

Always Wanting Something More

Always Wanting Something More

What happened to the lines between:
good and evil,
confidence and arrogance,
success and selfishness?

What have we built?
What have we done?

Where can the world go,
to get away from us?
So quickly, are we prepared
to abandon this planet for a new one.

Why? What happened to the line between
contentment and avarice?

Moving On

Moving On

There is no beginning
Without an end
An inevitable cycle
That presents an opportunity
for legacy.

What we pass down
Isn't a simple handoff
It is instead
A precarious attempt
To lay a strong, yet flexible foundation.

To allow for one's legacy
to be used as the inheritor decides
requires genuine hope and humility.