Anxiety

An empty lion’s cage

door cracked open

a guttural growl drawing near

Caged by frozen skin

soul locked in a breath

The lion’s prey

prays in fear

Daily Race

Shed the old

breath in anew

time moves forward

with or without you

The starting gun has sounded

we are on our own track

go for your gold

and don’t let your shadow hold you back

Collect your boon

and share it with others

for when darkness comes

they’re the light that matters

Price of Ambition

So many asperations stalled and unfinished

Ambition craves what can’t be given

any attempted creation feels diminished,

falling short of the potential it envisioned.

Even still, Ambition grows

and it grows more relentless:

It’s hungry teeth bite away the time I’m given

I cry and plead, “Let me be.”

as it eats more of me. It answers back,

“You’d be nothing without me.

You can still be so much more

if you simply listen to me.”

And so I bleed to feed it me

I whisper back, “Then make it be.”

8 Hours a Day

Empty waves erode away my soul each passing day

8 hours murdered, all in the name of minimum wage

I lament in silence as I die 8 hours per day,

too tired to protest,

too desperate to run away

8 hours of creativity and life keep slipping away

if things don’t change, I might just welcome death 24 hours a day

Irritated

You nag at the back of my mind

I pretend you’re not there as you fester behind my eyes

You bleed and stain my thoughts and moods

You linger and ruin my day, and all the while you provoke me to rage at others so they may suffer the same

I can’t ignore you and yet how am I to deal with you?

If I acknowledge you then I’m stuck in a loop that boils my blood and burns away my mental fuel

Why must I choose between a persistent ache that lasts all day or an explosive pain that ruins my day

every activity and moment eroded away by your memory I can’t seem to rip way

These words are born and broken by the very thing that’s inspired them!

How appropriate, how ironic, how God Damn irritating

Anticipating More of Me

Things have become so strange as of late. Up is down and down falls up. Black seems blinding while white feels frightening. The characteristics of one is stolen by it’s other. The opposites have become so closely entwined with one another. It may not be long now before madness takes over. I’m filled with worry and dread and yet I smile thinking about what comes next.

Undeserved Salvation

There is an obligation for the arrogant to drink from the glass that’s been offered; it tastes of blood and wine. I do not let tears stream out my eyes, but grip the glass with pride. I do not mourn for the hand that I’ve lain bare, but savor the gift I’ll soon bear inside. I do not lament as I fill the hallowed hand with my sins and have Him pay the final price. Instead, I’ll hold the chalice tight and not succumb to the oblivion I crave inside.