Ruse

<>by: crosswise

I look at myself
And the person I have become
The person you have made me
And see that is all forgotten

<>You left my life
For reasons unclear
When every memory I have of you
Still seems so near <>

I grasp onto each day
When I have you in my life
Because now all you see in me
Is mistakes and my wasted life <>

Now I cry to drown out my sorrows
Drink to forget tomorrow
And smoke to become numb to the pain you make me feel

My paperback

<>by tinny tulle

They said the cliché of reading you like a book
Is hard to come by
It can’t be that hard when I look into your eyes
And can see the chapters of your life unfolding before me

Page by page I read you
Each paragraph holds more thoughts than conceivable
<>Each sentence more secrets than lies

The best man at my wedding

by: shira

You are my comfort
When I feel unwell
Drying my eyes
Of dust and my absent mind
From the time I broke
All I had

You are my energy
When I’m tired
Of every day
Plunging into the same cracks on the sidewalk
That I’m expected to avoid
But entice with footsteps
Hoping to fall into a trap
That sets us free

I am your distraction
From time spent alone
When you wonder where the world goes
While you’re asleep

And I can tell you
That the sun and the dark
And the rain and the water in your bathroom sink
Don’t leave when you do

They thrive in your stillness
And drain into longing for your concentration
As you rest
And I thrash
In my waking consciousness
I hold onto your hands
And you accommodate my bent wrists

Expired

<>by: tinny tulle

Staring at me with overcast eyes
I feel your pain striking through me
You stand in the row just like the rest of them
With that badge on your arm that tells you
You belong <>

The men around you stand lost and forlorn
Craving for forgiveness from the lives they lived before
Longing for someone to care about them
No matter the crimes they committed
Someone to stand by their side
From the families they were ripped apart from <>

The chamber that holds you is now starting to fill
Dropping to your knees <>
You drift to another place
I watch in silence
There is nothing I can do for you
You haven’t already tried