twenty-five

Another year has climbed onto my back.
That makes twenty-five that I must drag.
A caravan of muses and mistakes,
The company of which I can’t shake.

Another year has slipped between my hands.
It activates the quick beneath my sand,
Cauterizing every step I take.
It's made a map of the mess left in my wake.

Another year has crawled into my bed,
With plans to steal what dreams I have left.
Demanding restitution for my deeds,
An unrelenting ransom for my sleep.

Another year is placed upon the shelf.
Dog-eared pages penned by someone else.
Scrutinized at first, each idle line.
Now dust and sunburn stains tattoo the spine.

-

I should have listened when I had the chance.
I've been busy trying to paint the past.
But you can never hesitate to crash...
and learn.

I should have lived and let it come to pass.
I could've cried but I just had to laugh.
What is life but not a lonely match...
to burn?

kevlar heart

It’s made of Kevlar, my heart
So you can take your best shot
Cast-iron lungs for screaming
These words are tempered teeming out
This tongue is tungsten fire
A picture perfect liar

We fight, we fall
But we don’t feel a thing at all

Emptiness to an art
Wicked hearts are unbreakable
(and we can’t be crossed)
Emptiness to an art
Wicked hearts are unbreakable
(when we’ve won, we’ve lost)

Your fingers—poison ivy
Just one more touch and I’ll be dead
Your skin is quilted quicksand
With every step we’re sinking in
You’re crying kerosene
Your arson tears careening down
With eyes of iron oxide
They’re rusting from the inside out

We fight, we fall
But we don’t feel a thing at all

Emptiness to an art
Wicked hearts are unbreakable
(and we can’t be crossed)
Emptiness to an art
Wicked hearts are unbreakable
(when we’ve won, we’ve lost)

Armored, I pin paper hearts to my sleeve
Your assails can’t pick apart chain maille underneath

Emptiness to an art
Wicked hearts are unbreakable
(and we can’t be crossed)
Emptiness to an art
Wicked hearts are unbreakable
(when we’ve won, we’ve lost)