Chesshirestripes

I broke the chains today I shrugged off a lead overcoat All by deleting a few old pictures A great weight was lifted off my shoulders But my arms are still heavy My knees are still weak My stomach still won't settle I can't shake this feeling It's like when you take a bite of your favorite food But the taste is all wrong You sit there wondering what the hell they served you This shouldn't leave you with such a bad taste lingering behind I'm figuring it out Step by uncertain step It's so difficult to stand when you can't keep your balance How are you supposed to steady yourself when your only hand to hold is the one that's letting go of yo

The first time we spoke was about my shirt She wanted to know what exactly it was that was  printed on it She was gorgeous and I fell for her instantly She stole one of my t-shirts She was 5'2" so when she put it on that night it looked almost like a dress If it had been my sweater she would've practically been swimming in it She was my first kiss, and I was hers That same night I touched the body under that shirt she took It was more beautiful than I'd ever imagined I was doing laundry the other day I found that old shirt buried in the dryer Her perfume had finally washed out It's clinging to someone else's sweater now

Nothing I drink can scrape the taste of you off my lips You still linger like old cigarette smoke in my lungs I want to breathe you in again like I did on that cold January evening We were bundled up under blankets our bodies wound up together like DNA We were weaving our own story out of cold hands and entangled limbs I can still feel you wrapped around my fingers while yours wrapped around my necklace pulling me closer to you like you were clinging for dear life Now I'm listening close hoping for an echo of your voice to slip free from these walls I know that they are keeping it from me I know that there is still some semblance of you

swirling galaxies paint themselves upon your form. supernova girl, perhaps the day will come when our universes collide.

i went back and i sat in the place where we first held hands and i tried to remember what it felt like. They were soft, and warm, and small, your hands, but i just can't replicate the feeling, for you see, without your touch, my fingertips have long since frosted over.

They were saying, peace and safety But they did not see God’s hand in it, The devil waiting for them, The flames gathering. They expected nothing of it. But now they see The flames flashing about, And have nothing. Nothing to lay hold of as they fall into the pit, Nothing they can do, Nothing but thin air and empty shadows.

His footsteps echoed loudly in the open air of midnight as he waltzed his way down Main Street, hands dug deep in woolen pockets to avoid the morning chill. His breath bled out before him, making sure that all could see the goosebumps he was hiding beneath three layers of mid-September and behind a hurricane of unsorted feelings threatening to change his world view. And as he paced the sidewalk, a strange new feeling tugged at his stomach, begging him to chance a gander up into the sky. Suddenly, the world was silent, and for the first time in years his gaze departed from broken gravel and was filled with an open letter

     Have you taken your pills today?

Subtle stares and awkward glares leave Honesty to perish as the pressure slowly building drags it further down than a simple six feet. Time slows to a tick as Father Time's one bloody hand decides to take it slow for a change of pace, leaving milliseconds to be as subtle as shards of glass piercing flesh already rubbed raw from hours of calloused fingers tracing scars that go down to the bone. Fear keeps her in check, whispering Sweet Nothings to eager ears through rusty wind pipes hoping to keep her Free Will at bay as he binds her lips with empty promises. "Maybe if I'm quiet," She thinks, repeating after him,

You. You Are a drop of rain Speeding toward the ground Bringing new life To the dead soil Of a broken imagination. You Are a breath of fresh air, A whole new outlook In the poisonous atmosphere That is my mind, body And soul. You Are the sun lighting my day, The moon guarding my dreams And the star that guides me when I am lost And feel alone in a world that's not so small after all. You Are the sand that I can use To build the castle for my kingdom, And you are the rock I can build my shack upon Whenever the tide decides To throw its arms around the shore the way A sailor would his wife after a long day at sea. You