Just a young boy, only fourteen, raised in a hazy house.                                      

Taught that his ways were okay.

Making easy money, 

play after play. 

The ambition increases with each day. 

This became the only way. 

He took care of his mother, providing like a father. 

Everyone in town knew his name. 

He'll probably go down in fame. 

Whatever was wanted, he had it.

years passed, 

How long can this apprehensive life last? 

Friends turning into foes; who can you trust?

God, who knows?

He wanted out but didn't know where to turn. 

He didn't want to be an example for others to learn. 

He had a dream, and he had hope; he wanted to stop selling dope. 

He decided today was the last time; he thought he would get out just fine. 

As he handed over the last of his contraband,

what happened next, he didn't understand. 

The sound of distant sirens became awfully close.

He was caught, surrounded, in fact. Looking like the end,

along with the cops, came his best friend. 

In shock from the betrayal, he shook his head. 

He mouthed to him, "You better hide, or you're dead!"

Freddy put his hands up in defeat. 

He slowly backed aside. Could he escape on his two feet?

He made the impulsive decision to run away. 

See, this is a game; if you don't win, you will forever play. 

The consequences he couldn't afford to face, 

so he picked up his pace.

No one hears from him much anymore.

Police looking for him, door to door. 

Letting Go: A Gift to Self

Today was the day that the dead weight of the past, 

finally decided it was time-

to free me of it's grip-

and it told me...

Go on,

be free,

today, I finally got to be me. 

Black and White 

We live in a world that is so black and white.

We forget to appreciate the little bit of color drawn between the lines. 

Obeying the bold facts, not paying mind to simple opinions.

Afraid to step out of the ordinary because of the unsure adversity we might face.

Creativity is obliterated by the standards of what is correct, causing us to fear that we are living wrong instead of constructing our fate. 

 I am a time bomb. 

Formed by a decadent society, 

at any minute, I could detonate,

obliterating anything in my path. 

Who was the creator of this weapon capable of mass destruction? 

Well, look around you.

It wasn't just one ingenious individual,

but instead, a team of ignorant. 

They will believe lies, even if the truth is right in front of them.

They flock together.

I am not like them. 

I try to be, but I am not. 

If I don't have them, then who do I have?

I used to feel sorry for people who ate alone at restaurants, 

because they were okay with just having themselves 

as their only company. 

How valorous. 

Now, I don't feel empathy for those people; I envy them. 

I would drive myself mad. 

My thoughts always have been my own worst enemy. 

I am like an expensive wine glass, 

dropped on a hardwood floor,

as it collides with the surface, shattering-

into thousands of microscopic glass fragments.

Those remnants are nearly invisible,

You'll think you have rid of every last bit. 

One day, the light will reflect off the transparent debris,

emitting a glare that calls for your attention. 

I am glaring for someone's attention, 

but no one has gathered my broken pieces.

I am just a shard, an accident waiting to happen. 

I walk around with a heart made of glass.

Carrying these permanent scars that were always intended to last. 

A distant echo,

those same eternal screams. 

Constantly interrupting

and slowly corrupting my dreams. 

Playing like a repeated song on a broken tape. 

Until, finally, succumbing to distortion. 

I can't tell if what I'm hearing is real. 

Because I've lost faith in who I am. 

After years of hiding behind a facade that I wear like a hat. 

Not even the mirror recognizes the stranger in this body. 

Even though we meet at least once a day. 

Oh, I guess I'm a loner in the dark.

A passerby on a forsaken road-

Not intended to embark.

Oh, I guess I'm the estranged. 

I'm unsure if I have a single friend,

and I'm left wondering if time will ever mend. 

An addict of dejection, scared of even attempting 

due to unsure rejection. 

Neglect is so good at impersonating love. 

I appreciate the act; it was quite a show. 

I wish you saved the performance for someone who wasn't already low. 

I wish you saved it for someone-

who wasn't a loner in the dark, 

someone who felt like more than half of a soul,

slowly falling apart from all of the ineffective attempts,

all of the tries-

that were supposed to be something but amounted to nothing. 

I wish you saved it for someone better than the estranged. 

Trying to assemble stable ground to walk from a wreckage so intense. 

That debris falls through the fingers, slipping quicker than sand through an hourglass.

I wish you saved it for someone who wasn't relying on time to make feelings pass. 

I wish you weren't an addict of dejection and you could have spared your rejection. 

I wish you hadn't looked at me and seen your past reflection. 

But you cut our tie with a single lie. 

The breaking of a bridge with someone who just wanted you to see all you could have been and what you can still be. 

When you're most happy is when he will come by. He may have been the devil himself, but you see him as a lullaby. Hypnotized by his siren song, his deceitful words entwined in your brain. But, you know he won't be here long. 

Meet me in the hallway. 

Promising lies, delusional dreams of fame, and mixed emotions flood a hopeful soul. And he is only to blame. Frustration is now taking a toll. His ease was a distraction; his ways were intriguing. He was an instant infatuation. Your once curiosity is now reaping. 

Meet me in the hallway. 

Every time you would see him, he had a maleficent grin, usually up to no good, some may say up to sin. He was dauntless but comforting; inside, you could tell he was suffering. He hated who he was and he hates what he does. That's why you would go when he would say- 

Meet me in the hallway. 

A million perfect moments- 

Accumulated for right now to happen. 

Do you ever take a minute and think about everything that has led up to the current day?

It's pretty incredible, I would say.

How a million different moments brought all of us this way.

Some wore a disguise that may have been hard to understand.  

Hidden under a mask of loss, heartache, or a million things turning out, well-

Not quite how you thought they would be. 

In retrospect, I hope now you can see that our winding paths have some sense- at least to a degree. 

Right now, we are exactly where we are supposed to be. 

Calling this fate may be somewhat simplistic or even a little unrealistic.

But we can save that for a later debate. 

It makes sense to call this the butterfly effect because every choice you make-

Every decision you correct-

Crafted the now.

Then you meet someone who feels like the into to your favorite song, a tune that echos so clar-

You know your right where you belong. 

And that's why we are all here,

From far and from near. 

The chaos of life put on a brief pause-

To witness and be a part of love. 

What a phenomenal cause. 

All of the different circumstances and remarkable chances- 

That it took for you two to meet- 

That's quite a concept, and I find it rather neat.

And now we are here, in the midst of a million perfect moments.