Puppet strings around my wrists like silver scars, 

Tied around neck like a noose. 

She cries her way through my anger, 

Guilts her way through my fear. 

Shadows like chained cinderblocks,

Can't walk away with hobbled ankles.

In the dark, she smiles, jerks the silver string. 

Another small scar, bleeding misery.

I'm ruined, convinced by her actions,

I'm not worth it,

Lied to by her words.

Broken bones heal in the silence,

Strings are frayed in the dark.

They might snap,

Then again, maybe I will too.

Sheets pulling at my finger tips,

Calloused hands well kissed,

Rest in the hollow of my throat.

Gentle finger tips,

Skate across my cheek,

Hair falling like raining silk.

A squeeze,

Soft at first,

Then a wrenching gasp.

His hands around my neck,

Scarred with all the love I had to give,

Forever growing tighter.

Arms flail, wailing down,

Chest caving in,

Making room for the air I cannot get. 

Soft fog packed between brain and skull,

Black curtains over eyes,

Then light spilling over.

Across the bed, sheets that held,

Lays out the back I've kissed,

Hands that deal death are nowhere to be seen.     

Should not we inhale air of poison,

Lay down our arms with weary sighs,

Surrender and bear the chosen

Punishment thrust upon with no proof of crime?

Cannot we find a target aimlessly,

Realize our vast faults and flaws,

Hoarding and collecting endlessly,

Leaving endless hungry maws?

Death is wished upon you and I,

A kiss to steal our souls,

Lay us down to die,

Silver chains forged over searing coals.

Forever screaming, trapped,

No way forward and no way back. 

Notes left on silent stone,

Flowers slumped under weighted tears,

Cannot the world leave the lives of men alone,

Those killed by unfounded fears?

Should not we cry to see

The displaced ache left on somber faces?

On bended knee cry guilty,

For lives lost in convoluted cases.

The lost walk of those without direction,

Faces stoic in face of sky and sea and sun,

Facing pity with marked deflection,

Dizzy though unspun.

Here lay the lives of the brave,

Only memories to mark what they gave. 

A single word,

More for those who hate silence.  

Either way, 

What they say,

Is scripted, expected, not new.  

A word for you;

Dream.

Afraid of life after,

The time when you sleep,

What you say,

Isn't written clear as day.

Muddled and blurred,

Are the dreams that creep. 

I feel them,

Sliding into me.

My eyes are glazed,

Shoulders heavy.

Chest is weighted, 

Holding up my heart in chains,

Shackled to my feet.

Steady shuffle,

Twist of hip,

Flinch of face.

Words pour into ears,

I drown in the blood they bring,

Mouth open,

Try to breathe. 

It crawls up from hell,

Covers the ground in mess,

Steps sucking you down,

Where it can climb inside,

Between skin and bone,

Slide under the skin,

Become the mind.

The burning touch,

Turns ice cold,

A heaving breath,

Constricted.

Iron bands,

Locked tightly around the chest,

Caging the wild joy,

Scoring your want to feel.

It's a shallow thing,

Only skin deep,

The skin is everywhere,

Painful to lose,

A must have.

Depression makes you dependant,

Infects your vision,

Becomes the only site

Worth looking at.

Is a tricky thing,

Belief.

Will and want,

Prayer and need.

Divine plans 

And serenity.

Religion is a falsehood,

God a drunk cheat.

But words, 

These we see and hear.

Unfurled like blossoms in spring,

With the impact of a raging storm.

How we shape them,

To please,

Twirl our tongue,

Twist our teeth.

Bite them off,

Or draw 

Them 

Out.

Paint a picture,

Vivid green,

Dancing in the sun,

Slinking in the rain,

Sighing in the shade. 

Words are

A base for us to build,

We live and breathe,

But there are those who don't.

They have their own words,

Soft and silent,

Encompassed in black. 

We have silver tongues,

They have silver sighs.

Believe in the power

Of the word

Instead of The Word. 

We sit,

Tuck our skirts under.

The head waves his hat,

Tea tumbles into our saucers.

A cat grins madly,

His teeth gleaming in the sugar,

Eyes trained on the rabbit,

Who thumps his foot,

His clock in hand.

A blue caterpillar,

Sits on the edge of the kettle,

Smoke rising from below.

He leers at me,

Sneers at the rabbit,

Slides into the kettle.

A cake slaps

The side of my face.

It screams,

Eat me, eat me!

My head feels cold,

Water dripping down my face,

Whispers in my ear,

Drink me, drink me.

A key,

Tied around my neck,

Tugging furiously,

Too flimsy to take me anywhere.

Here I sit,

Going insane,

Smoke rings wave,

I smile shyly.

The hat is waved,

His face painted white,

His eyelashes orange,

Covering his gleaming eyes,

Slitted, like the cat,

Hidden in the sugar,

Tail draped in cream.

A giant woman,

Stumbles upon us.

We ask her to join,

She says to put

The poor caterpillar,

Back outside,

Wash my hair,

Put my toys away.

We don't understand,

For we are outside,

There are no toys.

Hat asks her,

If she has lost her mind.