189

One Hundred and Eighty-Nine

Ultimatum

Cold finality,

A sense of ultimatum

Issued from the past

188

One Hundred and Eighty-Eight

Below

Permanently scarred

Always aiming at the skies

Fall below the mark

187

One Hundred and Eighty-Seven

Knots

Wasted though you tried

Simple thread and marked regrets

Knots you won't untie

186

One Hundred and Eighty-Six

Forth

Burdens I still bear

Back and forth, decisions wane

Wishing I would stop

185

One Hundred and Eighty-Five

Rows

The back of my mind

Lined with endless rows of stones

Where thoughts cannot grow

184

One Hundred and Eighty-Four

Repel

Plunge into the fog

Bitter cries repel the ghosts

Demons you befriend

183

One Hundred and Eighty-Three

Sold

Bold and bold again

Shout the lessons never learned

All we are is sold

182

One Hundred and Eighty-Two

Transposed

Rain on virgin cheeks

Tears transposed from sudden chains

Soon you'll face the end

181

One Hundred and Eighty-One

Beyond

Soothing hurricane

Standing still against the wind

See beyond the eye

180

One Hundred and Eighty

Public

Cut from public view

Soon he'll be a faceless name

Victim of the shame

179

One Hundred and Seventy-Nine

Glass

Ticking at my wrist

Time of death beneath the glass

Twist to no avail

178

One Hundred and Seventy-Eight

Same

If I said the same

Might the mirror show my own

If I so begin?

177

One Hundred and Seventy-Seven

Within

All that's cast in dark

Find the change within myself

Lighting my own way

176

One Hundred and Seventy-Six

Cast

Stagger from the vow

See the light cast on the grave

See the shadows grow

175

One Hundred and Seventy-Five

Stain

Men from life refrain

Pushing past the forlorn truce

All that's left is stain

174

One Hundred and Seventy-Four

Plain

Pounding in my ear

Music beats my S.O.S

Hiding in plain sight

173

One Hundred and Seventy-Three

Played

Kings don't play the fool

Mirrors hide unwanted truths

Often are they played

172

One Hundred and Seventy-Two

Feast

Thinking bastard thoughts

Prayers bless the sinners' Mass

Feast on fasting hearts

171

One Hundred and Seventy-One

Host

Rivals play the host

Draw you in, then draw you out

All you have laid bare

170

One Hundred and Seventy

Vengeful

Endless old regrets

Maybe greater things remain

Cold and vengeful threats

169

One Hundred and Sixty-Nine

Disappear

Every step's a test

Often taken, never won

Soon I'll disappear

168

One Hundred and Sixty-Eight

Shrinking

Hope escapes the proud

Downcast eyes and shrinking glare

Always throwing stones

167

One Hundred and Sixty-Seven

Screams

Shaking with the sting

Poison spreads in silent screams

Taking all of me

166

One Hundred and Sixty-Six

Divide

Lengthy assumptions

Right is wrong and wrong is right

Survey the divide

165

One Hundred and Sixty-Five

Recapture

Removed from the scene

Dug a grave with lesser lies

Fatal recapture

164

One Hundred and Sixty-Four

Design

Vulgar and recessed

Consecrate my wasted thoughts

Speech with no design

163

One Hundred and Sixty-Three

Cement

Highways in the smog

Traversed and long forgotten

Drowning in cement

162

One Hundred and Sixty-Two

Tied

High above the crowd

There's a noose around your neck

Tied with your own hand

161

One Hundred and Sixty-One

Atlas

Laughs betray the fault

Fissures traced on crumbling worlds

Atlas let it fall

160

One Hundred and Sixty

Almost

Hiding from the world

Now you're almost all alone

Can't escape yourself

159

One Hundred and Fifty-Nine

Jest

Guesswork at its best

Every man's a poet's dream

All a poet's jest

158

One Hundred and Fifty-Eight

Later

Ready distortion

Miss the bend and later break

Easily immune

157

One Hundred and Fifty-Seven

Support

Slow and steady strums

Rhythm is my life support

Every beat's a breath

156

One Hundred and Fifty-Six

Ink

Stricken with a line

Humble ink betrays the page

All that page once told

155

One Hundred and Fifty-Five

Change

Earth and sand the same

Even mountains waste away

Some things never change

154

One Hundred and Fifty-Four

Weak

Sick with no disease

Caged for all the world to see

Wretched, strong or weak

153

One Hundred and Fifty-Three

Blurring

Waiting for a word

Never listened to the stars

Blurring night and day

152

One Hundred and Fifty-Two

Lesser

Lost along the way

Simple lies and lesser truths

Trailing close behind

151

One Hundred and Fifty-One

Trudging

Walk the chosen path

Weary eyes and trudging soul

No way to turn back

150

One Hundred and Fifty

Page

Chains that hold me in

No choice but to turn the page

Wishing I could sleep

149

One Hundred and Forty-Nine

Dripping

Strawberry dessert

Juice like blood in broken veins

Dripping form your mouth

148

One Hundred and Forty-Eight

East

Barefoot on the sand

Recollect the smell of salt

Fading in the east

147

One Hundred and Forty-Seven

Ages

Watch as ages pass

Dreams that fall apart at last

Live from dust to dust

146

One Hundred and Forty-Six

Price

If I sold my soul,

Gave up all that I am not,

Would your price be met?

145

One Hundred and Forty-Five

Pawn

One forgotten pawn

Whisked around the battlefield

Play that twisted game

144

One Hundred and Forty-Four

Crown

Halo and a throne

Bow as regent angels fall

Crown the demon king

143

One Hundred and Forty-Three

Diagnosis

Frailty of the soul

I have been misdiagnosed—

I am the disease

142

One Hundred and Forty-Two

Neither

Monsters here to stay

Found their way into my wall

Neither will escape

141

One Hundred and Forty-One

Respite

Hellish intentions

Risk a falsely-spoken name

All for vain respite

140

One Hundred and Forty

Ugly

Mirrors seem to stare

Ugly truths I thought I knew

Asking "do I dare?"

139

One Hundred and Thirty-Nine

Fame

Faces in a crowd

One is left to fade away

Memories of fame

138

One Hundred and Thirty-Eight

Risking

Twist and blame the pain

Stopped before a barbed wire fence

Risking your escape

137

One Hundred and Thirty-Seven

Searching

Lost, forgotten souls

Wander through the dusk and chill

Searching for themselves

136

One Hundred and Thirty-Six

Dead

Landmines in my bed

Toss and turn all through the night

Never wake up dead

135

One Hundred and Thirty-Five

Mars

Far from heavy light

Took a stroll to see the moon

Ended up on Mars

134

One Hundred and Thirty-Four

Groan

Lines traced through the dust

Far away the midnight groans

Fall short of the mark

133

One Hundred and Thirty-Three

Thoughts

Faces pressed to glass

Thinking thoughts you've never had

Wishing it was time

132

One Hundred and Thirty-Two

Skip

Breathing out of tune

Orchestrate the rise and fall

Skip the dénouement

131

One Hundred and Thirty-One

Wonder

Eyes awake at night

Shallow sleep and fallow dreams

Left to wonder why

130

One Hundred and Thirty

Frames

Cradle empty frames

Laden with the winter's dust

Memories remain

129

One Hundred and Twenty-Nine

Traverse

Jagged underfoot

Slice and thwart my chosen path

Stabbings I traverse

128

One Hundred and Twenty-Eight

Beasts

Bread for the masses

Riots start and never cease

Men are only beasts

127

One Hundred and Twenty-Seven

Quilt

The world is asleep

Snow is just the Autumn's quilt 

Dreams of coming Spring

126

One Hundred and Twenty-Six

Fuses

Waiting for the end

Cannons mark the finish line

Fuses sparked with age

125

One Hundred and Twenty-Five

Arms

Fingers, lips, and hearts

Living in each other's arms

We outshine the stars

124

One Hundred and Twenty-Four

Words

Fight the burning eyes

Empty threats to fill the void

Silent words unheard

123

One Hundred and Twenty-Three

Brush

Paint me shades of green

Canvas ripped in dreams at night

Brush strokes tipped with red

122

One Hundred and Twenty-Two

Unbecoming

Taken from the skies

Storms that tear the world apart

Unbecoming rage

121

One Hundred and Twenty-One

Reach

Sinking out of reach

Screaming slips to lifeless limbs

Echoes on the waves

120

One Hundred and Twenty

Broken

Waiting to go numb

Broken time and time again

Pain that never dulls

119

One Hundred and Nineteen

Sound

Shield yourself with sound

Speak in thoughts that no one hears

Tremble in the dark

118

One Hundred and Eighteen

Arid

Once the strength of steel

Life succumbs to arid waste

Fissures lace the ground

117

One Hundred and Seventeen

Bliss

Forever falling

One can only fall so far

Ignorance was bliss

116

One Hundred and Sixteen

Ruby

Such deafening noise

Drowning out the sounds of peace

Slashed in ruby rain

115

One Hundred and Fifteen

Reign

Night falls while you sleep

Unseen vices all but reign

Running from the light

114

One Hundred and Fourteen

Drip

Half-full coffee cups

Stories told among the lost

Emptied drip by drip

113

One Hundred and Thirteen

Insect

Bites that sting and bleed

Too late is the insect seen

Venom slowly spreads

112

One Hundred and Twelve

Seen

Blossoms on the hill

One small thorn hides in their midst

Hoping to be seen

111

One Hundred and Eleven

Call

Bait for the weak-willed

Revolutions call me home

Tempted with a dream

110

One Hundred and Ten

Unlock

Vibrant monotone

Light-borne fingers wield the keys

Unlock sleeping souls

109

One Hundred and Nine

Plucked

Horrors washed ashore

Sinking tides reveal the truth

Plucked from foaming waves

108

One Hundred and Eight

Worth

Likened to the stars

Set above the world below

Scorned for all their worth

107

One Hundred and Seven

Fool

Masks that seem so sweet

Every beat, another fool

No one stops to think

106

One Hundred and Six

Glass

Mute the humble sound

Coolly watch the steady fall of

Rain behind the glass

105

One Hundred and Five

Call

Sunlight struggles through

Storms are brewing just ahead

Waiting for their call

104

One Hundred and Four

Havoc

Clouds predict a storm

Lightning poses empty threats

Havoc wrought in flames

103

One Hundred and Three

Confirm

Weakness takes the blame

New and old confirm defeat

Never show your strength

102

One Hundred and Two

There

Wind combs through my hair

Once I thought it pulled me home

Now it drags me there

101

One Hundred and One

Passage

Multitudes of man

Setting forth on broken trails

Passage has a cost

100

One Hundred

Aging

Knowing what I don't

Reach toward an aging past

Endings come and go

99

Ninety-Nine

Door

Perfectly composed

Laughter never sounds so real

Rushing to the door

98

Ninety-Eight

Savage

Quick to cast them down

Subtle hints and savage lies

Always on the run

97

Ninety-Seven

Haunt

Pictures on the wall

Faces melt in cold contempt

Demons haunt these halls