there's a fire in the school

a stampede filtering over
the hill
and they think they're not crushing me,
but look at my sunken chest
and my splintered limbs —
what will I do about that?

the flames licking at
the school
and they're not really there,
but look at my terrified eyes
and the smoke choking my breaths —
what can I do about that?

the hailstorm pounding against
the skylight
and it doesn't break through,
but look at the wrath of god striking at me
and the shards of glass parting my wet hair —

what am I supposed to do about that?

this child

i thought maybe it was my fault
when you got hit by that big SUV
i thought maybe i didn't love you enough
because love keeps our friends alive

i thought maybe i made a mistake
and skipped a prayer for the sake of sleep
i thought maybe i messed this up
because love is enough to keep our friends alive
right?

the following is utterly ripped off from "sic transit gloria... glory fades"

control control control control
control control control control

I was sitting there in the bar, having
so much fun;
I was sliding my hands along the counter
let's rewind a bit —

I was yelling in a place no one could hear,
"DIE YOUNG AND SAVE YOURSELF!"
and then suddenly
everyone else was yelling it too;

I was making them all shatter into pieces,
the glasses I mean,
because the people are mine, and
they were already broken anyway.

I was enjoying it, I was smiling
it was smiling twisted
but then I screamed it again at the wall,
but then I ran my hand down my body, and so did they;

I was making her show herself to me;
her eyes had nothing in them — I'd taken it away —
so I just asked her to show me her shoulder
no, that's a lie; I made her do it

He was waving and he was
making me wave back at him and I
had lost it because I had lost what was
inside of me; I was empty

He was making me wave back at him
He was making me wave back at him
I couldn't stop myself from waving back at him
He was making me do it

i lost control

I am in shock. !!!

I knew there was something strange about you
and it wasn't a red herring this time;

some things gave you away:
your red ribbons; your tidy home;
your tidy mind (but really you just
hid everything in the closets, didn't you?).

And you didn't recoil at Mr. Doe,
or beg to say that you lied,
or weep at the prospect of your true self
being exposed to the ignorant;

you just you always just
smiled.

après stop-loss

Our bodies are full up with blood,
so much that our skins can barely contain it;
and when we explode,
Pollock himself would applaud the result.

existentialism plus!

I believe in personal demons,
in digging up graves for fun,
in doing rain dances when a hurricane comes
until the grass is torn up beneath our feet.

All the trees in this mighty forest
depend on their roots to draw breath;
Men have no roots to keep us standing;
What are we doing? Where are we going?

Man is condemned to be free
and fly on wings of wax,
fearing the sun, the fog, and gusts of wind
that might trap him in the trees;

Don't put yourself up on a pedestal, boy,
You've done nothing good;
Everything was luck, it was all accidental,
We'll topple you down, boy, down, down, down!

I'll leap into the hellhounds' den
and let their red ripping jaws take me,
Because I'm no better than them, you see;
We're all condemned. We're all condemned.

Now our finale, boys and girls,
I'm going to step into a pit of fire;
Why don't you come forward and join me here?
It's only a matter of time.

And when (oh yes, when) you walk in here,
don't expect your right-handed glory;
your body is smoke and your spirit is ash,
billowing up into your sisters' throats.

There's no God up in that sky, you see,
but there's a devil beneath our feet.

There's no God up in that empty sky,
but there's a devil inside our minds.

mr. booth

there's a light,
in the skylight, past the sloughing of
the rain;

there's a light,
flashing over the brook, at the wide
window that bears witness to —

there's a light,
it flickers a thousand times a second,
or so, but my eyes understand;

there's a light,
in that boy's eyes, when he secures
himself in that man's arms —

but there's also a light
in the man's eyes, because
with that boy, he, too, is secure.