*This is a compilation of poems, all of them defining at least one line in the final poem. I don't know what I think of this idea... To anyone just skimming through, start mid-way. I couldn't get the first few as I wanted them but they were necessary pieces to the puzzle...*





At the World's End



The journey to this ledge
Was no smooth voyage

I took no step on my own
Yet the footsteps behind me
Surpass the horizon

Each step was more of a push
Something that made me
Want to move closer to
My death...

In the trail behind me
I left my depressions.

Whereas I used to leave
Bottle caps in my wake
Of discontent and pain
The past few miles
Have been seeded with
Eraser dust

Though I now stand still,
Soon to be buried in my
Eraser dust mountain

The final step,
Off the cliff
Is too hard to take...






There was Once a Time



There was once a time
When smiles came to me
In simplistic pleasures,
When I could still
Dance
         in
    the
         rain

Back when the rain drops
Didn't irritate my skin

Back when I didn't envy them
For being tasked
With nothing other
Than to just fall.

I wish to do the same.
& To have a purpose
That simple...







The Tempest's Torment



It was as though
Zeus had grown bored
After so many years
Of typical, predictable storms

It was as though
Me stepping out the door
Was seen as an opportunity
To have some kind of
twisted enjoyment



Soon enough
After the downpour
Of disappointments
& inescapable circumstances

I wished under my breath
That Zeus would
Improve his aim
And hit me already








& The Rose-Beds Flattened



I never planted the seeds
They just showed up one day,
Uninvited but earnestly welcomed

They (you) grew on me quickly
And I thought that for once
I was being shown some mercy

But whatever wind blew you here
Caught its mistake
& flattened all of the roses...


It was as if,


God were a flower delivery boy
First day on the job.
Dropping off a sentiment of love
To my door
That I desperately needed;
Then realizing later
It was the wrong address,
& Reclaiming the
Smile from my face.









The Weeds Laid Claim




They feasted on the
Happiness that used to
Cling to memories of her
The dead roses, everywhere.

They grew quickly,
Quickly became my friends.
The vines consumed me

&

They were the only things
That would hold onto me
In those dark times...

The vines were
Means of coping

They were
Love's substitutes

They held me in
The dark times
When she could not

They grew from the seeds
That I sowed to
Deal with the death of
My [presumed] perfect garden

They grew from
Bottle caps & Eraser Dust
Left in my wake of depression













Fade to Gray



She gave up an eternal devotion
In that day she
Tossed my heart aside

She gave up our strongest emotion
In that day she
Turned me gray inside,

She denied love.
The strongest force we have.



And yet she feels so powerful...
Atop her throne of stone hearts








Crumbling Columns



She strains to support
My limp, defeated form

I submit to pressures above,
I no longer have the will to stand

But she keeps me safe,
Though trembling under my weight

She was just as faded as I was
& Just as injured by demons wearing love's mask

Why does she strain to support me...?
It hurts to watch her crumble...

She would be better off supporting
A more solid structure.

Yet from here I do what I can,
Shielding her from the rain & further pain

We need each other now.


At least this way,
We may crumble together

& be together
Forever more











Relinquished Rubble




Just as with anything
That passed without leaving
Some considerable mark,
I too will be forgotten

I have accepted it
& Have already begun


To forget all the little pieces of myself
That have broken off

Relinquished rubble.


In my time here,
The world has worn me away

In my passing,
Time will wear away my name
Just as easily











The Weathered Temple



It stood tall and triumphant
Upon a cliff at the world's end.
[Though unable to take the final step...]
Through the centuries of its glacial movement,
It had scraped through rock
Tearing through the terrain,
Left tattered and desolate.

There was once a time
It stood white and beautiful
But the world denied its tranquility,
Unleashing the tempest's torment
The torture was slow and agonizing
First the rose-beds flattened
And weeds laid claim to
Everything they could reach,
Greedy vines sprawling up the walls.

Those walls which had
Faded to gray;
They cracked and they crumbled,
The violent winds whistling through the crevices,
These wounded stones whispered to the clouds
That they were sorry for
Whatever provoked this punishment

The weathered temple still stands
& stands still
[Supported by crumbling columns]
Unwillingly accepting its abuse;
The heavy tempest winds still whipping,
The swollen acidic rain still scorching

There will soon come a day
When the columns crumble
And it will be a temple
No more.




Relinquished rubble.




There will soon come a day
When this temple
Is forgotten.












*I've written this and I still can't tell if it is about the poet or the poetry, it suits both so well... Another piece of relinquished rubble added to my pile, thanks to anyone who read this far...*

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