He will always be there.
Not for me
But in my life
He is an armless apparition
Who was never there to hug me.
He comes and goes
In and out of jail
In and out of my life
Like the ocean’s tide
Only the tide comes every day...
My father doesn’t.

Our Love a Rose, like Fire Bloomed,
It’s Tongues lapped up and pierced the gloom, A burst of Light that put the Sun to shame,
A Shooting Star Screams through the Dark, But ev’ry Thorn shall leave its mark, And all that’s left inside is shock and pain...
You never know
Just what you’ll find,
When you explore
A brand new sky,
Suffocate or grow beneath its warmth?
And as you feel
Two hearts combine Remember now
That in your mind
You feel this petal flutter ‘til it’s torn
Love’s a Rose Reborn.
It Hurts today, another Scar,
A Mountain Ridge, it seems so far I stare up at the Icy Stone above,
I set my jaw, my fingers crossed,
My Bloody Hands claw through the Frost That covers your cold heart that once felt Love...
I’m reaching up,
Snow leaves me blind,
And now I realize as I climb
The sky peers down upon these stony thorns,
And now I feel
This Earthen Rhyme
I See it Clearly
In my Mind,
Falling pebbles are Mountains being Born...
And from the Dirt,
Now mixed with Ash,
A Seed beneath
from Distant Past,
Awakened by the Sun, Survived the Storm...
Shooting Upwards,
towards the Sky,
The Sands of Time
breed Firevine
The Pebble becomes Sand beneath its Thorns...
Love’s a Rose Reborn.

This goes out to all the missing and stolen wallets of the world.
To that ten dollar bill that grew legs
and pranced off into an alternate dimension.
To the pennies that were thrown on the ground
by people who thought they were worthless.

This goes out to the one-hundred dollar bill
and the car keys
that were left in a bottomless coat pocket,
and to the despicable co-worker who took the coat
​thinkin’ it was theirs.

This goes out to the smartphones,
and prescription glasses,
and expensive cameras,
that have a nice studio apartment
in the bottom of the ocean.

This goes out to all the laptops
that’ve had the blissful taste of coffee
spilled all over their hard drive,
and to all the mornings that have malfunctioned because of it.

This goes out to all the single missing diamond earrings,
and all the engagement rings
that have taken a train through the entire digestive system
of a dog.

This goes out to all that food that had to be thrown away
due to a power outage.
To all the clean water that goes down the drain
when the faucet can’t stop crying
because no one cared enough to turn it off all the way.
To all the bottles that never get recycled,
and all the gym memberships
that sit lazily in between the couch cushions
and snack on potato chips.

This goes out to all the words
anyone has ever spoken to themselves.
All the fingernails that’ve ever been bitten,
All the pens that’ve been absentmindedly clicked,
All the knuckles that’ve been cracked,
All the conversations that were never listened to,
All the hair elastics that have ever been “borrowed”
and then joined that ten dollar bill in the alternate dimension.

This goes out to all the promises that have ever been broken.
All the hopes that have ever been crushed,
All the rumors that have ever been spread,
All the secrets that have ever been shared,
All the lies that have ever been told,
and all the sentences that never got finished
because the composer was so lovestruck.

This goes out to all the cracked pavement,
and toppled skyscrapers,
and fractured bones,
and broken hearts,
and cancerous lungs,
and all the nicks
anyone has ever had the displeasure of receiving
while they were trying to shave.

Humans are not perfect.
We put the ‘I’ in mistake
and in accident,
but, that doesn’t make us either of those things.
Maybe we were put on this world to help each other.
Maybe that wallet I lost
was found by a good person
who took the fifteen bucks,
cut up my debit card,
laughed at the photo on my school id,
and went on their merry way.
Or maybe it’s camped out in the space
​between my bedframe and the wall, waiting to be found.
Or maybe it never will be found. Maybe it doesn’t want to be.
Maybe. 

​

Life's Cutthroat Game
by Matt Kolessar '19

​Come, don’t be afraid.
I want to take you on a journey with me.
Imagine two scenes presented to you.
Two beautiful scenes
Filled with an infinite number of possibilities.
Which one are you to choose?
An unfair question for you know not about them.
So let me fail to capture that beauty in feeble words
In hope to enlighten you about this journey we traverse.
 
You gaze upon one
With a pale snowy sheet
Accompanied by those cool gusty winds
Captured by a pair of sapphire gems.
The golden sun hangs down from overhead
Keeping one warm while wandering through this cold dimension.
Please do not be afraid, for the cold is not to resemble negativity,
Just another void awaiting your warmth.
Remember, as a child, when you would roam this cold winterland,
It was not a place for sorrow, but a time of joy.
So why not hurl yourself in,
Enthrall that feeling once again.
Why not, but for one reason.
If you choose to adventure this realm,
There will surely be footprints telling your path.
So when you have played your wintery games,
Choose to settle and gaze at the beauty once again,
Will you remember how it once looked,
The beauty untouched?
What will happen when your fire burns too much?
For snow shrieks away at it’s dangerous touch.
Who would have thought that the greatest danger this paradise,
Could be you?
 
Do not worry or fret,
For there is another option.
There always seems to be forks in this road.
Come now, bring that fire,
You shall need it to see this world that awaits.
Why you ask, for the darkness flows from the trees,
Dangling down over the two moons,
Made of metallic green melted and mixed with a bronze luster.
Ever watching, looking down for a worthy champion.
This world, covered with caramel plates,
Is different from the other.
It is another person’s paradise.
While some whimper and panic,
Fleeing from the obsidian night,
Others go with their obsidian knight,
Facing these mysterious unknowns.
Oh won’t you put out your fire,
You’ll spoil the fun.
The mysteries shriek away from your bright light.
If you keep it on,
There soon may not be many mysteries left.
Is this what you want, to destroy this world too?
 
It isn’t you, it’s your fire.
Your passion to explore,
The anticipation you burn away with every step you take.
Leaving behind a smoldering corpse,
In place of the one you longed for.
Everything you want in this contest for survival,
Requires a sacrifice.
Can’t you hear the chanting?
Just extinguish the flame.
What’s this you say?
Maybe there is a way to play the game,
All the while keeping your light to find the way.
Heresy, Blasphemy,
You dare contradict me?
I am your voice,
Your compass,
Your bane of existence.
I am you and you are me.
I’ve made my choice,
So suck it up and take a knee
Yes, finally, extinguish your flame,
Put aside your passion, pride, and venturing delights.
And jump into these worlds of adventure.
​