This cruel thought perpetuates the myth

The distance tears at my heart

The hurt rips a fire into the mind

And I am left a gut stuffed with stones

I am beaten

I am hanging this by a thread

I am over this fire

With a single thought

This devastated my innermost being

I have stood at the shore

And welcomed the ocean at my feet

Watched the sun sink below

Witnessed the stars appear

Now night stands before me

I look upon the cage from which I escaped

The pain from which I came

Has never lessened to which I go

Stranded in freedom with no comfort from the know

I am a shallow man with no name.

THE SHALLOW ROSE

When the shallow rose

Has no breath to take

And she withers from herself

Pales the color of her petals

Staining thorns to break

And stem to fold

I am weakened

Wanting to caress and hold

Some tears thus crave to soothe

The strain on her

My heart cries to bring

A breath to her quivering petals fold

And strengthen her resolve

To bloom in a jar on my window sill

There I can behold.