Verbatim

I hide behind this mask to cover up all the faults and cracks I wear embedded into my flesh... parts of me forever unseen even by those who know me best Sometimes I forget where the mask ends while the rest of me projects A facade is an easy scapegoat At times even easier to digest Beware when this shell begins to wear you When it can no longer protect You from imprisonment From the crown to the top of the neck Best defense lies upon introspect Find solace within the rhetoric Unmasked, unfiltered Tongue unsheathed, unhilted Perennial flower wilted Ready to rise once again Phoenix in the form of sunflower Soil shifted, still feeling uplifted Towards the Light of Higher Power Rs Darko

Ink enters my skin As easily as it spills from my fingers and lips Drippy little things Written legacy echoes eternities But flesh decays With a whimper As this mortal tapestry withers So, I welcome his percussive stab wounds time and time again Hoping our grand design could maybe make beauty of my pain Pretty poetic We are Eloquently catastrophic As he glides across my skin Naked and vulnerable Waiting and welcoming to the horrors.. Agitated flesh Feeling aggravated, stressed Clutching to myself for comfort After what I've allowed, What I've paid for I planned for this To make myself his Mark my body with his fist Enclosed around the scythe Disguised As a paintbrush To trace beauty Over my carved away inadequacies Cover it up in ink Cover my whole life in ink! He could have loved me But he could not love the way I think Pondering far too profusely Because my ink knows only how to bleed Paralyzed by what I've overanalyzed Perhaps it was I wh

I just want someone to treat me with care Not to baby or patronize me Not to underestimate or downplay my strength just so they can feel good about "saving" me I want to be understood as a wounded tiger.. My ferocity on pause while you emotionally nurse me Knowing damn well I might snap a couple times as you try, But that as the warmth befalls my body with your comforting touch I will slowly sink into your arms and succumb to the beauty of our vulnerability together

I want love, but I don't want you At least not in a loving way Not in a way that actually makes sense Not the way in which a healthy person connects Because to be honest, I don't know how to be loved without just being wanted for sex Identified from the midsection down Call her "Goddess" and "Queen" Still deny her the crown Truth is, I've grown accustomed to the disappointment Because I've always allowed it And I've found that the biggest let down is I've grown used to being used I want love, but I have only ever known abuse Abuse of my body, abuse of my mind Abuse of my spirit, Abuse of my time And when I'm alone, I abuse myself Reminded of all the times I've wanted to remove myself Masochism seems like the best medicine for my mental health Until I'm staring at an empty bottle And a knife on my shelf I smile and I laugh But I'm a stranger to you still Broken mirror reflections.. It's been a while

Rubble rock disguised as comet Weight of the world as it plummets Silver stream dreaming Thrown away on a fleeting wish Shimmering as it burns through the sky in resistance Only beautiful from a distance Empty combustion Fed by debris Ingestion of wishes from anyone who sees Fractals hidden from the human eye Lonely with only the other by its side Third one closed, it cries, But nobody is there to listen Silent screams echo through this existence Of a celestial body who was only ever meant to be observed as it glistens Rs.Darko

I don't need you to be the good guy I don't need you to be anything to me But a goodbye