They scour our kingdom, 
the searing scent of spent gunpowder, 
erecting their stone towers, 
and hiding inside them like cowards. 
These are your final hours. 
Imagine the forgotten spring's flower 
and endless afternoon rain showers. 
May your flesh grant power, 
May our enemies be devoured.

She's always so articulate, 
her voice: my favorite instrument,
never a hint of dissonance 
no matter the predicament. 
Her iris exhausts the infinite 
and her mind mirrors her magnificence.  
Her smile is brilliant and not so innocent. 
Her touch: unrivaled among stimulants, 
unable to be simulated, 
deeper than the definition of 'intimate', 
and I am the content participant.

They can all sit and rot, 
trying to tell me that I am  
what I am not. 

Shut me out;  
I see all of these bridges they built
burning down to the ground in my thoughts. 

Shut your mouth; 
my cup of coffee accompanied 
by the authors of every petty plot. 

Close my eyes; 
your smirk is still a picture 
that's been permanently etched beneath my eyelids.  

I know I can't forget
and so I don't try it. 
Stranded on a glass island, 
in solitude I can imagine (What's waiting there?) 
what lies behind your iris. (What's waiting there?) 

Tongues dripping with violence, 
your cherry blossom breath 
seeps like cyanide, 
perfume my skin.  

And I hear your whisper, 
"Will you let me in?" 
and this is my answer, 
"The door's been wide open, 
when can we begin?"

I don't know how to prove to you  
that there is so much you can do. 
Words are just words, even inherent truths. 
I'm still a nobody standing next to you. 
Guess I've gotta grow then, found my old roots.  

I'll level up, my love, 
I don't mind the grind. 
I'll level up my love, 
for us I'll make the time. 
I'll level up, my love, 
we can walk inside our minds.  

I think that we can agree: 
Life is like an RPG 
but solo play's no way to be. 
Maybe I could join your party? 

I hate heights but I can climb 
the digital mountain that would divide 
us, just because
I've never seen a light like yours 
and I want you to see what it sounds like 
to me when I hear your voice, 
maybe floating castles made of turquoise?  

I'll level up, my love, 
I don't mind the grind. 
I'll level up my love, 
for us I'll make the time. 
I'll level up, my love, 
we can walk inside our minds. 

I think that we can agree: 
Life is like an RPG 
but solo play's no way to be. 
Maybe I could join your party?

Fashioning my last fang
into a skeleton key
to split this frozen sea;
your depths of endless degrees.

Distant dreamer,
melting in a fever.
I can still see her
in my golden mirror.

Study your subtle 
idiosyncrasies,
Pocket your secrets 
like a thief,
and pen this page with 
fingers that bleed.

Distant dreamer,
melting in a fever.
I can still see her
in my golden mirror.

Circle of statues.
This story is our
secret rendezvous.
I see now that I
was wrong to leave you.
The words from my pen:
a writhing tattoo. 
Carve that lesson deep
and we start anew.
Chip away the scabs
that we have accrued.

I won't leave my bed
for something less than
fairy tale romance. 
Call this abstract art?
I will rip you apart.
No charts, no stars, but
I will find your heart;
manual restart.

Distant dreamer,
melting in a fever.
I can still see her
in my golden mirror.

I am the storm that 
swallows midnight suns.
Boiling black clouds: 
my deluge begun.
Sweeping swirling cyclone
Cast aside the known
for dulcet sounds of silence,
for tender technicolor tones.

Andante, andante, 
Bringer of the day...
I followed your footsteps
Wayward of the icy wastes, 
through the frozen forests, 
to meet at the mirror lake. 

I said, 
"Your sound is sweet release. 
A smile on your face is all I need to see.
You know I aim to please; 
you're the only one for me."  

Andante, andante, 
Bringer of the day...
South along the sunken shore, 
sailing past the isles of glass 
erupting from the sea floor; 
reminders of a time no more. 

And she said, 
"Are you really so sure?  
Ethereal allure, 
your thoughts I obscure. 
My heart was inured, 
You will not find a cure." 

Andante, andante, 
Bringer of the day...
So color me entranced, 
Through my dreams you dance, 
across emerald meadows, 
your dress dyed by a rainbow. 

And I said, 
"It's too late now, 
can't go back to life 
inside a flashback. 
I'm building us a bonfire 
from a feeling you inspired. 
You are the one I admire."  

Andante, andante, 
Bringer of the day...
Now we can chase the moon, 
soar across those silent summits 
all with wings you wrought 
from these lonesome thoughts.

Adjacent rooms in the 
glass aviary.
I put my ear to the wall, 
I took to your call.
Couldn't see your face 
and I loved your taste.
Like a blueberry, 
bright and bitter.

Descending into the
depths of the dungeon.
Endless eternity
embraces everything.

We were both their prisoners 
(Manacled, tarred, and feathered!)
Before we bled red blood of victors. 
(Carved out our inhibitors!)
Can we be our own co-conspiracy? 
(Consider this my signature!)
We can push the perimeter. 
(Conquer the contributors!)

This story is a library 
where I want to live.
I'll break down the walls 
just to await your call.
My name is the Prisoner,
Freedom is my song!
Point out foes before me,
I will make them crawl.

I ran out of stones for my poems 
and so you rolled a saving throw.
Deliver the blow, overlord overthrown,
thrashing the throne, disassemble the drones.
Illuminate the unknown, obfuscate what I know. 
Why fly all alone? Captain to co-pilot,
do we know the way home? 
This verse is my cologne: 
never leave you hanging 
like a dial tone. 
I see sly eyes flashing those sapphire stand-ins
but you know I know the emerald hill zone. 
Catch me at the top, the last one standing.

Chessmaster,
we've known since long ago;
playing pieces carved from
bones of fallen foes.
Let me take my seat
across from you again.
Tell me what do you do
think of your old friend? 
Make your move 
and then we'll know
how deep this
burrow can go.

You can be the Queen to my Alice. 
This love is a half-step between 
obsession and malice.
It's all in the games that we choose to play.
It's all in the words and phrases we say.
It's the way you chase the night into day
using all of your your magic spells and swordplay.

Curtain call!
Axe to fall!
The burden of all!
Make me feel small!

Just what is the point of this? 
I can't seem to unball my fists!
The light bulb is an exorcist,
My mind is ruled by a perfectionist!
An exhibition abscission addition
just the price of my admission!

Tactician, logician, magician, musician, 
mechanical phantasm of perdition!
Juxtaposition presupposition!
Nuclear fission decomposition!
No boundary condition for my mission!

The wizard wanders,
The world widens.
Violent submission,
Intuition suspicion.

The laws of nature dictate this causality.
You stand atop of the peak so casually.
The crown that you wear just seems so much to bear,
You cannot ever falter – you’re as light as air.

You are the hunter,
They are the hunted.
Read their face,
Know your place.

Breathe.