Drops of Lead

When it sounds too good to be true, you must know it surely is

Because fairytales don’t happen and the underdog rarely wins

Our misconception of perfection, derived from movies and books and plays

Even so has become distorted in this changing cultural age

When something feels so perfect, be sure it’s gonna change

Because nothing that feels worth it ever seems to stay

It must be my own destiny to play sidekick to the hero

In order to assist success even if it’s not my own

For once I wish these stories I’m always writing in my head

Would become some sort of reality, not merely drops of lead

Stuck

It's been forever.

I haven't written anything in ages.

Perhaps the poetry side of me is dying...

I'll keep trying but if nothing else shows up, keep in mind all these poems are old, like ages old.

We'll see what happens.

There is always hope!

Once Magnificent

Poetry is a mask

made of the papier-mâché

of your emotions

A small piece,

a small flavor,

genuinely you,

but oddly only one,

or a few,

sides of you,

or maybe a hundred

People try to glance into

the author’s mind

but get more than they bargained for:

they get a piece

of the heart

But only the most dedicated

and avid readers

will even come close to that:

the gem,

the true meaning,

which perhaps not even the author knows

For the emotions are written in

between the lines,

under the lines,

piled ten layers thick,

this mask describing the substance

And as the reader reaches through each shell,

he will ultimately end up

with nothing,

the mask was not concealing

anything at all!

In confusion

the reader searches for this face

that should,

must,

be in the mask

The face of the author,

the mind,

the heart,

the gem,

the meaning,

the purpose

of the entire work.

The reader gives up angrily,

begrudging his lost time,

as he kicks the pile

of peeled-away

garbage

across the room

How long

will it take him

to realize

the true treasure

was in the layers

so meticulously torn away

and now lying in ruin

of a work

once magnificent?