Sljslj

Got some more poetry for y'all.
A few hours ago, I, for some reason, remembered a poem I wrote a couple years ago called "...To Astound" and how much I enjoyed it. Upon reading it, I found my fond memories justified. I really do love this poem. I've re-posted it here so people can get a "back-story" on the new one.

Anyway, after a few hours of writing, re-writing, and meticulously editing it to perfection, I ended up with "Astound 2 - Beating Heart" It shares quite a bit of similarity with the first, as I wanted it to be clear that these are poems are siblings. But it's very different from it's older brother, and is, in my opinion, the stronger of the two.

I realize the length of some of the stanzas in "2" may make the poem a little confusing. I apologize if this is the case, but It's written exactly the way I want and I don't plan on changing it.

Enjoy.

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...TO ASTOUND

We are wanderers
Not lost, but never to be found
With the intention to thrive and astound
We are ponderers
Challenging everything
Questioning all opposition
We are vampires
Knowledge is our blood
We catalyze an observational flood
We are warriors
Traveling through snow and sand
Ammunition always near at hand
Warriors, with the intention to understand and astound

Wanderers
With no destination
Ponderers
Hungering for information
Vampires
Fueled by the life of others
Warriors
With murderous intent
Bleeding for the oppurtunity to astound

We are all that strives to exist
We are every oppurtunity that's ever been missed
We are every being who has ever set out with the intention to astound

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ASTOUND 2 - BEATING HEART

We are wanderers
We are few, unknown to most
To some, just wayward ghosts
But as the heart of Mother Earth
Ever since the moment of our birth
We connect it all in our travels
Mend what otherwise unravels
Wandering on, we plant a few seeds
Hope we've given her what she needs

We are ponderers
Whose many questions tend to offend
Yet we ask away, up until the end
Inquiries, some that remain from the start
Pursuing information to impart
The valuable knowledge, the answers
Her greatest cure, her anti-cancer
We, heart of Mother Earth, provide the life-enhancer

But this gift, the one they need, that saves
Is the same that leads to early graves

We are vampires
May we never fear the Sun
Nor let it cause us to come undone
Just embrace love and never run
Though our vampire hearts crave blood
Take only what we need, don't be dumb
While we could surely steal all they are
Without leaving a mark or scar
Become whole while the rest are part
We must show restraint, be smart
It all depends on us, the beating heart

We are warriors
With weapons, both sword and pen
No matter who, where, or when
We will remain until the end
We will remain, so ****ing strong
Until the war has come and gone
And Mother Earth's struggle is done
An unlikely day she finds her peace
Becomes heaven, her heart will cease
Having done our job, at very least

For now we'll go on beating
To keep sentience from fleeting
Mother Earth only slightly bleeding
Just enough to know she's still alive
And that we still beat, so she may thrive

Far as the universe is concerned
To what do the best of us amount?
Almost nothing, but to those
Who wish to astound
Take everything you've learned
Ask "To what does it amount?"
It's everything to those of us
Who wish to astound

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Sljslj

Something pretty fun and different (from my other stuff) for y'all.

DESSERT BEFORE DINNER

Verse 1
They wanna have their dessert before dinner
And eat it right in front of you
Make you look like a loser and them the winner
And there ain't a damn thing you can do

Chorus
Nothing you can do about it
Just watch them indulge
While you starve to death
Nothing you can do about it
And that's just the way it is

Verse 2
They wanna drink before the clock strikes five
And place you in a dry county
They don't care how you feel about it, if you're even alive
They're still winning, zero to ten thousand and counting

Repeat Chorus

Verse 3
They wanna have their cake and eat it, too
With extra icing and a hundred of strawberries
They'll eat it right in front of you
Cause they write the rules, not one involves sharing

Repeat Chorus

Bridge
There's nothing you can do
They'll make a bad joke of you
The punch line is a headstone
That reads, "There's nothing you can do"

Repeat Chorus (multiple times till fade)

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VEGANGELICA

Slj, below are my favorites lines from your most recent posts.

I added a few comments as well as changes I recommend (and of course I recommend you avoid putting incredibly dirty substances into your body, because I feel ultimately they'll only make life's troubles more troubling).

I like that these two untitled poems/lyrics are short with punch. Self-destruction *is* a funny thing, so I was curious to hear your take on it.

I recommend you omit a few lines from the first Untitled poem that I feel tip it over too much toward melodramatic (such as "Oh God, Oh God why").

I like the sad and sarcastic "Isn't this fun? Isn't this fun?"

I also especially like your descriptive lines about over-analzying the human condition, the end of life, and our fears 'til we come undone.
Been there, done that, do that!

(Tiny spelling correction: until = 'til = till but not 'till )

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Sljslj

Good to hear from you, Erica. Yeah, I wouldn't recommend anyone put this **** - this poison - into their body, either. Not only does it magnify existing problems, but it also creates countless new ones. But it does provide artificial inspiration and makes for interesting subject matter for poetry. Still, don't do it, kids! Seriously.

I think the "Oh God - Oh God, why?" lines are pretty appropriate. I'm literally asking God why he's put us here just to die. It's supposed to be dramatic. The line "Go to sleep" would be a bit easier for me to erase, but I'm not ready to get rid of this one either. Thank you, though, for making me think about things I wouldn't have otherwise.

I'm not one to brag, but "They've never seen my phantoms" really is a great line, isn't it? It made the poem what it is by setting up the themes of the rest of the poem and giving direction where there might not have been any.

And a bump is a short line or small pile of narcotics to be snorted (nasally insufflated).

I never knew that 'till was not a proper way of writing until, though it makes perfect sense now that I think of it. I feel kinda silly, actually.

Thank you for all the kind words. Once again, you're the first to share your thoughts on my poems. Well, besides my sober mind trying to breakdown the workings of my not-so-sober mind. Sometimes I feel like Isaac Mendez (Heroes reference) when I read my notes the day after I get trashed. Anyway, I just wanna say I appreciate your continued support of my work over the past couple years.

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Sljslj

Pretty much the same kind of **** that I've been writing, about a certain love/hate relationship.

F*CK THE ROCK

Verse 1
**** this dirty rock
It so entices
But I need, need it
For without my vices
I feel like half a man

Chorus
You who makes the quiet man
Talk and talk
And makes priorities in line
Broke and ****ed
I love you, you piece of ****
You dirty rock

Verse 2
This ****ing sucks
Once intelligent
Now don't know what wise is
But I don't need to
All I need are vices
To feel whole again

Bridge
What have I done?
I've thrown away all I love
How could I do this?
For something that cannot love
It's fear incarnate
And I've become it
On the electric chair, here I sit

Repeat Chorus

Verse 3
Damnit, I wish I could say
I've had enough
But I need, need it
More and more
Though it's never enough
My dirty vices
Filthy rock, it entices

Repeat Chorus

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Sljslj

I know I've asked the following question before, but persistance is the only way I'll ever get the results I want.

Is anyone out there interested in putting one or more of my lyrics to music? Maybe you are musically talented, but lack poetic ability. Or maybe you simply see something you enjoy and want to make use of. Either way, we could potentially work out the details of a mutually beneficial collaboration. PM me or post here if you find something in here you'd like to use, and we'll go from there.

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Sljslj

This is my favorite lyric I've written in recent memory, maybe my favorite ever. It's essentially inquiries directed at a super-human mind-reader, who is addicted to using his gift/curse, right before he is lost in all the thoughts and knowledge he has acquired throughout his life.

JUNKIE TELEPATH

Intro (spoken)
In this world, there exists nothing so evil as the darkness - The destrctive influence of the lies we tell ourselves
If we let it, it will bury us in the heaviest black - So pure and thick that the Sun cannot shine through the soul's open window
But inside you and I, there is a light that we may harness - A powerful place of love in our mind, that can tear us from the grip of hell
This exists in all but he, the junkie telepath, the lonely one - For him, the temptation of information is an eclipse of the Sun
Today, it swallows his being, whether or not he knows - And with no choice, through the gates of hell he goes

Verse 1
What's it like, reader of thought?
Oh, all the things you know
Are they your's or not?
Other's fights you've fought
Oh, the vicarious woe

Chorus, Pt. 1
The junkie telepath, living such a lonely life
Forever battling the demons we try to hide
Carrying the burden of humanity's lies

Verse 2
Second-hand psychonaut
Oh, just how is it so
That your mind's not shot?
Death by psyche rot
Oh, should've died long ago

Bridge (spoken)
You have to wonder
Did he ever once consider the palpable likelihood of his downfall? - Or was he so littered with foreign trash, he couldn't find his thoughts at all?
You have to wonder
Was it ignorance or longing that cast a shadow on the Sun? - For the junkie telepath, insatiable super-sentient one
You have to wonder
Did he ever think the pursuit of knowledge would become all he'd know? - That he would be lost in such pain, vicarious woe? - That with no choice, through the gates of hell he'd go?

Repeat Chorus, Pt. 1

Chorus, Pt. 2
Junkie telepath alone he dies
In an internal war of ten thousand minds
His the only one he could never
Could never get inside

Verse 3
You must feel like a robot
Overloaded, 'bout to blow
But concern, you have not
Human fears, you've never got
No feeling as your processors slow

Repeat Chorus, Pt. 1 and 2

Verse 4
Lessons learned, the things we're taught
To you, psychic, do they matter not?
Only thing you could never know
That you should've taken it slow
But you didn't, could never know
That you'd reach the end with naught
Now, left with nothing to be sought
Oh, your head does quietly go

Repeat Chorus, Pt. 1 and 2

Repeat Chorus, Pt. 2 (x4)

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Sljslj

This is a re-write of one of my works from when I was just starting out. The original can be found on the first page of this thread. I chose to make a new post instead of an edit because this thread is the only chronological catalog of my lyrics and I'd like to preserve it as such. I attempted to change the wording, flow, and imagery while still maintaining the same message, and feel I was pretty successful. I plan to post more re-writes in the future. As always, I sincerely appreciate you reading this.

EAT YOURSELF ALIVE

Verse 1
Boom!
The giant mushroom comes unfurled
Tired of he who claimed rights to the world
A mindset that for all brings decimation
Ideology that spells obliteration

Chorus
Ruination like this
It's like eating yourself alive
This self-wrought doomsday
It's like eating yourself alive

Verse 2
Slam!
The carbon footprint that crushes all
Is that of a being 6 feet tall
Who would try to find a scapegoat
An act of God or a broken nation
If not preparing for eternal vacation

Repeat chorus

Bridge
Thought we were in control
But that's a dead sensation
Someone calls for retaliation
But toward who? - we are all to blame
Victim and criminal are the same
So retaliate, if that's your game
Do so against your mother
Do so against your brother
Retaliate against yourself
Do what you will, die or try to survive, it matters not
'Cause sooner or later, we'll all eat ourselves alive
Yeah, yeah

Repeat chorus

Another bridge
Would you?
Would you eat yourself alive?
Stop killing yourself, stop killing me
Stop it, can't you see where this leads?
Forget fear, embrace love, concern
Put out the torch and cease this burn
And stop eating yourself alive

Final chorus
Ruination like this
It's like eating yourself alive
This self-wrought doomsday
It's like... It's like....

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Sljslj

Was sifting through my notes, and came across a few short ones. Enjoy.

Wish I never knew
Just how bright the Sun could be
Or how dark it gets
When all the sunshine leaves
Wish I could go back
To a time when I could see
Perfectly
____________________

Maybe I'm inside my head
A world of my own creation
Would explain it all and more
Or maybe I'm already dead
Living a lost sensation
Why everything is not like before
____________________

I know, undoubtedly, you doubt me
But let's see how you do without me
And I hope you take this lightly
Cause lately
I've just wanted to stick it to you
____________________

We all play a game of chess
From the moment we are born
Most of us are simple pawns
Just weaklings among the strong
But soon the board's put away
And every piece is equal
Kings put on the same level
As us, the simple little pawns

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Sljslj

DEATH, WRATH, AND BEYOND

Verse 1
Death tends to find those
Who do not seek it
And doesn't care for so-sos
Could take it or leave it
All it wants are innocent souls
Of those who don't believe in it

Pre-chorus 1
Free of sympathy
Fear is the driving force
Of this world, this curse
Upon the universe

Chorus
Death and wrath
At the end the day
Are all there is
And maybe the beyond
If one believes in such a thing
Or simply chooses to play along

Verse 2
Wrath is buried at the core
Of all we humans
Some project it to the world
Most don't know what it's for
Most of us, clueless
Playing games, but don't know the score
But ignorance, like wrath, is only human

Pre-chorus
Pain, fear's passenger
The secondary driving force
VP to this curse
Upon the universe

Chorus
Death and wrath
At the end the day
Is all there is
And maybe the beyond
If one believes in such a thing
Or simply chooses to play along

Bridge
When we look in the mirror
We fool ourselves into seeing
A picture that is clear
But if we saw what we are
What we truly are
We'd find ourselves fleeing
Cause what we are
What we truly, truly are
Demons in denial
Built of death, wrath
And pieces of the beyond

Pre-chorus 3
We don't belong here
Alongside pain and fear
We don't belong anywhere
We're just a curse
Upon the universe

Altered Chorus
Death and wrath
At the end the day
Are all there is
And maybe the beyond
If one deceives themselves to such a point
That they forget they're just playing along

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