Falling
By Brian Thomas Armstrong
The wind rushes through my hair, blowing my mind away
My thoughts drift through the air, then fall like a sunset at the end of day
I see clearly now through my mind’s eye, using the vision of my inner child
It lifts away the hazy grown-up clouds that once blocked my sight
No more fighting myself
The flight I have taken since birth finally lands with a resounding thud!
As my confusion hits the pavement after jumping from the heights of my soul
A Social Esteem Problem
by Brian Thomas Armstrong
A glance in the mirror
A shiver of shame
Every school day
It’s always the same
A dread of going back to school
Knowing the rule
Beauty is only skin deep
And that is all the other kids see
Slink down the hall
They still kick my books
Go to my locker
They snicker to each other about my looks
They never care about what it’s like to be me
They don’t “feel” or “hear” me
They only see skin deep
If I Only Knew Then
By Brian Thomas Armstrong
If I only knew then what I realize now
I would’ve known it would all work out somehow
I wouldn’t have cared what other kids said
I wouldn’t have let them into my head
I would have simply told the truth when asked – where was my dad?
And it wouldn’t have made me so embarrassed and sad
I wouldn’t have worried about whether I was straight or gay
And I certainly wouldn’t have worried about whether I was going to burn on judgment day
I would have told myself not to worry about the future or the past
I would have told myself to live in the present
And to make good memories that were meant to last
I have so much to say to that kid of my youth
And I would jump at the chance to replace so many lies with the truth
Why we Push Away
We push people away because we are unsure of ourselves
We tell ourselves we do not trust others because trust is earned
But in reality mistrust is learned and taught to us at an early age
Don’t trust the stranger, he is out to kill you or worse
Don’t trust the government
They want to take what little you have away from you
But in reality we have nothing but mistrust to take or give
We are shells of mistrust with an empty center
Never letting anything enter us
Fearful that others will take away our precious nothingness
KNOW THYSELF
The ones who think they know you best seldom do
The ones who don't know you very well, usually think they know all about you
The one who truly knows you best, is yourself
But most people refuse to face or acknowledge the hard truths of what they know
About themselves. (BTA)
The Evil Thrones of God
By Brian Thomas Armstrong
Regrets are things you can repair
If the ones you wronged are still there
To the ones that passed you can explain
By passing on yourself to see them again
Regrets are spider webs that cloud your mind
Cruel jokes from Gods that neither care for cruel or kind
They just laugh upon their lofty thrones, and then make you explain their jokes when they call you home
If
by Brian Thomas Armstrong
If age was the mark of a wise old sage
Old men would not start wars
With a young man’s rage
If wealth was the only mark of riches
The richness of love would then be worthless
If class was the only social standing
Then there would be no valid social understanding
If fighting is the only way to freedom
Then our kingdom will never be free of war
My Inner Quandary
by Brian Thomas Armstrong
Of all the words I hate to hear
None is worse than comes to ear
Through rain and thunder
It still rings clear
Like gigantic tears that fall on
dried skin leather drumheads
Ever beating
I love you
But do you really hate me?
When we are alone
Together
Feeling whole
But somehow incomplete
Enclosed within me
In my little piece of eternity
Unspoken words, they start to march upon me
Their boots are stomping on my brain
Their incessant cadence feeds my fears
Their resounding rhythm shakes away my thinly veiled facades
Its invasion rapes what is truly dear to me
It breeds with what is slowly bleeding in me
Reopening my inner wounds
Then encasing and becoming
what now is running free
Marching ever closer to my hidden thoughts
I still refuse to speak them
I will not hear or meet their lies of truth
But it echoes anyway beneath their falling feet
I truly hate you
But do you love me?
The Twelve Disciples of Summer
By Brian Thomas Armstrong
September’s rotting beauty in falling red leaves bleeds
October brings into our minds a frosty mental freeze
As Jack O’ lanterns decay in the breeze, bringing a tease of November’s cold
November makes us think inside ourselves
And clears the way for Decembers elves
January returns our mental frost
And reminds us of past summers lost
February is like January but only drunkards really care
March is when nature rises again as we stare at April’s rain
May and June are for the young, and in July they part with a grin
Then August is just one more month before we do it all again
The Serpent Strikes
by Brian Thomas Armstrong
A snake uncoils within my mind
It strikes my reason as it unwinds
It slithers deep inside my pain
And nests itself deeper inside my brain
When sunshine rises amidst my rain
It wiggles out from under my rocks of
stepping stones, further into my psyche
Waiting there silently in order to bite
all those who are near and dear to me
Leaving more piles of bleached dry bones
hidden somewhere in my skull
The Thorns of Life
by Brian Thomas Armstrong
Thorns were cast on fertile ground
while seeds were thrown on coals
From the thorns grew evil souls
From the seeds grew fire
The flames grew into funeral pyres
as evil souls were tossed
When the purifying fire did cease
the angels they did rest
after casting seeds on fertile ground
from souls who passed the test.
The Top Ten Simple Truths of Life as We Know It
by Brian Thomas Armstrong
#1. When governments leave their people nothing left to lose; people choose to lose their governments.
#2. People who judge others refuse to understand others; people who understand other people refrain from judging them.
#3. What we don’t know won’t hurt us; unless it is hurting us already and we just don’t know it.
#4. When things get tough; the weak pack up and leave as fast as they can.
#5. Life is merely an illusion you have created in order to punish yourself for being alive.
#6. Success is usually not a matter of earning it or deserving it; it is usually a matter of opportunity happening to those who were born into it, and usually need it the least.
#7. Ignorance is bliss; suffering is knowledge.
#8. It is better to be dictated by your own flawed logic than someone else’s.
#9. The only thing that you need to instill into your children is forgiveness and unconditional love; it is up to them to understand why, and then learn to use it in their own lives.
#10. A fool listens to a wise man and learns nothing; a wise man listens to a fool and learns - he does not want to be the fool.
The World as we know it
By Brian Thomas Armstrong
The world as we know it
Can be black or white
It is whiter for others who can see its inner light
Darker for those who have no inner sight
It is brighter for some whether cloudy or sunny
Poorer for some who savior only its money
Glorious and divine to those who seek its true meaning
Inconsequential to those who only mine its gold
Sometimes it’s cruel and demeaning to those
Who lived long enough on it to slowly grow old
When the youth of the world
Fails to listen to the wisdom they hold
The World as we know it can be both black and white
But it is gray for those
Who are unwilling to fight for its darkness or light.