by Matt Seeley
And while life isn’t easy
I will not let it beat me
I’ve come too far to just give up the fight
Superpower
They asked me what power I wanted
Flight, invisibility, telekinesis...
But I turned them all down
"I'm human," I answered,
"I already have
The greatest power of all;
The ability to influence
The emotions of others."
We all have that power
So use it fucking carefully
Splinters
Memories
Cold and harsh as winter
Searing pain
Stabbing my brain
Like splinters
Trapped beneath the skin
That I couldn't pull out
So I pushed further in
Forcing them deeper
'Til they were hidden
From the outside
They will never be evident
But I will always feel them
A part of me
So I must learn to handle the pain
The guilt
The regret
And not let any of it consume me
And maybe
I will one day find the means
To remove the splinters
And heal
Catharsis
Cold steel
In my hand
Shimmering
I flick my thumb
Across the blade
The soft ping
Reverberates
In my ears
The edge is keen
Ready
I need a release
I long for catharsis
I wield the knife
And begin to cut
I always find cooking to be so therapeutic
Stitches
I've been fixed
Too many times to count
My wounds stitched
Both inside and out
The broken bones
And broken heart
All have their own
Unique scar
Some will fade
From sight and mind
But those that stay
Serve to remind
That while I suffered
I am still alive
I am still here
And I will survive
Two Outta Three
I may not be
The greatest living poet
In the world today
I may not even be
In the top ten
But I am living
And I am a poet
And I guess two out of three
Ain't all that bad
Escape
Trying to escape the demons
Running in circles once again
I thought I was finally free
But this never seems to end
Sometimes I try to hide
In the farthest corners of my mind
Hope they simply pass me by
But they always hunt me down
But then there are times
Ehen the clouds are gone
The shadows vanish
And the daylight comes
And the demons cower
In the darkness
And I'm finally free
To live
Change
Isn't it funny how life can change
One moment it all makes sense
The next it all feels so strange
Like nothing that you knew was real
You've woken from a dream
Now you don't know how to feel
Still dealing with yesterday
Wishing that tomorrow
Could just wait another day
But time stops for no-one
It just leaves us lagging behind
Or barely holding on
Victory in Defeat
Not all fights
Are there to be won
Some are but tests
From which we must learn
For when down on our feet
We learn how to stand
Rising again
However many blows land
And it’s times like these
In the face of adversity
That even defeat
Can be turned into victory
For in defeat
Lies the greatest lesson
We find out our weakness
And see where to strengthen
So never give up
For as long as you learn
Even though you may lose
You have already won
Dealer always wins
In the casino of life
However many times I play
The cards will never fall my way
The odds always stacked against me
And my stack of chips
Almost depleted
I'm all but defeated
But I can't give in
Even though I know
Whatever the cards I'm dealt
That the house will always win
Sorry…ish…or not
Oh sorry
Did I upset you
And offend you
With my jokes
And my opinions
And my bad language
Are you really
Such a delicate little flower
That a single drop
Of humour
Caused you to wilt and wither
Well that's on you
I take no blame
You won't get me
To feel ashamed
If you don't like
The shit I write
Don't pick a fight
Just move along
We can both be right
No-one need be wrong
Learning
There is so much I must still learn
Things I need to know
But no-one can teach me
Because I cannot be taught
I learn from experience
Through sights and sounds
Through action and emotion
What is written in text books
Will never be teachable to me
I have to see it
Hear it
Do it
Feel it
And I am learning
Every day
Discovering things I never knew
Like my triggers
And the way I respond
Things you will not find in books
Or be taught in a classroom
But can only learn
By living
Graveyard of Broken Dreams
If you need me
You can find me
In the Graveyard
of Broken Dreams
Where all my sorrows
Lost tomorrows
And wasted chances
Come to rest
And find eternal
Peace at last
And sing a lullaby
Of silent screams
In this, the Graveyard
of Broken Dreams
Eye To Eye
I don't want to be looked at
Over the tops of glasses
To the sound of a pen
Scratching frantically on the pages
Of a notebook
My words analysed and scrutinised
But the way that I say them
All but ignored
I want to be listened to
Not just the words that I speak
But the feeling behind them
Without needing to compete
With the scratching of the pen
And I want to be looked at
Not as a subject
But as a person
Eye to eye
Niche
I get told I need a niche
But to me that's just another word for leash
Keeping me from go
ing my own way
Dictating what I write or say
But all I do is set the words free
I won't release them from my mind
Just to see them confined
By what it is that others want to see
Treading Water
I envy those
With the talent and the knack
To write stories
And see them through
To the end
I try
To swim those waters
But I tend just to paddle
In the shallows
Testing the waters
Getting no deeper than my ankles
Before heading back to shore
And on the rare occasion
I make it further in
All I ever do
Is tread water
Lacking both the courage
And the skill
To swim
Russian Roulette
Life often feels like little more
Than a game of Russian Roulette
Relief at every trigger pull
Ending only in a hammer click
Before you're once again reminded
There's still a bullet loaded
And each lucky escape
Is one less empty chamber
Between you
And the final round
Will You
Will you be my compass
When I don't know where to go
Will you give me purpose
When doubt causes me to slow
Will you light the way before me
When the shadows make me blind
Will you always set me free
When I can't escape my mind
Will you share my burden
When my strength starts to fade
Will you keep me certain
When my belief begins to wane
Will you be the one on whom I can always depend
When I need you by my side, until the very end
Circles
Being popular
Doesn't make you a winner
Fewer friends
Doesn't mean that you've lost
Those are dangerous views to take
A smaller, yet closer, circle
Is more beneficial
Than one that is too large and wide
For you to stand in the middle
And still touch the sides
So be sure
However big or small your circle becomes
Never to let your friends out of reach
Mouth/Brain Disconnect
My mouth is often premature
My words are somewhat immature
And it's clear that I don't think before I speak
I have no discernible filter
It's not uncommon that I bewilder
But it's just one thing that helps make me unique
I'd have it no other way
I like not knowing what I will say
And being surprised as much as all the rest
It keeps me on my toes
When what comes next even I don't know
Even if the words are not always the best
So I might not make much sense
People might take some offence
Or I might need to give some clarification
And I am happy to explain
If anyone complains
About any aspect of my verbal communication
I openly accept
My mouth/brain disconnect
It's not a thing that I will ever deny
And I will apologise
If in anybody's eyes
Anything I say is out of line
But don't complain behind my back
Or falsify the facts
And publicise your bullshit accusations
Because no matter what I said
At least I didn't choose to spread
Blatant lies and malicious misinformation
One Rule
I have
One rule
You can hit me
You can kick me
You can trip me
Even spit on me
You can cut me
You can bruise me
You can misuse
Or abuse me
And I will try
To forgive you
All you have to do
Is apologise
But never
Ever
Lie
To me
My Greatest Enemy
I know I'll never kill you
My greatest enemy
For the end of you
Would mean the end of me
So all I can do
Is keep on beating you down
However much my fists may bleed
With those on my corner
Making sure I never quit
Putting you on the ground
But never under
I won't give you the satisfaction
Of dragging me to my grave
With you
Find the Solution
“You can't cross the sea
Merely by standing and star-
-ing at the water.”
(Rabindranath Tagore)
Don’t just stop and stare
See the problem and react
Find the solution
Life will always find
New ways to trip you, hurt you
But just remember
It can’t keep you down
Stand up and take one more step
Moving onwards still
Don’t just stand and stare
At the ocean of despair
Find a way to cross
Find a friend who’s always there
Just ask, they’ll help, you will see
New Beginnings
You shut me out, forced me away
Never gave me the chance to say
Goodbye
And though I tried to make things right
You shut your ears, blocked me from sight
But why?
I still don’t know what I did wrong
But now I must be moving on
From this
For my next journey I depart
New beginnings, a fresh start
I spy
It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day
And to the old one I now can say
Goodbye
Resurgence
You thought we were gone
Dead, extinct
But now we are back
From the brink
We won't be destroyed
Won't be killed
We're resilient
We're strong willed
You tried to end us
A purging
But we're returning
Resurging
I’ll Be There
Only in the darkest night
Do the stars shine so bright
Only on the coldest days
Will you seek the warming blaze
Only when you're truly lost
Will you look to find your way
Only when you're sick
Can you find the cure
Only when you need a friend
Will you reach out your hand
Only when the silence reigns
Will you call out their name
It's in these moments
Of darkness, cold and silence
That we learn who our friends truly are
The ones who are always there
So if you need, just call for me
And I'll be there, as you were for me
Equals
You treat yourself
As my equal
Yet try to place me
Beneath you
When you realise
You are not
And in doing so
You fail to see
How you only fall further
In the eyes of those
>
Who will be judging you
When the time comes
Nightfall
Night falls
Bringing with it
The stars
Crashing down
Leaving
The whole world
In shadow
But day
Will always follow night
And as night falls
Day is never far behind
Tumbling after
And breaking on the ground
Shards of sunlight
Piercing the veil
Of darkness
Remnants
Scratch beneath the surface
I'll tell you what you'll find
The remnants of a life
I tried to leave behind
I'm honestly ashamed
For my hurtful words
And I'm truly regretful
For any upset and hurt
Can't you see I've changed?
I'm not still that same kid
Why can't you accept that?
Why must you always dig?
I'm not proud of who I was
Nor the things I said
But I've moved on from then
I've put the past to bed
The only me that matters
Is the one you currently see
So judge me for who I am
Not what I used to be
Cheers for the Beers
I should be thankful
For the time you were my friend
Our conversations helped a lot
As did the beers we shared
But knowing now the different you
