Of ocean-blue; the Invite
Of woodland-green; into Abyss
Of background-gray; warning of the Risk.

Involved in stepping closer
without asking permission.
Involved in yearning
for forests and the seas
that form your shape, veiled in questions.
And gaps, filled with made-up answers.

Fear not; I remain here
A step away, even, maybe?
Fear not; pretend, I can:
Gray is all there ever was to see.
But dare you look at me and watch me dive;
I swim your waters, insanely free.

*Content Warning*
This poem reflects on themes that may be distressing to some readers

Speak Up
Written by Kelly Ann Wilson 

Speak up 
A young girl with the biggest dreams
Needs just one person to believe 
So she will grow up knowing 
She is capable of anything 
And she could be the first woman 
On the moon
So, chase your wildest dreams so loudly

Sinew, was your name,
Blood of wires,
Ball joints, metal frame.
mechanical whirring when you turn your head.
what a disgusting face
Every morning, putting on your metal mask
Stagnant, stone like,
before you leave the house,
Melting away into the crowd,
click, click, click
gears that move in sync,
but never go Anywhere.
So putridly loud.
Your flesh is only vines on
silver bones.
Don't you miss your home?
That steel veil
cuts into your

remember
being broken by funerals -
memorials -
homes guttered with ash -
fences, sheds, lives broken, collapsed -

lost dogs starving-

I wept - crow-garbed-
longing to wear red -
boots, silk, bracelets and blouses -
fripperous skirts hemmed with joyful intent -

dresses for dancing, not endless death -

remember that long gulp of alcohol,
in the pause between weeping -
and inevitable cake

and round faced women
who understood grieving -

Each birthday brings me closer
to ineluctable, inescapable, inexorable... demise,
whereby I gently (albeit mentally) Italicize
soon yours truly will wrestle with mortality
impossible mission to challenge grim reaper,
also known as Thanatos,
(the actual Greek personification Death)
in Greek Mythology
cuz she/he who will optimize
transmutation of once
garden variety living flesh to visualize
absolute zero breath
roughly approximated every night
when yours truly
lays his head down to rest.

With a single notion
I feel a fever,
transported a lifetime
with hour glassed seconds
my hip cupped nirvana

the texture
of your lips
brushed shivers
into the spine
of my soul

the strength
of calloused hands
rouged red
every line, curve
and valley

licking my lips
I taste the evocation
this essence throbs
through my core,
I shudder

in some moments
quiddity is measured
by the minutes, hours
and days until
the next time

safe in my environment
way back in the day,
when a man had the power
to veto Venus's play...

we strove to suppress
the women in our lives
keep her in chains
wed them, make them all wives.

the end of an innocence
siphoning off her free will
she'll wear my collar
because that is the drill!

*eddy styx is my MALE, murderous alter ego who writes dark poetry.

Suspended in viscose elixir
Tormented by time
Recounted, the past assaults me
Watching in rewind

All the hurt and shame, a fire
In which, I’m now consumed
All the demons, from their graves
Expeditiously exhumed

Hand in hand, this haunted dance
Stillness, early morning hours
Secret ghosts I kept recluse
Begin to bloom like wild flowers

Sullen rains extinguished flames
Cinders of a life that burned
Through this blanket of grey ash
Tender green of life returns

A babbling stream, a peaceful lane
These are the things that I enjoy
As I walk on a summer's day
With a warm gentle breeze upon my face

A cottage in a field, with swirling smoke
A family sitting around ready to eat
Rich chicken soup and freshly baked bread
Then five little children all snug in their bed

A flitting bird upon the nest
Protecting her brood from unknown harm
A cow chewing cud all gentle and calm
Then sheep and one dog in one accord

Is my end here, or is it just the start?
A feeling of uncertainty deep within my heart,
A nagging doubt that lingers in my mind,
A fear that I won't leave anything behind.

Has my experience been all for naught?
Have I lived my life for what I've been taught?
Or is there something deeper, something more,
A purpose that I haven't quite explored?