Covered in stardust and ink I know your tears Surrounded by the dark I know your laughter Covered in stardust and ink Although I am forgotten now I will remember you

A Villanelle By Robert J. Nutt

They say it’s fine, or so the world conveys. The games have changed; the rules are all remade. When girls and boys were content, we laughed and played.

They twist the past to fit their modern ways. What once was firm is now a blurred charade. They say it’s fine, or so the world conveys.

A thousand voices shape the roles we play. Yet rules are made, then twisted and betrayed. When girls and boys were content, we laughed and played.

Each fleeting truth dissolves in subtle haze. What’s false is true if spoken and obeyed. They say it’s fine, or so the world conveys.

We build new paths that lead us where we strayed. Yet none can say which path must be portrayed. When girls and boys were content, we laughed and played.

What truth remains will shift as culture sways. We trace the past, but all the lines are frayed. They say it’s fine, or so the world conveys. When girls and boys were content, we laughed and played.

A young girl hopes to find her prince one day Someone to hold her, to save her Oh to be a child again, to dream and to play

Dreams are for sleeping some might say But there must be something deeper Something more than living day by day

In that silent, empty bed you lay Oh the curse of a faithless sleeper The dreams you weave continue to fray

On painful nights you begin to pray Begging God to bring the reaper Pleading with the sky to bring you a sunray

The hopeful reveries of a babe Before her heart grows cheaper Sweet dreams before the day

When the sun come up and she may Hope her dreams would go away Dreams of which she is not the keeper What a cruel game innocence plays

There is a rotten thing That lies at the bottom of the hill And inside I hear them sing

There is an old man Who listens to the birds They have big wing spans

The thing is a shed A wooden church so unholy Within it is only one bed

There is a rotting thing That lies in that bed And I don’t know what it brings

The old man breathes his last Flinching from his lungs What was present is now past

The bitterness brims and bubbles away As the heart that once felt love overspills Leaving only burnt ashes left to stay Betrayal hurts more, as vengeance distills

As the heart that once felt love overspills Venomous asps bite down on softest flesh Betrayal hurts more, as vengeance distills The surface punctures are now simply etched

Venomous asps bite down on softest flesh Deception manifests into such hate The surface punctures are now simply etched Veins filled with poison, it maybe too late

Deception manifests into such hate No antidote, only suffering pride Veins filled with poison, it maybe too late Fighting the toxin that's built up inside

No antidote, only suffering pride Water disperses as, bloods thickening Fighting the toxin that's built up inside So lay down and die, or wake up and win

Water disperses as, bloods thickening Leaving only burnt ashes left to stay Don’t lay down and die, just wake up and win As bitterness brims and bubbles away

I am a kid at some institution For kids who are in dire need of help like me Who are lost, crazed, and act out of sin

We are seen as the jerks, the worst of them all We are used, abused, treated like shit So often, it is hard to recall

I sit in my small room Just sitting there, wondering why am I here? To endure such hardships, to feel such gloom

I sit there, as I held my stuffed bear With a massive frown on my face I cried, looking down at how unfair

It is for us to be hurt Without getting to know Who we are, and instead treat us like dirt

I have to get my daytime clothes and kicks out It is time for lunch and I cannot miss it A few guards walked with me to the same route As I walked a guard said “scum without a doubt”

A dream begins, started anew Eager and optimistic, ready to fly The dream goes by, forgotten when due

Plans are formed when skies are blue When hope is strong, and spirits are high A dream begins, started anew

But fleeting thoughts begin to coup I will begin tomorrow, said with a sigh The dream goes by, forgotten when due

But in this cycle, I've always had you Believing in me when spirits are dry A dream begins, started anew

But I will always have you

Vines creep through cracked walls Floors crack with ghostly patter Ceiling broken, rubble falls

Insides ring with spectral laughter dancing breaks through endless lull an quiet ruin full of bursting chatter

Up on a hidden path on one lush green road There was a grand view of a glistening home. Gold glimmer and ancient royal ripples it showed

A cloaked man weary from escaping survival mode Heaved and gasped at the site. Alas, he could show emotion! This looked a humble abode.

Carefully the man approached, trying not to implode As he knew to not fall victim to his hopes Til now, his labors did not reap what he wished to have sowed

Touching the amber sun on the golden lode Glittery warmth circled and spilled to his lungs Took everything in him to not surrender to this feeling, to erode

Before he could reach the doorknob, his flashbacks started to goad That he, so filthy, did not belong in this bliss So he ripped himself from the warmth, and back on the long road he bestrode.

You walked out the door Maybe not in the traditional way This might hurt even more

I feel it deep to my core It was a form of running away You walked out the door

It may have well been a war but I was the one who lost that day This might hurt even more

My feet, unstable on the floor I feel tricked, led astray You walked out the door

When you left, I swore My heart broke, made from delicate clay This might hurt even more

I was young, three more than four When a bottle was worth more than to stay You walked out the door This might hurt even more