Proud Proud of me I’m standing free, though I cannot Scream And the tears are silently beginning To stream I will stand in peace, inside The pride they Feel for me Proud Proud of me My scarred and weakened knees, Shattered and broken are All of my remaining Dreams But they’re proud And they say they are all so Proud Of me Proud Proud of me They take the glee from The happy me The only one that they ever want To see, (The truth is still hidden beneath the Hanging tree) But they’re proud, yes, They’ll be so proud of me Proud they say, they prefer the Way I bend my shape To fit their Frame Inside an endless string of Toxic scenes Filled with dark and painful gas lit Gains But they were proud And I will always remember when Anyone Was proud Of me ~ A. L. Stippich
Orphan
A storm is coming, we
Can feel it deep
Inside our bones,
We have lost the will to
Make the clock move
Forward
When we’ve already lost
Our only home
Return to sender, we’re
The firsthand offender, a
Coward in wolves clothing, torn
ripped, and cheaply
Sewn
Raised in violence, keep every pain
In silence,
(No one cares once eighteen comes to
Town, just make sure to
hit the ground)
It’s not like anyone will be
waiting around
We won’t be what they’ve been
Searching for and we won’t be
What they have finally
Found
There is no one to embrace
Anymore,
There is nothing we have left
To leave at the door
(What a goddamn bore
We must be when
They don’t come
Around)
But we can drown out the
Sound
After all, the voices are starting
To become quite
Loud
I think I hear a storm is
Coming soon
~ A. L. Stippich
Reset
Where will I find you again
My friend?
On this road or at another
Bend?
Maybe, at the end
‘We are all just getting by’
A statement present
When we
Cry
But the truth can’t
Lie
We’re all just trying to get
By
Leave me flowers near my
Stone,
Once I have left this world
Alone,
After you have finally grown
Older,
May love find you once
You are bolder,
Blessings, graces when
You
Hold her, everything will
Find it’s time, though I hope I
Find
You in mine, before the time
Resets for
It’s final wind
~ A. L. Stippich
(less)ons learned
Be less like you and be more like me Shame your ambitions, and throw All of your diamonds Into the sea Be less impatient, and keep your Face clean, Stay silent when spoken, and keep your Issues Exactly where they should be; stay refrained Be less of what they ignore, and more of what they need, Be attainable, hell Be a goddamn bore, But just make for damn sure you stay Less Be forgotten when they are Happy and free and be a hemorrhagic vessel once their Castles Have fallen into the sea This is not a place you should expect to be Seen, This is not your world to stake any Claim, No one will seek you Inside your times of pain, so remain, And stay Just exactly the same and Be less ~ A. L. Stippich
Stacks
i am afraid.
the mind holds
images
like fresh paint
on
thick canvas;
colors fade through
the years
but the pattern
constantly remains
and i am afraid.
memories build in
stacks,
car doors open
to bitter air
and in my mind
you are gone
(in my mind, this is how you died)
but i know
this is not so
for you
are still here
beside me
and this memory
plays me a
fool
whilst i sleep
and i am still afraid.
familiar walls remember
everything,
they, too, play
tricks
with the pictures
in the stacks
like every brilliant
line
in your face
(memorized)
even though you
are far away
the towers fell
(so long ago)
and the towers are
still falling
inside of my
mind
and i will always be afraid.
~ A. L. Stippich
whispers
tonight i whispered goodbye on the wind; it danced across the keys of an untuned piano, and carried through an opening door, and slivered through a black, lace shawl, and whistled through the leaves of the tallest tree, and tumbled across shards of broken glass, and dove into the violent sea, and was swallowed by the dark before it could reach you tonight i whispered goodbye on the wind, a goodbye that never came ~ A. L. Stippich
Alone, now
i’m not supposed to be here and you are not supposed to stay it’s made clear you’ve left long ago but as you can see we are never quite on the same page i bleed alone, now, and carry myself i’ve sheltered me better, to tether my health; with the alter removed and a taste of your truths, I can wash away the stain you’ve become
~ A. L. Stippich
replay
tomorrow is almost, it’s there, (like today) just clearer and cleaner and further away, but tomorrow always comes at the break of each day and tomorrow is here much too soon ’tis today in reverse, stuck in yesterday’s curse, as tomorrow is yesterday’s turn at the bend, (half a tick to the end!) just a few loops around back to yesterday’s town and tomorrow is back here again i am stuck in today watching history replay, fixed on yesterday’s face and today’s quicker pace, as each story untold unfurls and unfolds and new days for others begin so if the cycle should end, and tomorrow begin as if today had never become, would i wake up the same, would i feel the same pain from when yesterday snuffed out my sun? ~ A. L. Stippich
Internal II (wanderer)
there is someone wandering around
on the inside of my
head
she and i are not the same
and she often wishes I were
dead
she whistles haunting tunes, a sickly sweet
into my
ear,
a restless hum of seething rage
to fill my veins with
endless fear
she bids the sorrow that wears me
thin,
the curtains veiling a hollow
skin, (a shell of a girl)
one day closer to the eventual
end,
and i know, she will be the very last friend
i ever see
~ A. L. Stippich
melancholy
the sun is awake!
curtains pulled to a shallow
sea
the waves begin
to stir
with a restless
ache
the sun has
stolen me,
how to make them
understand
that i am fear's
permanent reside
words are not
thoughts
nor thoughts
words;
fragments
and
slivers
the world is in motion,
in tune with the
sea,
but my fists
remain firm
in the
sand
(even a hole can
play house
to a
void)
melancholia
my lover, my infinite
solitude
hold me fast in
your arms;
the iron gates
to my
eternal prison
~ A. L. Stippich
Life at the Burrow 