Pure Evil

She acts innocent, like fragility is her curse—

She smiles when you’re not around

Bruising your ego like the flesh of fruit.

She teaches you how to hate,

Teaches you to hate yourself.

Her gaze is soft and her smile kind,

To hide the pain she buries deep.

She paints her plastic face,

To match her plastic heart.

Feeding off peripheral glances

And hollow compliments.

Her lips, taste of ashes

As you pull yourself away from her.

She has killed before,

She will kill again.

DannYetman

www.yetmanpoetry.blogspot.com

It Wasn't Enough

I have seen perfection in a pair of eyes,

Let them cut through me as I held her gaze

But it wasn’t enough.

I have learned the bitter taste of defeat,

And let it torment me through solitude;

Loneliness isn’t new to me.

I have stood next to her in silence,

Wondering why I don’t choose to speak

And yearn to disappear.

I have crept through the shadows in distress,

Letting myself be forgotten,

What I do best.

I have seen perfection in a pair of eyes

Matched her gaze and told her how I felt,

But it wasn’t enough.

I have forgotten the moments spent together,

I’ve have grown petrified through my disdain,

Jealousy turns me inside out.

DannYetman

www.yetmanpoetry.blogspot.com

Seventeen

Could you put your entire life on hold

And forgo the dreams you have

Just for your one shot?

Could you wait until your body is broken

Before you take your first steps outside?

The nights will be long as the days pass you by,

The words you want to speak will die on your tongue

While you continue your journey forward.

Faces will come and pass, friendship will never last—

There is no turning back.

Could you watch her leave you without wavering

When she realizes she will always come second?

Can you live a life of loneliness,

Day in, day out?

Can you live never being the person you wanted to be,

For one shot at greatness?

DannYetman

www.yetmanpoetry.blogspot.com

Aging

Aging

I drag myself out of bed with heavy legs,

And shadows beneath my eyes.

I creep forward, bowing my head over a basin,

Afraid to meet my own gaze

In the mirror above.

My hands shake, as I humbly try to lift my face;

Nothing has changed

But my skin is no longer familiar of my own.

I still look on with the same imperfection,

Carry the same scars to remind me of my flaws.

My voice is the same—I still mumble when I talk.

I speak words no different than before,

Same cadence, same stutter, same fear

But the mouth from which they depart

Is no longer my own.

I still live in the same isolation

And bury my emotions deep within—

Still quiet when I should feel the need to speak.

But the gaze looking back at me is not my own—

I died today before I first woke up;

When I took the first step out of bed

My new life became real.

The identity that was once me

Exists no longer.

www.yetmanpoetry.blogspot.com

DannYetman

Unspoken

Unspoken 

You catch me trembling, see the fear as I look right though you—

Somehow you understand each thought precisely

Even though my lips stay pressed… Through my eyes you read me.

I think you’re the only one, who can see the terror so clearly—

You’re the only one who listens to my silent thoughts.

In ominous reluctance we converse, not a word heard,

But meaning conveyed with clarity and precision.

And I, with my imperfect stutter evoked by nervousness,

Look back at you with daunting glances—

Unwillingly to let you see the tapered heart within.

The voice which only seconds ago I could use with ease

Now seems a foreign entity as I lose control…

But you understand my silence—the pauses

Which carry more meaning than the words between—

The subtle nods and smiles between heartbeats.

And as you stand and begin to walk by me,

Our shoulders brush so gently it seems a dream—

Maybe you feel the slight shutter next to you

Or perhaps you don’t…

But I think you would understand the endless nights,

The long walks to shake the creeping ghosts—

The nights where I can’t look at myself let alone you;

My eyes tremble, as I fade away,

Unspoken.

DannYetman

www.yetmanpoetry.blogspot.com

Pretending

It lingers, the sound of footsteps behind;

You check over your shoulder when you’re all alone—

It may be hope or the result of trembling nights,

Fear you never knew you were capable of having.

Long walks, wandering eyes—

Trying to get the words just right.

Forced smiles, hollow cheeks—

Talking to yourself but managing to stay afloat.

Words spoke but never meant;

Words sincere but never heard,

Torn to pieces and built back again.

Eyes empty, ready to fall apart;

Voice breaking, silent tears—

The only hint of what's inside.

DannYetman

www.yetmanpoetry.blogspot.com

Who I've Never Met

No names, memories or special moments;

No history, stories or lingering focus—

All we share is a look but that’s all we need.

For a moment of time so slight

In other respects it is nonexistent

Our eyes meet

And unwillingly our lives are revealed.

In yours I see one who cares

But who has been touched by sadness—

An ageless beauty that’s afraid of the world

And those that inhabit it.

In mine you see one with a passion burning,

An endless mission,

One who’s lost in the fear searing.

With our gazes fading

We are met by a silent nod of approval—

A shrouded understanding.

No names, memories or special moments;

No history, stories or lingering focus

DannYetman

www.yetmpoetry.blogspot.com