The Great Awakening

"Cause and Effect" by Bukowski 

"And Were You Being Kind To Yourself" by Shire

Every emotion I have ever felt, composed 

into words by two completely

opposite people.

The words I have strived to 

yank from my throat for twelve years,

out in the open,

as if my thoughts were bared on a cross, 

for all to see.

I was a dead animal carcass,

on a cold slab table of

the table of which they wrote their works.

With every pen stroke,

they cut me open by my veins,

and I bled profusely 

with words that

only they could compose 

so blunt and flawlessly.

I was not alone.

I believed I was alone in my feelings before.

I was not a ghost, but I was dead on the inside.

Bukowski and Shire.

Restored life to me.

Complete rebirth of 

life, soul, the potential to survive

and knowing I was never alone.