Robert M.Drake

2/20.

It hurts right now, you’re tired of going through the same old shit. Your heart is weary, but you’re still powerful. Strong enough to walk away, strong enough to make it without the person you thought you needed.

Your heart is aching, but you pose and smile in Instagram photos, pretending to have the time of your life. Deep down you’re hurting, trying things and nothing’s working, but you’ve grown accustomed to acting like everything is perfect. You’re worth it, maybe you just forgot. Maybe you’re in like or in love with someone who treats you like you’re not. Maybe your heart has fallen into hands too weak to hold it. Maybe you are too proud, too bold, too embarrassed to show it. Your soul aches beneath the weight of all this emotional pain. Your soul continues to crack as you continue to act as if everything is okay, but nothing is okay and most of what is wrong is now buried beneath the lies you tell yourself and others.

I just wish you could see yourself in the light, but you’re used to this, being left in the dark. Standing in the middle of chaos, trying your hardest to keep it together. Clinging to that relationship that should end, still hoping for a forever. You deserve so much more, and deep down you know this. Open your eyes, stand up, please focus. Understand each and every word. You are the reason I wrote this.

exit here.

All I wanted was for you to try. I was always asking for too much whenever I was asking you. Being made to feel needy by someone who didn’t need me. Believe me, I’ve gone back and forth with myself over all of this. Plotting ways to walk away in hopes of saving my own heart. Ripped apart by my own inability to see a life without you. Blind while with you, damp tissues next to the bed, I play back all the fucked-up things you said. Hurting my head while overthinking, sinking into a pit of all the shit I should forget. My greatest regret is that I didn’t leave sooner, couldn’t leave sooner. I let you trample upon my dreams, tearing me at the seams. Your love was never what it seemed or what you made it out to be. I believed lies wrapped in paper labeled “truth.” My life filled with drama the moment I gave my heart to you. Emotional abuse and plenty of excuses, hanging on your every word like several criminals in nooses. And now my soul is screaming, can you hear it? Will you listen? I can’t take this shit anymore, I found the door, fuck it, I’m finished.

the gift index.

You can’t change people.

Assholes

are going to be

assholes.

Rebels

are going to be

rebels.

And loners

are going to be

loners, man.

But you can change

your perception of them.

And how all of them

don’t want to be alone.

All of them need someone

or something

to love.

No matter what they say

or don’t say.

I can tell something is

tearing you up inside.

Something terrible.

Something from your past

is haunting you

day in and day out.

I can see it in your sad eyes.

In your sad smile.

Something is hurting you

and it’s eating you alive

without remorse.

Let it be known

that always in me,

you have a friend.

That always in me,

you have someone to talk to—

someone to listen

to what’s aching your heart.

Let it be known

that whatever it is

you’re going through .

it is something

you no longer

have to go through alone.

Let it be known,

my friend,

that I am here with you,

and I always have been,

and I will never leave your side

no matter how tragic

life gets.

You’ve got to work on yourself

day by day.

You’ve got to remember

that your entire life

is a work in progress.

That you’re going to have

bad days but also good ones

to balance everything out.

You’ve got to know

that sometimes you’re going to get

your heart broken.

While other times,

you’re the one

who’s going to be breaking

someone else’s.

You’ve got to accept

that nothing ever goes as planned

and that nothing is perfect.

You’ve got to realize

that what you feel

is never wrong

and you must always trust

your intuition

but also accept

the consequence of things.

You’ve got to know

that it’s never too late

to be where you want to be.

To become

who you want

to become.

To feel

what you want

to feel

and to love

the way you want

to be loved:

both freely

and without discrimination.

You’ve got to believe in this,

live by this,

and listen to your voice

when you have to.

In all shapes and forms.

You’ve got to empower

every human you love

and empower yourself

to be good

to those you don’t love.

To be good, you know?

And let everything that brings

the light closer to you,

and everything

that brings you peace .

in.

LIVE BY THIS, DIE BY THIS

As long as I am with you,

I have nothing

to worry about.

Therefore,

the world could burn

and the birds can fall

from the sky.

I got you,

right now,

here in my arms

and we’re surviving

through the destruction.

We are holding on

to what really matters,

to each other.

To our fears and desires.

I love that

because I need

that type of flame.

Flawed and in love.

We are alive

and there’s nothing better

to live by

than that.

Lost in a sunset.

In the lovely city

of Wynwood

I stand in the middle

of Wood Tavern

with a half-empty drink

in my hand.

The tunes flow .

they drip like honey

falling from the speakers.

The lights twinkle

fading in and out of the darkness.

Anger is all I could feel.

The killings printed on paper.

The blood captured on video .

the mockery of life and death.

We entertain ourselves

with another man’s tragic demise.

I WANT TO .

I want you to feel—

to remember what it was like

when you first laid eyes on

something you loved.

I want you to breathe,

to inhale.

To run your fingers

through the air

and collect the memories

as they pass you by.

I want you to remember

the way we spoke.

The way we looked

into our eyes

as the scent filled

the empty

space in the room.

I want you to feel it.

To remember it.

To be

attracted to it.

I want the company

of me

to remind you

how to live,

how to laugh,

and, above all,

how to love.

You’re still here,

in this goddamn forsaken city.

And you’re still walking,

breathing, and living,

no matter how much

it hurts inside.

You’re still you.

You’re still fighting,

trying to maintain—

waking up each day

and telling yourself

it’s okay,

because it is.

You’re still recovering.

You’re still realizing your worth—

no matter how many times

you’ve been let down.

You’re still here, goddammit!

Young and beautiful.

Full of pain

and full of laughter.

Cold and broken

but never alone.

The struggle is real.

You are real.

What you feel is real.

And you must realize your strength

and how you are capable of moving on.

You must realize the beauty

of finding yourself

and your natural ability to heal.

You must realize

how special you are,

and how you value yourself .

is the most important thing

in the world.

Always.