I made myself the light to guide you through,
But the one who was lost was never even you.
I drained my glow to save you,
left to fade in the dark,
I pray fate never lets you steal someone's spark.
Don't ask me if I'm doing fine,
I won't let myself cross that line.
Back to that place again,
Where there was only pain.
Not long ago,I used to write
about myself,the life I lived
life was dark, the soul was white
I'd be the best,I so believed
Played with words,called it art
sharp they were,truth they said
to the ears sweet, feelings they hurt
to the highest bidder,price they paid
Peak of Everest, challenge I took
Each at a time, I took steps
lower the grounds,up the hook
higher grounds, I slid the depths
Now in vain, with no touch I reach
Hear no sound, a muted world
A throat of silence, lacking peach
chained to earth, in dreams I'm furled
tucked beneath loose pens
a tarnished locket lies still
hinges stiff with time
holding a faded secret
no one remembers to seek
faded stamp clings
to envelope’s thinning breath~
every inch a mile
of memories drifting backward,
a last whisper of a journey
long finished
You used to smile a lot
When we were both young
Enough to play and run,
In the flowering fields.
Golden rays, golden hair
Golden cord, golden rings.
They are now all the same
In my memory.
The only thing not faded
Is the smile on your face.
We should have counted then
Those few blessings shared,
Lest we forget them
In the passing of years.
Our memories washed
Away as the rains
Came to clean
Away the dew
Covering us when we awoke
Laying in the grass of that meadow.
Faded Youth was originally published in Impspired Magazine, 2026 all rights reserved.
Stared at the ashes of burned bridges
Blank and free, stripped of emotion
Densely piled through the ages
Obscured from memory, no recollection
The scorching fire came not from inside
Unaware even that a tether exists
A consciousness bound in receding tides
Resembles a sun to an evening mist
Wasted by life’s strange concoction
Dampened hopes, dimmed sight
In a cobweb of confused emotions
Wildly spun, tangled tight
Lost while traveling the selfless road
Regret revealed what truly matters
Reached the isle of pain—cold and broad
Relief, now, found behind closed shutters
Solitude, a consolation offered
To an existence where others once lived
A need for what remains to be spared
When value, in the absence, is perceived
Do NOT hurry me,
I keep it simple, stupid...
I know this sucks.
Hell itself cannot burn any brighter
No faster than stars fuel the sky
I follow them all in search of heaven
But it’s us on Earth feeding that fire
They all fade slowly from existence
Spreading out right under my eyes
Not because they obey a command
In truth, there’s so much space to hide
I watch distance stretching on forever
As human intelligence restricts my mind
Nothing stays in the place it begins
Perceived certainty, or just plain lies
And I’ve many grave misgivings
about rockstars that chose to die
Did they tap into a secret chord
to find it was always background noise
Oh, I curse this whole damn cosmos
for creating such an impenetrable void
It knows nothing of fixed boundaries
Only how to dim despite all our sighs
Alone, feverish, and weak
I sit; dark walls speak.
Everyone around seems not to care.
Memories shadowed by despair.
We walked along a narrow ridge,
Crossing in silence over a nostalgic bridge.
Plunging over the edge, flora appears.
No one hears our fears.
I opened my eyes to a world
And became flesh in a whirl.
Within myself, I divided by strife,
Losing all aspects of life.
There is still light to help balance
A path through life’s challenges.
A world transient nature of scars
Turned to an endless garden of stars.
Sometimes, I am faded stars,
Yet my sky is full of promises,
Every lost sparkle is reborn in another gaze,
Every night carries its infinite, tender lights.
I shine in the hearts of those who look,
I dance in the whisper of the wind,
And even faded, my lights guide
Toward sweet dreams, laughter, and hope,
For all that fades returns,
In a new sky, radiant and alive.
Significance can't be measured by what we can
see or hear
Or what never reaches our eyes and ears
to contemplate
Nor that of a universe that decides
our fate...
What of we, who bathe in our own praise
and condemnation ?
Waiting for another failed experiment to be erased
by extinction!
Does the ruling "civilization" decide what
is civil?
Or, does god choose when a "terrible lizard" is choked
into silence
By tossing a celestial rock into a
once tranquil sea
Wiping the slate clean once more
and still~
The sun burns through, emotionless,
and shrugs,
Its energy will warm another seed,
a new cell.
I follow faded stars ~ or is it they
who follow me...
Stars like jeans
are made to fade
their blues bleed out
in the wash-up,
in the burn-out,
in their legacies of
spin cycle routines.
But the twinkling glitter
in their burnout flares,
falls like rain
from shooting stars
in shimmering showers,
that cling on tight,
like the curse
of forever chemicals.
No one can ever scrub them clean
from party clothes
washed all alone,
by themeselves,
rinsed and spun,
rinsed and spun,
in washing machine
cycle routines.
So these spun-out,
hang out, party clothes,
are stored shrouded in plastic
to stop the glitter's spread
in the wardrobe,
in the armoire's bottom draws,
to dim the legend’s
endearing stain of
faded fame.
Stars like jeans
are made to fade
the blues bleed out
in the wash-up
in the burn-out,
in their legacies of
spin cycle routines.
Sometimes, I follow faded stars at night,
That whisper ancient secrets as they stray,
Across the sable dome, their gentle light
Guiding lost ships while shadows kept at bay.
Flickering soft, their memories grown old,
Yet draw my gaze along their winding trail,
To dreams half-spoken, stories left untold,
And wishes lost to winds that never fail.
In those silent hours, longing fills the sky,
My heart adrift, still searching worlds afar;
Each distant gleam a question—why, oh, why
Must I pursue what only leads to scar?
Yet, though they fade, I chase those stars above,
For even fading light can kindle love.
Sometimes I follow faded stars
Lost lonely souls with jaded hearts
But brilliant minds indigo smarts
Full of wisdom despite their scars
The beautiful ones have stories
Some of victory of green glory
But personally I prefer the gory
Truth of failure to be less boring
Life makes you like a dog collar
Is strangling neck so tight you holler
Despite experience status as scholar
No matter your position in beauty parlor
For beauty is a burning boisterous blade
that cuts two ways leaves you spayed
For others see you and miscalculate
The pain you have inside is dead weight
Yet there is a deadly denim denial
In creases of your courageous smile
They always tell you to be proud
To turn a bloody frown upside down
A faded star with a hole in red heart
Has adjusted to the irony and dark
Paths sarcastic laughs of lone sharks
Feeding on energy from the flower park
Not all pretty faces will win the rat race
Someone left behind must lead the way
For the rebuilding of the hearts that break
For the sacrificial lambs that find faith
If I could write a love song
Caterpillars receive their wings
to fly among the heavens
that angels protect
In bushes of soft foam.
They appear unbreakable from here
But when the arrow struck its lock
The flood of love came rushing in.
I abandon my panic
For a life of eternal yearning
Among his mortal brothers.
If I could write my love song
To accept surrender
In cupids battle for a heart
To strike in the full moon's desire
That entraps loves vulnerables.
If I could sing thee a love song
Would you forever gaze at the stars
Reflected in my eyes of fire?
Or might you quench it
In waves of rippling water.
You can surprise my heart
Only when I have drained thine.
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