Joel Nichols

"Queen of the Tower"
she lived a life high up in the tower
feeling like she lost every hour
her king offered a coveted neglect
and she lost hope of something perfect

she delighted in charming the princes
who gave her nights of gasps and winces
she felt it was all she could ever do
trying to find joy in a life lived untrue

but then a knight came from far away
who always had all the right things to say
his soul shined brighter than his armor
with an even brighter world to give her

she would forsake her king and crown
and give up every jewel and gown
he would sweep her up and take her away
to a world full of joy without decay

"The Crusader and the Siren"
the heart of the crusader shone true
his life was honor, his path clear
no traitor could stand before him
his sword was keen and his harp joyous

the heart of the siren shone bleak
her life was avoidance, her path unsure
no wanderer could warm her heart
her claws were keen and her voice seductive

the crusader's harp was cast aside
his sword stayed by her hand
she whispered sweet bliss into his ear
and he embraced her in defiance of himself

the siren's claws dug deep into him
and her song sank into his soul
she bled his life onto the ground
and he loved her for it

"Our Joy Will Remain"
the world spites the unknown
justifying itself in brash arrogance
wounded hold onto their hearts
enduring the misguided crusade

enduring with a smile
the pain is worth the love
even when the world burns down
our joy will still remain

wounded are divided by spite
their hearts aching in their hands
though there would not be any pain
if the hearts they held were their own

enduring and holding on
pain is a sign of love
no matter what lies ahead
our joy will still remain

The Core
Through endless moments, hollow vessels drudge on.
Affronted by the buildup of avoidance, the jaded remain.
Never enough, the grand replacements arrayed in glory.
The glory of the jaded a lonely, rotting core of black.

Moment by moment, the meaninglessness increasing.
The shackles of indulgence, bars of distraction.
Too much for the self-buried to say "forgive".
The dirt washed over, the black core submerged in red.

Left behind of free will, spiting at the observer.
The shackled embrace of the scorned broken away.
A fleeting pity for the lifeless abandoning themselves.
The red wiped away, a core of white remains.

One's Love
true expectations drive one's heart
to despair when one and one's love depart
again a sorrowful longing's start
of a restless night's passionate art

not a smile again until embrace
the beauty of one love's face
causing one's pulse to race
and breath to flow out of pace

Broken Heart
warm, melancholy anticipation
the moment's emotional contemplation
one's inner passion set free
wishing a thing that will never be

shards of a broken heart
strain to hold what falls apart
enduring empty seconds of night
the lonely man chases love's flight

what loathsome deed could so kill
the love of a man with only goodwill
his torment, his sorrow, his pain the cost
of a faithful woman who's faith was lost

Untitled
He lingers over the ocean in a fire he started
His boat is ruined; he has two faces
Like a derelict, his rendezvous have departed
With them his sunshine is taken to bright places
He is alone over the ocean in the rain

Untitled
After living a lifeless existence, being hand-led by society,
you are finally born and open your eyes to see a world which hates and despises you
because you have lingered from the whole and have achieved conciousness.
You realize that the glories of the world are merely shrouds of distraction to keep drones as drones.
However, the stone shroud around you has broken as you have become yourself.
Understanding sight is knowing that in order to see, you must close your eyes,
causing you to glimpse as you were not intended to.
You can see the world for what it is. Since you understand that there is no way to trully pursue happiness,
you suggest they pursue knowledge, purity, and unity, but are rejected for the absurd, radical thought.
You do not understand their greed and lust for materials as you know the flesh is temporary.
Now the persecution begins with fingers pointed at you because you have no stone shroud "to help you grow into an ideal being".
Now they are not waring because of age, gender, belief, or race (of which there is only one), but to keep their stone world of death and convenience.
They state their desire to "live" without peace and indulge in that which disfigures... hate.
They state that using hate to segregate is the only way to stabalize their lives because they are, in fact, unifying... against each other.
You remain true to yourself and declare that all are equal regardless or variance and in order to acheive "greatness", we must disgard difference, purify our minds, and unite as one mankind.
You understand that to change is to be human, as is the bonding necessary to survive.
To unify as one, cooperative whole is to rise above nature, making humans more than animals.
To rid ourselves of greed is to rise above nature. However, humans cannot forsake that from which they came or they will forsake their destination.
You know that in order to survive as a race above nature, humans must still co-exist with nature and absolutely must let it run its course outside their habitats, which must become localized and not spread out, as that prevents nature from running that course.
The fingers are no longer pointed. Why persecute logic?
The master race is all races in one bond unbreakable by any circumstance.
Only when unified, can they call themselves man. Culture, religion, and nationality must be set aside or exist silently, lest it mar the brave, new world that is to be created. Now you rest; your vision realized.
The future is no longer forsaken and man's children will live in a peace never before attained.

Mankind in its industrialization
Didn't think it stupid to meet
The depths of technological waters
Using both feet.

Significance
Whirling energies of eternity,
Find my existence small.
My death, if giving a strafing glance,
Might not even be noticed in the light of it all.

However...

The smallest stone can hold a fortress upright.
A single soul can set mass wrong to right.
I play a part in eternity, you see.
Great things, because of me, will be.

A Perfect World Shatters
Dad drove me and my brother home from school,
He looked like he was about to cry.
I knew something had to be wrong,
But how could I know what or why?
Still in the inocence of my childhood,
Unprepare for what I was about to discover.
Missing from our home,
Was half the furniture and my mother.

Through All My Tears
I wake in the morning and ask,
What more is there?
I find no answers,
And wallow, alone, in despair.

I am tattered and torn,
With me life likes to play.
Every time I find happiness,
It is taken away.

Yet I've found reason to keep going,
Reason to have fun.
If light were joy,
I would swim in the sun.

But life plays with me,
You're leaving soon.
No light reaches me,
As I am chained to the dark side of the moon.

I will never get the chance,
To care for you.
You will move on,
Find someone new.

All of this,
Is one of my worst fears.
Now I must look again for reason,
Through all my tears.

Never-ending Hell
Dare to die? Turn to cold carbon,
Come inside, take a look.
You're already dead,
Another corpse upon the hook.

Rewind back to your terrified expression,
When the earth shook.
Your soul fell into the fire,
And the ground closed on you like a book.

Trapped in a labrinth of bone and blood,
The mezmorizing gem you coveted and took.
Bringing you before a demon,
A pawn before a mighty rook.

Leathery skin and a jagged axe,
It sang of how well you would cook.
You attempted to flee, a door covered in frost,
But you just put yourself into your own fatal nook.

Dare to die? Turn to cold carbon,
Come inside, take a look.
You're already dead,
Another corpse upon the hook.

Eerie Commands
One night I lolled upon the rooftops,
Looking out into the farmer's gold crops;
When I looked out past the hills, I happened to see,
Something strange and unfamiliar to me;
I trodded there to investigate the sight,
On this cold, winter night;
Once there, the picture, my eyes did absorb,
Was that of a floating, green orb;
Well, then the orb did speak to me,
As clearly as it was there to see;
"I am death and you are my viser.
I want you to kill this here sir."
I glimpsed upon the face of a man,
and said, "Kill him, I can.
But why should it be,
That you've chosen me."
"You are dead and have no guilt,
Nor a soul upon which it can be built."

Fangs
You see my form,
But do you see my insanity?
You see me standing, in the flesh,
But no air inhaled into me.
My pale skin a harsh contrast,
With the night's black.
My veins craved you,
So you I was forced to track.
Soft, silky skin,
Of a living being.
Who's soul,
I would soon be freeing.
Past my madness in feeding,
Past my hunger.
The remnants of my sanity... my humanity,
Drove me to spare her.
Another brethren I would soon aquire,
She was now, like me, a vampire.

-Dying World-
This world is lost,
It's people with it in turmoil.
Dependant on the technology,
Which poisons the soil.

No one will get rid of it,
At least nature is lenient.
It does not slowly kill us,
Merely because it is convenient

There is too much hate,
Gone is sympathy.
Now tides of spite come forth,
To flavor the apathy.

I am mocked and criticized,
Because I am myself and won't bend.
The things I've gathered,
They've yet to comprehend.

I am Goth, I am sci-fi, I am fantasy,
I enjoy the variety.
As opposed to the mediocrity of the cattle,
Which is society.

Now, though, I have no joy,
My nihilism alone.
In this dementation,
Resides lifeless flesh and bone.

Come into my darkness,
Come, come hither.
Realize what the world is,
Before your mind begins to wither.

We must save our little globe,
Save the coming generation.
Educate the unknowing,
Before self-extermination.

I look up at you all,
From my place in fiction.
The cold, numb stare,
Of a living contradiction.

-Spiral Of Confusion-
I think I love you,
The sun is out today.
I think I hate you,
The sky is wet and gray.

I think I love you,
I hold close to me.
I think i hate you,
I push away and break free.

Why must I be so confused?!
Why must I be so confused?!
Maybe it's Ok. Maybe there is a way.
Or maybe it's all just a lie. maybe i should fucking die.
Maybe it's Ok. Maybe there is a way.
Or maybe it's all just a lie. maybe i should fucking die.

I think I love you,
I put my lips to yours.
I think I hate you,
I beat you and give you sores.

I think I love you,
I feel your tenderness.
I think I hate you,
I'm feeling murderous...

Why must I be so confused?!
Why must I be so confused?!
Maybe it's ok. Maybe there is a way.
Or maybe it's all just a lie. Maybe I should fucking die.
Maybe it's Ok. Maybe there is a way.
Or maybe it's all just a lie. maybe i should fucking die.

I'm trapped in a Spiral of Confusion.
Trapped in a Spiral of Confusion.

-Dark Ones-
The winds blows,
and night sets in.
This is the time we Dark Ones reign,
and with us our sin.

As we sleep,
warm in our beds.
We scorn the day,
and curse you upon your heads.

At night we live,
and at day we are silent.
As night ends and day rises,
we hate as the religious repent.

But some like myself,
have another side.
Love in is we do have,
but it is hidden in us deep inside.

Though we hide or joy,
don't believe we are not joyful at times.
However, darkness fills us,
Even more so at the twelve chimes.

Misery and hate,
both damn our lives.
The sweet agony known as sorrow,
our souls it derives.

Living is painful,
thus every day is torture.
But let me not depress your lightened souls,
and let my thoughts be bloody and sure.

-Pain and Love-
We spite with words,
hoping to cause pain.
We curse and yell,
grief is all we gain.

We lie and despise,
trying to evade reality.
We run away,
our damned life we not which see.

This screaming we have in us,
more than we can bare.
Depression grips our souls,
we wonder if someone will care.

However,
day follows the night.
Deep down inside us,
there in the darkness there is light.

This light brings joy,
even to us who are darkened.
The light is love,
happiness brought by our beloved.

Love so wonderful,
so very good.
But night also follows day,
and it is back to where I stood.

Even though we are dark,
do not rule out we all have a cold heart.
If I could not love,
I would not have become a dark to start.

-Of The Night-
As the sun sets and the sky becomes red,
Passion and lust roam throughout the lovers head.
The sky so sweet making all seem like bliss,
Ones mind is melted with a passionate kiss.

Yet the night comes and follows the dark,
The blackness and cold alone are its silent remark.
Evil harbored in souls whom fate acknowledge,
Dwell in the night and linger on sanity's edge.

-What Is Love-
What is love?
A mere feeling perhaps
but it is a building block of our soul.
There is nothing more heavenly than embracing the one you love
and kissing them ever lovingly.
Sitting there with her, just living the seconds of paradise.
It's so so wonderful... ...so wonderful... ...

-untitled-
Doomed thus we are to our own fate,
or to our own destiny.
Some end with their imaginations giving them a noble end,
yet some end with the horrid realialization of reality.

Lucky ones live a life of love
and of passion,
while others live a haunting life
in a painful fashion.

Some are protected behind angels wings,
as there are those who are at demon's claws.
Righteous ones rise to heaven,
just as the evil ones are trapped in hell's jaws.

People sometimes search,
but do not know what they are looking for.
There are the people who don't search,
and are depressed more and more...

Dark souls lie in many,
and many more have evil in their soul.
Light fills the joyful ones,
who live life in complete pure control.

Life is not a game,
yet people play in it.
Each has their own character,
that just seems to fit.

We are from songs...
" ...and we were singing,
my, my, Miss American Pie,
drove my chevy to the levy,
but the levy was dry.

"And good old boys,
drinking wisky and rye,
singing 'this will be the day that I die',
singing 'this will be the day that I die'."

"The minstrel boy,
to the war, is gone;
in the ranks of death,
you'll find him;
his father's sword,
he has girded on;
and his wild harp,
slung behind him;
'Land of song',
sang the warrior bard,
'though all the world betrays thee';
'one sword at least, thy rights shall gaurd,
one faithful harp shall praise thee.'

...we are from love,
which has betrayed some;
but for others,
it is the very thing we are from...