Better Than Us

You don't think that I see it,

The assessment that you make,

Sizing up my child to your perfect one,

To see just where he will rate.

To your cliques and next door neighbors,

You'll decide he's not worthy to fit in.

So you'll deem him less superior,

And hope you won't have to disinvite him again.

You were always the type to label and judge

Those who were misfits in your school.

Now you continue the behavior with your own,

Knowingly teaching them to be just as cruel.

My child is no stranger to the facts;

It's one of those hard life lessons to learn.

But you will never shatter his self worth,

And your respect will never be earned.

Don't try to pretend that they may be occasional friends.

Don't think you can charm with your fake smile.

It's haters like you who harden this world,

Especially the short distance between a few miles.

Keep feeding your ego with falsehoods,

And believing good things to you will abound.

We won't try to force our way into your posse;

It's why we live on the other side of town.

10.30.16
©Kerri L. Stanley

Plagiarism

How the story started, I had forgotten.

So I went back to the beginning of the book. 

And then surprised, I read the same passages often. 

I hadn't seen the real story between the lines

Hidden to most who can so easily overlook it. 

A needle in a haystack when exposed will shine. 

To saturate the fabric is to stain the cotton;

You will steal his agenda like a common crook,

Take your self gratifying hit before you reach rock bottom. 

You have convinced yourself he's yours in your mind. 

A relationship so distorted and blatantly unfit,

For the good of what's moral you refuse to leave it behind. 

Chasing something so far where you don't belong,

Not seeing the direction where you know you should look,

And taking down casualties as you continue to forge on. 

You had no right to claim this story to write all along,

A foundation so fragile under which planted feet has been shook,

But you'll pen your false name even though it's all wrong,

This story that isn't yours to own beyond this crossed line. 

09.22.16
©Kerri L. Stanley

Behind The Holy Door

It's a scene that depicts not innocence.

It's what really goes on behind the holy door.

It's everything and nothing at all.

It's yesterday wronged forevermore.

It's the secret you carry in your pocket,

A burden of a sin deflected to be theirs and mine.

It's a topic left abandoned and untouched.

It's the drawing of the moral line.

It's the saving of a broken soul,

That's the manipulation of truth to your lies.

It's the business that matters to no one,

Despite all of the wheres and whys.

The story at times has been changed.

Even the timeline has been modified.

Vows that teeter on an unbalanced foundation

Continue to weaken you as the glorified.

It's corruption we sleep through each night.

It's a topic we fight to keep out of the news.

Yet to share in confession and reconciliation,

Will release us from the lies turned to truth.

It's a scene that will depict hurting wounds.

It's what will no longer go on behind the holy door. 

It's everyone and everything at all.

It's tomorrow made right forevermore. 

09.05.16
©Kerri L. Stanley

You Think

You think you can invite me to play.

You think I don't know all the rules.

You think that you'll be the best leader.

You think I'm your puppetry fool.

You think you can scheme and manipulate.

You think I won't fall for your ruse.

You think that you covered your tracks.

You think I'll believe your excuse.

You think you will win at your game.

You think I can't walk in your shoes.

You think that I'll share this with no one.

You think a defeat you'll refuse.

You think you had almost made it.

You think the outcome is yours to choose.

You think that you're all that important.

You think this isn't front page news.

You think you can invite me to play.

You think you can bend all the rules.

You think I can't be the best leader.

You think you're too smart to be fooled.

05.23.16
©Kerri L. Stanley

Self Indulgent Tantrum

Who you say you are is not who I've come to see,

But you'll deny what's in the mirror,

And deflect that it is really only me.

You walk into the story more than halfway through,

Refuse to rewind to the beginning,

And I'm left with a guilty verdict in misjudgment by you. 

You'll gather a few of your self indulgent people,

Decide you can bully through unjust authority,

And all your fabricated lies to them you'll feed.

So I'll change the outcome of these scenes,

Since you only seem to thrive on causing trouble,

Because the end should certainly justify the means.

05.11.16
©Kerri L. Stanley

Old Flames

It's been a couple of years now,
The fire's heat we can no longer feel.
I thought we could see past the smoke,
And walk away with just burns that would heal

I see you around from time to time,
Even ask others about how you've been.
Forgiveness found its way to my heart,
And I thought maybe we'd be friends again.

But I made the grave mistake
Of revisiting that old place from the past.
And I found you have been there too
And it's clear that it won't be your last.

There is leftover bitterness in your soul,
Clinging to your bones like smoke does to wood.
You've fanned the flames to rekindle the fire
Knowing I'd burn in the place where I stood.

If time erases the pain and the hurt,
It sure missed its mark with you.
Keep playing with fire and you'll burn again,
Until you grow tired of what the scars will do.

One day you'll look at yourself in the mirror,
And won't recognize the person you'll see.
But it won't be too late to let it all go,
I'll forgive you still and beside you I'll be.

03.14.16
©Kerri L. Stanley

Whatever You Say

The hands of time keep pushing us forward
But in reality I'm stuck in the past.
You will tell me my vision is blurring the truth
Your undying love you'll hold fast.

What you say can never be what you really mean;
The color of love is not green.
So I stand here before you weak at the knees
And I tell you what it is you can't see.

REFRAIN
Dreams that will never become memories,
Or things that stay broken too long.
Hypocrisy bulging from your back pocket,
All the rights that keep staying as wrongs.

Below average should be good enough,
All that you want you think I do, too.
What I don't have I can't use for leverage,
And I crumble, feeling just like a fool.

The clock still passes our time.
Day in and day out, we survive.
Soon another season will come to an end,
And we will step into another, again with no end.

What I say can never be what you want it to mean;
The color blue is easy to see.
You'll stand here before me while I'm down on my knees
And you'll tell me how you think it should be.

REFRAIN
Dreams that will never become memories,
Or things that stay broken too long.
Hypocrisy bulging from your back pocket,
All the rights that keep staying as wrongs.

Below average should be good enough,
All that you want you think I do, too.
What I don't have I can't use for leverage,
And I crumble, feeling just like a fool.

It will always be your vision, your words, your way.
Like a fool, I'll let time keep pushing us forward,
Into another this is a good enough day.

03.06.16
©Kerri L. Stanley