'Battle' by James Christopher Sheppard

You could take me to a place never imagined,

Or present me with the greatest love affair as you have before.

I can fall in love under your spell,

Just as I can fuel hatred.

I’ve never flown, despite trying,

but I’ve driven through a war engulfed San Francisco with my mother more than once.

I started smoking because of you

and had my heart fucked with,

time after time.

I’ve seen things a teen should never have to see, but I lived it,

Because you made me.

I yearn for you,

But I never know where you will take me.

You are the unpredictable trouble maker

that sometimes makes the class laugh,

But sometimes bullies the disabled child

who already knows his chances of being loved are

ten times

lower than the boy he sits next to.

I know that I need you

and sometimes I try to give myself to you, but can’t let go.

I can’t keep my mind from protesting,

marching loudly from every direction,

‘you will not sleep’.