I have known Shay for several years now and can say with confidence that he is one of the best human beings I've had the pleasure to know, outside of my mother, my grandmother, and my other grandmother. 

In all seriousness, Shay is a great guy and a damn good poet, so I thought it'd be nice to bring him in to share some of his work. So, here it is.

Hey! I’m Shay. I’m guest posting today for the marvelous Mr. Theebs. Today instead of a close examination of the inside of Mr. Theebs’ head through an essay, you’ll be examining mine—through my poetry. (You gotta be a certain type of asshole to say that.) My poems are written when I contemplate my experience and feel that I have words that approach how I feel about them, and how they speak to what goes on in the world as a whole. (Being an artist is a very pompous thing.)
A Mistress

I cut
And I don’t see the skin tear
I’m too focused on the color of the dress my blood wears.
A deep red that’s enticing, that draws the eye consistently,
baring all, yet seemingly with so much more to see.
She crawls away quickly, inviting me to chase her
with a trail the same color as her dress. Pace herself?
Never. She’s going as fast as she can for as long as she can.
So I push harder to see more, but she’s no more on hands
and knees. She’s leaping and bounding, distracting my thought process
with her beauty. But her beauty will drain us both.
She’ll be gone, and I’ll have no way to cope.
How will I live? But I don’t care at the moment.
She’s dancing now, and I’m entranced, shot by the baby bowman.
I can’t chase anymore. I’m too tired anyway. She seems to be slowing
down herself. Don’t stop...but I have no strength to call out.
So tired...my eyes are closing...limbs won’t move. Y’all out?
That’s fine. I see the fading image of my blood-red sunshine.

 

 

Cry

Oh bitterness that breaks my heart and makes me grind my teeth.
Deceitful heart that blinds and binds me, leads me to believe
she’s perfect. That much was clear to me that night.
I thought I’d gotten over her, got them feelings on a tight
leash. I didn’t know that they had merely submerged,
Alligators, crocodiles, waiting to see me and converge
on me. And now I’m pretty much back to square one,
the way life was before I claimed my sonship.
Wrote about how she was no longer the gamebreaker,
Come to find out, she’s still Poseidon, my earthshaker.
I’m worried. What fellowship has light with darkness?
But I would throw my life away for her, regardless.
I’m putty in her hands. Just smiles and I’m gone.
I didn’t know I felt the same way as I did so long
ago, and I feel ambushed. Like I didn’t see this coming.
I thought my usual wishful thinking. Thought nothing would amount to nothing.
Oops. Now here I am again, up a creek,
and nobody knows. I seek
guidance, but I know no one’ll go
the distance. And so I’m left here alone,
hoping, wishing, praying someone sees how I’m no longer strong.

 

Annnnd here's the song:

Inspired by Fall Out Boy's song "Alone Together".