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[cburky43]

5. “History books”

You wrote me into your history

And out of your life;

I guess I’ll take what I can get.

Am I just a muse–

Something convenient to use

To set their tongues on fire?

Why are they singing our song

At the top of their lungs?

They’ve got the story all wrong.

Tell the world your secret.

I can’t keep the truth

From being lost in the smoke

Or wrap myself in what you wrote.

But I’ll keep it, I’ll keep it.

Do you feel butterflies inside

When you sing those lines?

Or has time taken feeling from memory?

Giving your words away for others to feel

Your heart’s wiped clean

When you sell the meaning.

Do you eat up echoes from the crowd

Shouting out our secrets now?

This isn’t how I thought I’d learn

What was in your heart.

I don’t want to wait

for the public sale of your soul.

Trash your lines and give me

something more to hold.

I’ll keep it. This time I’ll keep it.

Circa 2006-07 Chantel JaNeen

[cburky43]

4. “The Daily Grind”

Coffee warms smiles and idle hands,

A new flavor suiting his tastes

As this time he casually decides

Which color he’ll paint his dreams tonight.

Outside, a cold night finds fragile hearts

Standing side by side and whispers:

“You’re just biding time.”

Time, suspended across fading lines

And what lies behind bright eyes

And abstraction when life stops

Being just mindless distraction,

Stretches until it breaks with breaking day

And the way cheeks turn to pretend

They’ve never known sin,

never known lips on skin.

Standing at the edge when webs

No longer catch them,

And monarchs question intentions they bring

To dive, but not to rise again with them,

When even dying colors are too vibrant

For eyes made wide,

Heavy hearts write lines to give meaning to times

When love and light gave defense to nights,

Before history became the soundtrack to life.

Circa 2006 Chantel JaNeen

[cburky43]

3. “Let’s get Messy”

You say you’re a bad bet and a long shot

So I’m not sure why I’m playing along.

You know where I am, the number to call

But you’d rather send signals through the aether 

Like throwing spaghetti at the wall.

So let’s get real messy, I guess?

I always thought I was barely a thought,

A little fill-up at the station to top you off.

But now I see you’ve named all our old haunts,

Words I spoke to you, all our playful taunts.

You always thought we’d be an overnight sensation,

Said you’d promise not to run

But I learned decades ago not to trust your word

So I left the cash, took the gun. 

I saw a child with matches from the start

So that switchblade attitude

Protected a beating, bleeding heart

While you devoured everyone else

And called it art.

If it was love, it felt like getting ready for war

So let’s take it to the streets, I guess?

You know I know more 

(than you give me credit for)

So come at me bro, 

let’s settle the score.

You know I’ve heard them 

call this predator and prey–

But they don’t have that quite right, 

Do they? (Do they?)

You were the one with the aim

I saw your pain, offered a line,

Didn’t think you’d upset the tides

Putting targets on my back 

Until I had to hide.

Until you cut me deep 

Just to watch me bleed

Til sharks in friendly waters

were circling me. 

So hey Rockstar, when you’re desperate 

For that next hit

When you’re reaching for another way

To memorialize my lips

When you can’t get me 

Outta your mind–

That sweetness you tasted

all those years ago

Was just mocha 

from The Daily Grind. 

So you wanna get messy?

I’d say, ‘You’re on your own, kid’

But whatdya know–

Here I am, coming clean!

Love always,

Chantel JaNeen

2026

[cburky43]

2. “It’s a Garage Sale!”

It feels so wrong to do this–

To peddle our tale to the crowd.

But (you know) I read you as easy as I chew gum

So (you know) you asked for this–

–the truth spit out loud.

Hey, whatever, you’re the captain now!

And you want them to swarm

You’ve already thrown care and caution to the wind

–so I guess I can’t see the harm

You’re still tryna light that spark,

Burn it all down for the dopamine?

–that’s a crazy challenge

But I’ll try to rise to the occasion 

If not from the ashes

So you wanna cut the brake lines

And what? See what survives the crash?

That would NOT have been my instinct

–a pretty crazy ask

But hey, you’re the captain now!

You wanted everyone talking

You wanted me to run my mouth, lose my head

–So wrote, so spoke, so done.

So I guess I’ll just lick my lips

And sharpen the knife–

And if it turns you on, I’ll take a bite

So here’s your collaterally righteous art:

Here’s the public sale of our hearts!

2026 Chantel JaNeen

[cburky43]

1. “Side Quest to Save Alex”

You’ve spent 20 years now tending the fire

So I’ll tell the story once and for all–

The prophetic chance meeting,

The climax and fall.

How we locked eyes in a classroom,

All the coffee we shared.

The strange connection and painful complications,

And just how much we cared.

I’ll share with the world what you wrote

–the sonnet that started it all–

Proof that the story i’m telling is true

–All our innocent intentions–

And the “sin” that begat the fall.

I’ll explain then how it all fell apart,

–How the signals got crossed–

How scared we both were to feel,

How a once-in-a-lifetime thread got lost.

And that could’ve been how the story ended–

Distant memories of dear old friends

But you soldiered on for decades,

Kept the secret but fanned the flame.

You could’ve given up too,

–I’d certainly understand–

But instead you brought our love to life

And crafted Neverland.

So I’ll try to explain why I had to look away,

How I read so wrong what you were trying to say

–How young, how dumb–

How confused we both were.

Then I’ll tie up loose ends

And what brings us to today.

I’ll finally set the record straight,

Spell it out for you and the world

How you’ve stayed in my heart,

A spark to my soul.

And now that we’re older,

Nothing much left to lose,

I’ll show you mine since you showed me yours

And I’ll lay my cards out, no metaphors.

Then the rest of the tale is left to be told.

How will it end?

I guess we both don’t know.

We’re living different lives

And I can’t reach you now.

We’ve both spent time lost in the static,

But the connection remains somehow.

So is the ending really written in the stars

Or the scars upon our hearts?

Maybe there’ll be a happily ever after,

Maybe the dream dies.

Is there any way to clean up this mess,

Set straight all the lies?

Can we mend all our broken hearts,

Wipe up everyone’s tears?

Can we find the way to each other again,

After all the pain,

After all these years?

Maybe someday you’ll help me get the details right

If you ever find the time and space

Maybe someday it won’t seem a cardinal sin

To drink our coffee face to face.

Maybe someday I’ll fix the grammar,

Tighten the rhymes, the metaphors

But in the meantime, I had to get it out–

Here’s the truth you’re begging for.

2026 Chantel JaNeen