Whom

Ryley Fraser

This anthology is dedicated to the friends who saved my life and helped me
discover my true value.

Table of contents
1-introduction\bio
2-fifteen
3-monster
4-intentions
5-ws
6-parallels

7-an ally
8-strength
9-reposition
10-ashes
11-the musics flow

Hello and welcome to this anthology. These poems will focus on self value,
self identity, and what it takes to discover these two qualities, as well as
how it feels to be without them. Many of the poems in this collection will
seem rather dark or sorrowful. This is because I've recently come out of a
dark place so these emotions are fresh on my mind and I know how hard
and scary finding yourself can be. However my poems do still have
glimmers of hope because I also know that you will eventually get out of
these dark places. I hope that this resonates with the reader somehow. All
of these poems are originals written by me.

Ryley Fraser is a student at Ecole Notre Dame. He's dabbled in writing in

different mediums, including poetry, since grade 4. His friends mean more
to him than anything else so definitely don't mess with them. Receiving a
scholarship for the highest total GPA in grade 9, he has always achieved
highly in school (the effect this has on his sanity is a different story). Ryley
has enjoyed poetry for a long time and has decided to let his artsy side out
more by starting to write songs and plays. He lives in Sylvan Lake, Alberta

with his parents and his dog, Scooter, an adorable bichon shih tzu that
gives him cuddles after a bad day.

I am fifteen
Or am I
What am I
Who am I
Ive got no constants
One day I'm told
You're so mature
Then another
Grow up
I am fifteen
Or am I
Am I supposed to be
Sad
Or happy
Is this the best time of my life
Or the worst
I've got no constants
I'll switch between these options

On a dime
I am fifteen
Or am I

Monsters
Deprived vicious
Seeking to end what is good
But
So are we
Monsters
greedy hateful
Wanting what they can't have
But
So do we
But Monsters
Aren't real
Or are they
We create

Based on ourselves

Freeing
I am what I am
You cannot hold me down
But
I can
Cleverly
You speak
With your silver tongue
I
Am enthralled
Maliciously
I am convinced
To hold myself back
You
Have won
Fit
A perfect fit
I have been been made
Perfectly
Able to fit
Another
Silver tongue

But a different intent

Now
Of freedom
Similarly
To how I was deceived
You free me
Kind and honest words

Break the formality

I am once more me
And you are just as happy
We've won
Who
Who I am near
The way they speak and act
I'm compelled to follow my friends
And retreat from my enemies
5 Ws
5 ways
To change
What
What I do
How my time is spent
Can show you where my priorities lie
or will lie
5 Ws
5 ways
To change
Where
Where I am
The sights and sounds
Pushing me in new directions to new places
Where I may change more
5 Ws
5 ways
To change
When
When I live
The times change
Like ever-shifting sands
I'm changing with them
5 Ws
5 ways
To change
Why
Why do I live
I live for a purpose
I may think I know it but
It can change just as anything else

5 Ws
5 ways
To change

When you create

When you exist
You work so hard
You work so hard
To make it excellent
To be happy
But what's the point
But what's the point
If no one can see it
If it's never shared

Fight together with me

Stand beside me
Shape
And mold me
And I will do the same
I've found it
Where I fit
Where I mesh
Where I belong
I'm no longer lost
And I won't let you be either

Sturdy
Or feeble
What do these mean
Are you steadfast
Or yielding
What do these mean
If you are weak when you yield
Is it strong to be rude
And weak to be kind
Power
Is it in service to you
Or to me
What does power truly mean
We live in a world
Where no one knows.

A climb

To the world
That awaits you
Your hand slips
You barely get a grip
And you're straining to hang on
Your sweat slicks the rock
You can't hold on
You fall
You catch an outcropping
You've been set back
Or have you?
You're stronger
Wiser
And more prepared
You again reach the place you fell
Rather quickly
And now you blaze past it.

We rise
We rise and rejoice
At what we find among the ashes
Of the fallen past

We fall
We fall and weep
When the ashes are swept away
To reveal nothing
We march
We march onward
To our next future leaving the present
As a fallen past
Sadness of our own design
Happiness of our own design
We decide what we find
Among the ashes of the past
What will you find?

It flows through us
the music, a river
the staff, a road

leading to bliss
it is no simple path
the notes, my hurdles
i will overcome them
To define myself
and play the souls song