Black Sand

The pitch black darkness felt like cold tar on my skin.  Pasted over my hear, over my eyes.  I could feel it seeping into my ears and my nose. My breath has to squeeze by just to escape my lungs. But I have company.  Heavy iron shackles clamped to my wrists and ankles.  They talk to me when I move, telling me to be quiet.
Roving about my day, I interact with people, I drive my car in traffic, stand in the line at the cashier, browse the isles at the mall.  But no one knows the prison I'm in.  Touch me and you will not feel the wet black tar soiling your hands, shine a light in my eyes and you will not see the depth of nothingness staring back at you.  Call my name and you will not hear the torment of a damned soul in hell screaming back at you.Your eyes will only see the face that I am obligated to show. Your ear will only hear the response of a pleasant and meek human being.  Your handshake will only confirm the warmth of a happy, normal, person.
This prison in my mind is limited to the walls of my skull but is vast like a thousand desserts.  Each link in the shackles weigh a hundred pounds each, with the other end dropping out of view no matter how much a walk along its length. 
This black cell with no cage only seduces one thought, "Is this my doing or is this doing, for me?" Unable to answer my own riddle, I can only ponder origin instead of purpose. My mind, no rescuer.  Chains but no key.  No walls but no path. Just a compressing cold darkness and a puzzle.  

RANSOM

Plastic explosives, check

Wires and charge, check.

Detonator, check.

Just like that, you blew my mind with your beauty.

Kevlar tactical assault gear, check.

Robinson XCR assault rifle, check

Blacked out getaway car, check

Just like that, you stole my heart and whisked me away in your eyes.

Rope, check

Handcuffs, check.

Hidden underground bunker, check.

Held captive for the highest price a man could pay, mutual love that I give gladly.

Ransom note, check

Demands, check

Drop point, check.

The day I will remember for the rest of my life, the day I cleaved to you.

My honor, check.

My love, check

My happiness, check

I now put in your hands, to keep, to nurture, forever.

The Tab

A bullet costs 25 cents.

A med student pays over $50, 000 year 

at college to learn how remove it

When you shoot me.

That drink at the bar costs $7.

Lifetime care for your birth defected child 

will cost over $700,000

because you couldn't wait to drink.

The 15 minutes in the back of her car

has now cost you half your assets and future income

because you couldn't take a minute

to talk to your wife.

The friend that you typed "LOL" to

Isn't going to pay, your $1000 deductible

because you couldn't wait till you stopped driving 

to return a text.

If you said hello 2 seconds quicker

she wouldn't have bumped into that other guy

Who took the opportunity to snatch his bride

Leaving you to a lifetime of solitude,

Life has its pleasures and its pains

But you have to grab chance and be prudent

Before life hands you a bill

That may be too high, to pay.