Greed is more than lusting for gold.

Greed is a parasite that invades your conscious and weakens your mind.

You want wealth then you want glory then you want power then you want the world.

You become a slave to your devious desires, damned to do the deeds of a devilish urge.

Greed has done treacherous things.

Greed has pinned man against man, sister against brother, child against mother.

Greed has bought death and suffering.

Greed has bought a sound man to the brink of madness.

Greed has bought the sturdiest of strongholds to their knees.

We like to believe greed is so inhumane.

We deny that we posses it and believe we're above it.

Everyone says greed is a malicious mannerism.

Greed is too crude and barbaric for us civilized individuals.

Nevertheless, greed is a vicious vice that is deeply imbedded in our person.

She sees herself

as nickels and dimes

numbers compounded

between the mirror and eyes

A net worth of

angles and light

she falls for this trick

every night

Does anyone know her

truly

does she know herself

is she oppressed

by her same beauty

that's impressing

everyone else

I have an avarice for innocence

  Especially for the innocence I’ve lost

Those moments that have both

  Slip away willingly

And

  Those ripped from me

Unjustly so.

They are so hard to retrieve

  The innocence gone

That I hoard the few remaining

  And

Weep on the off chance

  I get a precious one back.

So sweet, even if slightly altered.

I watch with a bit of envy,

  Those still rich with innocence, play.

I silently beg them to not be so careless with it

  To not let it so easily siphon away.

Knowing it is folly to speak the words aloud

  For such wisdom can only be gained

When it is almost too late.

When it is almost too late

  To have develop an avarice for innocence.

his lips awakened every cellular structure within her

split molecules

and exhausted her dimensions. 

she could not help but to let him. 

because he understood her,

like her shadow

he knew her every move

and for a second he realized 

that there is more,

there always will be...

there is something that can shatter your soul,

rattle your bones

and it feels like home. 

it feels like it should, 

splendor wrapped in sacrifice

and giving of yourself,

despite the fear, despite the possibility of splitting hearts and 

splintering souls. 

too much of life is lived in greed, sin and sadness

but there is more..

and for a second he reached for it,

unafraid. 

The girl is red-cheeked, 

her lashes wet.

And everyone can tell,

Her emotions got the best of her head.

She thinks it'll go away,

Like pimples or the oily sheen.

In a few more years,

She'll stop being their crybaby queen.

Oh, sweetheart,

you know not what I know,

this is one trait of yours,

that'll never go.

You'll be better at hiding,

Memorize tile in the bathroom,

but you have to use water,

to make a flower bloom.

Caring too much isn't your fault,

it's what you do with that feeling,

and you, my dear,

will leave the world reeling.

(This is the product of a challenge. Only the first paragraph is mine, the rest are YOUR words. And thanks to all who participated. I am sorry to those who didn't get a chance to post. Next time I will allow more time to do so. I'll tag everyone [whose pieces are included] in the comments below.)

Love ricochets in haste

Bouncing off the dew

The cherry blossoms blink

And my heart reciprocates

Sweet chance resonating

A new beginning resounds

And reaches up through fertile death

Puddles of frozen past

Redemption awakes in springs

Of manifested lust

Hunger grows as blossoms fall

Lips seek one another in wet embrace

Bed of petals cushion their ardor

Shedding garments as passion flows

Desperation grips and surges

Hesitant thoughts aggressively tossed

empowered yearnings forage 

devouring unexplored meadows

that feed the ravished appetite

conceding to vulnerable aches

Only cured with crooked dignity 

between the sheets of heart & mind 

battling wanton desires to trace silhouettes 

of those who haunt my sleeping pillow

i drag my feet thru'

a quagmire of emotions

heart heavy sloshing with desire

sagging low to my groin

cuddled under the covers of sky

our hands see more than the eye

Do or die I can't deny 

a vie for the cosmic connection 

erection of bonds in every direction 

a predilection for pleasure over pain 

only to be bitten by my demons again

That bite seeping deep into virgin flesh

Exploding every pore with Alizarin Crimson fire

My name pouring from your tongue 

Exhaling delight reverberating haze

Licking the dripping flavors of you

I devoured you hungrily

The cool breeze did not dampen the raging fire inside

As the scented mix of crimson and falling pink heightened my desire for you

What chance did I have, 

Against such alluring enticement?

Inevitably, our bodies collide 

with a spectacular explosion - 

Breathtaking fusion, frightening intimacy,

Uncertain intent. 

The sky comes crashing down 

All around us.

Sinking like stones

On the bed that lies 

Hands clawing into the night 

Determined to rip through 

The flesh that craves such lies

Our breaths like raging storms

Filled with energy as we fall under

As passionate as the swirling wind

As loud as the rolling thunder 

Every touch lightning 

Sparking that lust within

& So Our Journey Begins

you & I Lovers Intertwined 

Through Cascades & Land Slides 

Our Mission UnFolds 

Tracing Tiny Spirals In Memories Hold 

How we Meat the Best Tale Told 

and as I feel your skin become mine

you sigh through your teeth

asking for a love you won't return

well-written chapters of silence

begging for the want of yesterday

The cherry blossom scents fall down around us

Reminding me of Niagara Falls and I get lost in the shooting stars of your eyes

Our fingers caress the secret pages hidden on each other's hips

That hold the stories we never shared

But we became the two protagonists of the same adventure:

co-authoring our book, 

we scattered our chapters across the world in our most intimate moments

like pink petals, divots of love in a bland landscape.

Our bodies and lifetimes are hopelessly entangled--

but I wouldn't want it any other way

As the graying sky reveals

Frost nipped buds, we arise

From our bed of crushed petals.

Earth turns, daylight wanes, yet we remain.

Your hands feel like forever.

Let the real adventure begin. 

As we take our first step into this world unknown

Wildflowers grew at our feet

Our love was overflowing from a memory

of last night's volcanic heat

The waves of passion

From crashing cliffs now laps the beach

True loves, truest form.

Eat the words we wish to speak.

Like the vines we once made love on,

My veins wrap around your feet.

Sparks of lust burning holes in my body,

Thoughts of caution now retreat. 

Three basic needs that existence requires:

to sate, to sleep and to slake, 

when distorted by the haze of desire 

become necessary steps to forsake;

for I have learned there is fuel in the fire

licking me, as I'm bound to your stake.

Breath deep to drink your heated breathe.

Worlds tremble, urgent shuddered release.

All is life, we succumb to bargained death.

Climb in to me, blood lust, love lust appease.

I am your heart, your meat, petit mort sired,

Forever one, gods of the impassioned, enfired.

Unravel my soul, siphon my sins

To crawl upon my skin

Drink my rain, tantalizing honey liqueur

Speak to my flesh, wake the ferine

Arousing passion,sultry rosebud bloom, open me

Enthroned, Sir

Forever one, Gods of impassioned, enfired.

A pause, shivering,

Like fog upon the mirror;

My heart, quivering,

Sudden doubt draws nearer.

And sands rush and race the encircled time stance, tall and flowing through hourglass confinement. Carrying dream sacks weighed down by bondage, a crime found lost, down the flow of silence. 

And as the sands crash over us, we breathe deep. 

This is life, this eternal crush. 

Our souls are blended deep beneath the rush of waves. 

We are limitless in our passion. 

There is fire in our veins. 

We are fed by the sun. 

As it falls,

It heals all,

As it heals,

It renews

As it renews,

Love appears.

How unfair a thing to befall us both,

That love requited in our great oath,

Is bound by flesh which surely dies, 

'Til we return unto the skies

Enantiodromia seems to be breathing me

Where sly worries fell aside, atavistically

where laments become the pride

Subsequeint looks and stories and I'm numb

      inside.

I arrived in time to behold

the glory of the curtains closed

Stage dark, players gone

Yet I hold your hand and hum along.

A new beginning resounds 

I remember the bangles

I remember the velvet

I remember that night in Monsoon

You're all soaked

Soaked enough to soak the angels

I being a mere mortal

Could've done nothing

but rid of you of all those

wretched,soaked velvet

I remember that night

Cherry blossom scent 

Dewdrop velvet night descent 

Emotional storm of passion swarms

the moment of my mortal life's end

Freedom I find within

Each time bangles chime

I replay the scene in my mind

Entwined our souls float as one,

I can caress your skin til the morning sun, 

The blood in my veins glows with your heat,

Lascivious as it may seem, there is no retreat.

Being you -- being me... No,

We can't be undone!

I thought it was a new beginning

I had my chance at love 

But as the cherry blossoms blinked

All I received was heartbreak

As Love ricocheted in haste 

Bouncing off the dew.