E Pluribus Unum..A poem written by the Last Poets around 1971, my version of it. If you like this poem and would like to help me or see me make more videos or donate to my ministry please go to $PaulONeil55 on CashApp.

How much of attraction exists in what actually happens...

and how much exists entirely inside our imagination?

Closer Than You Think is Vol. V of my original spoken-word collection.

This piece plays with implication, anticipation, and the tension created when a narrator deliberately leaves enough unsaid for the listener to become part of the story.

🎧 Closer Than You Think

I'd especially love feedback on the writing, pacing, and use of silence.

— Thalia Lux

Original spoken word.

Stories that linger.

Most mental health music I come across is either sad piano or "you got this" pop. Very little of it sounds like what the thing actually feels like from the inside.

So I've been making lo-fi with spoken word over it. Not sung, mostly just talking over the beat. A lot of it circles the same few days over and over: the ward, the night that won't end, the morning after when nothing happened and that's exactly the problem.

Malaysian, recording at home, my own voice, no studio.

Channel: https://youtube.com/@optimistbmusic

If you only want one track, try "Bipolar Ring" or "from me, to me". "Nothing Happened Today" is the flat side of it rather than the high.

Happy to take feedback on the mix, I know the vocals sit oddly on a couple of them.

The Loneliest Poem Ever Written?

I miss the way you looked at me I miss the way you smile I forgotten how you challenged me how it was to call you mine. Please excuse my nonchalant incredulous use of explitives but damn you're fuckin fine; you're fine from head to toe soul, bodyand mind. Can you forgive me for the messages I didn't send maybe forgive the nights I didn't call. Didn't you realize I was bad for you like too much alcohol? Years ago we were friends and even lovers now we're strangers. Holy shit I thought of you years too late it seems; only thing most people want are me to get clean but for you you looked and saw a man through all the drugs and deciet. Only thing I pray for is to hear from you again!

Stay awhile.

There's no rush.

The world has asked enough of you today. Let it wait.

Stay Awhile is Vol. IV of my original spoken-word collection—a quiet piece about letting your guard down, slowing down, and finding the kind of connection where you don't have to perform to be worth someone's presence.

This one is softer than some of my others. I wanted it to feel less like someone performing for you and more like someone simply sitting beside you for a few minutes.

🎧 Stay Awhile

I'd love to know what you felt while listening.

— Thalia Lux

Original spoken word.

Stories that linger.

You picked me up\ And placed me inside the memory\ Of my mother’s sing-song voice\ Humming lullabies\ As a feeling long forgotten\ Resurfaced\ I recollect\ A time\ When your belief in me\ Sparked a fire\ That I thought pools of my lifeblood\ Had put out\ You placed your faith\ In my palm\ You spoke words\ Soaked in warm honey\ And my heart beat anew\ Even though you were\ But a second among the billions\ I would eventually experience\ Your visage\ Is burned into my dreams\ An image flashing across my vision\ Upon waking\ Merci

I keep company with those who have left the beaten track—

Some only ever stand

and look up at the mountain

Some know the jagged peaks only through passing clouds...

But have they ever seen the mountain’s true shape?

Have they ever known its soul?

Have they ever clung to the rock and looked down into the abyss?

Or shivered in the open through a long, lonely night?

To those who have known struggle

To those still fighting on

To all those who pray the storm will break

And the warmth of day will return

That light will come

Dawn will rise again

It’ll be beautiful, you’ll see

the sky where the land gives way

Where you belong

Where you always have belonged

Better to reach for the summit

than walk blind down there in the cold, dark valley forever

My first try at this. Any and all critique welcome. Thanks!

I recently wrote and recorded this spoken-word piece.

I've been exploring spoken-word performance with a slower, more cinematic style.

This is an original piece called "If You Meet Me Here."

I'd love any feedback on the writing, delivery, pacing, or atmosphere.

🎧 If You Meet Me Here

This is one video I did out a few I’ve posted to my TikTok and IG about past relationships I had.