Writer's Note: I named this poem "Hiding In Vastness (v 2.0)" because the first version I did of it is a love-type poem. This version is looking at Jon from an outsider's point of view...basically analyzing his life thus far. As far as the "Hiding in Vastness," I got it from his nickname, HIV, where each letter stands for a word, which results in "Hiding In Vastness."

You close your eyes to escape the pain.
You pray for the day for true happiness to take over.
You live in your anger;
Built up from the pain of a lost childhood.
You live a life you only dreamt of as a kid,
Now you don't want it anymore.
You hide in the vastness of the spotlight.
Pop culture penetrated you like an uncurable virus,
It forced you to accept your new found fame.
The spotlight grew brighter.
Some have turned their backs on you,
While others have embraced you.
The vastness of fame surrounds you everyday;
It eats away at you while you sleep at night,
But it awakes you from the grotesque visions in your dreams.
Why do they suddenly recognize you now for your gift?
It came too soon and you couldn't handle it,
And you beg for it to go away.
We fed off of you and you fed off of us.
You ask yourself, "Do I need this fame?"
It just drives you deeper into your inner demons.
They dance around in your head;
They whisper malicious thoughts in your ears.
You try to escape the vastness through pleasure,
But the pleasure eventually fades away.
The vastness you hide inside returns.
It will soon disappear though,
And you will be happy.
Until it goes away, you're left onstage screaming your pain
to those who want to escape theirs.
Then, you and I will escape this world of pain and anger;
To a place where happiness shines in and the vastness fades out.