Sealed the lid on tight

With us inside

Crank up the heat

It's just a matter of time

Irritated particles

We race faster and faster

Colliding much harder

Tiny explosions

Frustration ripens to rage

Screaming, kicking,

Fighting as we go,

Oh no, Oh no,

It's about to blow!

In what do we trust?

He crossed the street

Just before my bumper

Does he trust my brakes?

My sanity, the mechanic?

New York State inspections?

Or maybe laws

And the fear of punishment

Attached as consequences?

 The human instinct

To not take another life?

The hard working American's

Who assembled my car?

The harder working, underpaid

Souls manufacturing the parts abroad?

Their compulsory fear of

Making a mistake and losing their job?

Or some magical divine force field,

Protection from above?

You take your first hit

You get high

You like it

You don't really need it again

But it felt good

And maybe right now you feel bad

So you hit it again

Get what you're looking for

That buzz that’s drones out

The voices in your head

The people who love you

See you changing, transforming

Your friends,

(you know, the ones who you get high with…

But really that's all you have in common…)

They say it's fine and pass you the joint

You hit it because you know it's easy

Easier than life, easier than emotions

And so you become the other type of drone

You are flat, starving for affect,

Dying to feel something in your apathy

But nothing breaks through

So you get high, again.

You see the way out

But it seems so impossible to reach

Just say no

Just find something else

The natural high

High on life

Easy philosophy

Tough consistency

How do you break

This addiction 

This spell

That has you trapped

How do you breathe

When this smoke

Fills your lungs

Grind your teeth

Try to sleep

Ignore the anxiety

Overlook the scarcity

When you take it away

I've got nothing left

Making it damn hard

To just say no

You feel like

A million miles away

On a far away planet

Where I can't see

Out of my arms

Absent from my heart

The cold universe

Between us as we sleep

And I can't touch

Your skin

And I can't feel

Your soul

Eternity frozen

In the balance of

Time and space 

Working fast and hard

Sweating while scrubbing

Bustling and shuffling

Wiping and sweeping

Keeping my eye on

The dreamer's prize

Home tonight with

Hot tub and wine

A quick change

Into the bubbles

And I feel great

Head to toe

For a moment I relax,

Let go of all circumstance ,

What's this in my pocket?

Not a q-tip, kleenex, or a locket

It's my phone,

Oh, no!

Waterlogged,

Glowing gray,

To my dismay.

Dismantled the back,

Took out the battery pack

Drained her out.

Jim, quick like Robin,

With the google

How do you save

A phone from a watery grave?

Put it in the oven,

Wrapped in rice,

That will make it nice. 

Put it in the freezer

Dip it in rubbing alcohol

Listen to Weezer

What?

Suck it out with a vacuum.

I don't think she's making it

Keep pushing end

But her screen's still blackened

Waiting is the hardest part

Like a mad woman, wake,

And go straight away

To faithful e-bay

I need a new phone,

This disconnection

Is leaving me in frustration

Worried about lost business

Or missing the latest gossip

Obsessing my restricted

Communications

Scamming and scheming,

Figuring a way

That I can get my hands

On a new one today.

Find the funds

Make a decision

Pay big now,

Or wait for upgrade

Reading reviews

Personal interviews

Haggle and persuade

My Shoelaces are Intact

I just lost my job

I really liked that job

Not sure how I'm gonna pay rent

I dread having to

Try to find another job

My dog is dead

I miss him bad

I haven't got a girlfriend

I haven't had a girlfriend

One that mattered, I mean.

But, my shoelaces are still intact. 

Those nights we spent

In the back seat of the Rambler

Laughing and passing it back and forth

Lorenzo street light glowed

Through the slightly cracked window

Vitalizing air seeped through the slit

In that moment you know

A special love for a friend

Those nights will last eternally

In our memories

When we floated above the clouds

On vintage leather seats 

June twenty eighth 
She was just leavin' town
I was just beginning my breakdown 
She headed for new ground
I found myself in meltdown 
A dreary sky falling all around
Into tiny pieces on the ground. 


A life
A life wasted
A wasted life
A life less wasted
A less wasted life


Our eyes locked for less than a second
A moment in transit
And we flashed weakened smiles
Her eyes were worn and tired,
Gentle from years of harsh erosion
They had been trusting
They had been alert
They had been determined
Now, they had just a docile, faded stare
Reminiscent of better years.  


The sound of a thousand 
Spoons, clinking
In their coffee cups
As she walks by
Filling them up.


It's been months
Since I've seen your face 
I miss your touch and 
Your tender embrace.

There's a chaos that stirs
Like a cauldron bubbling
Building entropy
Begging to get free
Dying to drive me, 
It rises inside. 


Puttin' another nail in the coffin
Good time for talkin'
Just keep walkin'
Puttin' another nail in the coffin
Spark the flint
Hammer it in
Puttin' another nail in the coffin
Ten for twenty 
Good and plenty
Puttin' another nail in the coffin
Blackened lung
Beeping machines
Put a few more nails in the coffin
Hack and wheeze
Can you tell me how many it takes, please
Put another nail in the coffin 
Close your eyes
Lead the procession
That's the last nail in the coffin.


I wish this plane would 
Leave the ground
But it just taxis
Round and round
Sick of the same old sights,
Can't we please just take flight,
Elevate to another height?


Background noise
Flies buzzing in my ear
Their voices pointless,
Disconnected
Thoughtless, burned up years
Mumbling, fluctuating,
Drowning me in monotony.


She says it feels like home
But she hasn't been there in ages
In her face you can see
Her hollowness
Loneliness
Desperately missing 
The place she's always known
Thrown about, 
Like shipwrecked remains
On steep ocean waves. 

Let's get a bottle of red
Dance to some Led
Then hit the bed.


Like an M80
I watched her explode
Before my eyes
I stepped aside,
Escaping flesh devouring 
Shards of shrapnel 
Bursting out; 
Remnants of a combusted heart.


I've found myself on this path
Curved and rocky, behind;
Ahead, steep inclines.  
I can't see the finish line
Even if I could 
I wouldn't know it 'till I'm there
Breathe in deep the mountain air
Keep moving, 
On this walk, 
There's no stop.
No looking back,
Because we can't turn around
Never walk those steps again
Everything behind is a memory
Everything ahead; a mystery
Up the trail I climb
Wonder what's on the other side
Of course at every fork in the road,
I choose the more overgrown,
Because this is the adventure known.  


I think he hates me 
Because the two bucks
I spend on coffee
Barely covers the AC
Slippin out the door
As I slip in.  


Her hands were my ocean
I'd swim in them all day
Her iris was a pimento 
And I wanted to pluck it from her eye
Her fingers like talons
I let her tear my flesh
Her mouth was a violinists bow
I really loved her song
Her skin was my summer

Inside these walls
Protected from the storm
I hide
Inside these walls
It's warm and there's no wind


You know how to crush me 
Break my heart like
Fine china, in shards,
With not even a breath,
You knock me down,
As soon as I pick myself up
Off the floor, 
I'm right back there again.  


Remember when I was 8,000 miles away?
Do you know how much I had to say? 
At night in my bed, 
All those things in my head.  


If I had to worship something
I would worship the sun
Giver of light, day and night,
Making us grow
Predictable, reliable 
Allowing us, pushing us
Inviting us to live
Mother of color
Center of our revolution 
Sentry of the seasons
Keeper of all earth's history
Hot, rich, flowing vitality 
Boiling, bursting, bubbling mass. 


Beguiled Hope


I looked through the kaleidoscope
And saw your world so clear
Not even close to reality
Lovely and pretty,
Colorful it spins,
I know how easy it is to forget
A world of ups and downs
Of pain and pressure.
When it's all rose colored,
Can you tell me the color of a rose?
I want to rip it from your eye
Deluded, it's your truth,
When your truths construct is a lie.  

I can't take my
Mind off of this woman
All day, everyday,
With every breath
And each thought, there she is
She is my drive,
My success, my incentive to bloom
I can't tear my mind
Away from these visions and dreams,
Of the queen of my heart,
Adorned in grace,
Majestic and fine,
She's captured my mind.  


I hate all of the love songs on the radio
Cuz they just remind me of you
And the passion we won't know
Your hands I can't hold.


Investigate.
Who's the criminal
Who pulled the trigger
Who leaked the well
Who is to blame
Point fingers
Name names
It's you, it's me,
It's our hands that
Squeeze the pump


It's late.
She's been asleep awhile
My body's frigid, chilled
Like frozen February air
That seizes your lungs
At my touch, she stirs.
With her warm body she turns
Without waking,
She wraps me in her arms
And I'm suddenly saved.
I sink my head into my pillow
Her hair is near
I breathe her in deep.
She covers me completely
In her lover's embrace
And I am safe.

The woman is a mystery to me.
She is a double entendre.
In that moment when
I feel as though
I've grasped her, 
I've been enlightened,
As quickly as she came, 
She's gone.  


My fingertips graze your soft skin,
Your eyes melt my flesh 
And steal my breath 
The heated scent rising from your pores 
Pours over me
And I'm lost in a racing current, 
Being pulled beneath the surface.
Desire and passion, 
Hunger in your touch,
My body stiffens
As your hands deliver me 
Into ecstasy.
I wake to discover reality.  


I drop sloppy salty 
Plops into my 
Luck Charms
'Cause she's
Going, going,
Gone.


Greedy gas giants
Eagerly extinguishing earth
Oil over our oceans
Spewing, spilling, she screams, "S.O.S!!"


She lays in my hammock, 
In the golden evening sun
And she smiles (at me!)
My heart leaps,
Good grief, her smile
Invokes me to irrational 
Heights of hopeless romantic abandon,
She's got a grip wrapped tight around my heart
She doesn't know, though,
I love looking in her eyes, 
Her lips, her breath, her hips...
Am I falling or is it 
Just another slip?

She reminded me of the sunset

One could bask in her glowing beauty forever

She only came around now and again

Commanding your attention,

But her intense radiance burned your focus

She would leave you blind;

The scar of her gaze

A souvenir of your yearning

Fleeting day, turning quickly

Like a thief into night

And suddenly you find she's left you

And you realize you weren't falling in love;

Just falling.

Falling is  terrifying in the dark. 

I need to go home

But this is not it

The fire siren sounds for so long

And won't let me forget

I start over.  Again. 

Suddenly breathing becomes voluntary

And I have to remind myself

It's time to inhale

She tried to tell me

To hide those things that I feel

Those ugly things no one mentions

I can only be so strong

I can only bend so far before I snap

And here I am, weak,

Before no one but me,

I've forgotten again

To take the next breath

Extinguished passion

Once wild flames,

Charred remains.

Followed the smoke

Rather than tend the fire

I've found myself nowhere,

Knowing nothing,

Being no one.

My heart is his,

Not belonging,

But the same,

It's confusion

And disaster

Passion and

Enlightenment

I found myself

Reflected in him.

You, my dear,

Are a filthy pirate.

And you've stolen

My treasured heart.

And I won't have it!

You've had your share of

Fine jewels, I'm sure.

And you are skillful,

You pirate queen.

In an instant my

Senses were swash-buckled

My reason blindsided,

Peg-legged, my nerve.

Breath had since left me

Dazed and confused

Please return to me

That which is mine,

Or keep it, and keep me,

Your pirate bride.  

The same syllables in every line

Don't forget the lines that end in rhyme

Haiku, cinquians, limericks, and sonnets

Alliteration, onomatopoeia (kerplunk!),

Free verse, a cup of tea, read some poetry

Frost, Poe, and Bukowski

Keep alive this little word party

I'm afraid to be honest with you

I'm afraid to share my heart

But that's what makes me vulnerable

And that's what makes good art

So I break down these walls

And my soul breaks forth onto this paper

I will spill out on this page

The truth inside of me

And maybe you will see,

Or maybe you won't

But I will know.

The music became my nemesis

Quickly,

Like a good friend stabbing you from behind

Unexpected, but honest.

She became the object of my disgust.

For her, no longer did I lust. 

Falling asleep alone

Dreaming of my lover

Holding her perfectly close

Feeling her chest rise and fall

With each peaceful breath

Loving her heart and soul

Imagining that I'm not imagining

Getting lost in her solace

Wishing to be here with her

Forever in my dreams

At home in her arms

Her velvet skin

And silken hair

The scent rising from her

Overflowing my senses

Her breath hot against my neck

Lips teasing at my ear

Our hands finding each other

Again and again in the night

I speak these words

But you fail to hear

They drop out of range

Before they've left my lips

I have no words to write,

Yes I've nothing to say

I've crippled myself

And I've reaped disdain

Halted dead in my tracks

Cliches and monotony

A single rhythmless note

Played out in the night

Yes I've nothing to say

Amidst the pain

Surrounded by emotion

Synchronous lack

Devastating disregard

A cabinet of trophies

Gathering dust

Yes I've nothing to say

Her love rushes down over me

With the force of a fierce wave

Crashing me to the earth in delight

Her love dances for me

Like the leaves dance for

The easy summer's breeze

Her love scares me

Looking for the bottom

Staring over the edge

Her love rips me from reality

Slipping into the unknown

Finding myself gazing blissfully into infinity 

The jacket on the rack

Slightly lack luster

That catches no one's eye

Lonely and bored

That gets shuffled to the back

Sometimes it catches a slight glance

But they always keep on moving

The one that makes it to the

Ninety-percent-off rack

Oh! When will I catch the right eye?

Cascading images

What was, what wasn't

What could have been

What never was.  

Hey girl where's your heart?

Hidden from my eyes

Im looking through my telescope

I still can't get you in my sights

Flip the switch

Shed some light

Show me what's inside

Father has sold my

Impending hope to Lucifer

For hefty recompense

Steal from the poor

Give to the rich

He put his hands around my

Vulnerable neck

A substandard education

Complete lack of guidance

Neuro-paralysis    

He constricted my lungs

And polluted my blood

With the poisons of his hands

Complacent and well distracted

Failing introspection

Lacking innovation

Turning his back on my demise

Soakin in the rays

My blonde locks flip and fly

This stoge's got me high

Sittin in the back of her Rendezvous

Lettin the sun drench my tattoos

Feet hangin in these comfy shoes

Happy to win, happy to lose

I don't have a thing to prove

I don't want to move

Can I scrap this copy of my life?

This is only a draft, right?

I need to start over;

This is no good.

I'm not sure what I'd do differently.

This one just doesn't look right,

I'm not sure how to finish it,

Or even where to take it next. 

I feel the story changing all the time,

Even when I never write.

Confusion is cluttering

The things in my mind

I'd like to start again, please. 

I don't have the right.

Your metaphors

And limericks

Linger in my head

A song you never lose.

Tell me why I had to choose

Living on the fringe

Has it's benefits

Until you've come unraveled.

So tell me

You don't want me to stay

I didn't want to anyway

I found out there's so

Much more to me

I found out there's so

Much more to be

So tell me you're crazy

Like that ever stopped me

Why can't you just say

'Hey babe, you're great'

Cuz I don't need another friend

I need a lover until the end

So tell me

We don't fit,

Well I don't see it.

And I can't believe this. 

Dance with stars,

Spin, twirl,

Show me your beauty

Your hips my delight,

Your hair dipped in grace

Sleep is a dream

That won't come

When I close my eyes.

Memories of slumber

Pass by, like summer. 

Put down the pipe

Take a moment;

Listen to your life.

The things you've

Silenced so long

Renew your spirit and mind

Remember what it's like to fly

With your own two wings

Across the endless skies

Shed this load that

Weighs you down.

Soar.  Soar into the night.

Ebb and flow,

Pass through the mountains

Nice and slow,

Strong under currents

Churning below.

Sun on your skin

Just like an old friend

It comes on warm

Like it'd never gone.

Weeds on the riverbank

Less aesthetic portions

That you'd rather remove

But don't. 

Afraid their deep roots

Are all that keeps it all together

The longer they stay,

The more securely they abide.

Ripping them from the earth

Not knowing if the river's rise

Will cause it all to crumble and die.

We stood on her back porch

Can you see him there in the tree?

Looking with telescopic eyes

I see him,

Prey locked in sight

He dives

Swooping down

Talons tearing through

Weak flesh

He ascends

Glorious in flight 

Resting beneath a

Lush, blooming cherry

Tree, pink clumps of

Cotton candy

Bobbing between her branches

Like silken, tender breasts.

Euphoria sets in as I lean back

And close my eyes,

Her scent light in the air

Lifts me up and I'm carried

On the wings of a dove.

She's made me her own

And I won't resist her. 

She takes ahold of me,

Like it was all her idea

She pulls me close,

Like I've been hers all along

She kisses me like I'm the

Only girl her heart's ever loved.

As soon as it had left my lips,

I caught her eyes.

I had crushed her, again

With my weightless words.

He was in the mood to talk.

And I was in the mood to be wasted

And watch the fire.

Hit all the topics that should

Trigger a reaction.

But tonight I'm too tired for hate.

Tonight I can't be what he needs me to be

beau.ti.ful [byoo.tuh.fuhl]

-adj. - a state of being in which

Something is strong and vulnerable

Simultaneously.  

I don't remember being loved,

But I know I must have been

I remember thinking

That I'd never forget,

It's all so distant

And all I feel is cold.

Sunday morning routine

The times, tea, music,

The birds singing outside

Minding my own business,

And there she is.

She's crept into my head,

And it's all over. 

Sensing nothing but the thought

My passion flooded imagination,

I lose myself as I fall long and hard

Into a fantasy of her.

It rose up out of me,

From the deepest of fathoms

This yearning,

This desperate pining.

It's not how it's supposed to be

Not what's meant for me

Like never flinching,

Deadened the instincts that

Should have driven this train

When choices became chains

And suppression was expression

What did I become?

And why did I lie

When they asked me

Who I was

When I came to be who I wasn't,

Was when I lost it.

Retracing these steps,

Jerry was right

What a long strange trip it's been.

Fly because you're free

Bloom because you're beautiful

Love because you're loved. 

vacant minds

idle intercourse

typing poems into

google search bar

like that's where it belongs 

Walking around barefoot
and tiptoed,
Careful not to make a sound
Or step on the broken glass laying around.

Her eyelids sank over her
Iris's one last time
She breathed in slow and deep
Through her nose
Her chest rose
Like the sun in the east
She was adrift in slumber
Long before me.

I stopped to get directions,
I'd found I'd lost my way
Tread wearing thin
Gas running low
Pick up a map,
None of them show
Where to go
I keep taking turns
Because no one seems to know
Cars collided early
On the highway
And I can't help but think
The next one will be me
Take it fast, take it slow
Enjoy the scenes
Because you never know
Which mile will be your last
On this mysterious road.

She wouldn't leave me alone
But I refuse to turn off my phone
Her idle chatter,
Driving me mad
Saying so much,
So little of it matters.

Her skinny wrists,
Bleach blonde hair,
Tired baggy eyes,
Led me to assume
There wasn't much inside
Some of us go a little faster
On our way to die.