Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Waves lap slowly against the bank
Gently they erode
Years of overgrowth
Tangled, muddy bits
Begin to fall and wash away.

The rains cease
Waters run dry.
Parched soil cries out
In breathy desperation
As cracks become surface.

Torrid beams
Flow from the
Mighty suns
Intense gaze;
Blazing heat.

Remnants gather energy,
Glowing red
A volatile coal,
Beating in rhythm,
Alive.

The cool of night
Ushers in by its side
A long awaited
Quiescence
From tumultuous times.

In the morning,
With the dawn,
Rise to find,
What remains;
Refined.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

The eyes are the window
To the soul,
So, we all know.

I can see into yours,
It's easy;
An open door. 

I know what makes you grow
Yes, I see
All that you know. 

The songs you always sing;
Yes, I know
Everything.

Oceans of loneliness
Eased by
Loving caress.

A set of broken dreams
In shatters;
You lost some gleam.

Pathways start to arise,
Paved with
Little white lies. 

Try to see into mine
And observe
Me; defined.   

Monday, March 28, 2011

My seed
I wished for you
To germinate,
To sprout,
To grow,
To become
My Fruit.
You became
Instead
Swept away;
Perished.
And I wept,
For wishes
That don't
Come true.     

Friday, March 25, 2011

Demons cloaked in angels wings
Angels cloaked in other things
Nothing's ever as it seems

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Brews and bubbles
Toils and struggles
The poem will not wait
For the poet
To write it down.

Monday, March 21, 2011

These things I do every day
Are driving me insane
Waiting for the bus
Standing in line
Brushing my teeth
Smoking my first cigarette
Then sending some down the pipe
Checking wallet and
Watching the clock
Sticking a q-tip in my ear
Waiting to hear
In a letter, or a call
For a job, for a friend,
For an end
To these things that
I'm doing everyday;
They are driving me insane.  

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Lodi 2
Standing on the point
In the middle of the night
Stars glistening
In a cloudless sky
Faint smell of seaweed
Rising from the debris at my feet
Chunks of driftwood here and there
The pressure dropping as a storm
Rumbles in from the southeast,
Over the mountains, settling
Into her glacial greatness
Booming and blowing
A proclamation of power
High winds through the night
Being alone in the midst of her might
Sipping wine from Wagner's vine;
Heaven, above.  

Monday, March 14, 2011

Lodi 1
Summer's spent at water's edge ,
Fishing off the dock
Skipping stones
Floating rafts
Paddling canoes
Hiking creek beds
Climbing waterfalls
Shale, and zebra muscles
Carving our feet
"The deepest of the fingers….
Careful; it drops off"
Waves lapping
Crashing on my feet
Whisking quickly away.
Walks with her,
Talks with him,
Wisdom shared
Truth gained.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Skin
Baby's like a warm biscuit,
Soft, giving, and retaking it's shape
Skin; your glove forever.
Eighteen years old
Holding fast and tight
To her body
Firm like a banana's skin
Skin for a lover to caress.
Well worn, calloused hands and feet,
Bumps and lumps
Hardened scars
Skin; your protection.
Mid-thirties
Doesn't resist movement,
But flows with every suggestion,
Creeping sluggishly back to place.
Skin of another to touch.
Grandmother's skin hangs
With the effects of gravity and time
And it can be collected in gentle pinches.
It slips and slides all over the place.
Flesh that clung to the cheekbones
Landslides to cheeks and
Skin from cheeks
Become hanging jowls.
Skin; your life.
It's color only ever mattered
Inside your head. 

Thursday, March 10, 2011

I'm turning around
I'm walking away
You may not see me go
I may seem to slowly fade away
Your hand may reach for mine
You won't catch my eye
I've turned and
I'm walking away 

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Leave from my house
With high hopes
But already the weather's
Taken to change from fair
To less than such
But I wander on because
The city's quiet
And I need it's slow,
Easy, pace,
So I don't turn back.
My feet carry me to the
Library, warm
And I grab a coffee
Climb to the third floor
Sit gazing out through
Giant windows at a
Cold Skinner's Butte. 
I scratch out two poems
With lies for lines.
Still not totally centered
A call from home;
The this's and that's
That make up life,
An hour wandering the streets
Of downtown to the rhythm
Of my mother's voice.
I find myself on top
Of the butte, cold and alone
I hike a short trail to
A hidden alcove
And I smoke a bowl
Watch as night closes in
On the city far below
Lazy lights, streets aglow
I head back down
Have a beer, and wait.  

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

A night sky
Fell upon our eyes
She took my hand
Led me gently to her bed
Whispered sweet nothings
In light leaping breaths
She laid me down
Tried to find my love
Capture it in her hand
As soon as she reached
It had flown away
Like a wild bird

Monday, March 7, 2011

Climbing to the top
Of a long stairwell
The height of seven levels
Of concrete parking garage
Watch the city that
Surrounds us below
Every street lamp
Like a candle's
Lumens
Light the way
Into the night 

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Born of a noble,
Peasant by choice,
[choices; string after
String of choices]
Fleeing a heritage
Fearing a legacy
Of a father's, father's
Father's, father's father's
Seedy ill-repute
Adorned in tailored suit,
Trained in the affairs of
Men with a name
Shedding a skin,
But becoming paper thin
Transparent and fragile,
Being torn again and again
Packing a bag by moonlight,
Lost in a crowd of faces,
Melt and unexist
Running through the courtyard
Past guard and iron gate
Towards farms and fields
Down a path less cluttered
Than those still inside,
Bury deep the things you've known
Reinvent with sheep's clothes,
But the spawn of wolves
Cannot help but be a wolf.
Camouflage and try to hide,
But they will always see through
To the inside.
So from peasant to leper,
It's not a far ride,
Far from the city
Wandering about,
Untrimming a beard
Unwashing a body
Soaked in flies and melancholy
Rattling mind, numb flesh
Crooking spine
Scorching sun; trust no one
Once kind heart,
Abandoned in despair.   

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Her eyes are like diamonds
They cut right through me
Her eyes they captivate me
And it's all I can write
Her eyes roll in deep and dark
Like clouds of an approaching storm
Her eyes strike her energy into me
Like lightning through a dark sky
Her eyes steal my next breath
From out of my lungs
Her eyes are steep waves
Crashing on the rocks
Her eyes are my ocean
And I could swim in them all day
Her eyes can't hide
Her pain, fear, or love
Her eyes scream a symphony
Of beauty
Her eyes make me feel
All of her
Her eyes are where I find
Peace and rest  

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

I throw it away
I can't keep it anymore
This life, this who I've become
This cold survival
This weak terrified child
Behind this false bravado
Poker face is getting harder to hold
Stature crumbling
Here I come, crashing down.