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.