Monthly Archives: May 2016

In the Mood

Lapping down the wrong path
cackling when no one else is laughing

drooling down the wrong mouth
curmudgeon when no one else is looking

standing straight in church when
everyone else is kneeling on the pews

pretending all is right
smiling when jaw is dislocated

pretensing all is right
flexing when no reflex is needed

hiding all the black within
when beauty is obvs so skin deep

bleeding out metaphorically
your heart when it beats figuratively

looking in the mirror when
you are in no mood for bad luck

I am in the mood
to make my own

I am of the right mind
to send you packing

fear you are a motherfucker
I want to pay you no mind

you are a home intruder
I want to shoot you on sight

I plan to live my life
and bury you in a box

I plan to be just fine
and watch you sink at sea

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Why Remember

I remember sword fighting
with maraschino cherry stems
coca-cola cocktail swords

I remember dirt clod afternoons
punching loose teeth
and skateboard bloody knees

I remember diagnosis
wetting sheets
and fear of needles

I remember bowling alleys
scary movies
backyard cookouts

I remember clumsy kisses
musty basements
careless summer months

I remember happiness
in fallen leaves
crunching beneath my feet

I remember my first fist fight
choking on a cigarette
my first time getting high

I remember mischief
breaking bottles
behind supermarkets

I remember
my first heartache
the emptiness inside

Dwell, I can’t help but…
I mean well
but I can’t change my makeup

Why remember
the words
to a forgotten dream

I remember
because it’s
a poem I need to breathe

Reason, Bleeding

The shape of
the burden
carried upon
your shoulders

the state of
the monkey
clinging to
your back

the weight of
the tears
dripping from
your eyes

the volume of
the truth
you hide, the pain
you hold inside

the shade of
your mind
as you go down
for the night

the height of
your deception
the length of
your willingness to go

the words before
they leave my mouth
the thoughts turned action
we cannot take back

the strength of
reason, bleeding
the sharpened points
from A to B

Every Rock

Who has touched every rock?

Sifted every grain of sand

Cleaned every bone of flesh

Who has seen it all?

Felt it all

Kept it all hidden within

Who has tasted foreign fruits?

Inhaled purest ocean breeze

Who is cavalier?

Making rash decisions

On coin toss, sacrificing security

Who buries their fear

beneath the whitest of snow?

Thousands of feet above the tree line

Who is in a state of perpetual bliss?

In love with life and all its gifts

Who is trapped in a box, no oxygen?

Whose hand packed & sealed the way

Who is climbing higher than their own ambitions?

Doing more than standing still

Who is separated from one’s own shadow?

Who is forever living inside it

Who is providing?

And merely breathing?

Who is barely minimum and short of breath

Who am I and who are you

and what are we in scheme of things

What kind of footprint will we leave behind?

And how can we walk out of here alive

What kind of courage have we

When all the world’s gone dry