Category: Poetry

From the edge of waking to shallows of sleep…
Supreme, reigns the routines we keep.

We follow our habits & our traditions.
We make sense of life’s perditions.

Numbered & followed one after the other.
Thus, children come after mother.

There’s even an order to the letters used…
Languages are all about clues.

Do not run rough over the treads we must etch.
These grooves we carve into life’s stretch.

Doubt has often behind me crept.
Creeping to attacking its leapt.

Thru headwind gales I lean, each day.
Up every hill & round each way.

It’s like climbing up oily walls.
It’s like sipping from waterfalls.

Yet, my gumption is stronger still.
Nourished only by hope & will.

To my commitments, I am tied.
My final words should be “I tried”.

My mood & my heart are the color of my sleeve.
It is quite hard to hide something morning & eve.

I enter each new room with a fresh face tattoo.
The smile smeared on my face is not meant to fool you.

I enter, exist, take up space & do my best.
Though, in your funless eyes, I’m wrong even at rest.

Let’s rattle everyone & shove them together.
Hope empathy’s present inside of shared weather.

It is not a defense against how cruel you’ve been.
You won’t see your error…so, you’ll make it again.

Life’s Great Dismissal has slowly begun.
One decade juniors just assume you’re dumb.

No one’s interested in what you think.
Nobody asks how you are whilst you sink.

Yes, around now, we’ve less need to explain.
Thus, we are shocked when left out in the rain.

Why are we indignant with our ushers?
These, who will help & teach one another?

Maybe it’s impatience & rolling eyes.
We’d rather be slow than endure cracks wise.

Another night arguing with angels & devils.
Worried if I’m worthy of my cerebral revels.

Did the door handle to my isolation tank lock?
How long have I been marinating in my own stock?

I’ve probably now pruned both my fingers & my brain.
I expect I’ll escape before my heart’s a bloodstain.

Though, there’s much to be said for a blackout every night.
Sensory deprivation so the crazy shines bright.

Just a short measured time for all the shadows to scream.
Unwind your whole spool & let it recoil in a dream.

Hope lay bleeding! Hope lay dead.
Is that, maybe, just our heads?

Front row seats to dumpster fires?
Touch the sockets; these two wires?

Bethlehem’s new rising star?
Liberty, feathered & tarred?

Open wounds do not need salve?
Is our country soon to halve?

Hope, we cannot ever cede.
Still, that bitch can really bleed!

Nurture the ruler & the hart.
Help organisms do their part.

Minds should have charge to nourish pumps.
The pulse should cheer the brain with thumps.

Give way & allow all good things.
Fill your stores with whatever sings.

Feed the hungry crone & maiden.
Mothers’ kitchens twicely laden.

Warm hearths for the weary & cold.
The kind are richer than fried gold.

I once had a heart; but they get broken.
I once had a dream; but I have woken.

I once was quick; but now I have grown slow.
I once was certain; but cups overflow.

I once had a tribe; but peoples disband.
I once held love; but I released his hand.

I once believed; but still, brocade grows bare.
I once wanted faith; but dogma’s unfair.

Once, I was all about who I could be.
Now, I am sure I’m quite right to be me.

I have one mother & I’ve no father.
My birth name will not curse any farther.

I cannot but try to mark life better.
So, I work by a new group of letters.

Most of life’s living is a robot dance.
It’s ridiculous repetitive trance.

Wishes aren’t real; for, I’d’ve been long dead.
I have made those wounds & have seen them bled.

No more mainlined reflections, Adonis!
Our hopes & efforts are all we can promise.

Have you ever shown sincere interest in me?
Now, look past the surface; all else is filigree.

You assume what I share is all that there is.
Yet, I curate it all so you’ll think I’m a whiz.

I fill the silent space that keeps you content.
Then, I listen in turn to your every red cent.

No one ever set out to be your burden.
Though, it’s down to you that I throw no more words in.

Defensive & cruel without half measures took.
See, all I really needed was two elbows crooked.