underfoot

Bury these days underfoot
At the crossroads 
Outside of town
Let us never speak
of these cursed days
There is a shadow 
following me

Your Son

I saw you sitting in the church pew
With your little boy by your side.
You smiled and he reached out
His arms to me and hugged me
As best he could while laughing
That little child laugh. Things
Had turned out ok.

It is rare to dream of normal
Happy things so I ask myself
What this could mean.

I just hope it means good things
For you my friend.

1.) Mother (Where were You When I Saw Jesus?)

2.) Hypocrisy is Human Nature.


3.) We can't be alone when we're together
      Telling ourselves this
      Truth or misconception

Paved

I see the city being repaved
Into a cleaner version of itself
Light washes into corners once darkened
Unwashed faces still look up
As though I were a just and loving God
But I walk by as an ordinary man
Subject to life and uncertainty
These faces do not disappear
They gather in lowly places
Where even hope dares not visit
Too often     My sisters my brothers
I am pained though not as much
As those of you who sleep
On cracked and windswept
Streets night after night
Towering glass can see you
But you cannot see in
Revealed and obscured

Echo of bells 
from the steeple
I do not wake
Simply dream 
_____________

It is not good enough to simply be alive
We must be active in our own fate

An inability to forgive 
demonstrates
An inability to move on. 

I am not searching 
For cheap relief
Give me the real thing

Dreams of a Sweet and Distant Life 

Hardwired for Kindness

All that I have I will give you

All that I have I have given you

Dark Bloom

Hours 
             spent alone


How long 

                   will this grief 

follow 

me

Hewn Man 

Your youth is no promise 

of immortality. 

If there are no further words to sing
I have no use for throat or tongue
If there are no more thoughts to be had
I have no use for mind or reason

Who are we other than to bear witness to life?

What are the parameters of your enslavement?

Must the world be burning
Before we begin to save it?

year

A year is nothing more
than days 
strung together
passing through 
four seasons
of nature
passing through 
nights and days
while we rise 
and sleep 
through it all

Man's cruelty is the least 
imaginative part of our nature. 

If words are all we have 
we must give those away as well.

An iron heart must learn to forgive

The Many Lives of Ghosts

Rise

I will remember
I must remember
This veiled past
Mistakes and
Intuition
How to walk
Again after so
Many years 
Confined

clearing

paths emerge from the clearing
standing still in contemplation
to walk into the shaded unknown
boldness of heart and will 
acceptance of chance 
able to adapt 
the unknown always
presents itself

to speak again

half-shadowed visage
gazing out to 
an uncertain world
i listen and watch
speak when 
language can
be heard again

Alone you cry tonight
Together but apart now
Feeling your sorrow

Rest your head
Sleep in the peace
Of Winter's dream
Sleep well dearest
Sleep well

Rising to the sky
Feet point downwards to the ground
Heaven is above

Tyranny knows 
                          when to change 
it's clothes. 

A Season of Unrealistic Expectations

A Who's Who of Who is That?

One-liners, Quips, Cracks, & Wit

Too Angry to Cry

Unseen Moments

I am not the man you think I am
But I am a man nonetheless
These days leave me shuddering
And senseless in the bathroom 
With the doors closed
I can't breath 
But I force a breath in 
Splash water on my face
And walk out 
To try again 
To keep going 
To try and not break down

BRAIN WASHER 

Salvation

Your warm body pressed against mine
Beneathe sheets
Hidden from everything else
In the world
A world apart from everyone
A place where 
Salvation is possible

Love & Death
Sex & Grief

Color of Flowers

I can still love you

And not be with you

So it is

Memories 

Of a fleeting 

Former life

Joy & Grief

This world makes me weary
But it never forgets to 
Bathe me in joy.

If there were no joy
There could be no way
For any of us to continue

Cold winter morning
You do not fool me
I can see the Sun. 

Lyric Fragment

I used to dream of forever 
Back when God knew my name
Now She doesn't even see me
When She walks past me
At the place we first met

Send me a postcard from Hell.

Bitter Angels

December morning
Where are you now my dearest
Flock of birds take flight

Present tensions
Past life memories
Future tense relief

Death from a Clear Blue Sky

Dreams from the Unborn World

What good is flesh
Separated from
The soul?

We carry on as normal
Even if the world inside us
Has changed. Morning
Routines continue even if
Grief has taken hold.
There must be food
And a shower. A return
To life and living.

Time is never a thing that is wasted- 
It is either used or it is not. 

The Front Lines of Nowhere

Struggles with Myself and Others.

Shivering Skeleton Fingers

weight of years
carry me down
from great heights
into the ground
blind my eyes
recreate me
into new life
new eyes
let me move
up from the
ground and
onto grass
and skies
let me accept
eventuality
let me be at
peace with
life itself
let me touch
soil upon which
I stand and let
my feet bathe
in ocean waters
remind me
always of this
fragile gift

How beautiful must an image be
For me to carry it forever?
Uncommon beauty
Can be more commonplace
Than you know.

Life gives us as much 

as it takes from us.

What Remains After

Forgotten loves and crushes
Moving forward
Selective amnesia
Days fall like soldiers
Faces with no names
Remembrances of touch
Fingers on intimate silk
Desire a warm creature
My hands on your hair

living as a ghost
all truths are revealed 

Your truth is more complicated 
than any lie could be

I'll believe anything 
If you say you love me

How differently would we act
If we knew how much life
Each of us have left?

I may be older 
But my heart is
No less heavy.

The Heavens grow too heavy with 
tears

        Finally

                  it rains upon us

Whatever happened to 
All the promises
I ever made
I broke them all and 
I broke myself

Your arms remain open 
Though I am miles and miles away.

Kindness and forgiveness both 
originate in the same place: the self.

The Name the Wind Calls Itself.

Brother of my blood
Are our bonds thicker
Than those of family
by choice?

To Rise

I will rise 
because there is still
life in me

I will rise 
because my will 
is strong

I will rise 
because I must

moving in silence
breath in the chill morning air
exhale quietly 

You woke and said
it felt as though
this were still a dream

I pulled you close to me
and let you decide 
for yourself

Blood not spilled is blood still living. 

Elder

She has descended into senile madness
Lights flicker and misfire
Memory and imagination
Have become one being
There is life in her yet 
Though there is no living 

Human Barbarism

Humans have always been barbaric conquerors. 
Our nature has not changed. 
We merely have twisted our barbarism
Into different guises to make them acceptable
To our times. 

On Natural Rights of Man

There can be no yield 
to forces which seek
to limit and constrain
the liberties which
are the natural rights
of all mankind.

The spectre of hate and intolerance
is more than a creature
whose shadow looms over us.
It is now knocking at our door. 

Sin corazon
no hay vida

Your heart is
Liberated territory.
Defend it with
All your might. 

If there are no gods in the heavens
Then by what divine right 
Do Kings rule?

If only I could fly
There would be no tree
No branch 
That would be unexplored

Meditation

Let me grow older and wiser

Let me never surrender my beliefs

Let me grow greater in understanding

Let me grow apart from my vices

Let me foster love

Let me be the change I wish to see

Bareness

Season of bare branches
And frigid waters

Fruits have long been picked
Or fallen to the ground

Dead leaves are now hidden
Or swept away by wind

Nature sleeps soundly
As we scurry through cold

Fire as both death and life
We carry on

Nothing is True
Everything is Possible 

Good days and better days.

slow morning wake up
consciousness filters back in
hazy memory

When

Do you realize how beautiful you are?


Memories of us standing together

    my right hand reaching

         touching your hair

            brushing it aside


My touch on your skin

     closing your eyes

         a natural smile

             exhaled air of pleasure


Time is the only distance

            between memories

Snowfall

You were asleep
so I left you in bed.
It was colder
than expected
when my feet
touched the tiled
floor. I winced
and put on my
warm slippers.
I shuffled into
the bathroom to
urinate. I washed
my hands and
went into the
kitchen. I placed a
kettle on the stove
and looked out.
Snow was falling.
I watched silently
as the water boiled.
Beyond these
roads and homes,
in places so far
removed
there are men
plotting and scheming.
Their lives and
choices are
so far removed
from the world
I know that they
could be a different
species of human.
The kettle squeals
and I wonder
how many more
snowfalls remain
in my life. How
many quiet mornings
any of us have.

Molten gold
poured down 
the throat
of your enemies
Exquisite agony
Price paid 
for covetous 
greed

Can truth still breed
in a world full of liars?

I am just a shadow of 
the love we once had.

Dead-Eyed Horror Show 

My thoughts are carried 

        away by the wind

Now I cannot say

                  what

if any of them 

                        remains

Dying creatures on an infertile world. 

If the light is catching you
Will it let you go?

Songs of a Distant Earth

Songs for a Distant Earth

Ignorance in the young is understandable.
Ignorance in the old is unforgivable. 

Sin of Idleness

I will not idly wait 
as time passes.

There is not enough
time in my life

to waste on 
copious inaction.

December First

Winter descends and Fall retreats.
From my window I watch
Seasons change.
A dog barks in the distance
And the busy street is quiet.
What can I not see?
What awaits outside the door?