Unlimited Editions

we were young once
in years – yes
but beyond that…
in ways you cannot quantify
a youth borne of possibility
maybes still on the horizon
with wide open eyes
taking chances…
for the sheer joy of doing
because of the challenge it represented…
the suspicion…
it had never before been tried
sufficient reason…Read More

Glass Houses and Crusaders

listen
I’m not angry
I know you mean well
but I need to set one thing straight
I don’t need anyone charging in
trying to save my day
swinging a shiny sword
astride a big white horse
not when I’m already taking action
I fight my own battles
mop my own damn floors
 
like that knight ever on a crusade
you…Read More

Depends What Matters…

I don’t know if it’s a society thing…
or what
but this standard that directs us to follow a specified path
you meet…you marry…pop out a few kids
never forgetting the coveted white picket fence

I have a question…
what if that pattern…
isn’t really one size fits all…

I think of all the miserable…Read More

Unstable Faultlines and Explosive Boots

I saw him in the back of the room
a wide space between him and the crowd
no one acknowledged his presence
he was…a non-entity
it was a self-imposed exile
however unintended

I wanted to feel sorry for him
sipping his drink in silence
amidst all the gaiety and laughter
but I’d felt the brunt…Read More

Break Out

do you exist in a cocoon…
locked up…buttoned down…
but never evolving?

or do you break out…
spread wings meant for flight
and soar into the night?

Reality of Now

we could spend our time talking
catching up on our day to day
going over little details
cover the minutiae

but that seems like such a waste
we have…right here
right now
no more than that
and who knows when you’ll be back

so let’s drop the illusion
that there’s any more time…
than…this

life offers no gu…Read More

Insidious

I’m willing to sacrifice myself
to prove the truth
of my words
of me

are you willing to do the same?

lies…
in time…
will be uncovered
and everyone will see

the scuttling
ear to ear
insidiously whispering
it will be seen

I have never changed

eventually they’ll know
and perhaps remember
but it will be too…Read More

F*ck the Game

anyone could tell you
I was never a raving beauty
even my family would agree

too many freckles
not enough oomph
that indefinable thing
(whatever it was)
that made other girls stunning

think of them as Barbies
and me…a paper doll
not much without all the added extras
and even they left details…Read More

Not Really Mine…

as passion spills from my pen…
I show him what I’ve written
ask if I should share…
or keep it hidden

he quietly demures…
shakes his head and says…
he would not censure my words
that I own my verse

I smile and sigh
knowing the truth deep inside
without him…
these little love notes…
would not even be here

Shadow Haunting

don’t look at her
she’s not at her best just now
it isn’t the disheveled hair
or the worn out sweats she’s wearing
but if you study her appearance
you’ll see the struggle in her bearing

in the way her eyes slide sideways
a magnetic repulsion effect
slipping away from any chance meeting
guarded…
there’s no safety…Read More

Just a Flesh Wound

just walk it off
how bad can it be?
if they have to ask…
they really don’t get it

What Isn’t Heard

there’s a vastness…
you can’t even fathom…
a universe you can’t imagine…
within the realm of silence

stories untold
realities unexpected
contemplative reflection
pain unspoken

everything locked inside a vacuum
where the wall of it…
can hold someone hostage
a victim of their own thoughts

you can’t…Read More

Carried Away

neglected winds howled their fury
blowing through a door ajar…
startled…
she dropped to cower…
piercing chill burning
skating across thundering veins

sudden silence filled empty pockets
scoured sterile by the pain
tomorrow has no meaning
the past has gone away

frozen fists slowly opened 
letting go…
of…Read More

Still Strolling…

it can’t be far away…
can it?
that elusive brighter tomorrow?
I’m not asking much…
just a warm spring day
maybe a chance of sprinkles
and a walk amongst nature’s glory
the cloying scent of honeysuckle gagging the senses
lilacs swaying in the breeze
birds in full choral exuberance
vibrantly budding trees
and a…Read More

Strolling Through Hope

I miss carefree days
…before smoke filled the air
and storms battered us left and right
(seems like now it’s a choice of extremes)
…before fear of walking in daylight
even worse at night
…before being forced to carry my papers
hoping they even give them a glance
because there’s money to be made…
in…Read More

Rolling Into the Back 40

halfway to the party
and inspiration is faltering
slapping words into phrases
hoping they make any sense
breaking it into sections
so I don’t lose momentum
but my energy got up and went
and I’m left scrambling and outta breath
it’s one helluva workout…
for a pen with rusty muscles
drop and give me…Read More

Neutralized

slip
the knot
fingers prying
desperately
despite…
their tremor

uncage
what should
never
have been

some beasts
are born unseen
but they don’t die that way

keep tugging
at the ropes

sooner…Read More

Roack-a-bye, Baby

I know no other way
the weight of his absence presses
aching…waiting…
begging for his return
as nights close in
shadow draping me in yearning
the remembrance nearly blistering
moments of fierce and desperate
thundering of twin beats
throb piercing me
and I cannot…will not…forget
saturation a constant
as…Read More

Heave Silence

words recede
when darkness settles
and sound is heard only at the edges
muffled though they be…
silent sobs and absolute grief
louder in my senses
than gunshots and shouts of jubilation
because we all know where hate takes us
but only some will see it
guess it’s only visible…
from the barrel end of a gun
to…Read More

Absorbing the Cost…

when the choice is required
and compromise is not an option
do you choose to soothe your own pain?
or that of others?

Mistmind

words slip
in and out of thought
tickling inspiration

then drift…

overwhelmed by their source
they unravel
wisping away from grasp

probably just as well…

takes more ink…
than currently in possession
let words refill the bottle
while energy supply refreshens

Glutton…

they used to tell me
it looks like I’m hunting trouble
leaving them thinking I enjoy the drama

I get it…
I do
I can see how it might seem that way to you

but that’s not it
I’m not chasing more of the same
same shit different day
I actually prefer peace and quiet

it’s just…
I’m used to my own darkness
…my…Read More

Atmospheric Compression

sleep…
we parted company…for the most part
a while ago
snatches of nap here and there
but a full night’s sleep?
…very rare
disrupted by dreams and thoughts
as I stare at the ceiling
and toss

maybe it’s only my imagination
(but I somehow doubt it)
the world feels…
heavier?
more dense?
and…Read More

Watch Your Mouth

we weren’t allowed to curse
so she never did it herself
always setting the good example
whenever we repeated words heard…
that we were forbidden to utter…
she’d softly remonstrate…
“now now now…watch your mouth”
but I learned very early
she had an exception
if pushed to full annoyance
(a rare event – she…Read More

Backsliding into Hell

inches to miles
look how far we’ve fallen
never perfect but better than this
they’re rewriting what they aren’t erasing
stacking the deck in their favor
throw another log on the fire

some say he’s crazy
and they’re probably right
but crazy can still be evil as well
and nobody’s stopping his actions
what does…Read More

Leave a Message at the Tone…

I can hear my phone buzzing
on the dresser across the room
like a fly…dogging my face
it’s distracting

as I give myself over
…in every possible sense…
to his ferocious ministrations

his smoky eyes burning holes in my soul
setting my nerve endings ablaze
flickers spreading quickly
a…Read More

Sensory Memories

“why are you so addicted to popcorn?”

because on Saturday evenings…
when I was small…
(too young to know of more exciting things…
like theaters and urban adventures)
there was a table that became an arena

where board games and Uno took over
and we gathered as a family…
no chores…
otherwise idle…Read More

Monochromatic

if you think about it…
they don’t have a lot of talent
there’s really only one color in their palette
and even that’s growing thin
so busy painting fences with their hatred
they’re not even trying to pretend
hyper-focused on us vs them

(like there’s really any difference
blood…bones…organs…tissue…
all the…Read More

he knows the sound of my breath
as it catches
hovering over his words
like a hummingbird
imbibing
on the intoxicating nectar
of his expression

for the first time
words
sworn
never to be spoken

s
p
i
l
l

from desperate lips
what loss is there?
compared
to freedom
of hope
l i s t e n i n g…Read More