Poétique

Ghost

Even though you said I didn’t fail
Inside it still feels like I did often times
Winnowing out the grains of my soul
I have a sadness to behold
My head will not be buried
As the ostrich of the Miocene
I wear my burdens nobly so
Though not as a mark of achievement
But rather a scar to indicate
How I could be better
There are no shadows wide enough
To cover my human mistakes
Which now air themselves about
Like retired dandelion wishes
Suspended freely in the sky
We can also save ourselves
But we cannot always save the world
Behold the light in my eyes
Can you visualize how deeply I loved
Interpret this from celestial perspectives
From above my forehead is a map
And our voices are magnified
Now a ghost in the tunnel
Traveling vocals in between
You speak my name and
I come running to be seen
Once again by you
In my earthly state of being
My journey is yours
Send out the signal

PhD

Peering through violet lenses
My eyes are granted a different
Perspective on seeing
Perceptions on being
Without a PhD
I am suddenly my own
Doctor of Philosophy
Poet to Astronomy
Postgraduate achieving
My own degree
With significant and original
Research understanding
My own principles of being
Terminally denoting
Self awarding abnormally
In the field of life
In the fields of human experiences
In the field of inequality
In the fields of persistence
Through the existence of
Being alone and also
Owning close to nothing and
Also owing everyone
My thesis and dissertation
Defends the work of my
Consistent ability
To show up for living
In times when there was
Nothing left to be giving
And giving it all
Finding more from deep within
Overcoming the impossibility
To begin studying
On the campus of Earth
Conducting experiments
And trials of traditional
Tribulations I have achieved
Through my own pertinent
Knowledge and experience
The ultimate values and
Detrimental self criticisms
Accredited to and awarding
A personal escalation

Everywhere

Why are we always striving
To achieve more than the next
From Roman chariot races to
A better lawn than John has yet
We are threatened by boredom
Held up only by ghosts of
The next best thing reliving
Our vintage existence on
A remote island in the middle
Of the city that was once
The best place we had to be
One more this one more that
I almost want nothing anymore
But to be here is to acquire
It cannot be avoided
It cannot be declined
We will inevitably absorb it all
One day we will consume
Literally everything inside
As small as I can make a
Carbon footprint to be made
I offer everything I have
In exchange for nothing but
Connection to my fellow
Living beings any mammal
Human or otherwise amphibious
Dog cat bird alligator or plant
However not to compete
For breathing air
For Cabbage Patch Kids
For retail therapy to spare
Relinquishing us all from this
Insanity that is part of
What we call everyday living
Everywhere

Calligraphy

With a propinquity to disaster
It literally destroyed me
In the moment you were gone
I was burning photos
In a fire pit in the backyard
Sulking up the street
I fumbled my bottle of whiskey
In the plastic bag
I was carrying
Unsure of what kind now
Something cheap I hope
I heard someone call out
“Oh no he broke it!”
I can still recall her voice
Pieces of glass rattling around
Though it’s over 14 years now
Such a strange step backward
From the top to the bottom
And if only for love all of it
How many rounds it is unclear
At this time two at least
If only to be loved
It was really all I wanted
Abandoned once before
But in this memory I
Couldn’t hold my head up
I fell down off my barstool
Wandering into a random spot
I gave my all to lose the lot
Domestically proven bought the home
I could cook I could clean
I could work to conquer everything
But I could not vanquish love
I saved my own life in the end
But not without the consequence
Of losing more of hurting more
Trying by mistake to love again
This is the result of survival
Still being it should be said
Books cannot be written
If the writer is not living
And so the quest for ardor
Continues on penciled in or penned

Thursday

It will take me a minute or two
To process everything that I see
When my eyes open after I die
Is it outer spaces that behold
The lyrics to the song
Of the meaning to be told
Inner peace is all I need
It doesn’t feel like Thursday
Everything is eerily still
And the concrete sends
Echos throughout the town
With my feet quietly upon it
I scratch the surface of
A distance that is drilling
Dopplers of sirens in the background
Children screaming
The wings of birds are flapping
Much louder than yesterday
A spider to greet me in the shower
Roses and flowers still about
My front is facing north
My back is looking south
A woman dresses up her lawn
It doesn’t feel like Thursday

Runes

Read my cards
Tell my fortune
Predict my mystic future
A destiny that is only
Read by my heart
The shape of my lips
Eye color and tea leaf sips
Magic broken open
Spokes of light sharp
And bright scribbled slopes in the
Late sun on the fertile soil
At twilight tell my story
Hell and heaven cannot
Comprehend how the love
That comes in open arms
Leaves a feeling of disarray
Resistance and misunderstanding
It’s not the way I predicted
Answers are coming and going
Easy enough to make a point
Draw a line call the corners
Ask for hope in smoke
Tell my fortune
When the fairytale feels
Fractured the sorcery
Is manufactured into
Glamorous conjurations
Tell my fortune
Whispered in the ears
Of the earth to ground me
In the dirt lay me before the
Sky as I spoon the moon

Nightsong

Take my picture
Ask me questions
This is not a jeremiad
Lamentation of distress
A signal to revitalize
My emptiness
More like a soul song
Voices barreling up
From the south
Trains blaring
In the background
Porch swings and
Warm breeze
My peripherals working
Overtime eyes darting
Left and right 91 degrees
You could get away with alot
Before technology took over
Enough gas in the tank
And plenty of hours to
Think about the next best thing
Or something like sharing
A never ending stream
Of days and nights
Together just for fun
Records and ice cream
Simple things to make
Annoying springs disappear
I don’t know why but
The best time I could
Ever imagine is
Laying in the grass with you
On a hot summer night

Emblematic

Bird on my neck
Emblematic suspect
Nothing to deflect
Warm heat at the
Back of my head
Stars spinning above
Standing in place
Waiting for love
Holding a sign up
Inscribed Over Here
Watch me melt
Into a puddle
Knelt before you
Buzzing to adore you
Timeless echoes
Have left me dry
Steady your arrival
If to come and find me
Is on the precipice your
Spell would brew me full

Before

Demonstrative and beguiling
Rip away at you from all sides
Nothing to gain from your death
And still they don’t trust you yet
Grumbling and stumbling
Into a resistant consistency
Can someone tell me please
How many licks does it
Actually take to get there?
Is the goal to be something
Or to become something
To end up with nothing or
To have it taken all away
Aquire the whole then
Leave it all for the crows
Make an impact publicly
Or quietly from behind
The scenes the serenes
The satisfaction guarantees
All add up to one more
When I had so much less before

Happening

Take a different path
Flat out go a different way
The only way to change
Is to challenge the directions
That are demanifesting
Say goodbye to the rest
Unfortunate events will occur
Timing is not always convenient
Perhaps in some cases rarely
However life can still be a gift
Having faith in people is hard
Of course even risky
In the path of least resistance
We calibrate in stride
We cannot control it
From it we cannot also hide
Inevitable consequences
To unexpected existence
Will not be denied