Invincible-young,
Running through the pages
Like the book will never end.
Muscles never sore,
Chest never tight,
With breathless, lightheadedness.
Free like a beast from his cage,
On a warm spring day,
For the first time in a decade.
Sprinting till the crowd is in sight,
Embraced and lifted on their shoulders,
Welcomed to the next stage,
Grown, we now must be.

Invincible-young,
Running through the pages
Like the book will never end.
Muscles never sore,
Chest never tight,
With breathless, lightheadedness.
Free like a beast from his cage,
On a warm spring day,
For the first time in a decade.
Sprinting till the crowd is in sight,
Embraced and lifted on their shoulders,
Welcomed to the next stage,
Grown, we now must be.

Given everything
Since her first day in the womb,
She never had to work for anything.
Beauty, brains.
When she performed,
Folks gathered
Regardless of the venue.
One day she lost control,
And that’s when she realized she had nothing.
Worked for nothing.
Presented with gifts of gold, and silver,
She barely wrote her fans a simple card in return.
Motivation,
A fleeting word,
Retired from her vocabulary.
I hope she finds it again,
Because I quite fancy her.

Sleeping on the floor
Same clothes on.
Night before,
How many juices of the gods did you imbibe?
Still feeling its heroic effects.
Night filled with swirling, incomplete memories
Shared by your soldiers at your side.
Some may say we fight too hard,
And too often.
We say we fight because we are obligated,
And, to guard our youth
For one more week.

I don’t know what it meant then,
And I don’t know what it means now,
But in that moment,
He wanted to kiss me;
And I did not oppose.

The Crowd’s all laughing
Wrapped around the bar
Smiling big, throwing heads back
Like it’s their first drink.
One more shot-
C’mon, someone will cover you.
Drive away, glistening eyes.
Smirks to the night sky
Spin me round, till I forget my name.
Thursday night,
I’d like to dedicate you to the freezing cold
And your amicable stars.

The love cantor sings in streets and bars.
She sends her voice to foreign stars.
And when a couple falls in love,
Her heart strings get a little tug.
For she sings of affection and bliss,
Her only prayer is for a kiss.
One of truth, forever a hand,
She searches for love in such a man.

Every picture found
Every memory had
Every smile that was seen,
Has melted into dishonest wax.
Every tear;
Is one of those
Pictures, or memories, or smiles,
Burning down and melding
Into something,
Unrecognizable
To the candle lover.
When all the tears
Stop,
The past will vanish.
And all that will remain,
Is a mis-constructed wax figure,
That no longer recognizes
His face nor his footprint.

They bless the rings
Then say “kiss the bride.”
Smile out of the church,
With sun beams filtered.
Trusting your hand
To a stranger in shiny shoes
And neatly combed hair.
Heart thrown to the wolves,
In return for weightless,
Messy-haired affection.

Wishing on eyelashes
And 11:11s.
Praying before bed,
Hoping for shooting stars.
Dreaming so hard
You can feel tension in your temples.
Fight for that last breath,
Bead of sweat.
Those coronary fireworks.

Sitting at her desk
The quill to the paper.
She wrote viscously,
As she was urged.
Drip,
Of blood fell from her nostril.
Every once in while
A high pitched shrill
Could be heard from the hall.
A small area of the window pane
Was not covered by drape.
Peering out, a porcelain girl
Was there.
Dancing.
In the sun, as if she was the leader
Of the orchestra.
Writing as she bled,
She glared through the minute hole,
Mesmerized by the movement.
--Freedom of body.
The blood poured now,
Like a stream.
Wiping it on her dark sleeve,
She continued;
Blurry-eyed now.
As the dancer leaped to her partner,
The pen-slave collapsed on the pad.
Her quill continued by her spirit,
and captured each detail of the dance.

Melting to my seat
Staring at a screen
Brain cells exploding in misery
Prefer to set this building of articles on fire
Are actual paperbacks even read?
Obsolete weapon in the war of cyber knowledge
Forced to memorize words,
Lines of straight and curved little designs
That are supposedly the key
To intellectual increase.
So, please gently place the grenade
Upon my head,
As to not alter their silence.

Green & yellow splatters
On a white canvas
A shape never seen before
A splash, perhaps
Green grabs yellow
Quick run through the woods
Twirl and fly through the unadulterated purity
Movements so quick and fearless; yellow falls
Onto green.
So close, instinct takes over
Rolling through the flora
Never has this enjoyment come to fruition
A game leading to passion
As lime stands up
And adjusts his collar,
Back to the tan canvas.

Driving down route 51
Old favorite comes through the speakers
Recent nostalgia shines in
Best performance of a lifetime takes place in the sedan
Black racecar zooms near
Attempts to jut into the lane,
Full of other travelers abiding the road’s decree
Quick selfish slip, black cuts left
Nostalgia is exchanged for instantaneous numbness
Swerve right, lightning turn
Sedan spins past oncoming drivers
Like the shiniest life-sized pinwheel
Perfectly seen from God’s view
Glamorous crash into the median,
Whisper of silence moves the tiniest hair follicles
Open eyes, open ears
Yes, the muscles in the eyelids have the capacity to rise again
Lift the door handle,
Car is a wreck.
Like a chop salad being prepared
However not a scratch, not a bruise
Nor a misplaced hair
Tall man in a white vehicle stops
Approaches the smoke and chaos
How kind.
As he put his arm around,
She realized what a perfect last song it was

Copyright Jess tallini, 2011

A beautiful, melodic sound
Through my ear canal
Does flips till it reaches my brain
There it tries to logically process the meaning
Of the lyrics I think I hear
Until each note hits my heart
Chord by chord, a new blood cell
Enter & proceed like normal blood flow
Through the atrium down through the ventricle
More important than oxygen to the tissues
This voice pumps through
A song -drug that takes me
Past the deep seas
And intergalactic
Shot past the known lands
To a euphoric, lawless paradise

Dart through the forest hair
Pursue till lungs give out
Sun stabbing through the unidentical branches
Clothes following an elated body’s lead
Green smells of warm air encircle
Unfamiliar perfection
Glowing back, resonating sun-light
A ricocheted laser to the brow
Legs slow to allow the brain to combine facts to form ideas
An individual matching in appearance becomes apparent
A lift of the right arm causes a lift of their left
Forward movements, an outstretched extremity receives tangible results
Reflecting wall surrounds the terrain for all that is visible

I have to stop looking at your pictures
And staring at your crooked smile.
Remember to forget your number
And lashes that went on for miles.
Your shy look, when you wanted a little more
Undressed, and took my body on a tour.
Guess the long drive was just too much for you
The last kiss I gave, must have given you the flu.

I heard the train moan tonight,
I usually miss it.
The lights, and rings
And electrical connections blind me
From the outside noise.
Such technology,
I am now amused that I heard the train moan tonight.

Floating object, held down by a string
Slips through a little lads grip
Bright, red through the sky
Only one tiny, concerned set of eyes follows
Through the chilled, windy air
Past the leaves and branches
Exchange of greetings, but continues on its way
The clouds surround, and hug the lone satellite
Shiny, eager to continue the ascension
Above this universe, looking down seeing only blue & green
Propelling through the stars; waving at each ray of light
New mass of bumpy white, quiet and inviting
The men in helmets kick away the scarlet traveler
Their flag is all that remains.

I’m running now as fast as I can
Can’t see anyone in view
The scope I can see is within a few feet
I’m choking and turning blue
Others are yelling but I cannot hear them
Is this world real or wax?
Out of control, spinning; no parachute
My disposition, no longer so lax
This free bird’s wings must be clipped soon
For she is not authorized to fly
Hitting every branch on the way down
Maturity, her next coat to try