Life is as inviting
As she is intense,
But don't be put off
By her indifference.

She will make us all martyrs
Before we're left diminished;
Leading us to slaughter
As we bask in our innocence.

So fear not her wrath,
For she is not shrill.
Their only directive is to ****;
Live before you've had your fill.

Picture you and me, alone in our blue GT, as we ride out
towards the ends of our suns looking for peace and prosperity.
The winds we make seal our tracks closed
and their fiery chill keeps all actions predisposed.
Our hair sways free as your hand takes mine,
my feet on the pedals and yours to the leather hide.
I wish this now could be our infinity
and that our hearts should be together for now and eternity.
The stars swirl above us as we swerve into darkness,
drunk on our emotions and feeling more than endorphins.
You say you love me and I say it back too,
there's no one on earth I'd rather be with than you.

Murdered egos run sullied
Down your streets.
Dreams lost to misfortune,
Hoping to catch a beat.
There are no big breaks here,
Only small miracles.
Still,
America has taken my fortune.
I give and give
But never get to take myself.
You're my everything
Because you've taken everything.
Why am I still nothing to you?

Not unlike the monster for which it was named,
With debaucherous whims that divide foreign lands;
Here at the briny, gilded portal to our home now stands
A hollow woman with a torch, whose warmth
Has become faded and disheartening, and her name
Mother of Philistines. From her once guiding hand
Emerges world-wide distaste; deranged eyes ransack
The smog-filled harbor that dystopias fame.
“Keep, other lands, your progressive pomp!” shrieks she
With welded lips. “Take our tired, our poor,
Our huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of our teeming shore.
Take these, the homeless, tempest-tost from me,
Lift your lamp as a guide and take them all!”

My existence weighs heavy today,
Heavier than any moment to precede it.
I must decide now what will be my way,
If I shall rise to victory or remain defeated.
But in all truth, I feel not afraid.
Other challenges, I have vanquished
Lacking that languished hand of aid.
Yes, life is my special stage.
I shall revel in it's light,
As well as that of my new age.

Days of angst
Pursue me through
Awkward moments galore,
The hangover to my prior life.
Middle school bells ring
In the corridors of my mind,
Harkening back to a time
When sharpened pencils were More important than rent.
High school bells bring me
A cold comfort I can't explain,
I guess not enough time
Has passed for me to smile.
If only these tears
Could be wiped from my face
Without the slow hand of time
Quelling my soul's embrace.
Perhaps I'd smile with heart.

You think the world hates you.
The current always pushing,
The worms always digging,
And the fisherman taking your friends.

But the world thinks nothing of you.
Because you're an oyster
In a sea of oysters
And nobody can see what's inside.
It could be a pile of dirt
Or the sea's prettiest pearl.

So you can wait your whole life
Expecting someone to come
And crack you open
Or you can find your own light
Make your way to shore
And bide your time outside the ocean.

Holding down a button
Until everything turns
Black as pitch
Is just like clutching
Someone's throat
Until they can't
Move another inch.
So much life and vibrance
Flashes across this screen,
Yet it seems to tear
happiness apart
At its fragile seams.
Technology is quick,
It's capabilities are ample,
Yet my mind has gone slow
From ingesting only samples.
As such,
It is time for me to quickly depart,
For using you has made me
Everything but
Smart.

Life can be beautiful
For those who seek beauty in themselves.
Your world is ultimately shaped by you,
So make yourself the beautiful you
That you are destined to be.

This is how we can all make the world

BEAUTIFUL.

My first glimpse of
Operatic joy occurred
March 12th of years past.
In their foolishness,
They allowed me a go
At an open vehicle of
Two wheels
that went as fast as I wanted,
Where I wanted,
For however long I wanted.

I would bike away in my dreams
As they mounted assaults in life,
I couldn't help but feel invulnerable
Upon my nimble ride.

Yes O yes,
I still cruise to this day.
My freedom is mine
Forever to behold and make.

I am so very broke, I can’t afford to pay it thought.
Fettered in a cage by poverty, left only to pray and rot.
The feathers of my soul have been tarred and stained by life.
So much so, I'm not sure if they'll ever again shine bright.
This Bird in my heart used to sing for my hopes and dreams;
Mourning every tragedy with requiems that gleamed.
A little Canary to be all mine until the very end of time,
Staving off this cold world and reminding me I'm fine.

This poverty starved her slow and deep, down to the very core.
Melodies that once remedied despair gone forevermore.
Nowadays, all I can ever do is reminisce about that yellow bird;
How she'd bring warmth to my life's cold hell of a blur.
The way our voices would harmonize on little notes;
Prophecies of a better future foretold from our nook.
That's why I still cling to the distant sound of their words,
Because they ramble on in me until nothing seems absurd.
I like to think she still sings sometimes, though no sound is heard.
That music of hope rings in my mind still, all thanks to Bird.

The divines
Gave us the gift
Of happiness
And now you shall
Be happy too.

Ready your pipes
And light your torches,
The blessed flower
Shall bestow upon
The thy virtue
Of serenity.

Cast about on a stormy sea,
The deck was barren,
Our mood deceased.
Many a day, high tides wisped by-
Arresting my feeble mind from time.
Until one day, an epiphany.
"Blue dream," I called out,
"Take me away to that special place
Where up is down
And I float into space;
Drown my sorrows in a haste."

She manifested in my quarters
Later that night,
And with a soft whimper
Summoned my delight.
"Here you are, forsaken one,"
She hauntedly sung to me,
"My love will give you power,
The smoke will set you free."

Many a moment has passed
Since my encounter with blue dream,
But still my dreams call out
Hoping it's her I shall see
When I cross the threshold
Of those pearly gates.

This path on which I've come so far,
It has neglected my condition and left me tired.
The fire within is fleeting like a dim star
As these legs move like thinned wires.
Premonitions of the precognitive sort
Project into my dearest slumbers
To lend a communicative report
Concerning the sweetest of encounters.
But that future seems so far away
And my will to move forward
May waver towards the end of days.

Yet happenstance will show me my way,
She hardly leads the lost astray.

A patch of green
Meets the burning red
Of my skin,
It's morning dew
Slipping through my arm-
Into the Abysmal
Inner-workings
Of a soul hidden from view.
Blue skies with clouds of white
Hanging drearily above my eyes;
Gazing hazily at the ocean
That is our gentle sky.
Perhaps we are like fish-
Only we swim with more esteem.
Our sentience something profound;
Lonely we sit in wait of dreams.
They, however, pass us by,
Shifting through the cycles of life.
From the deepest darkness
Until the morning light,
Their thoughtless will fuels
Their primitive might.
So burn out your wick
As you thrash about the sea-
Exhausted and melting.
Whatever fire you extinguish
Will let the cool water sink slow.
Then the sun will surely rise
As it always has:
Above us all, through mighty fire.
Permit the stars into your life-
They will save you from false desire.

Tinkling rhythms engulfed us
As we sat in a cuban bistro,
Surrounded by the populace
And having nary a place to go.

We spoke of many things
That curried the other's favor,
Then I noticed her silver rings
And decided I'd wait no later.

This stranger that sat before me,
Blue curls atop her pretty head,
Observed my hand steadily
As it dropped off the table's end.

I reached into my bag and withdrew a rock,
It's complexion of gold and plaque shining silver.
Her reaction was that of pleasant shock
As I wished her congrats on turning a year older.

Now, a year and some days later,
We've both reached a special place.
Day to day I get to face her
And feel my lover's warm embrace.

You & I, united by
              the common light
                    of our fair moon,

          Yearn for more
      than a life ill-spent
   chasing gold doubloons.

Dear Indigo Night,

The stars enchant me
While a band recants
An old tune that swings
On their porch of wood.

Tonight's cool grass
Contrasts the meteor shower up above
As we sit in a circle laughing
And having a grand time.

We pass around candles,
Singing along and praising each other,
While our woes turn to mists
That flutter away
Up into the night sky.

Moon of moons
And stars of decadence,
Take us away so that we may dance together,
Forever,
As space and time fade to dust.

Life's taught me more than school has.
As a child, they taught me the basics,
Like 2+2 and "To be or not be?",
But never the advanced material
Such as the key to being happy?

Now as an adult,
Having taken a leave from school
And being forced to organize my own thoughts,
I realize that knowing the truth is only as good
As your ability to interpret it.
So all those years spent in government issue rooms
Learning government issue truths
Only taught me to see the world through a government issue lens.
But since the truth is now mine,
So is the spark of freedom from within.

I've turned new leaves
From Brown to Green,
Yellow to Red,
Dust to ash.

A week ago
Was quite warm,
Cold didn't bother
me very much.
Now I shiver,
Not alone without
But without within.

Guess I'm dying.

Not forever,
But for now.
Not a new death,
But a constant one.

That's waiting
I do suppose,
wanting things now.
Expressing fickle desires
Through prose.
But your needs now
Aren't the wants you'll
Have later.
Those are never ones
You plan for.

My mind is a sinking ship
The world's set ablaze.
Holes punched throughout the hull;
Passengers drowned in a daze.

And her contents-
Well, they got claimed as
"Lost at Sea",
I guess no salvage crew
Ever saw what I could be.

Now I'm sitting far below
This thick sheet of blue.
The sun's light only shines once
Everyday, quarter to noon.

The quiet helps me think
As darkness swells within.
The ghosts roaming
These flushed halls
Are learning how to swim.

Now they've started a mutiny
To the captain's delight.
These spirits will all be free
Long before midnight.

The sun break's through the day after,
No wreckage to be found.
Everyone has floated up
To give life another round.

You can't live a beautiful life
Without getting a few scars.

A wall runs low against a dirt hill,
Made of cracked stone
And shattered granite.
Leafy greens climb up the wall
From the low side,
Creeping into its crevice.

A visit to the hill
Was not in my thoughts
As I was reminded by
My nightly sigh.
Perhaps it'd be better
To roll up the grass
And murmur musings
About my beloved.

So I turned away,
My shirt collar to the dirt.
Wind parting my hair as a
Whisper wisps by my ear,
"The green cracks await, my dear."

At a click,
My heart stopped.
Ecstasy poured through me
As my world rocked.
It was her:
My Queen.

And so we laughed
While we hung beneath a tree,
Two with nature
But one with me.

If all life meant for me to do was smile,
I'd spend the rest of mine making coffee.

A lot of people in life will say
You owe them everything
You have because they helped
You get to where
You are.
Those are the kind of people
that have never been put in check.

So always make it clear,
Never get it twisted:
Help should always be charitable.
Help comes from the heart
of a humanitarian
and not that of a businessman.
Help is Help,
not a bartering tool.

A beautiful sun shines through a palm's canopy
And casts a shadow over your beach retreat.
Sitting in a lounge chair with a rumrunner in hand,
It's easy to pretend people don't get murdered here.

Now it's nighttime and the city shines alive with neon
As countless youth hop from club to club looking for fun.
Walking down the boulevard while you take in the sights,
It's easy to forget the projects you passed to get here.

The next morning starts with a hefty hangover
And ends with a delicious bandeja paisa.
You've never had such exotically good food in your life,
Yet it's easy to ignore the famished begging on the streets here.

So the next time you visit
And feel all of your problems leave you,
Remember that your tourist dollars help keep our paradise
One fit for a fool.

formalities were always a must,
you'd have to be crazy to forget your manners.
Shoes off, Gi on, Belt ready;
forget that and the push ups would **** you.
As soon as anyone crossed that threshold,
their mind, body, and spirit tuned into an ancient frequency.
We were raw potential energy encased in flesh,
the trespasses we'd endured throughout the week
our sole source of fuel.

Sifu would shout, We would listen.
Our partners would punch us
And we'd block; no thought required.
With every belt, we moved up in the art;
Educated furthermore in climbing ladders.
That was the first time I had ever been disciplined
And not solely abused,
My first real encounter with tough love.

After those classes, I guess I felt safer around my parents,
But that didn't make them good people.
I almost had to fight them once,
Yet I couldn't bring myself to defend the dignity
Already taken from me.

Maybe I should have let my instincts and not my sense
Guide my hand that night,
Maybe then I'd be a hero to myself as well as everyone's villain.

Paradise is a state of mind
In a place where there is plenty-
A place where on your down time
Things look more than just pretty.

Paradise can mean a lot of things,
It can be multiple places.
The coming & going of years
Passing over different faces.

Paradise can bring you fortune-
Her smile may even give some fame,
But she levees a heavy tax
For all who stand to gain.

Paradise takes your heart & soul
Just to make you feel at home,
Not knowing whether you’ll get to leave
Feeling broken or as a new whole.

Paradise is a vacation-
Paradise is a job.
Paradise is exploitation-
Paradise is a massage.

Paradise is a place to enjoy
As others are made to suffer,
With money standing in between
To play the role of buffer.

Paradise is a cup of coffee
Paradise is a broken promise
Paradise is a rolled up leaf
Paradise is a stolen profit

Paradise is whatever you
want it to be,
As long as you make it yourself
& don’t steal it like a thief.

Hollowed corpses
Left on hallowed ground,
Lacking the depth
Of what was once profound.

Rip my heart to shreds
As your empty words
Entomb me.

For your light is-
dark

The love in you-
tainted

And your soul...
gone.

All of      
           My
                    Greatest
                 Wishes
                           Could have
                        Come true
                            If only I had
                           Wished For
You

O with what heavy heart
And steaded blissfulness
Doth I burdened start
Dodge the dreaded crinkles.
My soul is aching,
Much to my chagrin
As she stands there alone,
Sullenly basking.
How I Wish to be freed
From this forsaken place
Allowed to wander by steed
At a vagabond's thorough pace.
Yearn for adventure
I shall
Through the bitter years that follow,
For I myself a lady
Stall not the humble morrow.

Meadows of loving emotion
Jostle us kindly away
From cascades of swollen ire
That guide our desires astray.

Poem and mope
Are the same word
Built differently.

Sparks of light
Emerge from the void
And encircle themselves
Around a phosphorescent nucleus.

Colors, green and purple,
Shine through the hues of watery darkness
As the traces and trails
Glow vibrantly in the black of it all.

Organisms and antimatter
Flow around each other
Indiscriminately,
Suggesting a relationship of unity.

O to touch such forbidden beauty!
To hold it in my pale hands-
It's enough to make one cry
Tears of radiation
In a sea full of death's water.

Empty pockets
Spread threadbare,
Growling stomachs
Ached despair.
Ain't no money to see
In this mess of a reverie.
Cold winters kissing me,
Smokey wind upon my door.

If only I had one...

I'd be all set,
Chaufer driving me
To my charming jet.
My honey and I
Would always kiss sweet,
Never having to worry
About what to eat.

If only...
life weren't so grim.
Poverty & cheap thrills
Wearing my spirits thin.
My charcuterie is plastic,
So is my base lifestyle.
I'm dreary eyed with things drastic,
Trying to chase a break for a while.
But my blues are static
And they're charging me up
Just to drive me wild.

Peering upside down
Hanging from a monkey bar
As laughter rings all around,
Both near and far.
I can't seem to stop missing that innocent bliss
That followed me everywhere before I turned six.
Now I'm kind of sad that all I have are memories,
But I guess that's to remind me happiness is still a possibility.

Sitting on a beach as the wind sways gently,
A slender palm tree moves as in a dance.
Reminiscing about each moment lived happily
As the panorama of dusk takes the ocean's lamp.
My senses, though numbed, are primed
To receive the night's embrace.
This evening, though young, burns sublime
Energy into our enlightened grace.

Holidays spent on countless charades,
Predicting all of your plays
And gauging all of your games.
You're driving me insane!

I'd much rather fry cheese on the moon-
Than see your face...
Anytime soon.
Oh how pointless life can be
When every reverie
Is infected by your dull surprise.

Condescensing looks descend
Into words written in books,
Like backhanded comments
Striking my face blue.
With you I'll never find paradise.

Now it's time to turn you off,
Beckon you with a drunken scoff
And eject you from my life.

Happiness is but a loved child
Lurking within the minds
Of the abused set free
To let their hearts run wild.

To live life sat atop a plush throne,
You must release your inner pain.
Sweat fluidly and gather a flush tone-
No burdened toil shall fester in vane.

Once upon a fair evening's bloom,
A fair maiden did make a young
Courtier swoon.
With a touch of the hand
And a kiss of the lips,
She ensured that love
Was not to be
Missed.

We met at a park by your place,
A hill overlooking a lakeshore vista.
The sunset hung over the horizon
As did our words, awaiting conversation.
The nerves got to me and so I flung my phone,
Your laughter a cacophony which my heart still adores.
We had pizza on a bench that night,
Or at least we tried;
Nights at the park have more bugs than we'd like.
But after all the talking and laughing and grinning,
It's our departing hug that sent me spinning.
I'd give everything to have that time again with you.
But alas, I needn't give anything,
For our nights are still this rich and full of youth.