Jeffrey Bustos: Favorites

May 2013 Jeffrey Bustos

Atom

May 2013 Jeffrey Bustos

Aiden Williams

Atom

Singular and alone,
Where the darkness around it permits no life.
One with no face,
One with no race
One which has no merits,
No footsteps in the sands
For this one to be traced.

Silent and still,
A broken piece within
A broken whole.
Eyeless sockets look for a slice of pi,
But there is no three to be found from two,
For this is a place of one's.

Unable to be rescued from the darkness,
No voice to be heard of encouragement.
No life to be seen but the present
Confusion and doubt control the future.
A foundation built strong beneath the whole
Crumbles from beneath the weight of the black,
Darkness encompasses this single atom amidst the light of around him.

At the whim of no one but himself
He continues to dwell in the darkness,
Dancing to the melody of his own
Self composed song.

May 2013 Jeffrey Bustos

Muyiwa

May 2013 Jeffrey Bustos

Desire Akahome

Muyiwa

Our union hasn't ended
And if it ends, it can always be mended
Remember that it was you who left me
Now someone else is doing your job for free
Don't feel sad
Don't feel bad
Instead you should try to gain back your position
And be a better friend in this situation
And if you give this a chance
I will leave your rival without a backward glance

May 2013 Jeffrey Bustos

Titled Number Sixteen

May 2013 Jeffrey Bustos

Jeremy Duff

Titled Number Sixteen

And what a slap in the face it is
to keep my father's old driver's license
tucked nicely into my cigarette pouch.
Because every son wants to slap his father's face
and also to be just like him.

May 2013 Jeffrey Bustos

Memories of Dreams

May 2013 Jeffrey Bustos

Carissa M Wyles

Memories of Dreams

I lie down tonight
knowing I won't sleep.
It's been months, and still
I'm kept up
with an aching stomach and too many thoughts
running through my mind.

I remember June, when we met,
I couldn't sleep then either.
Any second away from you
left me longing.
So we would hold on,
long talks until dawn,
Fingers tracing, memorizing faces
with touch, scent, taste. Embracing
and knowing I'd have to leave all too soon,
We would stay awake until the sunrise
forced our eyes shut.

Now
I still feel you with me,
Always haunting.
Memories of dreams:
a wedding never to be,
a pretend family

May 2013 Jeffrey Bustos

on knees all day

May 2013 Jeffrey Bustos

K Mae

on knees all day

on knees all day I pray
******* newborn shoots
****** vibrant from my earth
nurturing roots in darkness
soothing love moist mantle
under sun benign*
*expanding joy in growth

May 2013 Jeffrey Bustos

The Unfading Beauty

May 2013 Jeffrey Bustos

Thomas Carew

The Unfading Beauty

He that loves a rosy cheek,
  Or a coral lip admires,
Or from star-like eyes doth seek
  Fuel to maintain his fires:
As old Time makes these decay,
So his flames must waste away.

But a smooth and steadfast mind,
  Gentle thoughts and calm desires,
Hearts with equal love combined,
  Kindle never-dying fires.
Where these are not, I despise
Lovely cheeks or lips or eyes.

May 2013 Jeffrey Bustos

Tumbling

May 2013 Jeffrey Bustos

M Clement

Tumbling

I read what you said, and I kind of agree
Baby, baby
You're no good for me
And I'm not for you
But I'll be ****** if I don't want to be
And pretending ***** ****
I hope you're not mad at me

Talking is ******
Because It feels like it used to
And you're too **** pretty
I've already told you

I'm writing and I won't give a **** if you see
Cuz baby, sweet baby
This wasn't meant to be
You're broke as hell
And I didn't want to let that be
But your shard of glass was put up to me
Like ransom
"Stay away
It's better you see?"
But I'd be lying if I said it felt better to me.

The risk of life is getting cut sometimes
And experiencing falls
But that being said
I don't want to be there
If you feel no emotion at all

So, I guess you're right.
We'll pretend our lips didn't fit together
And I'll try and forget the nights we spent on each other
Over
Under
In
Out
I gotta be honest
It's not what love's about.
You're ****, you're beautiful, and hot **** you're fine.
But I will go on with life
Knowing you're not mine.
And I'll be ok, just give me some time
But until then, take this verbal pantomime

Apr 2013 Jeffrey Bustos

Blisters

Apr 2013 Jeffrey Bustos

Life's a Beach

Blisters

*****
the curse word breaks
from my lips and
I feel the salty tears on my face
drip down onto my opened toes,
blood, sweat and tears
together at last.

My foot lies in front of me
skinned like a fish,
the scales of old and new skin
glistening with their combined pain.

slowly, with a methodical gait
which springs from years
of this ritual,
I start to bind my toes, the blood
on my tights added to the
battle scars of art.