Your breath, the wind that caresses my face,
a breeze cooled by the lingering goodbye.
The pheromone scent carried in the air,
entrancing nostalgia gripping my mind,
crushing weight and drowning sense.
Every muscle twinges, twisting into aches
of desire, poised on the edge of leaping,
taut and ferocious lion.
Mesmerizing eyes, dracula draining will
and caution, yet a stance of stone I engage.

My breath, the sigh that expels freedom,
a battle and war, heavy bleeding costs goodbye.
The belligerent stare through mirrored eyes,
entrancing visage, broken thoughts and lies
capture fate and divining past.
Every muscle limp, embracing liquidity and
release, collapse and greet dirt abrasive,
fool and torrid, dying snake.
Deliberate design, signs of sweat and
shattered ego, dreams alone steal cage.

The scent of a thousand people.
Breathing quietly in front of a makeshift steeple.
Partaking in the mixture of what was and will be.
Is from my eyes, a sight to see.

From the stance I took towards the music.
Beating my heart off tune a little each beat.
Was more than enough to lift my physical and spiritual feet.

The lights shining in the four wheeled party beast.
To which our souls had a feast.
On the glowstick symphony of the radio.

The entire pizza that wasn't plausible to fit entirely into my face.
The five year D&D game that was just so finely placed.
Having a claw caress the edges of something I knew the second it dropped.

Holding my own faults and fears.
In my arms.
Without any tears.
Nor harm.
I dropped them.

So much has moved my soul.
The living water I have,
Is now within it's own bowl.

I decidedly placed ten select pieces of indistinguishable geometry
Into the palm of my own imminent surrender
And whispered, “Here we go”

Ten pieces of hexagonal happen stance
A misuse of science through this five sided emotional stability
Made so and marketed by the hands of acquisitive man
And here is now… for now

Ten minutes of wretched resolve and ruination
Before the swollen eyelids shut terse and thus worse; tragically tight

Never again to know

10 years stare blankly into the mirror of the momentary mind

10 to numb this oncology once and for all time
And in so doing
Leaving the internal demons far away, and decidedly behind
2000 J. K. Bradford

When I woke up to my sobriety, I found the people drunk
I tried to love and be romantic, I appeared as a punk
They say there are many fish in the sea, maybe the ship has sunk
Maybe the wine spread all over and left them all drunk...

And now to eat fish you have to drown it, submerge it into alcohol
Having no money to purchase alcohol leaves you in a dark cage; without sol
In this cage you attempt to distill yourself so to love again but no one comes along
You are left with melodies blue; lonely songs...

Sing your heart out until the tears gush
You are alone, no one there to brush
The tears fall down on the hard ground with vehement boiling touch
And you see yourself, pitiful and wounded hoping for lightning
Praying for the hope to grow like flowers of spring

But you cannot wait, you must get laid
So you find a means to an end and get paid
Only to have them laid
Trying to play on both sides of the fence to find the balance
But you lose a sense of purity, you've been played
You were falling in line with the rest of the herd
But this doesn't heal the places where you've been hurt
But sail on, you go for there is no one to hold
You try not to think about your broken heart or blackened soul
You submerge yourself in the loudness nonsensical and girls coiling poles
Wherever you look you find the hollow
you feel alive only when asleep for dreams reel you in the deep
You try your luck at hotties and find them shallow
You are stuck, half fastened and cuffed
So you begin to investigate the truth
you find myth and evil facts
you search for magic you see long-bearded men with pointed hats
you learn that the participants of the game are unaware of the game
And in time you identify the source
Where the strings of rivers are
where the squashes and foams of waterfalls reach
as you witness manipulation down the coral reef
who are these men, malevolent men or thieves?
Stealing pure bliss and romance
Denying the chance for love to soar to mountain top and have chieftain stance
and then you're back at the mirror...
You see the dirt on your hands
that you aren't as innocent as righteousness demands
so you think back to when you've been wrong
All the lies you've told, the people you've robbed
the hesitations, the sudden stops
The denials, delusions and proud decisions
And you find comfort in the fact that there is no perfection
Only moments just, and bonds of trust
overshadowing the appeals to heal when bowing to lust...

And that's when you know that you continue to journey to the beautiful
Cowards would have no claws, to hold on, the fake perfect people no flaws, to hide their true nature
At the center of it all, nudity and coarse artefacts, all you think of -
is what you've seen. You must be mad if it's not a dream.

You row with oars, on a small humble boat, you start anew
knowing that the wise can be fools
and that the minds of fools can be liberated with learning tools.

What's on my mind is why I'm not a superhero and can freeze time,
expose lies In the act,
forget the past and why that past keeps coming to haunt my present,
mended the broken but it feels fake,
ended the poison but keep feeling its wrath,
heartache is hard to take but forgiving just to end up in the same place is the worst,
a sane place when I write these words,
sort of therapeutic,
trust just to say how could you do this,
my mind state lately has been screw it,
letting a nuisance ruin it, and how I view it is causing me to lose it,
like I'm losing grip,
awkward encounters have me feeling embarrassed like a tourist on a beach for nudist,
am I just blowing hot air like a tubist?
Am I just naive and clueless?
When can the calm come and life be soothing?
Before the storm it seems,
I just want to storm the scene with views that are the rudest,
it’s like I attract the lunatics,
like ticks under my skin,
some of you make my skin crawl,
that's why I'm trying to drain you away like piss in a stall,
but you keep kicking your way in like your the foot that's trips me when I fall,
my life has been like a kiss to the lips of a beast who's ready to maul,
trying to kick doors in but its just a wall,
but I keep pushing through the cinderblocks and brick,
tear down the foundation,
tick tocks on the wrist watch has me feeling ancient,
flocks of pricks test my patience,
like a bunch of seagulls in the tree waiting for me to park under their branch, am in the windshield?
All I can do is have a strong stance and hope my faith is my shield,
stuck in a field of sheep but I’ll be the one to stray,
take a leap and be brave,
the dream is in reach and getting it is what I crave,
I'm the exception to the rats in the maze,
the one that finds the finish,
while you're all going in circles I’m still in the race,
I may be the turtle but this turtle is on Turbo and I'm snapping,
I may be lacking but none of you can match my passion,
no more asking, my success I demand it, can't stop me from getting it,
and if getting it is never ending I’ll die trying,
you can salute that,
tip your hat to a real man,
a man that writes real on these lines,
that's what is on my mind.

By: Joey LaPiana

Crazy Circus (just a wrap)

We’re runnin’ like chickens with our heads cut off,
Squealing like piggies round the old food trough,
Stuck on a treadmill and we can’t get off,
It’s a crazy circus

Lost and confused, walkin in a trance,
Common sense needs a second chance,
But time is runnin out gotta change our stance,
Such a crazy circus

Just lookin’ for respect we think we know
But the real truth is you reap what you sow

Under the bigtop we’re up on the stage
Spillin’ and killin’ lost in a rage
Why can’t we just turn the page
Of this crazy circus

Strutin’ our stuff actin’ real cool
Posin’ in the mirror ready for a duel
Now who do you think is the real fool
What a crazy circus

The old ringmaster we’re the main attraction
Always lookin’ for some kind of action
Spinnin’ our wheels losin’ our traction
In this crazy circus

Just lookin’ for respect we act like we know
But the real truth is you reap what you sow

Gomer LePoet...