I've taken the beatings
and felt the blows
the one-two
the fester of ********
seeping into my worry
I've placed my ear
to the walls
and heard the screams
taking their shapes
the strange cacophony
of hollow voices
creeping just beyond reach
beneath these bruises
in the empty that owns the pain
and poisons expectation
where each new smile
is less brave than before
mining troubles
like flags waiting to be found
promises
summon back their quotations
ripe with a vagueness
to blacken out the deal
and erase its history
or simply wait long enough
to one day be forgotten
to cut out my tongue
so I can't talk back
to look me in the eyes
and tell me I can't see
Nov 4, 2017
Nov 4, 2017 at 4:44 PM UTC
half-hearted sentiments sting the unwritten prose
bleeding through splayed fingers
and washing regret over a crimson doubt
repeatedly planted through pockets of history
upending a future perfected in a lifeless state
the primal instinct to cast blame
to point the finger back at the older self
reprimanding the absence of wisdom
too afraid to acknowledge where confidence
could have compromised kinetic fear
advancing the loaded uncertainty
baptized in the wake of youth
and slipping into adulthood
where fear unmasks its wonder
pressure breaks the safety of character
searching through peripheral vision
to a glory fueled by blinded ambition
the right call birthed out of the sense of where
the old identity excused from the frustration
lurking in the crevices of the now
Aug 29, 2017
Aug 29, 2017 at 3:20 PM UTC
there were scriptures inside your hands
turning pages into history
I was the last thought
hoping to linger in your vision
shrouded in silence
vacant windows in daily rush
where empty train seats
wait for your arrival
there are words I can’t speak
learning the language of you
nameless as you may be
I’m stung by your potential
this searching for focus
as time suffocates my expectations
for I want to know you
past the limits of passing by
I want these walls to become weightless
this anxiety to lose meaning
for this fantasy existing inside me
to show it can come to life
to finally take its first breath
Aug 2, 2017
Aug 2, 2017 at 1:34 PM UTC
glimpses of some other life
enter the peripheral
planting thoughts behind closed eyes
waiting for uncertainty to inspire
and awaken old habits
losing focus of where the sting left
scars forgetting their pain
hands resurrecting their purpose
Jul 19, 2017
Jul 19, 2017 at 1:52 PM UTC
stories elevated by absolutes
where characters throw themselves into embarrassment
and those listening can’t contain their laughter
anymore than their alcohol or party-related energy
there’s wisdom hidden in the language
shouted for the sake of amusement
letting the music live on as the night’s compass
or liven the camaraderie ever so slightly
sticky hands finding their canned beer
after swatting the uninvited mosquitos
interrupting any chance at flirtation
lips cut their words hoping for an exchange
the pauses, the nervous ticks
insecurity slowly admitting defeat
crushing hands after crushing beers
these people interpret their own destinies
leaving the night’s heat to worry about itself
Jul 16, 2017
Jul 16, 2017 at 7:20 PM UTC
streets close off
telling work to go home
its role is finished today
white dresses dance in circles
filtered through formal lenses
where naked eyes lose their focus
lips and words fail to meet
and conjure up some magic
breathing in old silence
unmasking beautiful faces
to deliver melancholic confessions
where truths and dreams go their own ways
in the lack of an answer
or waiting for the perfunctory reply
it’s easier to lower ambition
when the chance ceases to exist
when language fit for a letter
is lost in the passage of time
in leaving the thought behind
the almost gasping for air
loneliness proves its burden
the heavy that wants to be comfortable
Jul 8, 2017
Jul 8, 2017 at 12:54 PM UTC
conversations lift from unnamed tongues
flirting with a language you don’t speak
the striving certainty, the swift confidence
unable to relate to hands finding themselves
in the corners of empty pockets
contemplating the why’s and the how come’s
distilling this patience which has remained
a novel idea lost in its own defeat
through the parameter of this potential
you’re convinced lives inside you
wishing to relate to a God who only loves
and can carry someone else’s burden
you’ve found truths to distinguish
where opportunity ends and regret begins
longing to reach this distance
of comfortable laughs and romantic gestures
existing in exchanges of foreign camaraderie
a language that cannot easily be taught
May 29, 2017
May 29, 2017 at 12:00 PM UTC
leaving attitudes
in the same pocket as ambition
where the loneliest secrets
want to be free for a change
it's when the calls stop coming
when the drive ceases to exist
and all that's left is the same regret
which lingered in a few dreams
and promised never to come alive
the communication (or lack thereof)
wisdom carried from the greatest generation
to empathize with today's struggle:
getting the job
getting the girl
finding a home
to fill with love
to be labeled as lazy
or unwilling to commit
it's easy to brush off
unidentified trouble
basking in welcomed fear
searching the crevices of hands
for answers which don't exist
if you can't follow the trajectory
so tempted to change to “won't”
when the future is always several steps ahead
and knees have fallen to the ground
either to pray or to plead
anger to a silent God
or shouting to a quiet self
unsure how to respond
how to take this further
when life threatens to suffer
to **** starry eyes
and stop ample arms
whispers disguised as screams
looking to cast the pointed finger
when the easy excuses
forever turn their backs in shame
May 9, 2017
May 9, 2017 at 8:29 PM UTC
she promises it hasn’t always been this way
the touch which turned from kind to cruel
stripping its intended comfort away
basking in the shame it summons
when tears say what words cannot
when walking away is the final direction
the final plea not worth bargaining for
he lowers expectations
till they hang above the ground
where his legs will meet their doom
and the dirt tattooed in his hands
will suffice for a while
inside the chamber of this eternity
the they and the us
remove their definitions
realizing their expiration
the end which has gone
the you and me
existing in separate realms
identity becomes irrelevant
they will never fear death
as long as they fear life
May 1, 2017
May 1, 2017 at 8:56 PM UTC
the corners of your wallet
reveal fortune hasn’t found its time
sinking below the ocean of opportunity
below a fully realized surface
waiting to complete its world
your hands want to hold
carry weight in warm skin
proving strength
distilling exhausted potential
dreams memorize the bed they breathe in
offering glimpses between
the hours awake
when the night sky studies you
they like to pretend to carry
the same nostalgic wonder
as those existing in the halls of yesterday
where a picture tracks in on just one
just you
a body which doesn’t know how to behave
where backs turn to the light
where faces turn into myth
the old and the new exist in separate lives
but learn from each other
sharing their fears and their fables
Apr 19, 2017
Apr 19, 2017 at 3:45 PM UTC