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Apr 2021 · 64
Darkd
Dennis Willis Apr 2021
Rubbing my hand across
my phone's dark screen
it's time for bed
the battery said
Apr 2021 · 101
Least 'Twas for Me
Dennis Willis Apr 2021
The days are boiling down
aren't they
or are they?

Your shield is in place
neck hunch
I don't know?

I come b"??*?"ing time
moments
all crated hot

And I hold back stuff
no trust
scalding u

You read that wrong
I think
looking out
Apr 2021 · 84
Moment
Dennis Willis Apr 2021
Its a time I know
this syrupy drift
of late hours wine
skinny girls
with me inside

rise and resist
rising and its color
and finally you know
you can be seen
seeking this
wish it 'd happen
Apr 2021 · 90
Waiting
Dennis Willis Apr 2021
A drop into your heart
of booted day
excoriating way
and you recede
Apr 2021 · 225
Onmg
Dennis Willis Apr 2021
I'd like a basket
I am thru the brake
I'd like a basket
It looks exactly like you
I am woven accrost

simple ru les simple ounds
an' lookin' like you could
kiss me

to find wha tinside
singing your h ands
around my kybd

capitalization lifts
its top
oof is much said

long for another doncha
when they say thas all
Apr 2021 · 68
Sure
Dennis Willis Apr 2021
I see this distance
and I rue

these spaces
we ante up

i fill up with
this stuff

at you spew
hope something grew

reach i  am reaching
an even pour draught

of making stuff up
uncertainly
Apr 2021 · 79
Breathe
Dennis Willis Apr 2021
As long as I can make a dragon
I am ok
silly as that sounds
roaring from you
Apr 2021 · 269
Then
Dennis Willis Apr 2021
If you could nail a 2 by 4 of pure light
across the hole of your heart
I could cross back to you
Apr 2021 · 48
Night to You
Dennis Willis Apr 2021
Why can't you feel the edge you're on
what blinds you to the knives of time
while they carve from now tomorrow

Oh how I gleefully feed myself to them
this is not sacrifice nor submission
I'm just the material supplier to mine

I am Light slowing down speeding up
playing with itself tossed in airy time
playing at becoming night sweet night

Always sculpting myself with you and it
shouldn't be the source of my anxiety
as contrast makes the Light show

So beautifully
Apr 2021 · 74
Boom Boom
Dennis Willis Apr 2021
The thumping wretchedness
fumbling free of fear
to fall in love
with life
is me
Apr 2021 · 62
Last One Out of My Mind
Dennis Willis Apr 2021
I've packed a few things
and moved out of my mind

Most everything I am
I saluted and left behind

I threw the key on the floor
and backed out the door

There is not a chance
I'm coming back anymore

I'll forget those falling stacks
of waxy old thought

and lose my high and mighty opinions
so prime and all worth naught

Naught is insufficient I think
to describe their value fair

that i proudly shaped so sharp
to cut you deep fair and square

it seemed about time
i moved out of there
Apr 2021 · 68
Cereal Killer
Dennis Willis Apr 2021
And now I'm in a bowl
it took forever to get here
Apr 2021 · 47
Now
Dennis Willis Apr 2021
Now
You've no use
for me
Your hand travels
over

Your eyes flail
to away
Your hands wish
to click

for i smell foul
of letters
fetid with lyric
and lie
Apr 2021 · 284
Here till
Dennis Willis Apr 2021
I don't understand any of you
as the front runner does not
understand what is behind

And I am you in your pocket
or on your edge balancing
an admission you resist

Fenceposts aren't
your thing to go by
are they

Smaller now
we lunge
past
Apr 2021 · 286
Off
Dennis Willis Apr 2021
Off
I went to say
I've drunk myself
calm and creative
when the side of my head
caved in
I drank a glass of water
to re-inflate it
does it seem
Apr 2021 · 47
Me
Dennis Willis Apr 2021
Me
My conceits are on the air again
or is it err again aloud again
allowed again
by whom

and this grimace is fake
its frightened on
my face again
by whom

Don't look around
pockets full
of buds
seeking that taste
Apr 2021 · 66
Her Passing
Dennis Willis Apr 2021
How does the wind
find its way home
from ruffling these trees
and pulling my eaves
taking. I feel
it's cold look in
Apr 2021 · 57
Some Harmony's
Dennis Willis Apr 2021
"I heard this and transcended"
so I'm listening to follow
which is some part
of finding my way

And I find always always
"we'll remember always"
to be a song I love
and would sing for you

and surprisingly I'm
snapping my fingers
and the saxophone sweeps
away all of my thoughts

unavoidably you blaring
like i'm staring at warm
and caring but i'm outside
and i am upended even
Apr 2021 · 223
And Thanks for All the Ish
Dennis Willis Apr 2021
I gave up on you verse
I gave up on your opinion
even if you are sometimes
shrapnel or, worse, silence
you give me groove
you give me move
i know you're right right
right
then you get righteous
and i become wrong
i hate this so long
so long so long
me luv you long time
gone
Mar 2021 · 53
Raggedy Man
Dennis Willis Mar 2021
Oh the crying I do
against a feather
of (what word
oh god what word goes here)

Nerve, the nerve
scalded
by your eyes
incomprehensibly

Goes here goes here
again again

and the tears run
they run
and i admit
i am shaking

and the reach
of this line of light
piercing
raggedy man
Mar 2021 · 142
i was born you
Dennis Willis Mar 2021
even if it was
i liked

at an angle
bounced

high on that
even if

i liked
this this

spaghetti's
sauce

this this
isn't amen

land it
this atmospheric

won't catch even if
Mar 2021 · 73
what fades
Dennis Willis Mar 2021
and there is this moment
that has no bottom
the surfaces
around you
the people
around you
the furniture
around you
you cannot grasp
as you drain away
from everything
knowing
Mar 2021 · 77
Home Alone
Dennis Willis Mar 2021
So you're no one too
sitting there reading this
alone

Only imaginary reasons
to look at
your phone

Let's put this  
stangst
in a poem

an' call it
rewards
of efforts made

and stop
making those
self same

as i'd like to not
reap these
same rewards
Dennis Willis Mar 2021
why do i think
i am someone
why do i think
they will call
when they don't
at all
they don't
at all

why do i think
i am not breaking
why do i think
you're not a piece

mmm
mmmmm

why do i think i am someone you want to come and see
clearly i am someone clearly i am someone
no one wants to see

here i am sitting home alone oh let me check my phone
no no one liked me back no one liked me back

why do i think
i am someone
why do i think
they will call
why do i think
i am someone
when i am no one
at all
"All my friends turned out to be
insurance salesman" - Arlo Guthrie
Feb 2021 · 91
Sure Enough
Dennis Willis Feb 2021
A notwhich for lunch
fully satisfied me
and I laid in for an
afternoon silvan
listing forward now
as if i was getting away
an'd outrun something

foreground against
background as if
it had a chance

sand makes the inevitable
course gritty
or is it nifty\

and its a self same shame
we are contained
by savage rite

and spend our days
swinging knives
and seeming sure

I'm not sure
we should be
or are
Feb 2021 · 78
For You
Dennis Willis Feb 2021
Light upon your day
there is no other
than this
Feb 2021 · 317
What Am I?
Dennis Willis Feb 2021
What am I?
Well, a zebra
obviously
But, does it fit?
I think not
hooves
Feb 2021 · 96
Dear Sister
Dennis Willis Feb 2021
All of our conversations end
with you giving me the finger
it is so satisfying that tonight's
did too

If that was our last one I'm glad
I was able to make it clear finally
just how wrong you have been
all of these years

I'm glad you can see how lucky
you are and just how much more
you should have listened
to my advice

I can see the look on your face
as you turn away and mutter
about the value of little brother
and signal

This air sizzles with chemo
and old paths uncovered
to be played once more
flipping off
Diane
Feb 2021 · 110
I Go Back
Dennis Willis Feb 2021
Stepped off here
into the discolored
and disheveled
tidal pool
of my own darkness
the tour lasted hours
Feb 2021 · 290
On Fire
Dennis Willis Feb 2021
I've slept now
and drank
I've wrung my hands
and fretted
I've cooked
and eaten
I've pasted
and copied

Gotten back up
as far as really
down

ikr

and then snow
covered it all
Monday

again

to sleep now
this 'demic an' a
blizzard an' a

panic an' a
another
thing to light
Feb 2021 · 434
Starlight
Dennis Willis Feb 2021
these losings
the taken
away

these longings
the hoping
they'd stay

these evenings
the keyboard
with me

these efforts
the spilling
of time

these moments
the laughing
of stars
Feb 2021 · 297
Interview
Dennis Willis Feb 2021
What kind of poetry turns you on?
What kind of rhythm brings you on?
What kind of structure holds you on?
all scant purchase for a soul
that isn't buying on
i make no claims on sense
and contain lost sensibility
amidst this fumbling hillbility
i'm just behind this curtain
with a broom wondering
Feb 2021 · 70
Pre-Flight
Dennis Willis Feb 2021
I rebel against this
and any suggestion
you have about that

I rebel against myself
and my own guidance
's so wrong about that

This gets me to free space
the no pressure vacuum
I finally explode again

Obliteration sang as a jingle
brake rock lockity spracht
zara zara zarathrusta
Feb 2021 · 218
Move Along
Dennis Willis Feb 2021
Tears bring me here
where you don't care
aren't even here really

Fester, I fester here
in this white petrie
as you sniff nothing

And I'm angry at  you
say your perspicacity
must be poor and failing

not the artlessness of this
effort at resurrection whilst
lonliness' crooked smile reigns
Feb 2021 · 80
Carver
Dennis Willis Feb 2021
Accept the river
it teems and you shrink
accept the river
you have grown strong
and your song abrades
realize
you must match the pace
slowing flowing wet

held in except your eyes
except your mouth
except your river
through you
i flow around you
i flow accept
the riveting
tear falling or smoky look
i am yours
as a river
is the lands
Feb 2021 · 72
Ouch Again
Dennis Willis Feb 2021
is there a lower form of life
i can live
i wonder
of course
i have first-world angst
crying in my warm bed

over women so beautiful
as to not
notice any
anyone
safely and never be alone
an' needn't be alone with me
love claimed notwithstanding
Feb 2021 · 69
H
Dennis Willis Feb 2021
H
I just want to be with yuh t
ee-he with yuh
Not be me with ya

a little death oui with yuh

scattering all in the wake of ya

Huh
Feb 2021 · 76
Epiphany
Dennis Willis Feb 2021
I'm having an epiphany
when I should be having
a Tiffany

New Year's Eve alone again
Feb 2021 · 232
If Men Were Smart
Dennis Willis Feb 2021
This just in
law allowing women to use
all of their awesome powers
as they see fit
universally codified
Feb 2021 · 81
Spec
Dennis Willis Feb 2021
I'm just searching for a poem amongst
what are these things in our minds
we search amongst?
Inordinance rules
'gainst the mental wilderness
and you know is a wet sound
and you
the disguise
opines
as these lines unwind going
back round behind things
i know
i know your game
taste taste like some
syllabic fly
Jan 2021 · 57
Style
Dennis Willis Jan 2021
Something
                to say
Said
                tasty
Something
                to be
Said
                meaty
Something
                to have
Said
                look
Railing
               I say
Railing
              Hold on
Dennis Willis Jan 2021
What living things sing a moment
we imagine remains

slippery contains
rain, reign
no reins

ride and die singing
tho you may not must

harmonize

spread now wider
smile
Jan 2021 · 108
The Present
Dennis Willis Jan 2021
The present opens up and swallows everything
the couch, the chair, the floor,
the window
and the stars I see thru it
All them galaxies exist only in this brany moment
this constant coalescing while vanishing trembling now
peaked on the pinnacle of time's cresting wave
is all

Bit of seafoam somersaulting on the unseen dark sea
is all

And everything is so small as to fit around you in here now
is all

The universe a second skin one instant thin we wear
is all
Jan 2021 · 255
A Little Twine
Dennis Willis Jan 2021
Wrestle a day down I say
wrestle a day down
and let it go

The speaker hams it up
laughs it up
lets it flow

The inside turns out
turns in
days all a spin

Lies and rhymes
callous lines
this is fine

Coughing up slime
finding the time
this is mine
Jan 2021 · 433
Too Long
Dennis Willis Jan 2021
I've listened too long to
I've prolonged this too effortless
I've longed and longed

You've been lovely
You've been taking my breath
You've been almost almost mine
Jan 2021 · 99
Something Now
Dennis Willis Jan 2021
What's end these syllables
and all is infinite for any
ripple
halving its way to you
closer always
closer
this pair
this lonely pair
of almosts
satisfied the sound plays
between becoming
Jan 2021 · 113
Syncopate
Dennis Willis Jan 2021
It's a small thing this answer I have
like a breeze settling itself down
in the bowls of now's hollows
It's the smoothness of night's light
blurring off the edges of silk shadows
where something rests something must
Be turning this air over my arms my back
turning me in to the stirring from dream
frozen to some lost artifice of dark song
it's reinventing it's just venting it's just

I find myself here 'neath waves
of ascertainment an' perspicacity
raking out corners of something
Having taken care of the horse
and the prehensile i moved on
to the choreographer's *******
And the question guilt-free laughs
at my stagefright what is peace
Jan 2021 · 89
Cunodrum
Dennis Willis Jan 2021
Talking with David at 2am
You bro let's catch a buzz
David is gone
recently

I received some of his things
today a cherished sign (ikr)
his stash box handled so often

i can see him closing opening
cleaning rolling away
a moment at a time

here i am clenched fists
over a keyboard
of ache
Jan 2021 · 117
Up Too Late
Dennis Willis Jan 2021
What is the delicious idiocy of tonight?
wherein I do the opposite of light
sway around the kitchen with sugar
and cream chilled down to the icy bone
of starlight and the freezer door ajar's breath

I sing my teeth no I sink my spirit into
the pacing around the kitchen a 5-foot arc
wherein I rise above pettiness and drink again
and probe for soft melt with my faux silver spoon
this is so good and so sweet i think like a thumb
Jan 2021 · 101
Burp, Leadership
Dennis Willis Jan 2021
What do I wring from this time
As if, I think, time can be wrought
like a watery cloth

defeat is in me i think and aches
in its trueness, not this way i breathe last
we, i imagine, win

branch around me and this this
bad spot i guess this not the way way
you, i imagine, win
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