you might be crying
you might have waterfalls cascading down from those shimmering scarred tear ducts
collecting down in a stormy ocean of violent waves
as you treacherously try to stay afloat
screeching for air as you try to stay afloat in the vast abyss that is
your mind
but one day darling,
you will dance
you will dance freely into the night
and suddenly everything is alright

Our children see others lie with impunity
Simply blow out the light, darkness perverts civility


© 2020 by Mark Toney. All rights reserved.

A whispered glory;
the moon sets in summer while we sleep.
No theatre, no painting the skies
with an explosion of polychromatic pomp.
I aspire to be more moon than sun;
that companions shine in my company,
a benign influence
and relish phases dipped in shadow.

This divinity does not come from within these legs
The beauty you see comes from my hands
Your desperate need to feel the rough patches on my skin
My berry shades of scars
You haven't seen me yet
The nakedness of the blisters on my skin

You don’t decide who
Will make your heart race.
The corners of your lips just
Upturn so suddenly
That you only notice your smile
When you step forward and feel
The cement  pieces
Of a shattered frown
On the ground beneath your feet.