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Max Barsness Aug 2018
The ocean is now far
It's calm
It's lore
Far resigned
Frothing
& overcast
Poor Mighty Joe
Who believed
In the wayward farce
Of sky
& hearth
Waffling tongue first
Upon the spigot
An applejack gait
Childlike & trepidatious
In regards to you
But I am content

The rumbling is heard
Submerged in a greasy
Damp head of hair
Not like his
Not like hers
Gray
& unkempt
Like calk on the basin
Keeping the tide
From pouring over
Another glass
& it'll dry out
Here in the murky
2 feet of water
Red skin & brave
Wrinkles in time spilled
With every clink of the tumbler
Wrinkles in a mind revealed
But I am content

The bath runs hot
Bubbles & lavender multiply
Ice breaking in the steam
Tobacco crushed emotions
All tastes sweet
All desires salt
These are your things
The things
Which I am not supposed to believe
The passion that soaks up the dusk
The poison that sweats out the dawn
But I am content

To remind oneself
There is no thing
Stare at a mirror in the dark
Lack reflection
Breathe in the cracks
Til you can't tell them apart
Drip dry
& tremble
Buttressed by numb tiles
Take comfort
In the absence of
Fine linens
& the abundance of sweat
Be content

A free mind is
A boat out on the sea
In the calm of the storm
Open water & whitewash
The cost
Rowing out
Into a tub
Filled with dirt & soap
The faith of a filthy life
Watching the spiral
Following it
To that
Which waits beyond the walls & pipes
That blathering led you back into the cocoon
Slapping on the walls as you plunged into another drink
The penance
Is a man
Who is not what he thinks
But I am content
Max Barsness Aug 2018
There is a whole of an old world out there
It is a lemon
Growing on a lime tree
The color of a done deal
Swimming in low spirits
Each peaty drop
A moment
To forget
That which brings tidings
Tidily
Zipper undone
Shoes unwound
Stumbling for infinite
De-frocked of
Protection
Masculinity
Fumbling for Braille
A shuffling of Ativan'd feet
On a rent controlled corner
Cosigned to a binding lease

There is a half of a clasp
One side
Of a broken heart neckless
Cue misinterpretation
Of what is said
Supposedly
Saying something
Reminiscent of the time
She left us
Or left with us
Without saying anything
Words became twisted
Knotted the academic scarves
Infinitely
Interrupting
Breathless
Evicting another tenant
From the tenement's
Of her breast

A wide birth
A wisp of humidity
A will
To want
A want
To won't
A starry night
Presented
In a down pour
A downfall
A magpie consuming the fruit
Of a forever feeling
She hopes you understand

best wishes
Max Barsness Jul 2018
I wanted to tell you
That my mom was sick
She was strong & I was at my weakest since my brother slipped forever
But whatever, we don’t need to talk about that
Alas through my paranoia and tobacco riddled anxiety
She would be ok

I wanted to tell you
that I cry more than most people
Especially during the part of the movie where
I can't remember
But you know the one where the crescendo truncates
And he promises her whatever is
She wishes to be promised

I wanted to show you
My favorite painting
Those lofty strokes and sharp lines creating the right light around a blue tunic and sure footing on the morning star
When color was black & white
Yes, those moments when religion meant everything

I wanted you
to hear my favorite song
But then you kissed me
Before that wall of sound could swallow that third verse
Before the violins could be whip stroked
Before I was just going to *******
And stream something else

I wanted to tell you
That there is a bigger **** out there
Filling all of your existential regret
and satisfying your unwanted needs  
Attached to someone far more important
with longer hair
and a mom and dad who love each other

I wanted to tell you all of this in the mere moment we had Standing before an open minded stranger
Elbows propped eagerly along the marble
Stretching a hand out across an ashtray
I wanted to tell you
It's not you
It's me
But we both know after 3 glasses of Malbec
And one deeply destroyed waiter
This isn't true

I wish I would have told you
That I am not afraid of getting old
I am afraid of feeling old
Out of touch with whatever happens to grow around me
Having no room to absorb or breathe anything but time’s ailments
Nervous nails & the black & white hair you called distinguished
Which only serves to remind me, that someone has died
& I have lost so much
& still, will have nothing to leave behind

I wanted tell you
It's not because you aren't pretty
It's cause you act ugly
It’s cause you think I am stupid when I act smart
It’s cause you lie professionally, to survive

I wanted to tell you all of this
All you wanted, was for me to buy your drink
Max Barsness Jul 2018
I am the hunter gatherer
So I hunt her
To gather her
Collecting love
Fertilizing walls
Endless fiber optic chatter
Every foraged almond
& online date a disaster
What
Resides only in freshly stocked streams
Is the former life
Lived
Not the latter
A modem is the only thing
That makes a heart
Pitter patter
Max Barsness Jul 2018
As I gaze upon the water
There I see a boy
I do not know
There I see man
Who will not grow
To be a father
As I wished
As I wash
I know not of either
I know not what to believe
So I ask a woman
To be my teacher
To receive my questions
As advancement
Only to understand
& never to deceive her
Max Barsness Jul 2018
& if wake to find myself
facsimile
stumbling between dark painted roots
hustled against the ground
a green
beleaguered fall
dancing amongst the webs of everlasting done
would my mother be proud
& if I wake taciturn
humbling
at mass & ark
unmovable
a glossy footless boot
rustled away from the boy seen
eager to be washed in it all
slipping amongst the rapids
truncated from the run
would my mother be allowed
Max Barsness Jun 2018
A woman standing
Blissfully selling deceit
Sun kissed fully
From slender shoulders
To well handled feet
What she is peddling
Is a quick death for you
Which
Of course
Is a crime scene of hope
For me

A woman laying
Down a road of cobbled debt
Jobless & unfettered
Pain
Gracefully understood as necessary
Helps to part the clouds
& lips
Of course the Jameson doesn't hurt
In that moment to forget
What is said
Is set
& time
That *******
Will tell you
I'm the best friend
You wish you never met

A woman bracing
Silhouetted in darkly rash
But honest words
Naked underneath that kimono
Making me speak my promo
Branding a man like me
Unkempt
But well deserved
Ad hoc
You can take from the candy jar
Desire is a form of greed
Only make what you can serve

A woman thinking
Too hard about a man
Who in all regard
Is selfish
A man so allergic to control
& escape
Particularly shellfish
Thinking is the first mistake
Dealing with a copy of an original
A print out of print
Try before you buy
You don't want to sell for less

A woman beautiful
Like the trees in the fall
Littering your mind with challenges
Blowing down a house made of straw
Standing before a man
Outlining perfection
No need of masculine protection
Leaving the scoundrel
***** soaked in awe
This is where you belong
My dear
In the fantasy of it all
Because you mean woman
Which means too much to me
This game we play
Is still too close to call
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