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Johnny Dust Aug 2020
Tyre's spinning circles round and back and round again,
Silver-streaked phantasms hover along the street lights,
Flicker, Flicker, than off.
In the trench, wretched skin-eating enemies with ploy,
The key-locked hearts of America transcribe the truth into convenience,
The factories of hatred lie and supply the ever-starving fantasies of its youth,
Don't wake up.
Don't wake up.
God, don't wake up yet.
Don't wake up.
Don't wake up or they'll have your head.
Don't speak up.
Don't you dare speak your mind.
You'll be stricken your birthright.
Don't you move.
Don't you move.
Don't you move an inch.
Don't you scratch that itch on your ear.
Don't breathe.
Don't breathe.
Don't you dare breathe any kind of expression.
They love to cut tongues.
It's lost.
The rest is lost.
Don't move.
Don't you move.
Not yet.

If they don't hollow out your hands, you'd better ask them to,
X...

With drumstick fingers tapping steady on iron bars and on bar countertops,
You've known what they don't,
They'll struggle while you show off slight of hand,
Please don't let them near,
Don't let them near.
Let me tell you.

Don't ask them favors.
Don't ask them.
They'll return kindness with slaps and spit to the face,
Don't fight back.
Don't fight back.
Don't you dare fight back or else they'll find you in sleep.

You're the same as them but you care not.
You have no emotion in your actions.
Robotic adaptations of misled individuals.

It's a pity they left those skeletons to rust.
I'm sure we'd have found good use in them.
Johnny Dust Mar 2021
I want to tear your skin
I want to feel where you end
I’m only carnal

I’ve got the taste of you
Stuck to my mouth but I’m blue
Only an option

And bridges don’t take sides
But we can choose to cross them
Or we can choose to burn them

I want to want you
Stars never align for people like us
With my wine stained lips and your way loose morals that we don’t discuss
I was lacking foresight 8 months ago
Johnny Dust Jul 2021
You can’t really plan things like this
Now my insides are turning

Not even a phone call with the therapist could calm me down
But I woke up knowing today was the day
Johnny Dust May 2022
She told me she was an empath
and I asked her why wasn’t she crying yet
I asked her why she wasn’t
screaming
Johnny Dust Jul 2021
I'm going in fast
Gonna find a better way to make an end of everything I've never started

I'm starving dead last

Yellow ghosts let me pick up all the scraps from underneath the tables

Counting all her Problems

Never contemplating what it takes to disassemble my desire

Easy like the rest of them

All the men and all the women gather in their tiny broken houses like they

Know what’s going on
If nothings ventured nothings gained
Johnny Dust Sep 2020
Sophia

It’s a lifestyle
Loving someone for a little while
And asking to fade to friends
What an unreasonable request
And bearing my soul to you
Like I wouldn’t be permanently changed by you
I’d do it all again to show you
Johnny Dust Mar 2022
It’s not that easy, after the sun goes down
Oh quit looking at me that way, like I’m new to town,
In the full moon I get the most dangerous desires,
It’s not your fault, I keep starting my own fires.
Lend me all your time, and I’ll return to you covered in ash
Johnny Dust Mar 2022
Don’t be afraid of the physical pain, it has been discovered.
Our bodies are made in a merciful way, to blackout under covers.
I was shown a long time ago, by a desperate mother, “there’s more pain in love, if you want proof of the infinite, just watch your children suffer”.
“I am become the destroyer of worlds, and when the bomb drops my heart does too”
Johnny Dust Jul 2021
Yeah you know that I know that you left me ****** me up
Just like the dream I woke from and didn’t get enough
No I walk around pacing the floors wearing them thin
Flirting with locking myself out or locking myself in

Now I can’t get it out of my head
All of those words that you said
And I knew you meant them
I think it’s okay
Johnny Dust Apr 2022
I’m busy with your friends downtown
Only one rotation before I buy the rounds
And we talk about all the bands
All my mistakes are well within my hands
Johnny Dust May 2022
You’re in the driver’s seat
I’m just an actor for now
I’m sat beside you we
Shoot the **** while driving to your house
Johnny Dust Aug 2020
Because I want it all
All of the ugly
All the fears and pride
All of the scared and sacred

Tell me about your hurt
How much it makes you cry
There’s a beauty in that that I see
But I don’t think you do

Talk to me about your downfalls
All the broken pieces
Every puzzle left unfinished
Every jagged edge of glass I want it

Tell me about your pain and I’ll tell you mine
All your troubles with family
All your quarrel with friends and lovers
I want every drop

Tell me your death and I share all of mine
What ends you
What glares back at you from the dark
I want to stare right back

How much of a failure were you?
Were you the same as I was?
Were you there for your father too?
With a mouth full of .41 Mag?

Which times made you grow older way too fast?
We’ve all got plenty honey
Let’s share stories of grief and sadness
God I want it all
I wasn’t lying.
Johnny Dust Apr 2021
They’re having a blast downstairs
Locked myself away so I wouldn’t stare
At the bottles and wonder
how much it would take
Johnny Dust Dec 2021
“Anyway, you say you're too busy saving everybody else

to save yourself

And you don't want no help, oh well
That's the story to tell”
Johnny Dust Mar 2022
I was nervous
You were drinking,
So I bought a bottle
To numb the feeling.
Got off me knees and
Took you to bed,
We both regret it
But we'd lie instead.
The smell of Makers Mark still reminds me of your lips
Johnny Dust May 2021
It’s in the kitchen we tell all
It’s an intoxicating relief
We can open up without a single drink
And then always in the kitchen
After another deadpan back and forth
We all fill up on everything but the sink
Johnny Dust Apr 2021
What’s the point now
When Monday is a cage
Johnny Dust Aug 2021
I’d like to pick a fight with whoever made up this game in the first place.
Throwing jabs at the sky like I could almost reach it.

And so here I am at 2:28 am still drinking.
Hiding behind the me that I’ve chosen to show everyone.
Johnny Dust Aug 2021
I don’t want to play music today.

I decided to throw chaos into my day at 9:17 this morning after my therapist didn’t show.

And for a split second my stupid mind convinced me that nobody wanted to help me.

So I drove an hour and a half to go see my dad and he told me the same thing only kinder.

He said, “there might not be anybody now but I’m sure there will be soon.”

How pathetically put.

And so here I’m sitting, drinking at 2:23 pm.
Missed it by that much.

I want to date all your friends.

I want to throw toxins into those relationships to see if they will put up with it.

To see if they’ll care enough to stick around like I think that I would.

When really I probably should just get laid.

No emotions. No repercussions. No expectations.

How healthy that would be.

Or maybe I just want to love for the sake of love itself.

Catching every feeling entirely too early and throwing it into the ocean to float away.

I’d like to pick a fight with whoever made up this game in the first place.

Throwing jabs at the sky like I could almost reach it.

And so here I am at 3:28 pm still drinking.

Hiding behind the me that I’ve chosen to show everyone.

The drunken, addicted philosopher wannabe.

I haven’t had a good cry since the last time.

Maybe I’m due to “lose my mind” for a week or two.

Maybe I’m due my next grandstand song.

Or maybe just to smash a guitar on the hardwood.

I think I was in love with you before I knew what love was.

I think I might know now.

But it’s of no consequence.

What a glorious day it is.

I’m glad to have cheated death with you again.

Let’s make sure to make him chase after us.

Before we got old things were so much slower than they are now.

Promise me things will slow down before the light goes out.

I don’t mind the way things worked out for me.

Then again I don’t like them either.

I’ve got my grandfather’s blood.

And his ****** eyes.

Maybe neither are that bad after all.

So here I am at 4:17 pm still drinking.

I think if you’re giving more than you’re taking,
You have leverage for life.

I assume that’s why I am the way I am.

It clicked instantly the way a G-pen does.

I think I’m stunted because of my desire to people please.

So cyclical and damning.

Thinking that it’s authentic.

That, at my own discomfort, making everybody’s lives easier is what makes me happy.

A big thank you to how I was brought up and the way my parents raised me for that.

How hard is it to give a **** really?

When it’s 1997 and you’ve got a three year old and another on the way life counts the cards.

And maybe I’m just looking for a way to show them that I was right.

That when my process was put to use and the pressure was on I came through.

And growing what they had made was just me trying to repay them for as good of a life as they gave me.

They did the best they knew how.

They’ve always done the best that they knew how.

And I’m trying to do the same. But…

I’m the son of a woman and man who barely made it.

But we’re making it built together on borrowed crutches and new starts.

So here I am at 6:44 pm still drinking.

I cannot sum it up in words.

They aren’t enough.

I don’t want to play this character anymore.

I need rest that lasts months.

I don’t think people abandon people they love.

I think people abandon people that they’re done using.

But you’ve had to mask it all for a very long time.

Most likely masculine since our western society loves that.

And I’m caught by it.

Or at least I was for most of my life.

And it stunted me on all fronts.

But I’m grateful for what I’ve had and learned thus far.

My friends seem to like me and I think I’m starting to as well.

Behind closed doors you’ll find a slew of doubt.

About everyone, about everything.

But…

Hard work is greater than talent.

Because talent is a variable.

Nobody can wake up one day and say, “you know what? I think I’m gonna up my talent today.”

Happiness on the other hand is a constant choice.

Firmly planted in a bed of belief and structure.

It helps to have people around you who are likeminded.

High frequency friends.

But then again those same people can be the downfall of your ideals.

Of your authenticity.

Caressing yourself into a comfortable mindset that others will always be there.

Factually, everyone will die.

Hypothetically, in 500 years nobody on the planet (if it’s still around) will know you were ever here.

So be kind and useful to yourself while you’ve got time.

That’s all you really have.

Don’t take this as a fear trap.

The end isn’t as romantic as we all make it out to be.

But it’s as true as anything possibly can be.

Everything you’ve had until this point means only as much power as you’ve given it.

The release of constraint in possessions is dangerously freeing.

So here I am at 11:26 pm still drinking.

Okay I’ll be here for dinner of course.

And I’ll show face to those I care about.

I’d rather get drunk and lost in a guitar.

But that’s not what I need.

Not all pleasure is of the flesh.

Not that I’d know either way.

Besides..

Isn’t life just trial and error?

How many times do you want to try again to get it wrong?

How many times can you break yourself?

I heard once that you have to break your heart,
Over and over and over and over.

Until it opens.

So I’d like to think we all get there one day.

For all of our sakes.

JD 8/7/2021
Johnny Dust Jan 2021
Talk me down
Take your turn
Cigarette
Let it burn
Ease the pain
Lose my mind
Lies flow out
Like "I'm Divine"
Johnny Dust Aug 2020
It shouldn't feel like this I know,
I know it's time measured by distance,
And this barely beating heart doesn't give up,

Yet,

My body aches,
Tortured, beaten,
But my heart, this last remaining force,
The last cause of my life thus far,
And these thoughts are a raging sea,
And I tie down my sails and pray for a calm,
A break in this weather, oh I pray it gets better,
Inside I feel the gap,
My heart to my soul,
Understanding is only half the misery,
No one wants to hear, "I'm sorry",
There is no fake sympathy that can ease,
A kindred spirit in search of more,

Directions smeared on this map,
On this man,
A cause not lost but never found,
Cause love never seems to last but a season,
Truth never lasts a day,

Cause if love is neither lost nor found,
Where did we go wrong,
I may never know the truth,
I may never find the road,
Doesn't it seem odd?
That a man judged by all,
Still only seeks judgement,
The only sure thing,
For everyone feels sadness,
They just have an outlet,
And mine is this verse,
Cursed with a gift not given,
But stolen,

I blame no one but me,
Don't lay down a cause if there is no motive,
Actions speak louder than words,
And intentions louder still,
What is one day to a lifetime,
But a prolonging of my consequence,
It seems as though I've lived my life,
On the wrong side of the moon,
And exiled here by my own thoughts,
My sentence comes too soon,

The river was to deep for me to see,
The reckoning between reality and dreams,
In the midst of what is known,
And what is longed for,
What is given,
And what is all too soon taken,

Don't throw away hope,
Cause pain is sure to follow,
And I lost my best friend to sadness,
At ropes end, pleading for air,
But he didn't want to be saved,
Didn't want the hand that was reaching,
Only quiet,
Cause nothing can reach me in the dark,

You cant ask me to dawn this robe of grief,
Only to ask again if I would hide it,
I let my feelings show, as if begging,
For attention,
For acceptance,
For the small piece of myself that you still hold,
It might be the end of me,
And the beginning of us,
I've let go of regrets,
Timeless and seemingly unending,
Cause in hindsight I see what it was,
That led us astray and off the course,
Jealousy and honest pleas,
Stay with me I can do this,
But I cant, and I won't,

Why should it feel like,
I need to better myself to gain you back,
Why should I need to do everything right,
Keep myself in order, and clean myself out,
Then find you,
Aren't we all imperfect people?
Do I need to carry myself,
Or what's left of me,
Up to a higher platform,
To find you there waiting,
Cause I know you are,
Deep down your waiting for me,
To do something I never will,
To say something I never can,
To prove something I don't believe in,
Cause I see nothing left,
But cold shoulders and stray emotions,

To what lengths should I wish it were intact,
To what depths should I want to understand,
Why was it so hard for me?
Why wait? Time is the last remaining gift we have left,
and we're losing it,
Every second, every season that passes,
Only curses us farther,

And if I find myself, would I really want it back?
Everything you've put on the line,
Hoping it was for the best,
I've never wanted someone to tell me,
"I'll stand away from you, until you reach point 'x' on the graph",
Baby this graph is twisted beyond measure,
The numbers deceiving us to no end,

It shouldn't feel like this I know,
I shouldn't fake letting go,
But is fake just a show?
And is real just a lie?
Does the truth bring pain?
Does life in the end die,
I don't know for certain,
Cause if you hold me when i fail,
I'll fail trying for you.

And these thoughts might be crazy,
And these lines filled with doubt,
But they're all written for you,
Plaguing my mind,
Begging to be heard,
And I may never know, what is done is done,
What I do know,
They’ve said before while crossing along this coast,
We only end up hurting,
The ones we love most.
Johnny Dust Aug 2020
Just won’t stop running
No matter
What bolts I’ve loosened
Or wrenches
I’ve thrown into her
These worries
What ties you down
Your title
What money you make
Isn’t yours
They told you wrong
Johnny Dust Dec 2021
And crying selfish tears from all the good grace of your own love

I think you’re just too young for all of your heart
Johnny Dust Feb 2021
Will you call me?
Or maybe you could draw me and send me a picture
Make me pretty, make me something someone would be proud of
Put a smile on me
with eyes narrowed
Cause I’m cheesin thinking bout you and your beauty
Love makes me weak
Macedonia never had better dwellers
Johnny Dust Feb 2021
And I guess that is when hell began

You know that feeling?
When you’re going up in a lift or an elevator
But the lift is full of blue fire
And you’re convinced
No one ever loved you
And you can’t remember
How
To ******* breathe

It was a bit like that.
My hands still shake sometimes
Johnny Dust Aug 2020
Think too much, Feel too little

Tears born from fears

The mothers still worry for their children
The taxi drivers will still take pieces of their passengers
The infant will still cry
And I am still here, thinking, on your floor

I will refuse this kind gesture of sleep
I do not wear it well

My friends will still go to their parties
My back will still ache from burden
My lovers will still dream softly, albeit lonely,
And I am still here, thinking, on your floor

Sleep is only death taking its practice
It is a good day to die

Your mind will still run
The swelling grief will not recede soon
The sun will keep rising on your days
And I am still here, thinking, on your floor

We don’t say to each other, “Rising in love”
And I believe that is the most heartbreaking
Johnny Dust Mar 2022
Talk down on yourself whenever possible
My life is **** because I deserve it, right?


You must have done something real bad

Its nearly impossible
for you to cry now
Repeat to yourself that, “they’re not really gone”
Johnny Dust Apr 2022
Laying in your bed
                      There with the lights off
      On a Thursday morning with no coffee
I started missing you.

Three nights is a long time
                        To wait for my favorite excuse
      Knock first then to ask for melatonin
We know I don’t have to.

I’m listening to your solfège
                          Tuesday just after therapy
       Wondering how lucky we both have been
To have been stumbled upon.

Leaving you at Hartsfield
                            I felt what I would consider
        A speck of a sliver of what you meant
To be left undone.

In the kitchen you’d said
                             I’ve never felt that feeling
          And I’ll never feel what you feel
But I want to learn you forever.

You are crying after hours
                              When you break yourself
            You know you break me too
Every ****** time.
I don't mind
Time and time again
Johnny Dust May 2021
Swap it in
Cut me out
Stall for them
Quit for now
Stop on by
Front door lock
Back door key
Headboard knock

I give just what I get
Every time
Cause it’s summer time here
There’s never a good time to see you
Johnny Dust Mar 2022
All of the best parts
                                                   Make you sorry

All of the worst parts
                                                   Make you strong
One long disciplined life and at the end,
I told you, I’m taking my shoes off and jumping on in.
Johnny Dust Aug 2021
Things will get better,
Because they always do.

And things will get worse,
Because they always do.
Johnny Dust Mar 2022
You stay you,




Am I without an invitation?                                      
I'm not
fought,

Made impressed.                                    

Am I without an emulation?

Untouched
It’s about you.
Johnny Dust Sep 2020
There will be a time when you are no longer thought about
When no one knows you at one point existed.

When nobody remembers who you were, how badly your dreams haunted you, how badly your people treated you, people who you trusted.

When all the time to ourselves had been used up and there isn’t a second to waste.

There is no mile marker after the end.
Nothing to subside the empty blank.

We only have what we remember.
And that is the hardest part.
Listen to Listener
Johnny Dust Mar 2021
These days are slugs over salt
Breathing has become easier
Although the air is more dense and putrid
Self loathing and self pity are sister cavities
I should probably brush more
X
Johnny Dust Apr 2022
X
That feeling is embering through my chest again,
Cause that drug makes everything focused and everyone a friend.
Johnny Dust Feb 2022
The truth is, we are dying.



Whether we like it or not, but I think the truth of the matter is that we do.



If we didn’t like it so much, we wouldn’t dwell on it so much.
Johnny Dust Mar 2022
It’s getting harder

                                To feel
                                                    
                                                       What I say


I’m feeling.
I want a conversation with just your eyes.

— The End —