Michael Stefan

Michael Stefan May 2020

Both feet on the ground
Quiet plains-
     No rustled sound
Empty ballroom floor-
     The last patron walks out the door
Midnight in my car-
     Dreams of leaving, driving far
Both feet on the ground

An arm to grasp
We'll walk around
Staring at eternity;
At what transpired
Between you and me,
With our cadence off
Just skipping beats

Both feet on the ground

I'll hold myself
Like clouded glass
To you, I am opaque
Although I look quite stable
I'm bracing for
The coming quake

I just wanted to put my spin on the theory that we wear the mask that we want other people to see. Rarely do we understand what's actually happening in someone's brain and how they feel.

Michael Stefan May 2020

twig

A young twig
Bends with breeze
Impervious to force
Unlike the old
Cracked and dry
That breaks at softest touch
Deserving to be
Kindling
Which shall I be
Today?

Michael Stefan May 2020

Scotch & Rocks

I let the sweet poison flow
Through my pickled veins
Growing heavy like curtains-
In your grandmother's house
-Heavy, stained, and dusty

I let the sweet poison burn,
Away with all my inhibitions
As it filled me with inky clouds
That ate my decisions
And spit out sunshine headaches
A drunken werewolf for sure

But now I throw my glasses
Against the wall-
I would rather walk on broken bottles
Than ever be at the bottom of one
Again

So after the death of a friend in Afghanistan, I started drinking a lot. Then my divorce happened and I was a wreck. It took a good friend and some harsh realizations to pull me back from the brink. I'm happy I did, and I'll never go back.

#sober

Michael Stefan May 2020

A fist full of diplomacy

We the people, imperfect union
Beaten brutal by the news
Red-white-and-blue we bleed
From misanthropic bruise

Some say stand, others say fall
Some just sit and wonder
It's a ******* miracle
Our country isn't torn asunder

Sorry, I typically avoid political poetry but I have been listening to a solid stream of partisan nonsense from both sides. A party line is a line in the sand that prevents you from walking to a room full of compromise where everyone gets a little of what they want.

Michael Stefan May 2020

Tenacity

Every now and then
In river flood or flowing wind
It takes teeth to bite
And grip the side
Of emotional skyscraper
As you prepare to fall

I too have been with you
In our shows of tenacity
A breaking sorrow hits our beach
And with strength we both shall reach
Tearing fingernails
As they burrow in concrete

This is my trial to write something visceral with some almost disgustingly vivid imagery with a positive tone. Hope you enjoy!

Michael Stefan May 2020

Reptile

You licked honey-tongued lies into my ear-
Drunk on whiskey and mead
I felt you wrap coils around my heart
In your claws, I'll never be freed
To wander this earth with love,
Escape like a moth in the sky-
Your tongue caught me, entranced
I was lost in your honey-colored slit of an eye

Le sigh. Oh to be trapped like we sometimes are