Passed Midnight: Poems

burn

Passed Midnight Mar 2013

burn

These walls are made of hapless imaginings,
paper and ink.
a word is a word is a word
Context.
context

Folded, filed, arranged,
paper and ink.
not concrete not diamond
In each story we love we find ourselves.
yourself

Today you told me you were hopeless,
paper and ink, darling, paper and ink.

Fight Or Flight

Passed Midnight Mar 2013

Fight Or Flight

I've fought so hard for this
So stand your ground
I've tried too long to throw this all away.

One year.
One year ago I scrawled those lines
With cheeks so wet
Jaw clenched tighter than my fist.

Someone else’s home
Someone else’s lives
On top of ours.
We packed up and left that place
The hardest thing I've ever done.
Admit defeat.
Take a memory,
Put it in a box.
Repeat.

One year ago I really did write just those first three lines, sat and stared at them unable to write any more. A lot can happen in a year.

lately

Passed Midnight Sep 2019

lately

-

I've been having violent dreams lately.
Vivid dreams. Angry.
Dreams where I punch people who've never done me any harm.
People who I haven't seen in ten years.
People with normal jobs, leading normal lives with their wife and kids.
Day trips on weekends and smiling photographs at cute restaurants.
Coats zipped up against the wind as they watch their son play with his puppy in the leaves on a long coastal walk.
My fist sails into their face.
I've been having violent dreams lately.
They're happy,
and I ******* hate them for that

-

The Truth About Liars.

Passed Midnight Mar 2013

The Truth About Liars.

So come sit with me here,
Where the heavens meet the shore
And let the waters lick your feet.

And we'll sit and we'll talk,
You'll ask me again how I've been.
I just keep repeating "I'm Okay" - "I'll be fine."
And I just can't believe
That you believe me.
I must be a better liar than I thought.

I can still smell his scent on your words.
The lingering ache
Of all the lies that you were suckered by.
So here's to you and your bright baby blues.
They shine just like the stars tonight.
Just like the stars.

I'm so tired of talking in riddles,
Dropping hints and trying to be tactful.
So let me lay it out straight.
He was never good enough for you.
Never.

This...

Passed Midnight Mar 2013

This...

This.

This is hesitance filled with purpose.
This is the calm before our storm.
We are many things but not worthless.
And we refuse to live forlorn.

Ten times they cut out our tongues.
Ten times these tongues have been reborn.
And we'll sing songs of those once loved.
And every scar that we have worn.

We'll start this when we feel ready.
We'll build a castle from this dirt.
And though our heads and hearts are heavy.
We will grow with every hurt.

She stitches wings to my soul.
Now watch me ******* soar.

What We Leave Behind

Passed Midnight Mar 2013

What We Leave Behind

Somewhere between the dust and the stars,
this is where we lie. Motionless.
                                          Humbled.

I know. That when I pass on from this world
There will be no new books penned
no films that tell my tale
no newspaper headline.
                                   I am.
Unremarkable.

                                               If I'm lucky.
Maybe a handful of people will shed tears.
Maybe a single heart will
                                   break.
Maybe I'll have flowers placed at my headstone
                                    yearly.
Maybe Her voice will speak my name.
Maybe.
                                               If I'm lucky.

— The End —