Built on a sunny day
Intended as a fortress
To keep the darkness away
But it faltered in the dead of night
The guards scattered as it went alight
They hollered and shouted
But nothing stopped the blaze
Not the coldest water or stormy rains
It smoldered and flamed
In the most spectacular way
A horrific beauty to see
As this castle burned with no relief.

On a dusky day it was built
Salvaged from skeletons and heaps
It crumbles at times
And the guards are always busy,
Minding its failing keeps
But none have trespassed
And the darkness stays away
This castle of ash has proved stronger in every way.

There is a man who lives on a corner
Where students live, right next to the practice fields.
He's older and a smoker
He stands on the corner everyday
At a four-way stop
Smoking one after another.
I've seen him in snow, bitter cold and sweltering hot days.
Always smoking
He's out all day it seems,
Watching the cars pass by
Pausing in confusion because they don't know how to obey a stop sign.
I think he must laugh sometimes
Watching the world pass by.
I've seen him for years but I've never known his name
He almost seems like an old friend sometimes
I pass by and see him there nearly every time
I always wonder why
What led him to a life of smoking all the time?
I know the answer I heard it one time,
A veteran who didn't come back alright,
people whisper in shame as they pass by.
But his eyes are a genuine kind.
He smokes, killing time.
I wonder if he's just waiting to die
But still I see him and he brings a smile to mind.
To the man on the corner, smoking all the time.

It came about in the strangest way.
My heart sitting on the divide
Wondering why.
The fault was never in the stars
Ceasar is not better than me.
It was written this way
Three fates cutting strings.
Arts and wars
Walking through doors.
Death's wife sleeping in the night
It was written all before.

I've been formally trained
Yes I've brewed some strange things
And I've dissected some things
I know where Frankenstein got his name
But the craft I practice I never learned
It's the purest of the trades
And it's stronger than any compound I've ever made
I've distilled it many times
Till it was pure
Just a drop is all you need
Stronger than any liquor
Trust me I could brew no ninety proof that could compete
Just a sip is all you need
A sip of the purest pain
Aged through the decades
Wouldn't my old professors be proud?
I think not
Only the Philosophers and Poets would nod their heads without doubt
The rest surely know I've abandoned all they taught me
A brilliant scientist I'll never be
But come to me when all is broken and gone away
I'll give you a taste of my brew
Perhaps I can still become a healer
I know the body but it is your soul that needs mending
So pull up a chair and sit on down
I once was a scientist but I've given it all away
For this pain that stretches through us all
Tell me what you think and I'll let you have a drink
We'll grieve together and it'll be okay.

A swath of fabric worn and old
Patches upon patches
The shoulders worn beyond repair
No protection from the bitter cold
Hardly a coat to protect the little man
Who hurries along the cobbled streets
Of his cold and clouded city
A denizen of little want
Serving mother Russia with little pay
Harldy enough to buy a new cloak
He douses his candles to save them
And steps lightly to save his shoes
To buy a new cloak to keep him warm
A necessity giving hope in his dreary life
Brightening his mood
He steps out in his new cloak
That he scrimped and saved for a year
Feeling like a rich man in his warmth
A few days of happiness bought
A great expense for a lowly man
Taken by harsh men of ill repute
So broken was the little man
He died very soon
Haunting the people of his city
For the cloak taken from him.

Harken the dark
In gulps and gasps
How easy it is born
Quenching itself
On a soft light
A candle amidst a black night
A friend or foe?
Empty and alone
Rushing in
Black waves of oceans cold
Home below
Beats a frozen sound
It's gotten so loud
The candle has lost its glow
And there is no one around

Come back to us,
My son so sweet
A face too young to be taken away.
My daughter,
Drawn away to this careless world
It does not deserve your grace.
My loves,
I am with you in every breath
It will always be this way.
Torn away by petty things and historical mistakes.
I will never send you away,
I wait with warm embrace
Do not leave a folded flag in its place.
Come back to us
We wait,
Every generation a dying race
But a mother always waits.

Sprawling hills interspersed with trees
Ah it felt like home
Like driving down a barren road
Cities aren't for me
Don't get me wrong
I like the hustle and faces I see
But I'll take the quiet land
No matter the nation it is,
I call the country home
From the cliffs of Gibralter
To the ruins of Gobekli Tepe,
And back round to the massive Red Wood trees,
I'll roam
Down to the burning sands of Berber lands,
I'll stay in the country
Leave the cities to the people
And listen to the trees.

Mountains, cover me
Sands upon my sleeves
Take me down to the sea
My sails of sleep
Let my burdens drown
Down to the watery deeps
Let my soul run free
Up to the mountain peaks
Snowy caps, cover me
To my knees
Cold air grant sweet release
I'm coming down
Where the ground rises up to meet
The sky and ocean black
Sparks set free
Fires, cover me
One more round
Of air in my lungs
Battle worn and ready now
Cover me until I'm complete

Strung up for all to see
Hanging lifelessly
I see no reason to think you mighty.
It's one thing to ****
Another to hang it like a morbid trophy
No respect for the life it was,
Return it to the field and let it be
A beauty it once was even if you couldn't see.
Hanging corpses by the roadside
What have we become?
Or have we returned to the Romans of old?
Maybe some dumb kids with nothing better to do but chase a Coyote.
It hangs,
A sign we still have far to come
Before we can claim we are humanity.

I’ve knelt to these blows

Taken my lumps of coal

It’s hardened my bones

Scarred my soul

Now they say it’s time to go

Rise above the smoke

Though my fire burns cold

The mask is gone that hid the old

An artist's cup
Full and empty all at once
Schrödinger's cat in another life
Second sight coupled with the afterlife
Feeling a little too much
Artists need a place to bleed
Somewhere to be free
Riddled artistry
A cup of gravity
Unique to each who drinks
Crafted by creativity
Drained by objectivity
An everlasting cup
Filled with hopes and dreams
Pains and philosophies

Writing in the night
Marking this heart
With each layer
The marks are deeper
The screams are louder
And the darkness is thicker.
Sick or gifted?
Both speak of their brilliance.
Leaving a figure much different
Her face is calm and eyes cool
Her expression alludes to something cruel
She's grown up hard,
I worry she'll lose,
What's left of the child inside.
I pray none will cross her
For the darkness she exudes
Could crush even the strongest of virtues.

A voice echoed in the dark,
Even through the light of day
It was smooth and cut deep
Making my skin crawl and eyes weep,
It pries at my deepest thoughts and sweetest dreams
Of all that is and will never be,
When it comes I grimace and wait
For the five words it always says,
"Does it make you hate?"

Midnight
Her solemn gaze,
Fade into black with hints of cold light
Her echoed name,
Ghostly foggy breeze
Her sweet lullaby,
Thrice times the raven calls
Her wisest words,
Winters harshest night,
Her gentle kiss,
Little one
Your laugh is the brightest day,
Youth's grace,
Your smile is full of ease,
Dear,
Your tears raise life from barren seeds,
Lady,
You're heart bleeds life into dying days,
Aged and grey,
Your eyes don't hold back
O' moon up high
Hear the chant
Born to death and life
Endless cycles
A daughter's craven namesake.

I was ten and you were fourteen
I thought you were the coolest thing.
Our families were close.
My father liked you and your father wasn't there.
Those were early days
Skaters were in and Green Day was sick.
I was a kid and probably bothered you
But you treated me like the younger sister you didn't have
And I worshiped you like any younger sibling would do.
You taught me to snowboard,
"Keep your toes up and I'll teach you how to jump."
You let me have some of your Rockstar
And I stayed up all night.
You'd make sure I was by your side
And if anyone got rough you'd push them out of the way.

My family moved away one day.
You'd visit but distance made it hard.
Age and struggles muddled it all.
I was fifteen when I saw the look on my father's face.
He said you died, the call came earlier that day.
Overdosed on stuff you took for ADHD.
They said it may have been a mistake
But deep down I know it wasn't.
You were smart and knew how that stuff worked.
You were in a rock and a hard place.
I felt the same when I was your age.
I can't snowboard to this day without thinking of you.
Playing Green Day on the CD player
And nodding our heads real cool.
Boulevard of Broken Dreams was written for you.
Things I associate with you feel like Deja vu.
David I still think of you.

Why do they hurt?
A morning of overwhelming ache
Of the day ahead
Cleansed with a shower
But the voices never fade
Afternoons bright with light
I've always hated mid-day
The evening brings some peace
But the fear of night lurks
Relax enough as eyes grow dim
Sleep permits some fitful peace
Dreams and nightmares await
The best go far the worst further
3 am wakes with a sweaty start
A song or a voice of another brings relief
The next few hours are a coin flip of sanity
By dawn the battle has wore me weak
From restless sleep
The twilight mists disappear
And the cycle begins again
There must be sweet release.

Do you hear the creak?
Of the wooden sign breaking free
This is Dead Man's Ranch
The horses died long ago
And the cattle don't graze any more
The plains wait for none
Thundering clouds beating down
On this blood soaked ground
A sacred town
Of dead and cultures long gone
Beneath the dusty bones
Are the lives who worked this ground
Can you hear their shouts?
Few can hear these calls
This country life is dying now
The last son loaded what father gave him
A piece of lead to protect this hallowed ground
Here he sits with the dead all around
Saying nothing as the dust stirs
The final beat of generations sound
Dead Man's Ranch
Listen now

Water tips just above the glass
As spinning records skip
Cracks among the walls
Light is coming through
So are voices speaking strangely too
Radio set till electricity knocks it dead
You've seen this dance
Felt the sway and movement in your hips
Have you lived,
Until you've experienced the skip?
A distant call reminding you this isn't it
A calling card,
You're mind stretches beyond this.

I've walked the desert
Through the dust and barren seas
I've dreamed of water
On the hottest days
I've felt the hot winds on my face
As tumbleweeds scratched my legs
I've wished for relief as my skin bakes
Wondering how much I can take
Today I collapsed
The desert had claimed too much
I laid in the dust,
Watching the sun pass
Burning my tears
I laid until the moon appeared
It told me to get up
My body feels weak
And incomplete
The desert has drained me
And now has come to rescue me
From certain defeat

The desert is a special place,
Among the red cliffs and hellish scapes,
The empty spaces wait,
Fallen boulders lie like sentinels at the gates

Painted rocks,
Of a ****** sun,
Colorful river, snaking along
Full of Siren songs

The heat is merciless,
A slave master
With chains and whips
But something here,

Whispers through the canyons,
Of what lies ahead,
The barren before the end
No man’s land

Here the mystics sing,
Through the breeze
And swirling sands
Of the beginning and the end.

Strands bound tight in a double helix
They unravel and copy every day
Thousands of generations in you
Why your eyes are blue or your skin a certain hue
A, T, G, C
Let me tell you of their blend,
A is always fated with T though sometimes T becomes U,
G is always with C no matter if another letter saunters by saucily.
It's tricky when we say why we love or why we dream to name a gene
Scientists argue if it's all you'll ever be
Two parents giving 50% each
It's a long name DNA
I won't name it here, I'll save the space
Instead I'll say as one whose watched it replicate
It makes mistakes and sometimes that isn't great
It's a marvelous thing and I can see why we never truly die
Some person you never knew is directly responsible for you
Despite its beauty I've noticed one thing,
In all its complexity it only partly describes you
It will long live after you die
Maybe giving your great grandkids freckles in an odd place
But it doesn't say why you loved or laughed
It may say why you were prone or not
But that's all it can say
These words here do that more than that
DNA is a wonder and I've studied it till my head ached
But I'd rather read what you have to say
Because that's our condition
DNA will continue long after you and me
But your mind is a horrible thing to waste

I walked away
To a different night
To a different life
A dream of another time
If I'm alive how come I go?
If I die, will I come alive?
I walked away tonight,
Left this life
In the morning perhaps I'll return.

I dripped tonight
Slid down the way
Warm little drops
Wet and sweet
Didn't realize they were there
Till I felt them run down my face
Wondering why they came
Knowing they've been at bay

Been looking in my well as of late
Saw my reflection on the watery face
I don't have much to say
There was plenty to hear
But I didn't want to listen
I was tired of its watery song
It's been quiet as of late
Leaving me with my wintry soul
It weaves and blows
Its direction unknown
Always returning with a story
Been looking in my well
Saw my watery face
Never dry as silence unfolds

I watched myself die that night
I watched my mother cry
It broke my heart to see her so

I struggled to get free
But the red dirt wouldn't let me go
I was trapped
Left to travel this strange place

When I demanded to be freed
He said I was dead and to leave it be
If I wished to leave this place
I must accept that I am no longer me

I looked at my mother
Frightened to leave her alone
But I couldn't return
And I was tired of the red
So I admitted I was dead

I found release
Until I woke
And thought what a strange dream
A few years have passed since

I see now the dream was true
I died that night
I didn't return
The girl I was died to the woman I became

I don't know if this person is better than the one before
She's hard and complex in many ways
My mother lost her daughter to me
I've been trying to reclaim my simpler days

Futile hopes woven into passing dreams
Choking on these words
They're smoother than they used to be
The darkness is no longer a shadow to me

I died that night
But I didn't realize it until today
I must have been a zombie.

If you went to war over me,
Would you claim subtlety?
If you killed another over me,
Would you weep for them and me?
If you died in my arms,
Would you remember when I kept you warm?
If you must fight over me,
Know I'll accept you as I do with every child that's come to be
I'll cover you in the dirt and keep you safe hoping for the day you'll see you never had to die over me.

I can write sad poetry
It’s all too easy
My pen can weep,
The ink will bleed,
Tears of papery grief.

My wound can ever bleed,
A heart that seeps,
A river of unease,
Tears without cease.

Why this is,
I do not know,
All the while my smile never fades,
Sunshine or rainy day,
Dreary winter or summer haze.

I’d like to sit in a paper boat,
Float downstream.
Let the river lead.
Let my poetry find relief,
All my characters finally in reprieve.

Let it be,
All within at ease,
The lion no longer need pace.
Today, tomorrow and yesterday,
Exist only within me
And tonight, the silence is all I need.

Waters edge
Horizon line
Knelt beside
Drinking cool light
Currents swiftly passing by
Of nocturnal light

The edge of creation
Event horizon's light
The void pulls tight
Wrapped in rings
Drifting inside
I wonder
About the light
And dark

Mates
Whispering sweet carnal things
Of destruction and delight,
Morning dew
A lovely hue
Burned by day
Frozen by night

The edge of light
Dancing like it'll never die
Immortal taste of life
Brash and defined
Luminescent
Passionate
Etherally wise
Bringing tears to eyes

I wrote a dozen poems in one night
A dip into memoryscape
Take my hand and hold it tight
I've remembered the way
A place of serenity in my sights
My footsteps mark the place
I need a companion to remind me it's alright
Someone to grant me a little time
To reassure the pillar of its might
Wise man's knowing why
Needs the understanding Seer's eyes
The soldier needs to hold his weapon tight
The traveler needs a memory of home
And the seeker needs to know there is light
Empty eyes need sight
Relief comes one step away
Do not grieve me as I go
Empty eyes have glimpsed a sight

I write tonight.
Nothing great or in pretty lines,
Just a little pain of mine.
Of loss and heaviness.
Some days I can forget
But in wee hours I drop the lies and gaze at the little things.
Love lost, people gone, desires unmet, and the madness of the mundane.

It opens questions so I write.
Often it's to a friend, my never reader
But when it's right I write for someone to see
Perhaps for me and partly for others
For those that need
A reminder that even alone it's never completely so.
I write of a little pain,
With this in mind:
Pain is a drug that runs in my soul and maybe that is why I never let it go.

The sky retreats,
Upon the drum sound,
Every heart utters its last beat.

As eyes grow dim,
Hazed in clouded lens,
Lies a wreath of grief.

A tender embrace,
Wrapped in a cool breeze,
The end nears complete.

All that’s loved,
Feared and hated,
Have come to cease.

The river meets the sea,
A journey of memory,
Of all that’s been and will come to be.

I saw life and death,
Life in this here afterspell
For all its horror and beauty
It was an aftersight,
While death wore weary eyes
Begging for one more sleepless night

From all the fires of dying eyes
To the fields of pure sight
I saw myself wander from dusk to morning light
My memorial engraved in stone
My life with no dates to divine
How I came or left undefined
Time a mere observer of my soul's journey of the night

Leaves of amber and red
Yet remains of smoky skies
A dying year preparing for winter's cold embrace
Linear shadows facing away
While mine bends the light
A serene grieving time
Grieving is rejoicing another's life

Dawn and dusk sit at the edges of my sight
Night sky waits when I close my eyes
Day was foreign sky
Me feet carried me across starry sands
An endless ocean of black
Weighted with the comforts of home
Gravity holding me tight
Though vacuous and cold I felt loved
As if the stars and comets knew my sound
And plants and moons greeted me as kin