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3.0k · Dec 2011
GUNS Tanning Karate
SWB Dec 2011
GUNS
Tanning
Karate*
Outrunning storms on 40
Outlasting my compatriots full of toxins
Yawning after afternoon
Delight and coffees.

I'm going to miss her like hell
When I expatriate,
Her and these simple road signs.
2.9k · Aug 2011
Tattoo
SWB Aug 2011
I have this tattoo
of a cat in a shoe,
and below it reads CAT GOT MY TONGUE.
At the time I was young, now I've grown and it's shrunk,
And that's why you don't get tattoos when you're drunk.
2.6k · Apr 2012
SCUBA
SWB Apr 2012
Boy, SCUBA diving sure sounds fun-
to play in seascape soaked in sun.
I'm certified my classes done,
if only I could rent some lungs.
SWB Jun 2012
Subtracting his half from the word together,
burning pictures and nicknames so they don't leave a trace,
he's pining in piles of unopened letters.

With a head full of pulp and a heart of wet leather
he spent every tear he had in his face
subtracting his half from the word together.

He'd given his best 'cause he thought she'd had better-
she starved for attention; he hated the taste,
pining in piles of unopened letters.

She flew from the nest in search of warm weather;
he blew out the flame, too numb to touch base,
subtracting his half from the word together.

When the weather grew cold she put on his sweater-
pitched a tent by her mailbox just in case-
while he's pining in piles of unopened letters.

One held on to their end while one cut the tether.
She licked 32 envelopes:  each went to waste.
Subtracting his half from the word together,
he's pining in piles of unopened letters.
2.3k · Sep 2012
new haircut
SWB Sep 2012
You ever sat in a bar
on your second and last
beer,
just listening to music
through your headphones,
no girl with you
no game,
the only thing up your sleeve
is a tattoo of a purple
dancing bear?
Just wondering.
Have I?
Maybe.
Then again, I did leave with a poem.
2.2k · Sep 2012
Marvel
SWB Sep 2012
I used to ride this bike
on dirt roads
up and down
and up again.
Along the country's veins
in blessed Greencastle.
That bike with the basket-
the blue wonder
faster than the hills themselves.
I'd ride with chipped teeth
and skinned knees.
I would only stop
to help grasshoppers
off the road
or to throw mason jars
into the streams.
No watch,
no phone
no direction.
I never outgrew that marvel-
thank God for youth
and its sunny scars.
2.0k · Sep 2012
noodles and beans
SWB Sep 2012
Fish intestine and egg sac soup-
do yourself a favor
and call it noodles and beans,
but still try it!
4 and 20 form poem from dinner
SWB Aug 2012
In the freshly seared hours of the morning
there's a hot, bothered growling
coming from beyond
the rose-studded chipping fence posts,
sick with the stench of stained mattresses
and mounds of cage-less garbage-
tossed *****-nilly
into a smoldering, contorted
**** of stacks.

Here,
in this spot of dawn
-in today's un-showered
moist enclave-
I find, syncopated
by the vrooooming scooters
and gassy buses,
a fresh hope diffusing faster
than the steam from drains,
-subtler than the soft soju snores
of last night's  curb cuddlers-
slinking up, down, around convenient stores' corners
past every security camera,
bouncing off rib cages,
tickling the barbules of  the songbird
perched in my utility wires
in a nest neater than my bed.
This is summer, Korea.
This is Korea in the summer.
2.0k · Jul 2012
empty chair
SWB Jul 2012
it's taking a breather
from fat wallets, damp denim,
and children's ***** feet.
2.0k · Jul 2012
a spot
SWB Jul 2012
I want to go with your foreign body
beyond these man-made lanes
and artificial light,
take you further than radio waves wander;
find a spot where we can make a blanket
of rays and seashells,
and when we're still,
sleep.
2.0k · Aug 2011
Cardiff Ducks
SWB Aug 2011
It can’t be TOO hard- being a duck that is.
My stomach growled watching a tot feeding a duck in the castle garden,
then my famished gears started turning.
Right.  That’d be nice- I could go for some bread and a swim.
Ducks don’t even have to work for food- not these ducks
-they get fed.
I have to shop for bread,
and that’s not the half of it.
First I have to get to the bread,
which means risking it in my tired van
or sitting on a bus with a perfect smelly stranger
or pushing my luck crossing a bustling street.
And then, if I’m not way-laid…BREAD!
But I can’t just stuff it down my gullet,
and sure as day nobody’s gonna feed it to me.
The worst that can happen to a duck
eating bread
is getting its head wet…or choking on fruitcake.
Just when I was feeling particularly underprivileged
on the food chain,
I thought of my great grandfather
and his wooden decoy duck bobs
still sitting on my hearth back in Indiana,
and I thought of the dogs he used to chase the felled birds
and I thought of the bullets and the sharp October air, and the teeth,
and I felt silly.
1.8k · Feb 2013
Gonzo Journalism
SWB Feb 2013
Soaked senses tell me
the top of the "mountain" is dry
like ice.
With a hyper-awareness
I clatter along,
with a warm coating
of ever-changing plaid
warmer than flannel-
burlap bones
wrapped in velvet veins-
and all of these observations
report to a head of fuzzy stars.
So when this stairwell
feels like a scene from the Cold War,
with its chilled chipping cinder block,
violent eruptions,
and moaning drafts-
a cause that my allies
in the self-flushing latrines
have long forgotten-
I will understand,
as they will,
and you'll just have to trust
the facts reported to you
from yours truly.
-Gonzo
1.7k · Jan 2014
Ode to the Slam Dunk
SWB Jan 2014
Get on feet
out of seats
with a firm, stretched palm,
maybe even stick a tongue out.
Get hysterical,
elated- get pumped.
Yell something trite,
That's what I'm talking about!
Get a rush
from the head to the Seoul,
get a fresh set of wings,
fly from the hardwood,
get elevated.
Full-court press be ******-
This goes beyond the laces,
the cheering,
the stoic referee winded-
travels hot fast and hard,
after the huddle, before the late whistle
and the fist-bump.
This is success at its most savage,
emotion at its rawest,
audiences at their most breathless
moment.
This, son, is the slam dunk.
Anything less would be a travesty
to the occasion.
1.6k · Jul 2011
a singLe Scrap of Deja vu
SWB Jul 2011
A single scrap of paper

and the child within me springs to life-

the child with bed head and a LEGO fascination-

leads me up and down stairs on all fours;

lights my face, shines my smile

soaks my senses- oversensitive;

takes a horizon, gives me an infinite shadow box;

takes a coincidence, gives me providence;

reminds me that some trees are ladders,

the others are giants, like buildings but wiser;

makes me giggle, as the circles untangle;

makes me ask myself,

Are they following us?

Who made this video game?  What's a boat made of waffles?

makes me too excited to eat; gives me dessert first;

lets me eat infinite Twizzlers;

lets me laugh at all of the sleepy adults,

and stay up late talking about collective consciousness;

lets me decide, "next time I'm going to the nature park",

as long as I can talk to all of the statues and sculptures on the way;

lets me write till there's no more room.
1.6k · Aug 2011
Consider the Coffee Cup
SWB Aug 2011
Consider the coffee cup in the bitter early morning
clutched by the weary, in the hands of the sleepwalker.
A Styrofoam chimney that warms bodies to the bones.
Like a silo of potential energy that awakens and inspires.

A companion of the cigarette soft pack, as long as both are full
When empty, a ruffian of a house abandoned
or a vacant playground, a soul void of vivacity.

Sleepy fingers trace the serpentine trail of steam
escaping via vent  in the lid; gateway to wakefulness
Perched in a nest of hands guarding the sanctuary for the alert
This storehouse of caffeine must be rationed.

It’s contents dark, rich, bold, spilling
scolding and fierce and alive.
Consider the coffee cup a comrade, a loyalist
Companion of the diligent, the learning, the weary.
1.6k · Oct 2012
Lead foot with a wool sock
SWB Oct 2012
Had to hang up the lead foot
for a while, hopefully for good,
after a near crash the other week.
I was pushin the red line
vision smeared, thumbs angry,
voice sharp- wild like prairie wind.
So tonight it's just beer,
nothing that can cause combustion,
I've retired the horn,
and traded my brights
for a moon roof,
cause with her I like cruising-
and all I want is to enjoy the breeze,
drop her off safely, and remember
where I parked the beater.
1.5k · Sep 2011
Me and Cuz
SWB Sep 2011
me and cuz are gettin stove-piped
by three ripe, early-eyed airborne minds
me and cuz are flappin just right.

sharp turn on that slippy turnpike.
I spy twisted steel, cuz musta lied-
bottle kneck, open backpack, plastic bag.

guess cuz was 'fraid of a gun fight,
wid a seatbelt stained red on both sides.
me and cuz got us stove-piped.
SWB Sep 2011
after Gwendolyn Brooks*

Last night we got fried
While you stayed inside.
Can’t say we tried.
What’s your excuse?


Tonight we drive cars
Drunk to bars.
You’re stuck in the tars
Of that **** Spanish.

We’re good to go
You repeat “No.”
What a great show
bare-breasted ENCORE!

Have fun retiring
We’ll be expiring
Our children perspiring
At the thought of us leaving them nothing.
1.4k · Aug 2011
Synergy or Something
SWB Aug 2011
I didn’t storm out
but there was thunder in my head.
I bought a pack of cigarettes,
that usually helps.
usually.
That’s why I started walking
to shoot straight
with these hungry pigeons.
There was this crinkly man
sitting against a Walgreens
who asked me for change,
said he hadn’t eaten in two days
so I shelled out a knuckle of quarters,
and gave him a fresh Turkish smoke.
I even lit it for him.
And as I was leaning over him,
tenderly holding the flame
to his ****-out-of-luck lips,
that’s when it hit me-
that’s when cliché materialized-
misery loves company.
1.4k · Sep 2011
Recycle after Reading
SWB Sep 2011
There used to be a valley here
where this man-made mound sits,
like a bump on a log,
Well, this used to be a valley.
back in the day before batteries,
before outlets, before highway gas mileage,
before we realized how many life forms we could jeopardize.
Now there’s just beeping, and dumping, and hissing, and honking
and spilling, and wasting and burning, and taxing
and killing.
Now we're filling the part of Earth that we call dirt-
give it a hopeless name so that we can spit in it
years before we’re buried in it.
1.4k · Aug 2011
{Slow Down}
SWB Aug 2011
Longboarding barefoot

I can’t afford to slow down.

No shoes, no service
1.4k · Sep 2011
Last Call
SWB Sep 2011
Here I am again
wading through straw hats and jazz-
hailing the bartender,
spilling.
I’ve got last call to catch.
That firecracker with geraniums in her hair
is thirsty and wearing symptoms
of dance fever.
I’m doing a dance of my own,
holding my watery scotch over my head,
dodging sweaty shoulders.
I’ve almost made it back to Flower Girl
when I see a sight
that nearly jars the J&B; from my hand-
I see you.
You’re waiting by the jukebox
for Baseball Coach to retrieve
dos tequilas
and you’re happy.
1.4k · Jan 2012
Purdue(don't)
SWB Jan 2012
Sitting, slouching, unencumbered
Friday, no class, hours numbered
Wide awake from too much slumber
Guess I’ll drive up to Purdue.

Bar hop, dripdrop speechesslurrring
Hookah..plusbeers drivingsblurrin’
****-the-what-know- whatzoccurring-

..Wake up, find **** in my shoe.
1.3k · Aug 2011
Chicago from Panera
SWB Aug 2011
Sulking blocks of concrete boxes
miles of live wire, chrome cheeks, cityscape
glass, promotions, ticker tape,
canal rides, McRibs, sour cabs
human losses.
SWB Nov 2011
Just when I thought my muse had left
a splintered staccato formed words on a page;
seems I still have a taste for the treble clef.

Haste in the morning fuels the morning breath
for two lovely dumbstruck lovers looking young for their age
just when they thought their muse had left.

I’m not sure I remember the rest;
The words stop like drumsticks dropped in rage,
but I still have a taste for the treble clef.

Desperate to try as my cousin suggests
burning through candles,  tarot, and sage
just when I’m sure my muse has left.

I vote for stripping this verse and shredding the rest
Getting in with producers and out with the wage;
We still have a taste for the treble clef.

Tequila sunrise and a Mumford sunset;
Is freedom a ***** once you’re out of the cage?
Just when I thought my muse had left,
seems I still have a taste for the treble clef.
This is a Villanelle, fresh from the roughest of presses.
1.3k · Jun 2012
Woodstock
SWB Jun 2012
I've never heard a downpour stomp so loud
as the moisture above us incites rampage
droppin' bombs from celestial once neutral clouds.

the gods stamp their feet while the godesses pout;
eternal beings acting young for their age.
I've never heard a downpour stomp so loud.

With tents full of water and glasses full of stout,
my overdue almanac cries out to the mage
droppin' bombs from celestial once neutral clouds.

the drizzle it dropped but the encore soaked the crowd
the mud grew new flowers as hands mopped the stage.
I've never heard a downpour cheer so loud.

Drenched to the bone and wanderin' about
our level of wetness cannot be guaged,
droppin bombs from celestial once neutral clouds.

No refuge for masses sprawled under the spout;
bad acid, good music, free love makes us stay.
I've never heard a downpour stomp so loud
droppin' bombs from the celestial once neutral clouds.
SWB Jul 2011
Ring the Bell for Old DePauw, Ha!
Here's to Cold DePauw
Here's to passing cars.
Here's to winter, Here's to bars.
Here's to frozen Noses, rigid Fingers
Sore Livers, rough Throats.
Here's to Shivers.
Remember the beginning
Remember waking up
Remember lost keys.
Remember yesterday,
A year ago?
Remember that longboard we found
Amongst the art.
Remember that sculpture,
And the moving stone.
Remember Heathrow.
Here's to dreaming.
Let there be Lighters!
And ashtrays!
Let there be fireworks
Keep the air and the friends in
Keep the door closed.
Keep it locked,
But let the noise out.
Keep the fan on.
Give me shelter
give me recollection,
give me choice
give me space.
We need more love
more canceled flights,
need more VHS,
more wine
more cheese,
we need more heartbreak,
more sweet dreams.
Let us keep pictures
Let us keep letters
Let us keep papers
Let us keep sweaters
And glitter,
Keep it all.
Let us keep it alive.
1.2k · Jun 2012
6:05 train to Sareung
SWB Jun 2012
I felt blessed riding the 6:05 train from Chuncheon to Sareung.
Maybe it was the ample, honest glow of the sun
still stretching behind the mossy mountains,
limbering up for the dawn's day ahead.

Maybe it's because I could hear-
sure as the train's faithful stop at each and every station-
God breathing celestial calm down into the valley,
stirring the leaves, but letting the people sleep.

Maybe it's because there sat leaning against me
a beautiful native friend, using me as a pillow-
one surely not as soft as the fluffy duvet
of fog which tenderly kept the river banks tucked-in.

Or maybe because each of her gentle stirs
reminded me of my place on earth right there, right then,
and kept me from being overwhlemed by it all,
kept me in my seat,
kept me from suddenly getting off at one of the vacant sacred stops
and attempting to be at one with the majestic.
1.2k · Sep 2011
Flying with night owls
SWB Sep 2011
Flying with night owls
over sleepy smoke signals
leading brujos home.
1.2k · Dec 2011
Windy Feet
SWB Dec 2011
It’s falling outside
     swift gray,
         crisp
  sweeping
slightly more than the season can muster.
      There’s a clashing out here
   scribbling sounds around me,
    p a  c  i  n  g
  t  r a  c  i  n  g  the steps of my windy feet.
1.2k · Apr 2012
This alien
SWB Apr 2012
Deep breaths, shallow steps
far from the nest,
thoughts squeezed dry in the press.

Tired with rash,
I've stained my sash,
curbed here like sun-baked trash.

Longing for stars,
head dizzy from bars
This alien's homesick for Mars.
SWB Nov 2013
I squeeze the juice from my favorite words
and store it inside a decorative vial.
The contents are potent and long since stirred.

The mixture's turned foul with stench and curds,
with shame it's developed a semblance of bile,
'Cause I've squeezed the juice from my favorite words.

In the days when epiphanies simply occurred-
the privalege of picking choice cuts from the pile-
the contents were potent and hadn't been stirred.

Now I'm frozen, unable to harvest when spurred.
There's a dangerous feeling I'm losing my style-
I squeeze more juice from my favorite words.

Enough lamentation; I'll focus on her-
she's my passion, my engine, my nature, my Nile-
her contents are potent and need not be stirred.

Alas! I'm inspired, unflagging, assured.
The momentum she gives lasts me infinite miles.
I squeeze the juice from her powerful words-
the contents are potent and need not be stirred.
A Villanelle
1.1k · Sep 2012
forcing creativity
SWB Sep 2012
The closest thing
to forcing creativity
is stumbling into a bar solo
and looking for a brawl-
it's never a good idea.
Instead you should play it safe
and just go to bed-
let it brew-
before you do something stupid,
before you get in over your head,
bark up the wrong tree.
Trust me,
you only feel unstoppable,
and a hot numb fist is no good
at a gun fight.
So forget it,
turn around- call it a night.
Otherwise you could lose
some precious blood,
your shoes,
or worse
your mind.
1.1k · Sep 2012
spinal lightning
SWB Sep 2012
Think of the profound
as the moon gives me shivers
like spinal lightning
1.1k · Jul 2012
I need a savior
SWB Jul 2012
I need a savior,
a real savior,
one- who when I need saving-
won't lazily toss me
a lifesaver made of razors
and call that **** a favor.
1.1k · Sep 2012
first one to twenty
SWB Sep 2012
I often wake up shivering
under the thin excuse
of a tapestry
I use as a bed sheet.
My naked body curls
its bones in a weak
attempt to make heat
for itself
by itself.
As my sleepy brains
struggle to freeze the week,
to make the morning gape.
Eventually I lift myself
and stumble over to the
roaring ac unit
and turn its knobs
At ease!
only to wake up within the hour
smothered in my own sweat,
my feeble solitary sheet
now a cheese cloth
and once again I stumble
over to the *******
and turn its knobs over again.
I play this game often
here in my simple apartment
in the midst of monsoons
and torrential brain storms.
To keep score would drive
me mad- make a poor sport
out of me.
Nobody ever wins anyways.
it's worse when I am in my bed
and not alone,
but so is another game
I find myself playing.
Too often I play a game
I like to call  "just one more cigarette"
-this game has a definite loser
and it's always definitely me.
This game keeps score without me:
the first one to 20 loses.
1.1k · Sep 2012
Can I please just write?
SWB Sep 2012
It's September: evening
and Bukowski stares at me,
******.
My phone rings
"Mhmm, ok, thank you."
wrong number and wrong language.

Pretty sure somebody was just stabbed outside
or got violently ill eating garbage.
I walk down there to have a cigarette
and avoid the stale smell
of the pizza box falling asleep on my bed.

After counting the number of cats I see-
stray as Satan's own- I head back inside
I glance at the bills in my mail jail
at the foot of these foreign stairs
(the building is Chinese, the city is Korean).

A hissing air brake laughs at my back
and the bus' transmission joins in- or farts-

by the time I get back up to the fourth floor
I want music, something that will help the
incense chase away mosquitoes.

And as I'm thinking of what to play
I glance at my bike, blankly,
and I'm reminded of how the rear
tire is ****** and how mean that hill was
and how road bikes belong on the road
not the sidewalk and I can't remember
when I last wore a helmet, so I try.

Half an hour later I finally get some
Stan Getz through my speakers
and don't mind that he invites
Joao Gilberto over.

I push my guitar and used clothes
out of my way so I can
sit on my bed with my
wonderfully cheap pizza box
desk, and my fancy leather pen
and just then she texts me.

Can I please just write?

Still, I can't help but smile
because I really just hope she dreams sweetly.
1.0k · May 2013
rabble babble
SWB May 2013
Rabble, babble, babble
blinking buildings, ashen wood.
Good posture turns preposterous,
not feeling as I should.

Bare back no racks of social tax,
receipts below the hull;
A lack of lax amongst the facts
a tray of butts grown full.
1.0k · Aug 2011
Maximilian Relaxilian
SWB Aug 2011
I've never cared too much for history, found no appreciation
for it's multitude of names we commit to memorization
there's a certain friend of mine, born in 1989-
Sir Maximilian Relaxilian- and he lacked all motivation

Since the origin of time, I have traced his family line
and their genetic disposition towards supreme relaxation
He's the great great great great grandson
of the founder of vacation.
And this founder's son Clyde, well, he invented the slide
Clyde's kid brother Greg helped patent the keg.
And Greg's great grandson Snyder sold the very first recliner.

So whenever Max was challenged, troubled, bothered, or confused,
He'd recite his family tree, and use the very same excuse:
   "Hereditary mutations within each generation!"


     And so he sat around and slept,
     But never cleaned and never swept,
     Never ran, never lept,
     His promises were never kept.


Maximilian never managed once to get up off his ****,
too tuckered out for bowling, just too lazy to putt;
He Never traveled to the sink nor had he once bothered to think,
too coward for a shower, found no reason not to stink.

And then one super lazy afternoon a quarter after two,
Maximilian had a visitor, I promise this is true:
A tiger stood outside the door which he was too lazy to lock
as if he'd try to find the **** beneath the pile of ***** socks.
And then of course, it's no surprise he couldn't hear the kitty knock
and once you hear what happened next I guarantee you will be shocked...

The tiger tickled him
and giggled him
until his ticker stopped.

So next time you think of staying in,
instead of going out-
or complain about the effort
that it takes to leave the couch,
Or refuse to leave the sheets or venture from a cozy pouch...

just remember Maximilian Relaxilian, King of Slouch
and stay out of bed instead,
stretch your legs and use your head
then count your blessings, kiss your mother
motivate one another.
SWB Oct 2011
Placing bets on breaking window panes,
we're laughing and discussing names
of children who don't exist.

We're making artifacts today
of catnip, yarn and candy canes,
later we'll have to hide them.

We're making threats on rainy days,
spilling how we'll run away,
complete with notes and what they'd say
to help the parents cope.

But we'll grow up another day.

Till then, each day we'll strive to keep
the promises we've buried deep
in the barn grass and cattails.
1.0k · Aug 2011
{Ses yeux}
SWB Aug 2011
Eyes like almonds
waves of gold
childish wonder
never old.
Turquoise portals
amber folds
captive eyes; stolen gold
sobering but never cold
drops of ocean
waves of gold
cool as shade
warm like home
morning blushing
gorgeous rushing
larmes de l'ocean
     waves of gold.
SWB Sep 2012
When Light spreads her fingers
Darkness dares not linger,
there's treason within their collision.
Ink black can't mold bread
while the sun bares her head,
but both cloud each others vision.
So neither can figure
what causes the trigger,
there's little room left for precision.
They both wait and pray
that the other's delayed
'cause neither can make a decision.
This was a one stroke poem written in a soju bar that I recently stumbled across again.
1.0k · Dec 2011
Full-grown edit
SWB Dec 2011
Big gulp of porridge
Just for designated jammies
just before the bus stops,
just as long as there's no homework.

Long shot across town
Just 'cause cops are special,
just when the wife was yappin'
just one too many drinks again.

Deep breath underwater
just to wake up a bit,
just to celebrate the submarine,
just as the room runs out of air.
SWB Nov 2011
If this field is the earth's teal scalp,
then it's itchy, taught, and dry
lacking volume, moisture, shine
and in some spots split wide-open.

Or could this be one of Nature's plain reasons
To shut down for a nap through cold seasons.
Telling us to go home with our parts and our combs
but we're welcome to stay if we're broken.
SWB Jul 2012
In times when the heart is lodged
somewhere between the brain and the throat
I try to force it back
down to its chambers, before I choke,
or before it strangles my head's precious, antagonized gland.

There's only one way to avoid
certain tragedy, and that's to look, feel, taste.
It's either make mental tracks-
run and jump- or drown.

It's at these moments when I start
playing tricks on my mind.
Doing this is easier than you may think.
Just stop all thought,
for the mind's constant churning
chafes the heart.

Now, allow your hungry eyes to sidle
to and fro- let them wander-
dare to wonder about what hasn't,
but don't idle even for a minute
on what has, or what couldn't.

As long as you can avoid relapse,
you might even venture into what could,
as long as it's new and fresh.
As long as it isn't some woeful inquiry
growing stale since last night.

Then once you find yourself daydreaming,
or better yet, DOING,
you are halfway there.
You've made it uphill
and only need to coast down-
down the lovely unkempt *****
of impulse without crashing.

Do something new,
preferrably silly- stay
away from dangerous-
go somewhere new,
talk to a stranger,
eat something expensive,
drink a little, burp loudly.

Go wild, steer away from crazy,
but cruise through hilarity.
Bombard yourself with creative juices,
**** your phone,
bury your watch,
put on your shoes and let yourself laugh.

Once you've had some laughs,
cue up some Planet Earth
-Kung Fu's good too-
roll a joint.
Smoke it.
Grab a pizza,
fall asleep with the television on
then wake up with a smile on your face.
Trust me, it won't come off in the shower,
and trust me your heart's ok.
You're gonna be just fine.
SWB Jul 2012
escorting you through the back alleys of Asia,
well it's kinda like
strutting into an interview drunk.
It's kinda like walking through airport security
with a baggie full of illicits in pocket 4
or is it pocket 5?

Hearing you speak Korean
with a shaking head
and a firm hand on my inner thigh,
well it's kinda like
asking a stranger to pay for my drinks.

Treating you to dinner and pitchers
when your heart's fighting your brain,
well it's kinda like
reassuring a child on his birthday
that he's getting presents later in the week.

And so receiving your words in the morning,
well it's kinda like
getting a kiss on a swollen cheek
right beneath a fresh black eye.

It's all kinda like it's dangerous
but I think I'm doin' an OK job
at acting like I know what I'm doin'.
910 · Oct 2012
portrait of fall
SWB Oct 2012
outside my veranda's heavy sliding glass
autumnal shades pop and flap
against the ever-grey-
that expansive distant bulb
glowing dumb and cool
in its own breezes,
and the neutral black
lines of power and telephone magic
sway as they run
indifferently through this
portrait of fall-
numb to its colors and smells,
in this perfect hour
of this rush of the seasons.
908 · Sep 2011
farming with dynamite
SWB Sep 2011
I want to know
have you ever seen the rain
spark the fuse and
emblazon the grain?
891 · Jan 2013
Early Concourse Breakfast
SWB Jan 2013
It's 11:20am in OHare
and I'm here with Sam Adams'
cardboard cut-out,
sipping his hard work,
chasing my breakfast,
picking up where Starbucks left off.
But really, I'm avoiding the tired,
unenthusiastic bodies nesting at my gate,
with their dilapidated muzzles,
with their deadpan expressions,
with these head-and-shoulders of
malcontent- of brewing disappointment-
floating morosely above their respective
boarding passes, passports,
and food court receipts
clutched in cranky knuckles.

And so here I am, sitting at
Facade, raising a second glass
with cardboard Adams,
and I kinda have to ****
and I really have to ***,
but there's no way in hell
I'm joining the rest of my flight.
886 · Aug 2011
Put my feet up
SWB Aug 2011
I’d put my feet up but for this **** poem.
burning behind my temples,
I drove this far today to be alone.

Such a long mess of a day; I swear I’ve grown,
but I’m too old- crows feet perched above dimples.
I’d put my feet up but for this **** poem

If I yawn and stretch my lungs any more I’ll decompose.
I’d trade a kidney for a long shower to **** these road pimples;
I drove this far to be alone.

My eyes glaze like shivering chrome,
tuckered out from scanning lousy stanzas full of samples.
I’d put my feet up but for this **** poem

But I’m still packed and unshowered, staring at memory foam
And now, sitting with this pen in hand ain’t simple.
I’d put my feet up but for this **** poem;
I only drove this far to be alone.
This is a villanelle
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