Intertwined
Can't get close enough
Wrapped around me and I around you
Breathe you in... your warmth and scent surround me
Through the hypnotic pleasure of your hands in my hair
A rejoicing voice within sings:
"I'm home!"
My internal senses are certain
Even if the future is not
For this night I am where I have always belonged

In my mind
a yellow one speed, black banana seat and chrome ***** bar,
leans casually against unpainted drywall
a turned hip’s width from a paneled Caprice Estate
a car so big, all three of us could sleep in the back
lined up straight, sharing a thin plaid blanket, musty pillows
Starcraft popup in tow.

Wind still roars through the top of bare Pocono trees
comforting coal smoke swirls, stinging
as I step inside the kitchen
foggy and warm, formica and maple.
Zippers clack rhythmically,
slapping time in a softly rocking dryer,
steel cake cover rattling along.

Next to the oven
the growth chart is still there,
plotting our course by order of birth
pencil lines scratched in wood
awkward spikes upward, sudden stops
sooner than anyone expected
the birthday ritual faded
we stopped growing up and began fading out.

Did we leave it behind?
To be sanded smooth, a somber start for a fresh family
with their own journeys to take
Fears to face
Growth to plot
Dreams to form
Or will the bike always lean and the coal smoke always swirl?




Mark W. Meehan, PhD
February, 2017

When I'm happy
The demons go skin deep

They live deep inside my body
Trying to take over my soul and disembody

They try to make me not feel the pain
But I do feel the pain it's so inhumane

It's a shadow that entered into my body and mind
It was the other day when I was seven sheets to the wind

Anytime I think of good thoughts
The demons inside scream and distorts

How can I continue to feel you in me
Why did I not notice that you was standing next to me, who gave you the key

The demons have to subside
Before I lose my control and my brain gets fried

Should call in an exorcist
Before my soul becomes the sickest

It needs to die
Before I close my eyes

I remember killing one demon
But I was just dreaming

It's do or die you see
Your not taking over me

You already have my heart.
And though I’m not dapper

enough to wear one, my body
is yours at the drop of a hat.

My mind, too, belongs to you:
before you even read them,

these lines are yours to open.
Slide a finger beneath the seam;

undo me with a concupiscent flick.
Spill me onto the bed. Take me in.

You’ve read me before.
Tonight, read me closer.

A lame idea's not a knock
At ones who can't stand and walk.

My eight handicap's not a slur
To any falling short of par.

I repeat, Are you deaf or something,
Doesn't insult the hard of hearing;
It only means you're not listening.

If one's blind as a bat,
It's not a slight, it's not a fact,
It's just a phrase we humans use;
I've heard some used against the Jews,
And others we've unlearned to use.

We of habit and long of tooth
Aren't as bad as you may think
When overhearing oldies speak:
I'm just jittery when I'm spooked.

Our excessive sensitivity's daunting.
Nothing said's meant to be hurting.

How does all this sit with Whitey?
Yes, Whitey's what I said.
Should I mind that name?
Isn't it the same?
It's used to ridicule,
Exposing Whiteys as the fools,
By some who think they're far too cool:

     Whitey said so...
     Whitey did so...
     Whitey don't know...

This Whitey do know;
He don't like this ****,
Not one little bit, Brother;
And it makes me cottin-pickin ******
With the hypocrisy, Sister.

Yes. Valentine's Day is just like any other day
No. it does not make it any less special
I will not look at the couples and curse their PDA
I will see the chocolate and flowers and smile
I will not roll my eyes at the teddy bears for sale sign
I may even third wheel for a while

Today is meant to recognize happiness in pairs
Not to degrade national singles because who really cares?

I don't need a man to keep me busy- I mean happy
I don't need chocolates to feel loved
It's beautiful to have someone beside you
But my best friend is already enough
when you see me without my flowers
I plan on picking my own
Don't judge my date with Netflix
Because if you love yourself enough
You'll almost never feel alone