The sky was beautiful that night
I saw it, azure sparkle diamond bright
Through tears.

A river.
An ocean.

I thought they'd never stop
You know I'm not one for blubbering
Feeling your transition
From physical to spiritual

Took me with you, for a time

What remained was hollow
Still even sounds like a watermelon
My cantaloupe days ended
With that last sunset
Tuesday. February. The 19th. Florida.
Scars.
Our beauty
Our tragedy
Left inside those that linger on
Running is no cure
Like any disease
It is carried within me
Constantly searching for molecules
To ease this ache

I have a squid in my belly
and she likes to be fed
filtered cigarettes
and whatever *****'s on sale.
When she's good
I'll treat her with
a couple lines off the table,
but I never use mirrors
because she's never good
until two in the morning
when she's all liquored up
and I'm not looking my best.
These days I'm pretty fed up
with her *******, because
sometimes she'll stretch a tentacle
through my esophagus
and pry open my painted lips
and reach out to whoever's closest
and go for their neck.
I try to swallow her back down
to protect everyone
but she's a tough broad
and it's hard to tame a creature
when you're not sure
where she ends
and you begin.

He had been working for days
A simple man
With rough hands
An eye for beauty that rivaled
Botticelli's
Dukes and Duchesses had paid well
For flattering statuary that would
Live on in granite repose
Chisel and hammer tapped away
Sweat poring his brow
He worked in silence
Though the square below him
Played the symphony of daily life
It was his hands that listened for him
He may have been born deaf but cherished he was
Treasured
By a woman who could have no more
God's gift she had prayed for
Then thanked for every day after
He knew the story
Lived her gratitude
As he finished the final curve
Placing tools on the side table
He stood back to survey his work
Realizing it was his greatest piece yet
For it was the brightest memory
Of his mother
In her face he saw God's grace

Released from my physical form
I allow the tendrils of sleep
To conduct it's shadowed symphony
Crescendoing
Into a frenzy of cacophonous arousal, exhiliration and fear
My body soars in dream land
Shallow breaths become hurried
Bottomless pit free falling
Alice in Wonderland acid swirl
This crazy train is right on schedule
Each night whisking me off
To the exotic, horrific and depraved
My only respite...
The sticky sweet haze of Mary Jane
As she melts
Into the visceral underbelly
Of my subconscious
Only then do I wake well rested
Not aching from the memory of sleep

I had it in me.
Now it is out.
I always fill back up.
Waiting for the black to fall.

With all these rivers left to cross
And all these bridges that I've burned
I have no way across
The hardest lesson learned

So I'll sit here and wait
For those fires to fade

It's lonely on this shore
And I can't wait anymore
For you to come around
Gonna find your bridge and burn it down

And through the tears I'll pray
Your fire burns away
And I'll just sit and wait
For this love to fade

Some I've burned for light
On these long, dark, empty nights
And some I've burned in fear
But most to dry these tears

So I just sit and wait
For those fires to fade
Regret builds like a storm
Cause I'm burning all my bridges to stay warm

I'm burning all my bridges to stay warm

If it comes to pass
That these words are my last
Lay me down easy
Beside salty shores, warm and breezy
You'll find many thoughts left undone
Broken sentences, tales only half-spun
Hearts lay throughout, fluid and true
None so precious as the one shaped like you
I've protected and shielded those needing care
Handing gently to death love found so rare
Judge softly for I, like you, have sin
The line between morality grown porous and thin
To ashes and dust my mortal form go
Such is the rhythm of our ebb and flow

"Stay?"
A pleaded entreaty with tears
Soaking the edges of it's echo
Carries from your mouth to my ears
My mind races with leg entwined visions
The sloppy wet heat of our tongues
Swirling
Whispered apologies for years of neglect and bad choices
All could be mine
Yet...
That may be all *this is
Chemical desire in a centrifuge
Until well blended with come **** me
DNA strands
You say you'll be there
Then when most needed
"Where's Waldo?", on the search
You know, even without disease
Our telomeres will eventually decide
When we are finished
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Your fingerprints are all over my heart
Love, it's my mind
You've been reaching for all of this time
To only brush it with your fingertips

I've been in three homes
Where a piano, or three
Resided in the dining room
Now one would think
That this would encourage
Music to accompany the eating experience
However, growing up
Singing was forbidden at the table