My forging hammer

Lies reclined



My bellows, too

Have lost their wind



My fires extinct

My forge decayed



And in the dust

My vices layed 



My coal is spent

My iron is gone

My anvil is broke
My work is done



My work is done

My work is done

My work is done

*My chisels
Lie dull

My saws, too
Have lost their edge

My trees are felled
My lumber decayed

And in the sawdust
My clamps layed

My angles are bent
My jigs are gone
My tools are rusted
My work is done

My work is done
My work is done
My work is done

I want to write you a novel
   About the story of us.
      Have it sell over a billion copies
         And become a world wide best seller.
            It would become the new basis
               On which romance and love is judged.






         But the words will never be good enough;
           The world will never be strong enough.

                      And if it is a true romance,
There will be at least one broken heart by the end...

I am no beast
tearing thru the wilderness.

I am a newt
hiding beneath the leaves
trying not to get crushed
beneath the feet
of those destroying my habitat.



But sometimes
you have to be a beast...

so I am a newt
with poisonous skin.

The music is loud
Booming bass and throbbing drops
Dance beats for the college kids
I feel like an old man standing here against the wall
Watching the young men dance fools of themselves
And their plastic women who all move as if they are void of individualness
The beer in my hand is frosty and ice cold due to its aluminum bottling
But it is not improving the distance that I feel between me and everyone at this night club
The party I'm with escapes the dance floor to the roof's terrace
Bouncers that look like your typical fresh faced jocks complete with acne scars
Inform us that it's plastic cups only up top
We pour our beers into plastic cups
They instantly begin to warm
The view is pretty
If you like looking at a city
Unworthy of its history
The air is cool and clean
Blowing across my skin
As my hearing struggles to ignore
The dance music blaring
And my eyes are assaulted by more frat-boy tribal dancing
I can't tell if the fresh air is improving my buzz
Or making me feel worse
My beer is empty
Everyone else still has full cups
I don't understand the mathematics
I go down to the bar
And buy another one
I don't open a tab
I've found those can be dangerous when I'm in this mood
Or any mood
I sneak the aluminum bottle upstairs with me
Enjoy the frosty coldness of my beer for the 5 minutes it takes me to drink it
Everyone is still on their first cup
But there's a beer run coming
It's quitting time
Mothers need to get home
Workers need to get sleep
I need quiet
There's beer left that no one wants to drink
I'm the garbage disposal
We say our good byes
Exchanging hellos and farewells in single conversation
We leave our separate ways
Wishing everyone a safe drive home
It's silent now
What I wouldn't do to hear some booming bass and throbbing drops
To drown out this silence

Shhh…
Hushed the librarian
Pushing her glasses
Up onto the bridge of
Her nose
This is a library
Please keep your noise
To a minimum
We have people
Studying
Reading
Writing
Quietly enjoying
Their latest find
Amongst our many rows of
Books and books
And more
Books
We can’t have any
Interruptions
So please keep your voice
Down
And resist the urge
To make any loud
Sound
If you do
Feel the desire to be
Vocal
Or
Loud
Please
Go to the back
Of the library
Where the Classics
Are located
You won’t bother anyone
Back there
No one reads the
Classics
anymore

Maggie threw a weak left jab at the upper torso of Jacob to throw him off balance and swung hard with her right arm towards his exposed left cheek, connecting her small fists on his flesh with such impact that it immediately began to swell up. He retaliated with a well placed right hook to the side of Maggie's arm that sent her moving sideways before she regained her footing and answered back with a succession of jabs to his midsection.

Sweat poured down both of their faces mixing with the blood from cuts and bruises that both had received in one of the earlier bouts. They were now in the sixth round and neither showed any determination in losing.

Jacob brought his right leg up for a straight kick towards Maggie's stomach but she caught his leg and rotated it clockwise knocking him off balance and falling chest first to the mat. Maggie attempted to a heel lock but could not gain enough leverage to lock it in and Jacob slipped out of her grip and got back to his feet and shook it off. Maggie snarled thru her mouth guard and spun around with a roundhouse, catching her foot just short of hard enough on his left calf, sending numbness up and down his leg. She went in for a double leg takedown but was caught off guard when Jacob raised his right knee and connected it with the left temple on her head. Her vision began to go hazy and she swung wildly with a left and then a right before she was able to shake the cobwebs clear and see him throwing a straight, hard, and fast right squarely at her face.

She ducked less than an inch before his fist would've met the bridge of her nose and she came up with her fists balled tightly in an uppercut and landed on the bottom of his jaw sending him reeling backwards and losing his balance he fell on the ground. Maggie rushed over and got on top of him in guard position and began raining down lefts and rights to his face which he was blocking. She threw a few shots at his side causing him to arch into a kidney shape and bring his arms away from his face. Maggie grabbed his left arm and went for a Fuji armbar and locked it in tightly, feeling the joint of his elbow bending sharply on her pelvic bone. She arched her back harder, tightened her thighs around his arm and twisted the upper portion of his wrist to the left until she felt the familiar feeling of a tap out on her legs. She released the grip and stood up, ******, bruised, sweaty, but not beaten.

I spit out another piece of carnivorous cancerous lung & stub out the carrion embers of another cigarette as I watch her silhouette slink  

out from behind the curtains & out of view with a serpentine slither that sent shivers down my spine. I lost my breath. I felt my insides

constricting. Felt my skin stretch tight across my cracking & fracturing rib bones & begin to separate, tearing my flesh on jagged

split bones & then I shook the fear from my head & caught my breath. She was heaven & hell & my apocalypse. A beautiful rhythm of dissonance

cutting into me with a cadaverous smile that spreads across her face so wickedly. She holds perfection in one hand & obsession in the other.

She walked out of view, leaving me beneath the old oak tree that stood outside her window. I used to climb it when we were younger. I walked

from beneath the sheltered shade of the tree & back into the acidic rain  pouring down from ominous obsidian clouds & slowly felt my skin

melting from my muscles & then my bones, leaving a trail of myself in the wake of my stumbling footsteps. My body will be a pile of ashes

blowing thru the dark tangled strands of her hair when she looks outside. My death rattle shaking her from memories of her long dead friend

who used to climb the tree outside of her window to see her...

Amber shaded sugar cane 
Crashing on caribbean rock

Spices slither seductively 
Empty bottle requiem 

A pirates life for me
Swirled in draining glass

Emptying across my tongue
And down my throat

Good things never last

Rucksack – Duffle bag – Backpack
                       Packed
Note books – Journal books – Poetry books
                    Book books
Tin cans – Pots and pans
         First aid – Survival kit
Complete with fishhooks, fishing line,
            Lighter, matches
  of the waterproof kind
                 Even a sewing kit
                                        Equipped
With extra sewing needles,
                       black thread, safety pins,
          Buttons,
                         Band-aids, gauze,
                antiseptics,
                        Burn cream
Just in case
                  it's ever needed
      Bucket hat Stuffed
              down somewhere deep
A handkerchief –
                          bandana too
      Flannels and sweater
                                       For cool weather
Tennis shoes
          For when hiking boots
     Get too hot
               A few days worth of food
     Vegetarian – salmon jerky – chocolate protein bars
                            Sleeping bag rolled tightly
            All slung heavily over my shoulder

“One fast move or I’m gone”
           Kerouac once said
   As he tried to run away from
     Crashing waves of stardom
        I just want to get away
      From crashing city noise
            And live life like a
              Dharma ***

We rise and stand to the praises of hypocrisy

We sit and listen to the opening speeches

The narrow minded preaches 

We rise and stand again fumbling for the right dog eared page of the bible 
Looking for the hymns we hum in disjointed rhythms

Feel the spirit 

Feel the passion

Fill the collection plate

We have to build a church for all the Buddhist heathens that haven't heard the Gospel

We sit and listen again
Hanging our heads and closing our eyes in prayer

I only pray I don't fall asleep this time

The preacher

The reverend

The pastor

The pope

The Speaker of God's Word

The man annointed to deliver the path to God and Jesus but only if you seek salvation thru his sermons

The only thing I can do is watch the seconds ticking away on the wall clock
We've been here for twenty minutes and I wonder if it's impolite to stand up and walk out

But I'm kept in my seat as a sign of loyal friendship to friends that dig this kind of entertainment 

Conversion is on the mind
Saved is a word repeated and replicated until all meaning is ****** from it
Feeding grounds for the imaginary hole that only Christ can fill

Another glance at the clock reveals that God is real and he has chosen to slow the seconds down to a slow trickle

Acrimoniously I keep my mouth shut tightly 
Resisting the urge to laugh at a photoshopped picture of a prim and proper white woman teaching a school of Africans about God and how he provides for all

I imagine the children praying
For food to feed them and all they know
For the wars that have torn apart their families to end
For the death of diseases we found the cures for long ago

But they don't have the money for such nonsense like that 

so please fill the collection plate
We need to build a church in Fiji

I hear its a real nice place for a vacation

(The purpose of this parsimonious pursuit of perplexed passion and phony persecutions progressed prophetically by pontificated prayer and perseverance promises pompous pension plans for prolific preachers and prostitutes preparing for purgatory.)

This church is built for social and business networking
High class socialites and low end born withouts trying to buy their way into heaven thru redemption and baptism

The doors open finally and the choir of angels sing their praises as if God has tired of this gathering just as quickly as myself

Shaking sweaty hands and spreading our words of false sincerities 
We walk out feeling more like heathens and atheists than we did when we entered

Next Sunday I think I'll just stay home like usual.

You help me tear it apart

             But I...

But I can't help
    But think about the fall

            Please send help
   Save us all
                I've been waiting

                To ignore deliverance

      Ourselves are burning
      Ourselves are glitching
      Ourselves are ours

You finger the deepest
    Shades of grey

Peel away
                  Dissolving

But you...
                     You stripped the enamel

And watched it slip away

         Please send help
I've tasted too much
               I've been waiting
            
               To ignore your touch

      Ourselves are burning
      Ourselves are glitching
      Ourselves are *ours

The best part of my
Day is when I hear your voice


Telling me good bye

The tide rolled in on a moonlit beach
Her name traced into the sand
Washing away when the water receded
My Paper Queen
And Razor King
Shredded in love
And smothered in blood
Laid where the sea could not reach
Laid beside one another
Hand in hand
Eyes staring nervously upon the Heavens
Waiting, deadly, deathly
For the rise of the sun
And the last image fleeting
As the blood washes away with the sand

Write insanely
                                        It doesn’t matter what you write
                  Incoherent ramblings or poetic rhymes
                                                          ­Clean-shaven in youth
Grizzled beard in the wisdom of age
                       Wear a distinctive cap
       Strategically placed without a care
                                                            ­ Or none at all
                     but ALWAYS keep MeSSy hair
    Dress up from others throwaways
                                              Or dress to the nines
                                                           ­        Clean suit and all
                                        But most importantly
                                                Write­ insanely

Jared held his breath.

He knew this was going to be a very close race going into the final weeks of the election but he did not anticipate such a nail biting last minute count. He took a long swig from a local artisanal beer that had been brewed as a tie-in with his campaign. His slogan was emblazoned on the side of the glass and a scene showing the peace that would come when he was in office was depicted on the label. he knew the beer was a campy campaign gimmick but he felt above his opponent by bringing in local businesses as part of his election. Jared knew his win would be won by the proletariats and not the business classes that the other candidates catered to. He savored the hoppy taste on his tongue as he gulped the ale back and sat the bottle down on the table allowing the beads of condensation to puddle up and leave a ring. His wife would be mad at him for not using a coaster but he had made it okay with himself by reasoning that when, not if, he wins the election he will buy her a new table. One that matched a certain house painted white.

Jared ran his fingers thru his slightly balding blonde hair and couldn’t believe he had made it to this moment in his life. It felt like just yesterday when he had passed the bar exam for New Vegas and celebrated with his buddies by renting out a tennis court and getting wasted.

But that was nearly forty years ago and much had changed. He saw his country torn apart as he reached his thirties and watched the States die and be reborn as new states, watched with tense shoulders and determination the outcome of the second Cold War as it became the Third World War. He watched his brothers and many of his friends take up arms for their countries and lose their lives in combat. He became a lawyer and fought old and new laws. He saved lives and condemned others. He listened to the politicians spread lies as their power grew and he saw the people grow tired of it and rise up. He saw the tearing down and building up of a new government.

He watched and watched until he could watch no more and had to be a part of the solution.

It was hard going at first getting capital and endorsements to run but he did not let that stop him. He would politic on every corner and his charisma would draw people in and he would win them over with his platform. Soon the street corners became auditoriums became venues became local tv became national tv and the gathering of people grew all the time as well. He was announced as a candidate and immediately went into political overdrive, getting himself, his brand, and his message out to the people as quickly as possible. He was for the people and by the people. A real presidential hopeful in the days that needed a hero to lead them.

He drank some more beer and watched the television as it reported ninety three percent of jurisdictions were reporting in saying that his opponent, Warren, had won but that the race was still too close to call.

The phone rang and he picked it up. “Hello?" “Hey-o j-loser," warren said. “Have you seen the good news, looks like I’m winning. Guess you shouldn’t bet against big business. After all they’re the ones with money and we know everyone can be bought, he-haw-he."

Jared put the receiver down, he didn’t feel like listening to Warrens donkey like laughter.

Jared checked his beer and it was empty so he left the tv and walked to the kitchen to grab another one. He twisted the top off and put it to his lips as he walked back to the living room. As he was about to take another drink the news flashed on screen and reported that all precincts were now reporting and that the winner and new president was Jared.

He had won.

The people had voted him in.

The phone rang.

It was Warren again, conceding the race. Jared laughed and told him it was a hell of a race and hung up.

The phone rang again.

This time it was friends and family calling him up to congratulate him.

He took the phone off the hook and finished his beer and grabbed another one and went to looking out the penthouse window at the city celebrating below. Tomorrow he would start on all the promises he had made and he would get his country back on track but tonight, tonight he would drink his beer and celebrate the race being over.

This motel's coffee is weak
Even after the 8th cup
Trying to shake off the storms
Thundering in my head
Like too many days
When I haven't felt a reason to be
Out on open roads
I promised to write a letter
To you every day
That these wheels have been rolling
But you've forgotten all the curves to my script

Because it's been too long
Since my pen has scriven
And it's been too long
Since I've kept any promises

Another day and another night
Passes by on the road to another town
And I can't keep track
Of where I was
And who I'm finding myself to become
I call you up from a pay phone
On the corner of loneliness and nowhere
But when you answer
I can't find my voice
And there's a silence that hangs deadly in the air
As you ask is anyone there
I know you know it's me
But you play along like a stranger
Dialing the wrong number
And maybe I'm just a stranger to you anyway now

Because it's been too long
Since I have called
And it's been too long
Since I've kept any promises

This place looks familiarly foreign
Rundown warehouses and farmland
That time left buried deep in a past
That's become more of a dream
Than some old reality
I look around to find the same memories
Playing from the viewpoint of an outsider

Because it's been too long
Since I've been home
And it's been too long
Since I've kept any promises

These tires have lost their tread
On the long driveway
To a house I once called home
That I shared once upon a time
With a woman I loved
I see the embrace waiting for me
Behind that dark oak front door
If I could find the courage
To leave this car
And put the key into the lock
With a twist of the ****
I wonder if I'd still find you
There waiting for me

Because it's been too long
Since I have held you in my arms
And it's been too long
Since I've kept any promises

Because it's been too long
And all my promises are gone

Both should never be tasted (let alone ate)
Both carry diseases that you can die from
Both are very popular with politicians
Both hide records from the public eye
Both secretly run the government
Both will ******* for money


One is illegal
The other is not

**But should be