Oh to dream
Of dear friends
Whom would never,
Could never think of you
In the same way that you dare to;
Funny things are those in dreams

Funny how you dream
Of strong arms wrapped around
Holding your small torso safely
Only to awake, to find they were never there

Funny how you dream
Of being spooned gently
When it would never,
Could never come to pass

Funny how you dream
Of a delicately shared kiss
Ever so tender and sweet
Only to awaken, knowing it would never,
Could never truly be

Funny how you dream
Of being on a persons mind
Awakening to know you are wrong

In dreams, you dance and sing,
Whilst upon awakening,
You sit, remaining quiet;
How funny, how sad

In dreams you laugh, smile together,
Cherishing every little moment,
Whilst upon awakening,
You merely glance,
Faintly manage a smile,
Longing for a conversation
Even a single minute longer;
How funny, how laughable,
How pitiful are you whom dare dream

What a shame,
Dreaming about such things,
About a person whom,
More likely than not,
Sees you as a mere pest.

- Jay M
October 10th, 2022

Suffer in my skin
Burn, itch, scream
Scratch and bleed
Peel away, fall away
The dead make way
To bring forth more
All to die, all to be shed
To crash and be forgotten
Scars scarcely to fade

Suffer in my clothes
Fabrics conceal
But only for so long
Before they must be torn away
Cast aside, as others before
To be cleansed and worn anew
Each day bringing new sentiment
Or perhaps only for a single moment
A single day, to cherish or to lament.

- Jay M
September 23rd, 2022

Troubling times
Trickier still are the uncertain
The questioning, the curious
The disconnected and unsure

Caught, perhaps, in an illusion
The unforeseen, dismantled reality
For what could this be,
Than the utterly surreal?

Spirit in flux
Or whatever it may be
A mere observer in this place
So familiar…yet not meant to be
Not quite like before
Before being encapsulated
By this most strange dream

Is it a dream, this odd feeling?
This faded, jaded land that surrounds
The very air seems confused
The trees unsure how to sway
The birds misleading and disoriented
Or perhaps it is I who is disoriented?
Or whatever “I” may be…

Who am I, who is this?
This stranger whom gazes back
Through the looking glass
Features once akin to me,
Now they look back,
Rather a stranger than reflection

A body, a vessel
Piloted by a soul
A skeleton propelled
Drawn on and on
Drag the weary feet
Or perhaps take a break
Switch flipping in the mind
Walking, breathing, responses
Nodding and moving
Without thought, without wondering
With memory as a guide
Until the moment breaks
Waking up, back in control
Where have you gone?

Unfeeling, unyielding
Pinch, scratch, burn
Release, escape
Desiring to awaken…
But all assure you,
“You are awake.”

- Jay M
September 19th, 2022

Born of a dream
Into flesh and bone
Ripped apart to regrow.

- Jay M
September 14th, 2022

Falling through the parallels
Cascading into the unknown
Vast expanse of the cosmos
Drifting through realities
Concepts close, yet so foreign
Crashing through layers of understanding
Slipping away into the indescribable void

Dark and unfeeling
Unsure of any heavens or hells
Valhalla or helheim, underworld or elysium
Disconnected for seeming eternities
To be caught in flux, in transcendence
While still encapsulated within mortal vessels
Souls kept within strange quarters
Pilots of flesh and bone

Journey through the expanse
Venture into plains untouched
Seen, but never disturbed
Sacred lands, without defined boundary
Effervescent luminescence,
Fluid and undefined
Perhaps a vision of the ethereal
Or voyage into the astral.

- Jay M
September 13th, 2022

Wooden door, wooden door
I shall enter you evermore
With weary feet or woeful mind
Your locks never hard to find
Opened by many keys, over many years
Mine of gleaming crimson red

Beyond the threshold
Into the depths of my despair
Washing over like an intoxicating wave
Slowly yet ever so surely
Knowing this is their sacred lair
Since I was but a young child
Seven years in this dismal house
Break a mirror, and of course
Hope the misfortune would be gone
Faded after seven years

But is it so,
That the misfortune had anywhere
Anywhere else to go than here?
As I pace these bleak halls
Of blank white and dust
Floor creaking upon uncertain steps
Sounds surely to fall upon
Overly critical ears
Wooden door, wooden door,
I shall pass through you evermore
Many times you’ve been slammed
Other times sheltering the world
From wars of words, of hatred
Fear and violence echo here,
Echo in the still of night
In the near silence of their slumber
But I do not sleep, I cannot dare
I lay awake, night after night
Dreamer am I, shall I always be
Grant me freedom, wooden door
Grant it to me in due time,
Oh wooden door,
Grant it to me evermore.

- Jay Martinez
September 12th, 2022