Darling,
Can you hold me?

When the night is cold
And nearby I hear a dog snarling
The streets dark and not letting my anxiety be
Can you hold me?

When the fire's burning bright
And the lighting is just right
Will you hold me close and tight?

When the room is full of boxes
And we're sly as foxes
Unpacking our lives together
Similar, like birds of a feather
Can you hold me?

When the day is long
And I sing you that love song
Can you hold me in your arms?

My safe place
Is seeing your face
Falling for all of your wonderful charms
While being in your arms.


- Jay M
January 15th, 2020

A call to the homesick
To those who roam
Their souls adrift
Wanderers among the vast

A call to the heartsick
To the broken hearted
Grieving their losses
May their hearts mend one day

A call to the uncertain
To those plagued by possibilities
Swirling about in an endless storm
Torn by the hurricane within the mind

A call to the weary
Similar are we
Long exhausted
Eyes beyond dull
Reminders of an empty hull
Crew overworked, with mere hours rest
May their hearts know rest
Within their husks of a chest

Carry on my friends
My weary companions
For we fight the unseen
We know the invisible plight
Battles through every night

Carry on my friends
My wandering spirits
We hear not the cries
But we know the sorrow
We carry our boundless stories
Until we can no longer
To let them go,
Or to end the tale

But carry on my friends
Your tale is not at its end
Your song not yet done
There is more in store
So carry on, for there are days ahead

One day you shall find your place
The home for your soul
One day you shall mend your heart
And it shall beat again
One day you shall know
Not all, but the way is before you

- Jay M
November 29th, 2021

Laughter and banter
A room full of cheer
Couch full of people
Chair supposedly for one
Until another would come near
Squished into the soft chair cushions
Adjust ever so to make room
Now a chair for two

A movie playing
All too familiar, and so
Calm and content
Embraced in warmth
Comfort surrounds
A frigid little soul
Drawn ever closer
To a source of peace

Sleeping soundly
Against one so kind
Resting in such a place
There is somehow peace of mind

Half awake, sounds come in
Fall mumbling upon small ears
Quietly, he speaks but odd whispers
They ask, but he knows not why
Only that she is as a cat is,
When one rests upon you
No longer shall you move
Remain here, in peace

- Jay M
January 31st, 2022

But I see only faceless teenagers.

- Jay M
October 13th, 2022

Wings fluttering overhead,
A feather falling and comes into view,
Leaving a trace of what was once there,
But I have no feathers, nor scales, nor fur,
So how do I leave my trace?
Carried by the wind,
Left to it’s mercy,
Alas, I cannot,
For my wings have been clipped,
Not visible, but once there,
Now gone, no longer fair.

Far below I can only see fog,
Concealing the danger below,
As I look over,
Tempted to jump,
Expecting to fly,
The way I once could,
With my invisible wings,
Now gone, forevermore.

The wind is calling me down,
Beckoning me in a whisper,
Brushing past me and down in the breeze,
Alas, I then freeze,
Thinking of the world I would leave behind,
Those who would lose me,
In the blink of an eye,
It’s all left to me now,
If I choose to go quietly into the night,
Or to stay and fight it,
The battle within.

My choice shall remain a mystery,
But I cannot help but wonder,
As I sit on the edge,
What is their choice,
The others like me?

- Jay M
September 4th, 2018

They wished to break me
To wash away my colors
So I hid them, locked them away
Far away, away, away...

The key, I lost it somewhere
Just out of reach, so now I sit
Lay back, turn up the music
Float in the vast unknown
Into the expanse, detached
Disconnected by this antigravity

When, oh when
Shall I fall unto the ground
And be anchored in my body?
For gone, far away, away, away
Are my colors, hidden from even myself
When they shall return I do not know
Only knowing that they did go
Just out of reach, out of sight
Leaving me with nothing
To hold surely and tight
To save my soul from
This endless night.

- July 19th, 2022
Jay Martinez

Rain patters lightly out the window behind us,
The transparent white curtains,
A dark rug,
Filled with little vines of dark yellows, reds, and greens,
So soft, and so familiar,
Pillows up against the wall by the window,
Pillows off to the right by the wall,
All different;
Save for two.

These two pillows,
The memories they store,
This could be a thing of lore,
Or a thing of bore.

Sequins of ruby on one side,
Sequins of sapphire on the other,
Constantly, some are scattered on the opposite side,
Done by one so mischievous,
Done by one so magnificent,
One whom I hold dear,
Whom I shall never reveal.

We sit there, in this corner,
Under the window,
Rain pattering outside,
Soothing, and familiar,
The scent of them, faint but there,
Soothing and familiar as well.

Sitting so closely,
The light dim,
We smile and simply enjoy the moment,
A moment thought only to be of fantasy,
Yet here we are,
In this moment shared,
So generously spared.

There we were,
Soon there again we shall be,
Not soon, but in time,
Returning to that place again,
Beneath that window,
Those curtains,
The pillows and rug,
The many different,
And the two alike,
Them always messing them up,
Irritating me, yet satisfying me,
Making me thus content.

- Jay M
March 22nd, 2019

Life is a mystery
Solved by living through each day
Picking and choosing each little thing you do
To hopefully come out the way you dream
Even though oftentimes reality is ugly
So unfair and we yearn for things to stay
Remain and not bid us adieu
Things heat up, water to steam
In the night, people scream
Some with delight, others of fright
Some real, some making a foolish deal

Up is right and down is left
South is east and north is west
Stalking about like a major theft
Doing it's very, very best
Throwing a stone in the lake
But it comes back and in its wake
Rush toward the shore twenty more

None hear the cries of the unsure
But discover the corpses of their mistakes
Pondering what could have happened
When there were witnesses a plenty
All spewing acidic lies to disfigure
The twisted thing they could never cure

Life gives and takes
As an ocean pushes and pulls
Metal above a candle blackened
Polished to be shiny, like new

A mother lulls her child
Tells it to calm, no more to be wild
Look to the sky, as it changes hue
Does that not calm a restless soul?

Rolling clouds, endless expanse that is the sky
Some beg and plea and ask it why
But the answer they seek is not in the great vastness overhead
Or in the miles of earth and life underfoot
It's within oneself, and in those you meet
Find it, and embrace it
Don't stop searching
Especially if you're uncertain what you're searching for.

- Jay M
April 17th, 2020

I curse thy name
The one whom dare
To attempt in severing the string
Of red, tender loving fate
Stretching beyond the realm of reason
To bind a pair in eternal bliss
Oh what a test,
What a test of such lengths!

I curse thy name
The one whom dared
Allow me entry into their abode
Only to be cast away
Nevermore to return
To thy fortress of cold stone

I curse thy name
Oh maiden of faces
Viper in disguise of garden snake
Venom dripping from thy cruel tongue
Perhaps poisoning not only thine enemies
But those held ever so dear and near
To thine jagged pit of a heart

I curse thy name
The one whom dare
Not seek the existing truth
Offered to thee in full
Ever so stubborn, as a bull

Perhaps things may become peaceful
All to one day be clear as crystal
If yee only wished it so
Perhaps we could let it go
If the other could but understand
What the other holds in their hand?

- Jay M
December 15th, 2020

Cracked and torn
Fuse with a little glue
Paint on a little green and blue
Give it a better view

Strings of new
Invisible fiber
Pulled up
Rise
Move without care
Move without dare
Dance of the puppet

Pirouette in the dark
Where the stars disappear
Dip low
Give it a swing
Right back up with a ring
Of a distant ear

Without cause or fear
There is nothing here
Upon this great stage
Besides a delicate doll
Dress it up and pull the strings
Letting ghosts and things
Haunt and torment
Oh the lament

Far below
Ice and stone
Chained beneath the surface
Oh how it ever does flow
Far above
Restricting movement
In the frigid waters

What is unseen
Left unspoken
Is hence unknown
Lost to the abyss
Of all that falls away

- Jay M
December 14th, 2020

I'm in love with death
Its warm embrace
Carry my soul away
Leave behind a cold
Lifeless trace
As tears flow
Down my face
Please, my dear,
Dance with me
In this night
Take me away
From this empty
Desolate place
Let me dance
Dance with death

- Jay M
May 6th, 2022

He’s coming.
Rage, hate, steaming,
Hunting you down,
As though you were prey,
Though you thought you knew,
You were wrong,
We all were...
Danger, that’s what it is,
He is.

Think you have the upper hand?
Wrong.
He will never be satisfied,
Not unless it’s his way,
Its way or no way,
Run away,
If you can.

Hope he doesn’t follow you,
I’ll protect you,
Hide you away,
"Just leave us be!"
Would be my plee,
But I doubt it would listen
Danger;
Like a hurricane of devastation,
Destroying all in its path,
Get away if you can,
Run from Danger.

- Jay M
September 11th, 2018

There are some days
When I wake up
And feel

N o t h i n g

Even the sun's rays
Cannot touch the cup
That lies in my mind
Waiting for me to find
Something real

Take a step, when I land my heel
Each time it touches the earth below me
Something calls my attention
Like the buzzing of a bee
As I look about I notice tension
All throughout my body
Fear courses through my veins
And is embodied in sound
Footsteps echoing upon the ground
Reminders of great pains
Slipping through my fingers again like grains
To pour down like powerful rains
From an unforgettable storm

Sit by the fire
Keeping me warm
Cut the wire
Sever it, block it out
To no avail
Error, fail
Cannot shake it
Louder than any shout
Not one bit

Smother the screams
Throw on a smile
Don't let the darkness bleed through
Hold your tongue
Not all is as it seems
Walk about a mile
Understand what you thought you knew
Remember that song they sung
Those pretty little liars in your head
How they would fill you with dread
Well, they're all in your head
So don't give them a voice
Shut them up
And put on a smile
Act like they didn't spill that pretty little cup
The oasis in your head
Is simply that
So wear a waterproof hat

Atomic seconds to seconds
Seconds to minutes
Minutes to hours
Hours to days
Days to weeks
Weeks to months
Months to years
Years to decades
Decades to centuries
Centuries to millennium
Going eventually to eternity
But the reality of it is;
All that's passed is a few minutes

Not all is as it seems
Maybe Poe had it right;
Maybe all we see or seem,
Is but a dream within a dream

Reality is whatever we shape it to be for ourselves
Some feel the have lost that control
To shape their reality
When the answer is right in front of them
Day after day;
You

You shape your own reality
So long as it follows all of the rules, of course
That bind together our lovely little world
Ridden with horror and beauty alike
Only time can help reveal which is which
And what is real or false
A picture or what's true.

- Jay M
April 20th, 2020