An inner conflict was brewing in the brain of this Regal Man.
Snap shots of his world come and go,
having lost time as his memento.

He never missed the most important meeting
on his calendar each day,
same as planned.

His insipid body,
a vehicle driven by the same shiny things
that attract barracudas.

A papercut on his tongue
from licking an envelope,
was a microscopic distraction.

Yearning for a momentary state of bliss,
it was time for his sinuous routine
to get on with the show.

The *****,
induced a memory of his stoicism,
brought back to life as an afterglow.

Disparate cynics cannot fathom these deepest of depths.  
Man can’t choose his D.N.A.
like he can nomenclature.

Be blessed you are immune child
and take a deep breath.
Habits may be hard to swallow by some;
no plethora of education.
As much of a paradox as this may be,
the pursuit of this dance is not feeling like death.

Knowing that every cylindrical spin of the pistol
can determine the future.
Indulging in an appetite of chaos, will be sure to obscure.

Only hours
before the celebration that gives thanks to our last Harvest,
A quandary, this time was stewing in this stoic man’s galaxy.

On his left shoulder was a badger,
putting his life to THE TEST.
To his right was an angel,
her relentless pleas dismissed.

Like being beset in quicksand,
he dreamed that option was best.
A thought went through his head but vanished like a wave at sea.
Licking his fingers to feel the wind he sang out,
“Memeto- Mori”. (Remember Your Death)

when the curtains are drawn
you just never know what's going on
backstage
they say he passed peacefully in his sleep
but that doesn't put our minds at ease

i remember his smile, a contagious face
we should have seen the scale tipping
how heavy it must have weighed

another one gone
from the class of o one
our ride or die boy
may god bless his two sons.

These days, these days
conflate a man,
Don't you listen to thee

I'm decibels on a hill
mistaken by sand,
My candid lunacy

Spurned one, spurned one,
take my hand,
Forever in company
Forever in company

R ippling waves of righteous reality
E mbrace the lighthouse's illuminated illusion
M orse code to remorseful fallacies
O bscured by the damp, dreaded delusions
R ealization smashes the rocks like a migraine
S uppressing the surrogate contusion
E vading one's self who is always to blame

C onjecture overwhelms the tickling tendencies
O mnipresent overtures sing their symphonies
D edicated to torturing us caged free
E ven scores scour minds endlessly

tell darkness
that love is
lighting a rescue
through our
window pane view

Drink of streams from hidden sources
Blindly ride the star streaked heavens
Breathe in deep and risk your fortunes
Judge the darkness

Seek the ill winded black blown masses
Their eyes ablaze, broadcastin static
Jaws are snapping, they got hungry stomachs
Fixin' for, their latest habits

Dust the sun stroked silver highways
Carve the mountains with your shadows
Your rubber soles and your wooden heels
Are melted black and they been fire straddled

You travelers heed the village windows
Steer the weary, legged lanes
Sounding siren, sings survival
Stinging some to stir their chains

And wonder what wide containment
Seals my mind, bemires my hands
Circles told, hold rumination
Stretched for stars and promised lands

If you’re thirsty then drink from me
My toes are tapped to endless springs
Like rooted trees and jealousies
For salty seas of which they dream

Test your eyes by meteors
Think with thoughts of mountain cores
Walk the edge of an ocean shore
Oh I’m sure there’s more than this
Oh I’m sure there’s more than this

A full moon illuminates our oblivious escape.
The incandescent devil ignites our narrow path  and pilots our parcel's placement terrorizing earth's landscape.

"I'll give you $180 for your wrist watch."

"You animal, this was my grandfather's Timex, I'll take $360 and a barter."

"$240, take it or leave it!"

The moon meanders for a moment, to contemplate whether to turn a full or half cycle. She settles on a little more than half a turn.

"Fine, I'll take $240, but you're gonna lose a few months."

"Deal! Tell January, November and December to *******."

"Sold! Haha, you sucker, those cubes have been melting for decades anyways."

can't seem to put my finger on it, yet all eight tend to try,
there's no hidden agenda here, just my thumbs, me and i,
"your wild nights have done damage," they say,
white coats think i'll take that news sly.

can't seem to pull my digit, there's only one that tries,
spun the wheel, one through six, can't be denied,
my demise tastes like metal and was cold as ice,
so i ended it once, but decided it twice.

"pardon my late night knock,
so sorry to intrude,
i've been selected to be the bearer of bad news."

"what is it officer?
what are you trying to elude?
i didn't see this one coming, not one of the few. "

"i never like doing this, but it's apart of my job,
your son shot himself in the back of your saab.

slow your mind ma'am and remember the laughter,
slow your heart, as it will never beat faster,
i understand ma'am, these desperate measures,
you will fall apart, but he wrote you a letter."

"dear mamma, there's so much to say,
you've watched my path and it's visual fade,
do you remember that time on the promenade,
when we were laughing so hard and fell into the lake?
please dream about that and not your blood soaked babe,
it's not your fault, the knife was a present that day.
forgive my selfishness, don't waste a tear,
my wrath was overwhelming, even for me to bear.
by the way, if i wasn't man enough for the blade,
i loaded dad's little snub nosed 38."

Smoking brush strokes of painted crowds,
overlooking a landscape's higher regime,
spider silk webs inhaled by lungs of teens,
coughing cotton cumulus clouds.

You're so much cooler, yet softer,
green apple e-liquids versus melancholy,
my antique lighter, your boutigue battery,
kills just the same, don't take after your father.

warmer winds breathing human heat,
echoing nostalgia, bending curriculum.

***** pack's  students wade in,
just as nomadic as their predecessors
past the tour of tilted rocks
towards the swelter shelter.

yellow busses spit diesel clouds,
particulates and their masters matriculating
in an ever ending search for fudge.

fossils forgotten for facebook,
a dismal display of disrespect.

nomads nonetheless.

i've been thinking bout dying,
no resolve you'll comply with,
ain't no use to keep fightin,
never dreamed of you.

i spend time in my basement,
a downstairs mind with a facelift,
my body's here you're adjacent,
cannot see your view.

i met a girl in the city,
accepts me for who i am,
tongues like heaven while kissing,
we express our truth.

we would never suffice,
it's the same disease,
we're worlds apart
baby it's alright,
but our souls...
they gotta move on.

The wooden grip
of a solo match
soaked with petroleum
sears eye lashes
Clear the dust bowl
down the highway,
forty miles or ounzes
to burn your fashion
Desolate, dystopian realities
somewhere to be found,
is it me? hanging there
bloated, round.
Get your clean, cold buzz
cause until the cable or noose is paid
it all ends in a
black and white fuzz.

design your body next to me,
close the blinds let’s sleep till three.

choreograph heartbeats
and rendezvous in our dreams.

rewinding roads above box springs,
your toes curl tight around my feet.

when we esplanade under sheets,
high thread counts don't mean a thing.

Your dictation crutches us,
Helios? Ha, no such luck,
you get no more passes,
what even is sin?

Your ******* flux
and anorexic glut
cripples masses
and **** stains porcelain.

Swallow your halcion,
eat your ice cream,
tweet *****, don’t rinse but repeat,
your comments are racists’ dreams.

you’re a turkey neck,
a red rooster’s ****,
alarming our twitter storm
every morning, ******* our stocks.

Our cup of joe is vital, signs
on roads that you detour,
this U-Turn title called potus,
is dying for more.

_trf
tenTWELVEtwentySEVENTEEN

skipping stones
i've lost my mind
can we just take a second

in this place
waiting for my phone
can you imagine

i've lost the rippled fade
i've lost the count of time
i'm deep in your embrace
can we keep the static lines

dreams
last a second
smell like earth and i fall apart
it seems
like every minute our whispers
lose from the start

It's not like....
I'm in this plain existence,
You feel....
and i breathe

Can we dance to harmonies
Can we frolic to and fro
Can we live like war and peace
Can we disco

tired of you dancin,' with somebody else,
our mirror's vision, refelcts somebody else,
fires burning, what the *******,
your desires live, on rancid shelves.

thank you for my tilted dreams,
as desperate elbows fall,
the way my corner leans.

thank you for waves that come and get,
my undertow,
the things i can't admit.

buried words lying to your waist,
your quicksand stomach,
some things i can't embrace.

better hurry, save your face,
your lit cigarette,
smokes like the ace of spades.

feed the trip,
       conduct amends,
take these pills,
       undress your sins,
fake the real,
       it's just the tip,
corner pocket,
       my eight ball's lens.

so tired of you dancin' with somebody else.

Momentum moves as rain commences like a flipped light switch

Oval drops
spider web splatter  tickles across my forehead

Each thousand thumps
Drum circles, not a rhythmic bone in these bodies
this course, wasn't foreseen

Taste buds are soiled, parole is in five to ten for them
And forget faramones
Lost to leisure

I wish I could keep you in my pocket
Not the front left pocket,
where the business cards and xanax reside or my pants,
Lent and loose change

The other one
Not the masquerade
The one that has forgiven me

"this is hoffman, what's going on, where can i find her?"

"there's a nursery rhyme delivering your baby in 114."

"wait, what are you saying, ma'am?"

"nurse heimlich is delivering your baby in room 114!"

"oh sorry, i've been under the weather (chasing the dragon)."

      the fog finds you,
      it'll take your place in time,
      there is no rhyme or reason,
      or even frame of mind.
      the fog blinds you,
      it can't segregate,
      it'll capture all your secrets,
      it doesn't hesitate.
      
      memory recalls you,
      don't procrastinate,
      synapsis fire like machine guns,
      in the middle of the day.
      sensory remembers truth,
      better claim your fate,
      this ain't the time to run,
      new life won't cleanse your slate.

"jane! i'm here. how is our girl? where's doctor klein?"

"she's..."

"shush! mr. hoffman, i'm nurse heimlich. please take a seat.

there were complications with jane's umbilical chord."

"****."

"your baby's lung collapsed, causing her to suffocate. now, we did the best that we could, but the air and blood just wouldn't flow back to her heart."

"i was told there was a nursery rhyme delivering my baby in 114. this isn't a nursery rhyme!"

"then learn something from it, mr. hoffman. I sure am."

so sick of people talking about the seasons.
we all get in an elevator with another and feel some type of way.

ding, ding, ding, ding "what number are you again, 42 right?"

"bingo, thanks." that's weird, how'd he know my floor.

"no problamo." ****, i shouldn't have said, no problamo.
what if he's latino.

"so, how about this weather huh? 94 degrees in mid October"

"yeah, I should have extended my lease in Saint-Tropez, haha"

ok, he's french maybe. phew.

ONE
big season is coming,

AND it's coming soon,

built from the relaxation,
of our inert, intelligible delinquencies.

I bought a harmonica,
I fear what she'll say,
wind sweeps your sarcophagus,
and here's what she'll play.

poooosh, shussshhhh
poooosh, shussshhhh
poooosh, shussshhhh
poooosh, shussshhhh            

Climatic consequences
felt by us all,
we are all allies
once this pier is swallowed.

Buoys will float
down city hall,
there are no lawyers
to get us all out of this.

Are we still
talking about
the turning
of leaves?

**** your

spring
fall
winter
summer and fantasies.

_TRF
                4

my orientation, pixelated on the small screen, tells me where to go.
like pavlov's dog, a ping rings and i obey.
                                                           ­   foggy nights, nature plays her role.
  coordinates escape as the device lethargically reroutes my landscape.

"follow me", SHE insists, british accent and all,
redirecting my already adjunct journey.
"you have arrived at your destination".
                       what does that mean? is this the place?
must be.

a child born or circumstance coerces my mind to meander and i move.
always and forever to the tune of progression.
not understanding infinity, the boy smiles, relinquishing my worry.
he does not yet know these depths his daddy will wander the world seeking HIS peace for the sake of my solitude.

I am merely a speck on a flea living on a fish in a vast sea.
he, the lighthouse, guides me through these deep dark waters.
as the waves churn and churn,
a million miles were traversed to affirm; this type of love

_TRF

Gallon hats wear cowboys,
horses wear the shoes,
righteous women forgive,
a gambling man's news.

Winning tells a story,
losses tell the truth,
trifectas are last resorts,
on a Sunday night in June.

  I'm the only witness,
  to this paradise,
  been a year and change
  since my sentence,
  my how time flies.
  Don't harbor resentment,
  my dear butterfly,
  these days will pass in an instant,
  let sleeping dogs lie.

Fireflies wear lightning bolts,
toads croak the blues,
sit back and enjoy the cantor,
It'll change your mood.

Crickets sing pitch less rhythms,
white fog paints her hue,
sandpaper scrapes resistance,
when it's able to.

Does my darkness forecast shadows,
A high noon noose hangs from the gallows,
Feel the sharks circling shallow,
Swim fast, i'm bleeding.

Peripheral landscapes drape your gilded laughter,
Bronze horizons love alabaster chatter,
Your eyes are lightning blinks faster,
My clouds follow, five miles per hour.

i lasso lightning
i enjoy the pain
it numbs my fingers
it bolts my brain

my smoke rings linger
but the fire fades
i'm drawn to darkness
i'm a long delay

Winds howl through stricken streams,
From the moonshined mountains spiking Tennessee.
Steaming copper pipes protect like turpentine,
Cherish the soil now, sow grape seeds till wine.

Sweetwater medicine crosses Big Sky Country lines,
And a Capitol drowns voices reedy rhynes.
The Carolines and swamps round' New Orleans,
Spokane's foothills spire like Woodland's Cherokees.

Mushroom clouds swooped ponderosa pines,
In the desert one day it made earth cry.


Oh beautiful, ain't time to flee,
The Jersey Wetlands or Houston's pleas,
Hammered nails, wasted woes,
Build a bridge across contrary beliefs.


_trf

mosaics fade, jaded blue,
industry whistles a spineless chorus
and smells like arsenic,

fire snakes the Aztec two step
while howling winds rush ash + rain
around river bends,

paralleled landscapes drape sunset showers
and dry heat escapes the golden moon,
peyote chills a warpaint shade
from dusk till desert dawn.

i was sloshin' through a pool hall one day,
when i saw snake eyes lookin' back at me,
and i wondered if,  i'd ever be the same.

pulled up a stool, to narrate my picture,
she was takin a shot of my go to liquor,
**** it, "hey momma, lemme get your name".

feelin like a creep, to even ask her,
she peeped my phone and demanded my password,
i snatched it back, said that secret's still full a shame.

pressed a thumb to the screen and opened up my credit,
woke up that morning with only lint in my pocket,
down a dark hole,   but out it's sunlight again.

found a note in my wallet,  still never read it,
she disappeared like a forgetful rocket,
comes once before, comes twice, now it's all the same.

to scratch my back and straighten my rug,
her perfume burned like, a desired hug,
i wondered, "hey momma, where'd you get your drug".

******* and opinions
everybody's got em'
one in the back
two in the front pocket
we're all right here...
    so mind your p's and q's.

cynics are silhouettes
dressed for the occasion
never on time
but they always try to fake it,
we're all right here...
   so heed your tongue and move.

_TRF

Droplets of rain marbles
splatter on the tin roof
and weigh hungover leaves,
anticipating summer's sweat.
Conga circles drum cricket croaks,
their symphonic looping chorus
dazes time as stars gaze.

Rabbits are everywhere,
halting but not fazed by my high beams
while the tornado siren sounds,
my cue to get naked.

Atlanta provides the ***** and pills,
so I stay far away,
just ninety three miles south of these hills,
we can't trust me in that place.

i bought us two tickets,
underneath the stars,
our plateau in the distance,
fly the wind with me.

i block the sound of crickets,
muffle right ears with my palms,
alone we bare resemblance,
together we hear calm.

i like to feel your exhale,
warming like summer fog,
let's hike from here to mecca,
have faith in our song.

voyage is illusion,
cannot separate free,
beauty is our fusion,
to air our symphony.

we try to live in these painted pictures,
our scribbled world of smiling sorrow,
faded blight, bleeding bright,
stain the plans we dream tomorrow.

weekends forecast cosmic stares,
stars dim lit the distance,
silence through thunderous chaos,
reigns my bane's timid resistance.

remember when mourning doves
used to loop their song,
hula hooping chorus grooves
flooding dew drops at dawn.

feet wake dancing under sheets,
restless legs stretch long
upon shaky knees
preceding rush hour like fawn.

metropolis blues
beat twenty four seven
like hotels and hospitals,
their pulse.

i see your breath,
cold calling,
i must confess,
it’s shivering.

a pale dew,
from your lips,
thirty-two,
and falling.

looking back,
i’m painted blue,
your exhale
was resisting.

S leazy people out there
Y ou Know who you are
N ever again will you roam free
C onsequences are coming soon
H earts tarnished and dying
R emember when you ***** us
O ver and over in the lair
N ow i inhale that wretched scar
I mages flicker constantly
C ows don't jump over the moon
I shoulda known you were lying
T o sync schedules with a school bus
Y our ashes will suffocate in air

_trf

Hide and seek little baby
I rest in piece little baby
Corn and the cob
Stalks above my crop
Combines harvest through the day

Wind down little child
Wander out into the mountains
You and me mother nature makes three
Set our picnic right here in the valley

Don't weep my sweet love
Doting eyes with a hug
Gonna rest my bones
Where the hound dogs roam
Drop a tear and a flower once awhile