if you think that i cant hear you
youre probably right
im dreaming again
and youve lost your voice
for the fifteen-millionth time
youre acting like youre screaming
and i have my hands cupped around my ears

and when yelling turns you off
you walk away
and im the *** with his hands on his ears

chase after you
with a pad and a pen
write something down instead
but i lost my pen
and my pad is covered
in doodles of zombies

the curb is no better friend
no worse either
as cold and as hard
as my attempts with you
and your response

and THATS why people learn sign language
for dreams mostly
i have never even tried while sleeping
and if i did im sure that it would be offensive

the more that i think of it
i think that a hug would have sufficed
pluck one of your hairs
and tie it to my sleeve button hole
for it to wag alongside me
as i get back curb-side

ill be the guy wearing the...
nothing
reading poetry by street lamp light

i know
i know
black tank top
see you soon

truly convienent
to be able to tell your boss
im just taking a break
right back to it when i finish this poem
****
you can hang dry wall
AND
write something to make someone
smile
cry
point a finger in your direction

yeah
about that
there isnt anything special
in my portfolio
just stuff i scribble on bar napkins
next to the doodles of you
maps too
in the small spaces that are left
i write those down
i mostly leave them for the barkeep
but not always

sometimes i bring them back to work
here into the room with
the tarps on the floor
cans full of paint
and joint compound
to reread them

and if i werent lieing
about smoking all these cigarettes
i would tell you
that im going to my car to write
just ONE more
before i send you those TPS reports

if only i could upload
all the doodles attached to them
people would know
that im PROBABLY better off
sticking to writing

fancy trender
the algorithms adore me
bits and bites love me
girlfriends gush over
what i write
the promises and perjury i pour out
though other few find it fascinating
a collection of casual carousers
deeply drunk and delirious
leer and like
fumble through and follow
these wild words

which

long for your love
and admonish apathy
say something
anything at least
jovially jeer
praise pompously

i rest
with my hands on the home keys
derive inspiration
from insignificant minutia
and you read
and read
taking a break from your home row
hum drum
flaccid
"oh thats nice"
NEXT

dont read and not write
i give not two
i should say ***
but i wont
i dont care
how inarticulately evil
you chose to be
but you must write

say something
start a conversation
engage your fellow artist

what else are we doing here
if not to inspire
it was never an endeavor
to impress our friends
was it
we found this place
for any kind of outlet
a chance to give breath
to the lightening in our bottles

this is our march
on the collective consciousness
that could be called washington
london
but when we march
we hold hands
chant
sing
speak with one another
and form bonds
and that should be done here too

without those acts
we are protestant pastors
banging on pulpits
toward a parish
that no longer exists
or if they do
never say "amen"

amen

im not going to let
this go to "yesterday" status
though ill probably write this tomorrow

why would you do that
cut me off of all the terribly wonderful things i have to tell you
this stopped being a poem a stanza ago
i have been working for this
a chatter
failing all the while
with a blessing
never been mine
or yours

ill meet you in the morning
when you are grouchy
bitter
and i
and i am hung WAY the **** over
in fact
i woke up
waiting for you

to be moody
to chance what im getting now
i woke up to
harass you
to make you hate the whole thing
ill stick that badge on my skin
pierced for the first time
ill do it
take me

soon then right?
ill take you with me
again,
where are we going?

that phrase carries such a punch
wow
wow could mean this
"i cant believe you could"
or it could mean that
"you would ask me"
it COULD mean the other
"how could you?"

but christ
thats not a swear right
christ?

im not going to win this fight
i didnt even have on head gear

****, ill be bloodied
and you wont even be bruised

would you help me
unlace both my gloves?

you can do that right
if i taught you how to tie it
you can take it the reverse way

another three minutes
lost
to the rattling of the branches
to the shuttering of leaves
to the crash that they make
the BOOM
on the floor
we can hear those

im a fan though
of the noise
that will always win
as long as you
are there to record it
peripheral mic catching
every partial sneeze

jeebus
we are going to slap hands
no matter what happens
swoop
or sail

bye i guess

jarring wah-wahs
atop the high hat rich
rhythms that any teenager
could bang out with two
ball point pens and a palm heel
a voice like yours moans
squeals and asks for moar

we are calling that pr0nstep now

take me out
and dance till three
you dont even have to talk
ill be fine
squinting and flailing
cherishing wild gesticulation
raking my fingers through the head
giving you a new hairstyle
to make fun of in the morning

i gush through my body language
throwing hands out
making public seem private

this is the dance floor
we can scour for whats left at close

IS THAT A ***** PACK??
here
stick my stuff in there

forget that parking ticket
i know a guy
drive me home
i have something i want to show you

i carved out a place for us
two abreast
clutching the other
palms touching

ive been whispering to you
but that kind of voice goes no louder
i tap you on that shoulder
and you spin around
while i grin

i thought you knew that
i was going to trick you
at any single cost
i had nary a single idea
that you would cross your arms
and stomp the rest of the way
through the forest
over the path that i cut

OooOoOOo!
flowers!
look
how big do you want your bouquet?
forget it.
let me just weave this one into your hair.

wanna skip?
im a skipping champion!

no?

uh, wanna climb that tree???
look at those limbs!

bugs, huh?

ummm, lets sit on the forest floor
just to pray
for the two of us.
yeah
lets do that

dont believe in god?
****

me either

well
i guess we could turn around
the sun isnt yet down
and i can still see the road
but we have come too far
im thinking its not in our best interest
just a bit more
i hear the other side is
MUCH more charming

here
get on my back
i got this

ok....
shoulders then
ok
ok
ow
yeah
thats it!
the view is WAAAY better up there