Some men pine away,
Others pick themselves up, grieving
To shake themselves as if to say,
"That chapter now is ending,
And I must on my way"?

One man mourns her loss as though
The universe is ending;
Drowns himself in alcohol,
Defeated, hopeless, misery unending.

Another plunges into work,
You'd never know an inner ache
Had driven him berserk;
We watch to see a crack or break,
But nothing seems to lurk.

Another builds a monument so fine,
Resurrects her beauty high above
Whatever glory she had once refined...
No ending to his paeans of love.

Other men find loneliness intolerable,
Run off in search of other loves to fill the void,
Besmirch her memories ineffable,
Remarry only to become annoyed.

"Most men must suffer when alone":
A rule to write on stone eternal,
While human love is flesh and bone,
Romantic love transcends supernal.

Have you ever committed a sin
Again and again and again

Where it becomes a part of who you are
Scar upon scar upon scar

You started out asking forgiveness
Feeling sorry like nobody's business  

Until it knocked on your door once again
And you let it come waltzing back in

Hating the time that you give it
Wondering why you can't quit it

You battle it so many times
Is this fast forward or is it rewind

Like a comfortable recliner set up in the den
You start to relax around the same sin

Thank goodness there's no film at six
Showing the shame of this over used sin

Like a cancer that clings to the bone
A sin that won't leave you alone

Wretched man that I am
Who can save me from this over used sin

Thanks be to God, who delivers me
Through Jesus Christ who sets me free

sometimes alcohol makes my
stomach churn with its lies.
the more i take, the less i feel.

maybe there are addictions worse
than addiction to skin.
i can't understand why you
make me feel so empty
so my glass is always full.

i'm scared of kissing you sober,
i've never kissed a man sober.
i tell you i love you,
hoping you'll blame my
***** veins.

i don't trust smiles that
hide the teeth,
but i'm here now,
cradled in his palms,
tasting his flesh.
i once thought his eyes
reminded me of oceans,
now i realize they remind me
of sharks.

he looks like someone that
could **** me,
that's just my type.
i forget to say no.
the last man i loved put his
fingers inside my mouth
and ripped my tongue out.
my body doesn't know
how to say no anymore.

last time,
this is the last time,
oh i said that last time.

i fell too deep into the rabbit hole,
like alice in wonderland,
except alice is the one
who fell in love with the mad hatter,
and alice is the one
who lost her head.

it's getting darker,
and i'm afraid.
i can't stay, my dear,
i can't stay.
the pen will only run out
and i'll be awake all night
if i don't empty
it of this ink.

never mix a poet and an artist.
he whispered to me, his words mix like
paint in his head to form a beautiful
sunrise.
"two pretentious people can never
get their way,
we're two busy expecting the other
person to make a move".
i'm too scared to let him get close,
i'll write about him,
i won't be able to forget about him,
and all i want to do is act reckless
at night and pretend
i'm good in the morning.
i wonder what games i'm playing this time.
maybe i wanted to kiss him,
maybe i didn't.
my brain can't make it's mind up.
i'm fickle.
all i know is an emotion in the moment,
and i tug on it,
i won't let it go.
if i can feel anything at all,
let me feel it.
so i'll play with his hands and he'll shake
his head and complain i never know
what i want,
and our heads lean in and i tell myself
i won't kiss him,
and something twists in my stomach,
and i tug, i tug.

My heart would  have me stay
When my flesh would bid me go.
True Love demands my sacrifice
For the good of the One I love,
Though lust would tell me no,
I choose to LOVE.

Always it is so this side of Glory:
Aftertastes linger
Though forgiveness covers us.
We roil sometimes in regret,
Though we are healed.

Grace greater than our foolishness
Surrounds us.
Wisdom grows
Though sadnesses arise;
Caution joins us.

Somewhere along our way
We realize a joy that joins us,
Leads us, cleansed, toward peace.

Journey on, Sisters and Brothers.
We, all of us, have sinned and fallen short.
He is carrying us and making His Kingdom in us.
Never give up.
Look forward to joy.

Walking in the Light,
We sorrow for the scars received in Darkness.
We press on toward the Scarred One
Who calls us Children of the Day....

These poems do not live: it's a sad diagnosis.
They grew their toes and fingers well enough,
Their little foreheads bulged with concentration.
If they missed out on walking about like people
It wasn't for any lack of mother-love.

O I cannot explain what happened to them!
They are proper in shape and number and every part.
They sit so nicely in the pickling fluid!
They smile and smile and smile at me.
And still the lungs won't fill and the heart won't start.

They are not pigs, they are not even fish,
Though they have a piggy and a fishy air --
It would be better if they were alive, and that's what they were.
But they are dead, and their mother near dead with distraction,
And they stupidly stare and do not speak of her.