fifty-five years of kissing
chores, fights, make-ups
two wars, countless pies
a near-divorce and three beautiful grand kids
what's it all mean, she says
her voice trembling, clinging to life
him next to her, paper-skinned, a deathbed
we're but temporary blips on a cosmic radar, she near cries
and every word burns like cigarettes in his eyes
we may be temporary, but it all adds up, my dear
his voice the strength and wisdom of ten thousand kings
would you never hold a flower,
knowing it would someday be dead?
and amidst an ocean of dreams and regrets
she smiles at his familiar warmth
the last, most alive kiss she ever got in this life.

life is on sale
but always paid with flesh
a ship that sinks
in an endless stream of pretty
unforgiving things
play with fire
every chance you get
whoever told you to grow up
were insanely jealous
stare at the sun
wear your lack of a brain as a disguise
forget umbrellas
**** always attacks from below
cross the line
never look back
time machines are called money
you had wings once
but lost them twice
reflections chase mirrors
because they're alone
cradle machine guns like
newborn babies
turn off the TV and
burn the books
even hell has Instagram these days
the only castles worth the candle
are the one you built as a kid
but that doesn't buy any press
or a spot on MTV cribs
followers are up
life is on sale
but always paid with flesh.

we obsess over top speed and delays
when distance should be measured in loneliness
instead of miles
we travel in light and time
a fate both cold and sweet
stuck in orbit
on a lonely blue marble
so we dream
some borrowed, some our own
sometimes regretting
something we should have done
but never did
we watch the news
but just for while
'cause it makes us feel
like
we're a play that was put on
and the director got bored
and threw away the key
another explosion tears flesh apart
and we're reaching for the remote
as high-definition cable
paints their far-away wounds
with bright salty colors
and we get to watch
as our lives happen in the ruins
of our most perfect, innocent selves
some walked away in anger
some never returned
some had a kid
but who's counting
unless it costs money
another candle in the none-the-wiser cake
we bought more beautiful things
maybe to hide the ugly inside
when did we get so afraid
to even look inside?
afraid of what we might see
afraid that there is still good
but that it comes at a price
happy birthday earth
didn't get you a present
it's not yet on sale

I remember being born
Of daylight and eternal devotion
This all-enveloping warmth
I remember
When you opened your childish eyes
For the very first time
And I found my home
The one I always wanted
A million adventures shared
Sometimes getting into trouble
Before you forgot
And then remembered
"Enough! I'm supposed to be an adult"
So I watch and I listen
From the shadows
A dog abandoned by its master
Cold and alone
"I'm here, can't you see",
I whisper from the darkness
As the silence crushes me
Forever yours
A frozen river of devotion
A time machine that waits
Behind an unbreakable veil
Sometimes bold
Sometimes afraid
This is my battle
A fight that is never really over
But worth every penny
Like that one time
A scrape found itself unwelcome
On your bruised, bleeding knee
And I went and found
Your mother's warm kisses
And that magic band aid
The one that started our next adventure
Remember?
A Geronimo!
We shouted it together
Before you jumped back
Into the fray
Wielding a smile so big
Vulnerable and powerful beyond belief
So I dance with the wind
And tell stupid jokes to entertain the sea
Just to pass the time
Hoping you'll return to me
I'm still the whisper
That guides your pen
And I still believe in
The magic of your beautiful ink.

She's a mythical creature in skin tight jeans
The one and only reason denim exists
Her beauty is all games and never
That serious
More than deadly
A total loss of cabin pressure
And I'm not even reaching for the oxygen
We all gotta die some time
Right?
I just want the way her perfect skin plays
Hide and seek with every beam of light
To be the last thing my nerve endings experience
Before my dying brain says
I'm outta here
Good job!
And never wakes again.