Lungs now constrict as the strength flees my knees
And I drift through the years on antiquities breeze.
Visions so vivid, the present dissolves
Till I’m standing in memories, fully resolved.

I’m drunk in a dorm room, surrounded by friends,
Not knowing I’ll never be with them again.
We revel and toast the delights which await,
Until the dawn breaks and we’re forced through the gates.

Impaled by the arrows of numerous clocks,
I fall through adulthood and beg time to stop.
A day’s now a decade, I’ve nothing to show
For the years that I’ve wasted not chasing my goals.

I stumble through life like a drunken old coot,
To numb to suss out the dregs from the loot.
Scenes spiral out from my blind inner eyes
And dissipate swiftly as dreams become lies.

Snapped back to the present, I stare at a screen
And continue my work as I hear my soul scream

Nobody knows, nobody asks why,
My body’s a temple devoted to eyes.
Within and without me, they gather all sights,
No secret forbidden, I bask in their light.

Eyeless scarred zealots cry out my true name,
Lost in an instant, devoured by flames.
Their ashes swirl round me, like snow on the breeze,
I lay bare their sins, and set their souls free.

One man lingers on, though charred beyond rescue,
Raving lunatic prayers, he screams “I condemn you
To sightless despair for eons to come!”
And with this foul curse, at last he succumbs.

With a scoff of dismissal, the heavens alight,
And scorch every eyeball, banishing sight.

Ballyhoo, humdinger, funky macaroni,
Nibble frozen kerosene with my cousin Ptoneigh.
Herd of camels stampeding through the needles eye,
Masquerading as the clergy, no one knowing why.

Filling pages every day with random bits of knowledge,
Been treading water every day since graduating college.
I’m no adult, but not a boy, stuck somewhere in between,
Development, for years arrested, since I was a teen.

Staring through the windshield, blindly contemplating space,
Laughing/Crying Hoping/Fearing for the human race.
Criminals in tailored suits, dementia plotting wars,
When the conmen call the nukes, I hope I have clean drawers.

Bury me face down cuz I can’t bear to the see the rest.
Flabbergasted daily at humanities arrest.

Our time limit is uncertain, but the time is certainly limited.

Chocolate, bear claw, Bavarian cream,
Am I really here or is this a dream?
I can smell coffee and fresh baked goods,
Swaying in line where so many have stood.

The lights are too bright, they’re hurting my head,
Can someone just give me some jelly filled bread?
And three apple fritters, a cruller or two,
At this point, any old fry cake will do.

Rev up those fryers and ready the glaze,
As I’m very drunk, and just as amazed
At the flavor they pack into frosting and dough,
Now stand the hell back and watch my bill grow.

Dozens or hundreds, I can’t get enough
Of these twists so sublime, ah, that’s the stuff.
The driver is ready, it’s my time to go,
I think I’ll just grab a half dozen or so.

We get in the car and start to head home,
What’s this in the bag? A bagel!? God, no!

Rubber chicken bubble bath,
greasy chicken nugget,
Never learned a lick of math
How many in this bucket?

Counting on my hands and feet,
Spilling sweet and sour,
Wolfing down this deep fried meat
By dozens every hour.

Teriyaki, honey mustard, Barbecue, Atomic,
Churning in this raging pit of lava once a stomach.
Though many hours pass, a fire immolates my mouth,
Then I feel the terror of what waits for me down south.

My body is a war zone, a broken ruin burning,
Though I may never eat again, I’m bad at lesson learning.
For if I ever do, I will forget this day,
Once more my organs pay the price, the spice will have its way.

Broken down, discarded dreams,
Slipping through these splitting seams,
Seems to me these eyes can't see
A way to flee this one note scene.

Discordant dissonance of hate,
The fear and pain it propagates,
Weeping mothers, bleeding sons,
A war is waged that can't be won.

Another day, another shooting,
Another factory polluting
Drinking water, poisoned crops,
White collar crimes, when will they stop?

The future never looked so bleak,
Each suture we possess is meek.
But humankind will persevere,
And filter blackened waters clear.