I can't perceive a single shadow that can call itself a man,
when all they see that's made of gold appears to me as grains of sand.

I'm sorry I cannot write tonight
My muse was but a wet match
Struck against the box until the tip broke off
And I hoped it was my neck

There's no light in my head tonight
Nothing to inspire me
I've tried to drag myself down lower
But numb was all I found

Goodnight.

When we put forth a new idea

and others we abhor

we never even seem to miss

all that we had before.

Inside our mind, inside ourselves,

all other truths can cease

and only if we destroy “I”

can other thoughts increase.

All I see destroy this world

comes from one iniquity

We’ll always be but blind children

until we shun our vanity.

I was asleep when the world started to end.
While the first skyscraper fell, I was under my covers dreaming of somewhere new.
I was asleep when the world started to end.
While the virus ran its course and charged like a legion of soldiers, I was pressed against my pillows watching shadows behind my eyes.
I was asleep when the world started to end.
While the fires broke out in the churches and the bombs went off in the hospitals, a puddle of drool was collecting on my blanket while I snoozed away.
I was asleep when the world started to end.
While the tidal waves hit the shoreline and washed away shopping malls and grocery stores, I was sprawled out across a bed, lightly snoring.
I was asleep when the world started to end.
While the asteroid entered the atmosphere and  the people of this world shouted in terror and confusion, I was talking in my sleep to anyone who cared to listen.
I woke up when the world was over.

i pray for nothing more
than for you to drain this heart
of every last drop
to drain me
of every last drop
leave me dry
leave me hollow
leave me numb
i beg you
kiss me softly
and steal away this breath
leave me cold
and still
bury me deep beneath the earth
beneath the dirt
under your fingernails

Maybe rock bottom
Could become
The solid foundation
We've both been searching for.

When the birds devour me
I hope they start with the soft tissue
my eyes and ears and mouth destroyed
my senses lost to the sky

When the birds devour me
I hope they find their fill in my stomach
where the weight of the world was carried far too long
wearing my viscera like Versace

When the birds devour me
I hope they pick my digits - one through ten and ten again
so I may touch every part of the world when they carry me away
so that my feet may fall on grounds I’d only dreamed to grace

When the birds devour me
I hope they tear open my chest and make their way behind these ribs
not realizing the irony of the situation as they sing
and I am filled with the music with each rise and fall

When the birds devour me
I hope they take my bones between them in their thanksgiving, pulling
wishing for legs to run and hands to hold, for lips to kiss
if they only knew, if they only knew

I see you swinging
you smile when the wind is in your face
you laugh when your stomach drops a bit on the backswing
you look so happy
I’m so happy

I see you swinging
you cry when your toes hit the ground
you shudder when you lose momentum
you look so sad
I’m so sorry

I see you swinging
you start all by yourself sometimes
you get a push other times
you just sit there once in a while
I’m so nervous

I see you swinging
you know I’m watching
you know I’m feeling
you know I’m thinking
I’m so confused

I see you swinging
and I sit here playing in the dirt
building castles
wishing you’d stay in the air and never come down
I’d always know where you were
and I wouldn’t have to see you swinging