His eyes grew dark and distant
absolutely nothing wrong
He smiled without his eyes
how are you feeling?
nothing, numb, bored

Bracing each other, pushing
                                             out

Fearing the flatline, we find
one another, in the dark

Rubbing the blood back into his palms
he buries his breath in my clean hair
Counting down the seconds, we remember

Leaving the cold room, he asks
is it over now?

I want to feed on your blood
I’m so blood thirsty
So gut angry

You stood me up and it was wrong
You broke my heart so you will pay
I’ll get my revenge on you, so pretty

I’m dead angry, full gone crazy
You stood me up and it was wrong
She’s so happy, she’s getting flirty
She makes me ******* sick

I’ll tear up you’re ugly face
Rip your throat, drain your blood
Satisfy my revengeful thirst

There’s blood on my once clean hands
I love the taste, the coppery sweetness
The taste of my revenge

I’m so blood thirsty, so gut angry
You stood me up and it was wrong
She’s so pretty, getting flirty
She makes me ******* sick

I’ll smother your new *****
Choke her with my love, my hate
All my ******* anger

My thoughts of you when you hit me
Are my reminders, they feed my anger
I feel sorry for your new girl

I’m dead angry, full gone crazy
You stood me up and it was wrong
She’s so pretty, getting flirty
She makes me ******* sick

You’re so sick, the way you touch her
Don’t look for me any where
I’m all alone, cause you hurt me

I’m dead angry, you fed my crazy
You think you’re strong
But I was stronger

She was pretty, so, so flirty
And her blood tastes good in my palms
You caused her death

So you’ve read my diary?
Full of sick confessions
Now turn around, baby
I’m in your room, you’re not alone

You *****…

every time we fall in love,
they call it trite,
a false fairy tale.

love is weak.
and weak ain't trending no more.

every time we speak our mind,
they tell us to shut up,
too young to have an opinion.

the youth is unreliable,
too many fresh hormones.

every time we stand up straight,
they cross us,
crucify us.

acquiescing is appropriate,
they gift certificates in frames for that.

every time we subscribe to a higher code of ethics,
they call us radical,
salivate, and spectate as we are torn asunder by lions.

love should never transcend national pride,
here it's guns, god, no homosexuals or mexicans all the time.

if i make a stand, and you make a stand,
and the dominoes begin to fall,

if i inspire a dozen, and you inspire a thousand,
the gears will grind, the tide will turn,

the lions will all be too full,
and
they surely will run out of nails,
before they've crossed every single one of us.

I listen to my parents try and indoctrinate my brother with their beliefs,
And I listen to him fail to find the words to express that he too has ideas and thoughts and values,
he too has things he wants and needs and dreams about.
I see the frustration of being old enough to love but not old enough to control
and I listen to him fight till his eyes are red rimmed and his voice is spent because that is what he can give to his cause,
to whatever he chooses to stand up to.
And I don’t agree with him, because I don’t see heaven on a computer screen, but I do see heaven and I know what I see is worth fighting for and he knows that too.
So when he slams the door to his room and screams because he still hasn’t found the words and is being to question whether they exist
I listen to my parents lament his addiction, his obsession, his passion and wonder what they truly want,
because who are they to judge what should be of value to his life.
and the reasons they spit in his face, detachment from reality and consumer products
could describe each book they love me for reading,
each TV show that started out a guilty pleasure but snuck into their daily routine,
and who gets to draw the line.
And maybe that's what parenting is, drawing unwanted lines,
but the fact still remains that he cannot find his voice to fight the logic he sees holes in.
and I wonder again what they want,
for him to be filled with the words they use,
the ideas they value,
the dreams they choose
Because then they should buy a parrot.
Because they need to realize that his anger, angst, and rebellion
is just a search for expression.
and as I listen to my parents try and indoctrinate my brother
I pray that he won’t be the convert,
because as ugly as heresy can seem,
God forbid the day he stops standing up for what he believes in.

It’s amazing how fast you can change
Your feelings, priorities can all re-arrange
The pain that you felt is finally gone
You feel like a king no longer a pawn

The confidence you have allows you to shine
You’re healing yourself with a new state of mind
You can never allow to be brought down again
No matter who tries… a spouse or a friend

The power of attraction is in positive swing
Compliments abounding without doing a thing
That’s how I lived not so long ago
Taking advantage as I continue to grow

I can not be stopped by others who wrong
Justify to yourself as I move along
Cause I have no time for those anymore
Who choose to live behind a closed door

My world is open and I see a new life
One that will prosper no worry or strife
Roadblocks will surely eventually form
I will go up and over or through like a storm

With the strength I feel building deep in my soul
There is no more worry I’m back in control
It’s just for myself the control is for me
That’s all I can do I finally see

Joe Callari

I am a mild man, you'll agree,
But red my rage is,
When folks who borrow books from me
Turn down their pages.

Or when a chap a book I lend,
And find he's loaned it
Without permission to a friend -
As if he owned it.

But worst of all I hate those crooks
(May hell-fires burn them!)
Who beg the loan of cherished books
And don't return them.

My books are tendrils of myself
No shears can sever . . .
May he who rapes one from its shelf
Be ****** forever.

In the blossoming winds of life
we are scattered
within forms of silent time
On all those nights where love
Is more than flesh
that holds our will
the foundation we build
Is yours and mine

Defeat is a precarious lantern who's light
Is bitterly bright and unfair
Yet nothing
can spring from rivers
that I call mine
that could ever make me
forsake you,
go there

Discontent
will never be mine to hold
I know that you understand
These words I carve
From my heart
Because my spirit is at
Your command

You are the morning
that quenches my thirst
My fragrance
after the rain
How could I ever forget you
when these sighs
you have left
here in my heart
remain?

The ice
                        forest
       exhales
a tingling             caress
          across my
              face