Exhaling the smoke
Winding my way through my thoughts
Oh, marijuana

Why I tie about thy wrist,
      Julia, this my silken twist;
      For what other reason is ‘t,
But to show thee how, in part,
Thou my pretty captive art?
But thy bondslave is my heart;
’Tis but silk that bindeth thee,
Knap the thread and thou art free:
But ’tis otherwise with me;
—I am bound, and fast bound, so
That from thee I cannot go;
If I could, I would not so.

At times
I glimpse you in the crowds
Vanishing as a ghost -
I feel you whispering night to me.
I taste you in secret places
While waking into dreams that are not dreams -
And then
Spectral screams
Cut short
Locked away
In the crumpled silences of paper.

I hoed and trenched and weeded,
And took the flowers to fair:
I brought them home unheeded;
The hue was not the wear.

So up and down I sow them
For lads like me to find,
When I shall lie below them,
A dead man out of mind.

Some seed the birds devour,
And some the season mars,
But here and there will flower,
The solitary stars,

And fields will yearly bear them
As light-leaved spring comes on,
And luckless lads will wear them
When I am dead and gone.

at your funeral
your friends & lovers said
"she was so beautiful
and still is when shes dead"
but you requested no mirror
inside your coffin

you slid along quietly
past everyone's face
with so little vanity
we all felt ashamed
for being the epitome
of everything vain

you sought no reflection
in the ocean’s waves
you strived for perfection
but never forgave
my sudden inception
in your personal space

Say my love is easy had,
  Say I'm bitten raw with pride,
Say I am too often sad--
  Still behold me at your side.

Say I'm neither brave nor young,
  Say I woo and coddle care,
Say the devil touched my tongue--
  Still you have my heart to wear.

But say my verses do not scan,
  And I get me another man!

Two days ago with dancing glancing hair,
  With living lips and eyes:
  Now pale, dumb, blind, she lies;
So pale, yet still so fair.

We have not left her yet, not yet alone;
  But soon must leave her where
  She will not miss our care,
Bone of our bone.

Weep not; O friends, we should not weep:
  Our friend of friends lies full of rest;
  No sorrow rankles in her breast,
Fallen fast asleep.

She sleeps below,
  She wakes and laughs above;
  To-day, as she walked, let us walk in love,
To-morrow follow so.

Upon the nightly news
the images of war
implant impressions
of an innocent generation
brought into this
by the tragedies of death

i raised my right hand
to defend this land.
from enemies,
both foreign and domestic
now i hold an M16
and breathe so shallow

this is what i choose
its taken me this far
rebuffing their transgressions
to protect the next generation
so they may find bliss
this is my final breath

i will take in the sand
from the horrors i've seen firsthand
by our enemies
both foreign and domestic
nothing i could've foreseen
and i feel so hallow

on the inside
but this is war
this is my job
i've chosen to do
to be the silent guardian
standing watch

when will Washington decide
this has gone to far
and we've been robbed
and peace is long-overdue
but we are the silent guardians
forever standing watch

we will fight the wars
and defend this nation
forever and always
but without war
were would be
the American soldier

1015

Did We abolish Frost
The Summer would not cease—
If Seasons perish or prevail
Is optional with Us—