Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
 
chris m Feb 2014
all we are are tired teens
breaking down at the thought
of leaving our homes
to travel abroad
to go forth and learn
our mindset must be firm
but right now we are
falling down
and trying to pick ourselves up
we falter to be
there is no time to dream anymore
no time to even sleep
no room to breath
no space to think
we are lost to notions
that it will get better
in the near future
but will it be

all we’ll be are putout parents
breaking down at the thought
of leaving our homes
to go to work
to make ends meet
our minds can’t be deep
and all we’ll be is
broken down
and trying  to pick ourselves up
so our kids don’t see
there is no time to dream anymore
no time to even sleep
no room to breath
no space to think
we will be lost to notions
that the end is near
and find comfort in
mortality
chris m Dec 2013
It was autumn
And like the leaves fall to the ground
I fell for you

Dressed in your
Burnt oranges and light browns
Those skintight sweaters and ankle boots
With their zippers undone and patterns exposed
Did I ever stand a chance?

It was autumn
And like the Earth falls into the sun
Your gravity pulled me in

Dressed in all
Your little giggles and slight smiles
Those hazel eyes averting mine
And your hand that would fit so well intertwined
Did I ever stand a chance?

I just wanted to stop you
When you said you can’t
And hold you
Until you knew you could

But I can’t
And I never could
chris m Dec 2013
Boy out of order
Order a new one
One that won’t break
Breaking was easy
Easy to fix?
Fix me?
Me, the boy out of order
Order a new one
One that will work
Working well?
Well, not anymore
More repairs
Repair the boy out of order?
Order a new one
One that will make you smile
Smile, daddy’s going to buy
Buy you a new boy
Boy out of order
Out of commission
Broken, broke
Waiting, wait
For the girl with rough hands
Rough hands and hard eyes
Eyes that drill
Drilling into my body
Nobody cares
Who cares about me?
Me, the boy out of order
Order a new one
One with standard features
Features that are simple
Simply tell him what to do
Do this, do that
That the boy out of order couldn't do
chris m Dec 2013
T.V. dinners and casseroles
Comfort food for wounded souls
Adding up the aftermath
One light on at home
Resisting the urge to laugh
In disbelief that you're alone
Tonight your eyes are dry
From all the tears that you've cried
Tomorrow you'll find time
To get him off your mind
After you call the insurance company
To change the policy
And you stare at the photographs long and hard
Take scissors to the worn out credit cards
Wash the last load of clothes
Take another minute to close
Your eyes and remember
His wrinkled face
Standing in this place
Smiling at you
No need to cry
So much left to do
Time to open your eyes
Something you despise
But you know you have to
Make up your bed
Regret the words unsaid
Sell one of the cars
Rethink everything's 'mine'
No longer 'ours'
Cut the grass
Take out the trash
All the while,
Learning that nothing lasts
Listen to all the condolences
Curse the time that's stolen his
Memory from your mind
Despite all the time
He was here
With you
It’s so clear
It was true
And it's so sad watching you
Wash the dishes at home
Hearing your lonely moans
Driving to the store
But knowing it's only for
You and you alone.

Yes, watching the empty chair across from you
Makes you want to die a little too
chris m Dec 2013
I ran after you on the hard concrete
Tired, worn, and calloused bare feet
But nothing could stop me
Not the storm in the sky
Nor the look in your eye
Not today
Today I run until you stop
Until our looks finally lock
Tired, worn, and calloused eyes
Teary and bloodshot
Perhaps you’ll see
Something worthwhile in me
That could somehow keep your feet
Rooted to this gritty concrete
chris m Dec 2013
These painted faces
Haven’t seen many places
A dusty shelf they call their home
A fake self is all they have known
They dress up and make up and
In the morning they wake up
All alone on their shelves
All by their lonesome selves

These painted faces
Will tell you what “good” taste is
Their smiles are painted on
Their happiness is long gone
But they know how to get what they want
They know how, where and what to flaunt

These painted faces
Are all dressed up in laces
They play with their food
Always in the mood
To play with their toys
And play with their boys

These painted faces
Have many shallow graces
Have one shape and one size
Have malice in their eyes
And have hearts full of lies,
But painted faces are lonely
Because in the end they only
Ever come home
To shallow, hollow selves
And shallow, hollow lies
To dusty, empty shelves
And dusty, empty lives
chris m Oct 2014
when you’re all alone with the mountains
in the light autumn breezes
does your mind drift back to me?
if so or if no
sway now
back and forth between
where you are
and where you’re from
you and me
reflected in pools of sand
your cheeks
my nose
our fingers meet
shattered distances at last
tension crescendos
and we shattered
into petals of memories
falling
falling
drifting
drifting
farther
farther
in the light autumn breezes
all alone with the mountains
chris m Feb 2014
In you I have found
A discomfort
An uneasiness
I stand no shores of sand
And the ocean steals the ground
Where I have rooted
I do not know
How long I can stay
I do not know
Whether storm or tide
Will carry me forth
To other distant beaches
Where I may dock for a time
I do not know
If I will die here
I do not know
Where you are now
I only feel our world
Shift beneath me
And can only watch it being carried away
Neruda tribute
chris m Aug 2014
caught in moments,
arches of our lives intertwining and declining
sine and cosine-ing until we come to a
point on our plane
shared around a table, one reality
my mind to your mind to my mind to our mind
to this conscious existence
we think therefore we are
together, now
now how and what and where and why
as we sit here side by side
my/our memory                                                           ­                                         
caught
in
faces/features
chris m Aug 2014
Look outside, look up, and find the moon
Look and know somehow I’ll be there soon
I’m out there somewhere thinking of you
Waiting for the early morning dew
The stars peer down
Watch me lying on the ground
A peculiar sight
On this clear summer night

Look outside, look up, find a shooting star
Look and know I’ll go wherever you are
I’m out here somewhere thinking of you
Like the stars I’m yours through and through
Watch the night sky
See with your own two eyes
Know I’m always near
Somehow, wherever you are, dear

Look outside, look up, and find the dawn
Look and know ever closer I’m being drawn
I’m out here somewhere dreaming of you
And you’re out there somewhere dreaming too
So look up and look out
Know what this night sky is about
Find the moon in its starry sea
And know that you’re watching it with me
This is a pretty old poem- I wrote this close to 3 years ago, but I still think it's an ok poem. I might use this as a Moon poem
chris m Dec 2013
It was so easy to smile
For the photos being taken
So easy laughing
For the ears always listening
It was so easy acting

(For you)
               (For me)
                             (For us)
               (For you)
(For me)

And now the smiles and laughs
This whole relationship act
Stare me in the face
In this sacred place
Where my writing is born
Now so hurt and so full of scorn
And the tears, all my hidden fears
Are all so crystal clear
Through the photo frame glass
All our hopes and dreams are dashed but
It’s so easy to smile
For the photos being taken
So easy laughing
For the ears always listening
It’s so easy acting

(For you)
               (For me)
                             (For us)
              (For you)
(For me)

Like I’m happier than ever

(For you)
chris m Feb 2014
Hot heads, steaming
dripping with thoughts and feelings
and fight behind their eyes
nails to rip the flesh
teeth to grind the bone
skin to protect the innards
pickled in blood and water
speckled- follicle by follicle
caught with tension
in still, warm air
Flaring fingers *****
in search of ledges
edges to catch on
break the descent
if only for a moment
the moment that defines
this moment that defines
moments define
cooled heads, streaming
dropping off morals and emotions
chris m Feb 2014
I wonder who I am
to you. In your eyes?
When you hold me
When you kiss me
When you touch me

Who am I in your hands?
What’s my name, what’s my story?
Surely you and I must have a sad one
Surely I must have a sad one
For you to have been so willing
So ready to let me
Hold you
Kiss you
Touch you.

Do we look alike? Is it in my eyes
In my arms? When I hold you
In my lips? When I kiss you
In my fingers? When I touch you

Maybe we walk the same talk the same
Maybe it’s all in the way I chose to handle you
When you were alone
In the dark
How you were held
How you were kissed
How you were touched

But what if all this time
You thought that I was
Holding
Kissing
Touching
You.
chris m Dec 2013
We were all once believers
But we grew up
And slowly forgot
Wishes and good luck

We were all once in control
But we grew up
And slowly gave in
To the teenage stuff

We were all once satisfied
But we grew up
And suddenly found
A kiss wasn’t enough

We believed lies
And we made truths
We said goodbye
As we broke their rules

Yes, we were all once boys and girls
But we grew up
And gave up
chris m Dec 2013
And here I thought I’d
Buried you
                    More than six feet under
My skin
       Where you could never
Play tricks
                    On my eyes
Again

But the reality is
You are standing

Here,

In front of me,
Taunting me
With your smirk

All I have in my defense are these words
Words that slip from my hands,
Through my fingers like water
Pouring out of my mouth
From my pen
Onto this page

And here I thought I’d fixed that leak
Months ago
After I’d washed your smile from my
Mind’s eye
And cleansed myself of
Naïve passion
      I stood in silence–
Alone

But the reality is
You are staring

Now,

Right at me,
Taunting me
With your eyes

And I am afraid of what might have been
If we might have been…
But that dream of mine
Should have died
With my ink
When it dried

And here I thought it was a dream
Long forgotten
Shattered into two
Separate lives
You running in the
Opposite direction
   And me, turning
Away

But the reality is
You are standing

Here,

In front of me,
Taunting me
With your sweet
And inviting
Laugh
chris m Jul 2014
The vacant, quarantined building
On the middle of main st.
Busted, breaking down- demolished
Rooms forgotten
Unfilled// with people/thoughts/lost memories
Patched with various shades of
whites/off whites/eggshells
Broken/peeling/dripping
With yellow clingy innards
Moving along my palm and fingers
Dripping//
from my lips/from my eyes

Catch it please
Catch it won’t you catch my words
Won’t you catch and be caught
Speak to me
Drip/dry/shrink
In the mid-day sun
Open up baby, I’m coming in
With pliers and piercing bullets
No walls can’t be scaled
I’ll bump/bust/buzz
A real game of operation
Dissecting the truth of
Past/present/future
You’s and me’s

Speak so I can echo
Like vacant halls/empty stairwells
Take me step by step
Hand in hand
Pull up floorboard after floorboard
Searching for the dirt in our foundations
If only fingers could reach
Farther and farther- they falter
Sinking into mud//alone
CAMP Prompt: Describe a feeling without using any feeling words.
chris m Aug 2014
how morbid a thought
caught in the kitchen sink/in the tiles/in the spotlights
illuminating my memory-
a human/a female/a mother
my mother standing with
a feline/a female/a pet
my pet sitting with intrigue
how common a scene
as if there were food coming or a treat
but today/tonight
only contentedness
and me observing such a human flash in the pan
how odd- at 18 to realize
all things come to an end
hate/happiness/loneliness/sadness/love/life
first the cat then the mom then me…
or that’s the supposed natural order of things
am i bitter? i accept
am i naive? i understand
it has to be this way there is no other way any other way
my mother is more than 3 times my age
the cat more than 3 times younger
we will all live an impossibly long life
in dog years
chris m Dec 2013
Pretty Clothes

Pretty clothes so tight and taut
Unravel when a string is caught

Pretty clothes so cut and clean
Don’t stop the stains from being seen

Pretty clothes so nice and new
Can be fit to cover all of you

Pretty clothes so polished and pressed
Can be faked for even less

These pretty clothes are all around
Catch your eyes with silent sounds

How easily replaced they are
High maintenance, they won’t go far

Sensible is the real way to go
Plain, simple, nothing new to show
Unlike all these pretty clothes
chris m Aug 2014
it’s all just a matter of re-******* and re-******* and re-*******
my head back in place
everytime they walk by
no distractions no distractions
follow the straight and narrow--
yes, we follow the straight and narrow,
the girls wrapped with the tight
elastics and see through tops
the powdered faces and porcelain bodies that
seem to go on and on and on
but it’s all just a matter of looking ahead
keeping your head on straight
no distractions no distractions
even as the mascara flickers on their eyelashes
like black fireworks on a white sky
even as they float by stealing time
with their hourglass figures and ancient eyes
but no
not this time
nodistratctions nodistractions nodistractions
it happens everytime they talk or sigh and especially
when they say goodbye
but to hell with all these silly teenage girls
and their platinum-blonde/midnight-black/chestnut-brown/blood-red
personalities-- stuck in the wrong realities
constantly throwing themselves
against the walls walls walls
cutting their fingertips on the sharp edged boys they clutch at
until they bleed bleed bleed
wondering why no one ever hears their
desperate tears tears tears
looking to boys like me to catch them
when they fall fall fall
but it’s just a matter of turning away--
re-******* and re-******* and re-*******
my head back in place
chris m Aug 2014
Catch yourself wandering though memories
Shades of maroon and purple panging and banging demanding commanding your gut and your dreams at night

Burn it
ashes/ashes                                                            ­                                                  
the moment unpronounced
a blessing and a curse
bouncing in and around your mothers regrets- ashes
reminding you that there are some things you’ll never know
some things you’ll never forget
lips parted and toenails painted
a whole life
one’s existence unmarked by your
conscious/subconscious                                                                ­                        
Vacations and children and mortgages and dreams and ashes
late nights on phones calling long distance to
men/women/lovers/friends                                                          ­                      
and people you’ll never meet
people you’ll never speak to

Heartbreak is an abandonment of trust
a mouthful of ash
but it’s only the first step in forgetting a life
and leaving the dream
leaving the castle crumbling real fast
the castle built but past
satisfied with the obliteration of
one name/one face/one forgotten                                                        ­                
at last
CAMP Prompt: Write about the moment you forget someone
chris m Dec 2013
We looked to our gods
As they stood
Upon pedestals of glass
Humming their lullabies
In our opened ears

We learned their prayers
Sang their hymns
Spoke their words
Knew their sins

We lost ourselves in their heaven
But were still standing on the ground
We marched to their beat
Keeping our heads up in times of doubt

They opened our minds
They opened our hearts

We flocked by the hundreds every night
To look up at the stars
So we moved as one body
When they said
Fall to your knees-- We knelt
Get to your feet-- We stood
Put up your hands-- We reached

Towards them
Our faulted stars
Our pretty princes
Our ****** queens

We heard the word
And carried it to our world
It wasn’t long before we returned
With our friends close behind

We shared their stories and their lessons
As our idols stood there in angelic light

We flocked by the thousands every night
To look up at the stars
We flocked by the thousands every night
In the cities, in the streets
No one left in a seat
We placed our trust in the hands of prophets
Who told us that
Every decade is the Teen Age
So we drank their wine
Broke their bread
We took it all in
Buying into a new reality
Re-making ourselves in their image

We were lost
But now are found
And all the while
We’re still standing on the ground

Looking up
Still waiting in line at the gates
Still paying admission
Still hoping to find our way to sainthood
So that we might

Laugh and cry together
Die, but live forever

At least in memory
And look down from on high

As they flock by the millions every night
To look up at the stars
I wrote this poem as a commentary on society. I've shared it with several people and they've all taken away something different from it. My original inspiration is very different from all the interpretations I've heard. I hope you find something in this poem and feel free to comment to let me know what you got out of it, I'd love to hear what you have to say. This is the poems 7th draft.
chris m Jul 2014
still hours in
still company
still sitting-- waiting
stilly
how long until
we break this
monotony--
are these the hoursminutesseconds we regret?
is this where it all went when say- 80 and dying
you recall and all you have around you is
a familiar stillness
still it can’t all be that bad--
you were alive you were breathing you were still-
digesting and growing and learning and
you heart all the while was beating
you were never still at all
just a vessel for the motion of life
80 years of it
and then it’s all just a return to the good earth
to nurture the movement of life through
a blade of grass a dandelion an acorn
the beauty of your existence was how
you carried the torch of life so brilliantly
cradling it in your breast for so long
even as your youth crept away and your blood slowed down
and the memories faded and the thoughts all but stopped

but here we are
still here
chris m Dec 2013
I wrote this poem for you because
you smoked your cigarette
sitting on those steps in
just
the
right way
was it the smoke
or your breath
I saw in the brisk air
coming out of your mouth?
I’ll never know
but
I wanted to bottle it up
and watch it
change
colors in the setting sun

I wrote this poem for you because
you had a nose stud
that sparkled in
the
fading
daylight
like your laugh
in the warm record store
like your eyes
when you mistook me
for being in college
like your fork
as you ate another bite
of your apple pie
with cherry topping

I wrote this poem for you because
you talked to me
like I was your friend
and I don’t even
know
your
name
chris m Jul 2013
The battle is won, the war is lost
And at what cost?
The heart of a boy
Only built to destroy

No matter what he tried
                                         He tried
No matter who was right
                                              Who was right?
No matter if he lied
                                                            ­     He lied
No matter, there was a fight
                                                           ­                 There was a fight

And his war raged on and on
Lovers present and lovers gone
The battle is won, and the tears pour on

A wounded heart, a wounded soul
All alone in no man’s land
The enemy, strong, took its toll
Left his friends to disband
The girl in his pocket can’t save him now
From these hellish sights and hellish sounds

The battle is won, but the war is lost
And at what cost?
The heart of a boy
Only made to love and destroy
chris m Aug 2014
how come my projection is ignored
your eyes, like high beams, flash over my existence
scattering my photons/my waves                                                            ­         
in exchange for your bright/white                                                            ­                                             clean/canvas                                                           ­                                             
you wander through these halls flitting from picture to picture to picture
fitting yourself to each
scene and visual style
discarding the ones irrelevant/inconsequential                                                  ­
like me, tossed aside
connections- but how deep
what soil does your friendship take root in?
in experiences/morals/ideologies/pasts                                                            ­  
or is it simply a necessity
a validation
that you exist
but why don’t i fit into your
equation/picture/life?                                                            ­                              
You want to laugh and I want to hear you
i don’t get it
i wish i did
you look at me and you look at you and you look at the boy standing there
and somehow you laugh at his smile
you talk with his persona
you walk with his saunter
and here i am passing the other way, looking/writing down                          
your validation
in these words i will capture your
reality/aura/matter/existence                                                        ­                      
so that you won’t be forgotten
like his smile/persona/saunter                                                          ­                  

and my projection/                                                                 ­                           
photons/                                                                 ­                           
waves/                                                                 ­                           
equation/                                                                 ­                           
picture/                                                                 ­                           
life?/                                                                 ­                           
reailty/                                                                 ­                           
aura/                                                                 ­                           
matter/                                                                 ­                           
existence/                                                                 ­                           

is anybody out there writing
for me?
chris m Dec 2013
Squeaky wheel chairs
And graying gray hairs
Walk hand in hand
Down hospital halls
Blinding white lights
And lonely black nights
We pay the cost
Beloved ones lost
Tiled white floors
And black numbered doors
Old painted walls
Line hospital halls
Waiting for doom
Wait in small rooms
Dripping IV’s
And color TV’s
Lunches on trays
And flower displays
Candy machines
And everything’s clean
As I walk down these hospital halls
chris m Dec 2013
It was winter
And like the snow falls to the ground
I fell for you

Dressed in all
The bright reds and pinks
Warding off the seasons darkness
You walked along, gazing at the ground
Of course I followed

It was winter
And like the day falls into the night
I fell for you

Dressed in all
The fresh smells of spring
You held your hands, holding in your warmth
As it thawed the air around you
Of course I followed

I just wanted you to smile
When your lips were exhausted
And pick up
Your head when it was down

But I’m exhausted
And the cold has me down
chris m Dec 2013
The winter winds blow again
On fallen leaves
              and broken hearts
The clouds cast
                 -Shadows-
On the streets
                 we walk close
                            hand in hand
                            step in step
                            Motion by motion by motion
                 -Together-
                                         We are alone
                                         We are cold
                                         We are nothing
                  -Now-
It doesn’t matter what we’ve had
Because in the end
                  the colors fall
                               and our lives are still
                 -Black and white-
Light is lost to the atmospheric tendencies
                 of the times we enter
                  -Winter-
We are cold again
                  there is no end
                                to these winter winds
Blowing our shadows
                 and us
                            all away

— The End —