I do not pledge allegiance to a flag
But dedicate myself to eradicating hate
I sing love, love, love, love
Knowing these words will never be enough
To raise the dead but if I can raise a head
That has been hung so low
Take one heart that does not know
That it does not beat alone
But taps in chorus with the rest of us
I pledge to write to the heart of us
Till we are synced in purpose
I will not give you some sappy slogan
Or worship a cloth symbol
Which is not even half as red
As those strangers who bled
To pretend they defend righteousness
Imagining liberty can only be defined by this
False crucifix sacrifice, I drink to life
Pledge that you will not die un-mourned
That words will not set sail unmoored
No matter if your gay or straight
Mexican, American, or poor
Brown or pink skinned
I will not give in to the only sin
That I recognize,
As **** crow thrice I will not deny
I will rise
And pledge allegiance to love

She should have been fine,
Right school, good family, right color,
But she was at the age when things go wrong.

She began to feel the weight
Of weightless things
And the need to be someone
No one could be outside the cover of a magazine.

So the doubt crept in and
Muddied her image in the mirror
Then frustration took hold
Because she couldn't reach a
Place that never was
Or ease the pain of that failure.

One bad day, the devil whispered
Through the mouth of a boy who knew her pain
In his hand a pill, he said,
“It's cool, everybody does”.

But she heard through tortured adolescent thoughts  
“Here is peace, acceptance is here, belonging “.

And so she did and did
And when she tried to turn away
The whisper became a shout, then a command
And the pill became a needle in her arm.
  
When money ran out, she started selling
Pieces of her soul in backseats, or ***** hotels.
The devil left her then, he had won.
No more promises, no dreams, or hopes or even fears
Only the need for something
No one ever needed.

Her world became an illustration
She maintained with just enough sense
To keep her on the street, but
It wasn't enough in the end.

Her mother found her in her bed
Afterward the woman always said
“She looked so peaceful and
So young. “My little girl “.

Somewhere the devil whispered,
“Peace” and laughed.

Come, take my hand and quickly!
We'll sail the seven seas
We'll find buried treasure
Enjoy merry weather
And do all of the things that we please

Come, follow me quietly!
We'll sneak up on the cave of a troll
We'll steal his good ale
Fill his shoe with a snail
Don't get caught, or he'll eat you up whole!

Come, run now, beside me!
I'll show you where Pegasus fly
We'll go and won't stop
'Til the gold mountaintop
At the spot that just touches the sky

Come, sit here before me...
But, don't move much, for not to disrupt it
See, between you and I
A tiny village doth lie
Only look, for 'twill break if you touch it

Come, think closely on all I have shown you
May you forever never forget
While in one place, you're a giant
In another, you could be a shy ant
And who we are now is anyone's bet

i make love with Death every night.

during the day, we go our separate
ways, but she's always on my mind.
after work, we meet up.
same routine. dinner, occasionally.
but always drinks.

she downs a bottle
of Cabernet
with no help
from me.
the red compliments
her dress and flushes
her cheeks with pink.
i just take coffee. black.

afterwards, she needs
a lift home. i'm her dd.
the city lights blur
indigo and violet,
blossoming like flowers
in the pavement
of the night sky.

we arrive. she invites
me to come inside,
looks me in the eye,
says, "i love you."

i believe her,
even though i know
it's a lie.

the minutes hang thick.
while she sobers up,
we roll dice
and tell stories.

then, breathless and slick,
it begins in the kitchen.
gasps come in spasms, pulsing
in tandem with our obsessive—
compulsive—desire.
we continue beneath the duvet.
i sample the flesh between her legs.
she tastes like pomegranate
and bruised starfruit. her sweat
is second-hand smoke. my brain buzzes
from Marlboro Lite cigarettes.

afterwards, we lay over the sheets
as the ceiling fan rotates eternally
overhead, humming a tune we both hear
in our dreams but cannot comprehend.  
her head rests on my chest,
she loses herself in the gaps
between each heartbeat.

wordless, we drift.

when i wake, she's always gone.
the space in bed beside me
has grown cool. jealously,
i wish Death had taken me with her.

It's hard to keep 'em open
It's hard to keep 'em closed
   Those eyes of mine
   Won't make up their minds
No flash, but I'll strike you a pose

It's hard to know what's coming
It's hard to not know, too
   So I'll listen again
   To the rain on my skin
Drop-drippity right onto you

It's crazy to put it in focus
It's crazy to lose the direction
   But I know that it's near
   (We're the only ones here)
We can try out our latest collection

Two dragons who can't breath the fire
Two monsters who make it instead
   Four whimsical wings
   Create mystical things
And keep on 'til they've been fully fed

'Cause that's when I feel it course through me
'Cause that's when the summit has maxed
   And the way back to town
   Is the only way down
Let's roll down 'til we land on our backs

1.
A child should never be taught to hate
And human beings must never be insulated
Or inoculated against the horrors of war
2.
There is no liberation in this economy
Debt is a slower and slightly greyer
Variation of slavery
No more cotton fields but prison labor
Tell me where is our great modern emancipator?
3.
You may be shocked
But the truth is
We are strange variants
4.
There are no perfect promises
Life guarantees nothing
5.
Tears of laughter
Veil tears of frustration
Improper reflection
On taboos and tragedies
Burning cities
And dying loved ones
This is not where the
Laughter comes from
But it is where the laughter
Is needed most