Joseph Childress

Construction
Some people
Put
Their worth
In the hands of others
Let them
Decide

Others fight
Off
With words
Or get
Disturbed
By interruptions
In class

Why reply
With what I believe
Are the makes
Of I
When it’s
Construction
Is still
In progress

The finished
Monument
Will stand
Before all soon
And no one
Will question
Its greatness.

Joseph Childress

Soft words
Are usually preferred
During pillow talks
Foolishly
I foolheartledly
Brought hard words
Harsh
& Disturbed
Which
Hardily makes sense
Since
Your sentiment
Didn't deserve
The sediment
Provided
From my concrete heart
I argue
Our argument
Was all my fault
I dumped asphalt
On the sandy beach
You provided
For our sweet retreat
You retrieved
My roughness
And smoothed
The edgy conversation
Tamed my
Toughness
And soothed
The painful consternation
You could
Ease the temperament
And impatience
Of anger management patients
All the while
Showing
The peacefulness in his
War within
Finding righteousness
In his right to yell
You respect
His freedom of speech
But with each
Negative comment
You seek
To find
The positive content
In the layers beneath

You see the beauty
In the mess
Like an abstract painting
Made for the
Artistically elite
My poor sense
Of creativity
Is lifted
From your richness
I dropped
Destruction
But always
Pick it
Back up
Like bad habits

Rehabilitate me this
Last time
And I promise
I’ll never
Cast a shadow again
I’ll shine
In every way
I direct my attention

Hopefully
Its not too late
But knowing you
My lateness
Will be welcomed
Like a homecoming
You seldom
Look at my faults
And not find
Greatness

Memento Mori
The Momentum
Builds
Before I make
My last stop
The brakes screech
As I try to prevent
This
Moment of descent
It's
Tragic that this happened
All at once
Once upon a time
Rarely ends
Happily ever after
Especially
When your not ready
For what’s after
The happiness
Once in time

Memento Mori
Remember this story
Of how a boy
Became a man
Who couldn't backtrack
From this dead end
The tomb stone
Pops up
At the end
Of this book of life
It becomes
The Book of the Dead
A curse
After the gift
Accursed
After this present
Moment of Content
Clarity
Is a rarity
While alive
Why
Does the picture
Become clear
Once we're
About to die

Memento Mori
Moments in mourning
Where's the morning
Out of reach
In the dawn
Of bad news
And breaks
The moon breaks the day
The Up rise
Of the final sunset
Upset
The sunrise
This morning
Was just a warning
To remember
I must die

I love
You
Don’t care

In-diff-er-ent
Isn't paid
Much attention
In my apartment
We’ll
End-if-her-rent
Isn’t paid
In our
Department
But who cares?

Separation
Doesn't
Always cause pain
And pain
Isn't always
The cause
Of separation

We just
Happened
To drift away
Like
Messages in a bottle
Off the coast
With no intent
Of being found
Our lonely islands
Are crowded
With shadows
Of friends

We forget the darkness
Because at least
We no longer
Burn each other
With our angst
And anger

We remember
Everything
Except rations
Of ourselves
We left
Like t-shirts
And underwear
Tangled
In each others
Laundry

Then throw
Them away
Find them
Another day
in the exact same place
We excavated them
The returnment
Of our undesirables
Show fate’s
Sense of humor
But
Only a stubbornness
Such as ours
Could devour fate
And disavow
The vows
It set out
To make...

We
Will
Never
Be
Again
Never
Again
Will
We
Be

Sums
Up the sum
Of each halves
And the total
Is something
The totaled
Hearts
Can live with...

I’m trapped under earth
The sheet of crust
Is too thick
To pick through
Too tough
For hands
Even as rough as mine
I climb
But reach
The impassible
Layer
And pass out
Like faint
Memories
Of times
Overhead
Now I’m under
Stand in
The depths
Of below
Unbeknownst to those
Higher
No one to excavate my soul
They don’t know
What lies beneath their feet
They tread on me
I’m responsible
For this
Reverse archeology
I put my future
Underneath
Only
To fight
With a lack of energy
Lost
From digging
To deep

If it’s true
That you’ll sow
What you reap
I hope
These seeds of me
Will grow
Into something deeper
Than
What lies beneath…

Souls lit
With the intent to
Distribute
Who wants
The unwanted
Essence of wantings
I've lived long enough
To break
The imaginary chains
Still young
My pains have yet
To grow to scars
The long lasting
Feelings
Of dishappiness
Happens
To compliment
The complex
Ideals of discernment
The hurtment
Lies deep
Forged thoughts
On the cheap beliefs
Of peace
This arrangement
Was made
With an agreement
To never forget
The unminted conditions
Of descent
I fail often
Off ten
Bottles to
Lessen
The knows
On my lack of progression
Yet
It seems to only
Fuel the aggression
Aggravated
By the mistakes
I take
Like second chances
Hoping one day
I can rid
My emotions
By drinking
Cups of defeat
The war is insane
Like me
There’s no where
To retreat
So that’s where
I’ll be going
The same
Is all I have
Until the next time
We meet
Though shallow
My love remains
Deep…

Titans clashing
In writing classes
Sessions
To profess progression
Or
Progress to professions
Blessings
Brought through the lessons
Learned
In College
A student as truant
As undeserved triumph
In the form
Of a form
That says what he’s worth
Diplomas
Handed out
To show
You’re on the road
To success
The rest are asked
The ultimate question
Of “Why not?”
Embarking on the quest
When the ultimatum
Is failure

Fail lures in
Those with no ambition
Men *******
About getting papers
To show worth
Working with no
Apparent purpose
Versus
Being apparently worthless
Pairing the two
Against the view
Of a *****
Who stares at the moon
And gives a ****
About the bull
The one
Whose wit
Could split
The tightest knit
Brain
And undue the sutures
Of skulls
To undue
Their mundane
View of success

The *****
Who calls himself
A *****
With more pride
Than Aryans
Carrying his opinion
Higher
Than the mass vision
Just to show
How low
They truly are
Arrogantly ignorant
Ignore rants
Of others
And smother them
With the truth
Of knowing nothing
And understands
They’ll never understand

Overstepping the boundaries
Without
Diplomatic immunity
Yet immune
To the qualities
Of the Hippocratic views
And sees
To seize the future
You must
Tackle the present problems
You must blitz
To get you’re quarter back
If you want
To make a change
And sport all the qualities
That seem to them
Strange
Deranged
In the range
Of misunderstandings

The illusion of progress
For humans
Are usually
Said in words
And never
Set in stone
So I will throw
Sticks and stone
The stupidity that’s grown
Words hurt
But actions hurt worser

For example:
Worser
Isn’t a word
Until I worsen the
Worst situation

I’m waiting
For my chance
To blow up

So I can dumb down
Your intelligence
And smarting up
Your ignorance

If you can’t understand
You’re either too smart
Or too **** ignorant

If you’re offended
Then you’re opinion is unneeded
Because the truth
Will tear your *** to pieces

And she said…

I luv you,
?
Where’s the

O-v-e-

R
we truly
Over?

Or just yet
To begin?

Well, *** u

It’s convenient
To shorten words
To speed the converse
But love
Should be handled
With delicacy
You’re lack of concern
Brought
“I luv u 2”
In return
You’re more mathematical
Than poetical
And I accept our difference
But your indifference
Once I brought it
To your attention
Is well worth
The “*** you” aforementioned

Copper moons
In the month of June
Can set the mood
Like fireplaces
In December
The embers rise
Like the passion
Of a mad man
Madly in love
The contrast
Of the dark sky
In the background
Can’t last
Long enough
The beauty portrayed
Was made
For portrait
My poor traits
Are accepted
Like eclectic
Decisions
Like when the sun
Decides to be
Ecliptic
I’ll hide today
But in the morrow
I’ll shine
In a way
So my rays
Can raise
And leave you blinded
By arrays

Most guys shy away
From showing emotions
Exposing too much
Leaves them naked
I’m not ashamed
If you see
What should be seen
In
Private
It’ll only make you
Want me more
What’s in store
Is pain
Hidden in pleasure
To please
Is the least
I can do
To make up
For the
“Leave”
That comes
Thereafter
You come faster
Than seconds can count
Almost
As if we
Been away longer
Than years can count
The amount
Needed for this
Leap of faith
Could mount mountains
As I maintain
What’s needed to stay
In the position
Remain uplifted

I cant wait to show
My contempt of court
Contemplated much more
Thank lord
The latter was chosen
I swear to him
My swears wont be as
Offensive
As the unmentioned
Alternative
Of this present contemption

My hand told lies
Like prosthetics
As it handled the bible
Like an oath
It would take
If it weren’t for the one nation
Under god
Underdog
Dodging the law
Of the land
Biting the hand
That feeds him

Hunger strikes
Like a match
Thirsty for air
The explosion of emptiness
Fills the stomach
The feels
Become more ill with each filling
Like mercury deposits
Positioned
From molar drilling

A mouthful of ailments
Spewed across the room
For the judges consumption
But the cancerous banter
Spread like foreign bodies
And the jury took injury

The whole world
Agrees
You’re the most hated
Alive
The “not for long” followed
Like the gavel
As it swallowed the courtrooms
Silence
A sentence of death was relayed
Without a period
Of contemplation
As my great contempt
Of court
Is overshadowed
By the ******
Committed by a jury of my peers
Reenacting
The passion of Judas
While I’m crucified
In the name of my father
By men who shoot
The messenger

Remember me at my worst
And my best
Will always inspire
Death is not as bad
If you can give a few truths
Before you expire

Each step
In common sense
Makes you more
Like the rest

Moment’s uncommon
Can become commerce
If you’re immersed
In what it’s birthing

Unearthing
Un-earthlike belongings
On your person
Is illegal
Only in the laws of earthlings

Case in point
Anyone can chase and point
The obvious, obscure
Object erected
In what once was a pattern

But to shed a lantern’s light
On each instance
Is a dim-witted decision

The whole picture
Is much larger
Then man made flame’s
Can harbor

Alters
Are needed
When Altars
Are constructed
In place of
Church of thought

Irking’s small as these
Have potential to be
Crusades on uncommonalities

The worst casualty in war
Isn’t death
It’s birth
Death ends
Birth has potential
To grow into something worse

History dictates
The future’s fate
****** masquerades
As bright ideas
While ideal massacres
Take place
In front of our face

Who chooses
To be the flaw
In this perfect picture
Of hell
And shed true light
Like halo’s over
The well

I warn you
Or whomever
Should play womb
For dissent

Society’s mob
Makes martyr’s of those
That fight the current

Headless
Portrays an ironic display
Of the punished
Mindless crowd’s “Hurray!”
In the kingdom
Of dumb kings
And followers led astray

We
Against the world
Whose truly
The underdog
When the power
Collected
Once connected
Is strong as
Einstein's intellect is
Atomic Explosions
Can knock
Earth of its axis
Tragic
As Allies v.s. Axis
World War Two
As the world wars

Two of us, Just the
Justice, Just us
Just is the only reason
For breathing this season
This isn’t even
Surprising
The way we rise higher
Than the sun in summer
Some are confused
The way we fuse together
Regardless of the weather

Whether autumn falls
In August
Our arduous tasks
Seem to leave
Like leaves
Once we’ve changed hues
Exchange whose
Fallen
As we climb
Scale mountains
And reach a level
It’s peak
Wished it could reach
The climate change
Doesn’t phase
What it doesn’t know
The snow below
Forms as the wind turns
Winter
Looks at us green
With envy
As we exchange hues
Plush meadows
Lay vast across the plain
Simply put
It looks similar
To the vane
Looks as we stare
At each other
To share vanity
And make it fair

The stars
Watch from above
At this pair
That showed the earth
How to love
Regardless of despair

Magical images of the past
Eternal greatness ever lasts
Mystical travels for my heart
Open doors, times apart
Rickety works of my soul
Indented into my whole
Eager for creation of more
S**et sail for what's left in store