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3.2k · Sep 2012
cyclone
Dalton Bauder Sep 2012
carry me through lands of dreams
sleepy shamans oaths perceived
the new humans rewrite their creed
to reconstruct the codes beneath.
as sands of time brush through my lungs,
beneath where silver moons once hung,
the catalyst for earths progressions,
tantric winds of gods procession
are pulled to fuel the fires in our chest.
to fuel the fires in us.

ride the colors of the wind, my friend;
dance with death until your end.
the serpentine son rises to speak eternal truths
and soon his weary eyes will rest upon you.

the deepest shades of blue green hue
from the swoon of palaces
dreamt of once, so long ago
where trees from ancient soils will grow
and we, collect their morning dew.
2.2k · Nov 2012
welcome home
Dalton Bauder Nov 2012
you have wandered into my heart
without wiping your feet,
and have planted your garden
with some peregrine seed,
uprooting suspicion to feed the roots you know i need.
not the slightest premonition
hinting at this fires ignition,
with harmonies conspicuous,
it brought me to a full fruition.

you make me become me,
scraping tar from ancient condition
a reassessment of the needs,
a very natural division.
and though many of my deeds,
however morbid they may be
fade from your conscious recognition;
oh my true soul, you've made free.

so you may walk upon my heart.
tread heavily, with boots of lead,
for you have become the reason
for it to even bother to beat.
2.1k · Nov 2012
lantern
Dalton Bauder Nov 2012
each moment perceives new ecstasies through me,
as vision locks on every shifting road
still leading home, most fervently.
percolated dreams reveal
the seeds that have been well concealed.
as each moment waves so delicately
mimicking a cloth in the breeze,
in the breath of an exhale 
a future is foreseen
within me.

boiling from me is
the steam of my awareness,
as the torch within now flares.
flowing gently into the air I breathe,
consciousness solidifies chemically;
vibrant harmony extends,
as minds eye stares.
at this place inside me
where I will dwell eternally,
embracing all I've made.
despite a razor thin gaze,

all roads lead home.
never forget
2.0k · Dec 2012
redwood
Dalton Bauder Dec 2012
I cashed out all my chips
got them exchanged for all their worth,
the tattered rags upon my body
I give back unto the earth
for sacrifice to be accepted,
all my blood turns into dirt.
I don't want to be forgiven,
just loose the weight,
disperse the girth.

I've tried so hard to lift my arms,
but this body's just a curse
I've got the prison of my skin
beneath which all is coded verse 
try as I might, I can't take flight
though my head floats above the clouds
nobody hears the violent storm which springs from out my mind, so loud

convex'd, I'm hexed,
convinced that I will not find rest
the earth must feed from me
and plant it's seeds deep in my chest.
1.9k · Oct 2012
the soldier
Dalton Bauder Oct 2012
the soldier knelt to fix his cap,
dug deep into trenches, he stopped.
amidst the shots, he reached for the map
if not in his pocket, it’s lost.
“it seems like we’ve been here for years”
the man beside him squawked.
“an hour seems like many days,
because we’ve gotten so lost.”

unsure of quite how to respond,
the soldier raised his brow
but as he was about to speak,
the man who’d spoken went down.

the soldier raised his head to see the great alsace-lorraine.
the war had raged for far too long, and so he contrived an escape.
he planned to sneak across the flank,
advance the trench on his own
but as he stood to make his break, his heart
sank quite gut-wrenchingly low.
he thought to himself in a humble tone,
“i can’t do this alone.”
although his intentions were clearly courageous,
his weakness truly had shown.

as lady luck would have her way,
the days kept withering by
as the soldier so fervent to capture this land
tried not to keep track of the time.
they advanced to the east, but to their dismay
the french would push them right back
and until a day they’d find a way,
the men had no way to attack.
a fateful storm rolled in one day,
a blanket of snow o’er the field
and the mood of both great war machines,
had slowly came to a yield.
the soldier, so tired of the weight of the war
climbed out, with a fire in his eye.
he raised his rifle high in the air
and cried “Deutschland über alles”

the soldier then fell onto his knees,
and raised his hands to the the sky
not seconds passed before the scream
as snow and french bullets did fly.
the soldier was struck right through his lung
and grasped his chest to breathe
but all could see his head was hung
as the soldier collapsed from his knees.
there was no escape, he said to himself
as the snow slowly blurred into light
and he passed away on the holy ground
and they never did win that fight.
This is the the heaviest allegory i've ever written.
1.8k · May 2013
eye
Dalton Bauder May 2013
eye
in perfect motion, lost in time,
I subdivide the outer lines.
the enigmatic parallax;
dilation of the centered mind.

microbial in grander schemes,
my breath is born to exit me,
inhale the holy entity;
become the dreams
in vivid scheme.

intrinsic shapes of destiny
envelop my entire being;
a calculated entropy
that grants subconscious unity.
magnified, this smoke will bleed
into my every living deed,
tied into every breath i breathe
I stretch my being; exude peace.

I’m only what I dream to be,
as I ask myself to pray for me.
1.8k · Sep 2013
pontius pilate
Dalton Bauder Sep 2013
a gathering;
parietal.
upon the hill.

where truth beguiled,
and brightened by
the suns of gods;
crucified...

somehow
outshone by
the light of our skin.

where
the dagger rests,
now sleeping
in the flesh;
the blood of martyrs
was not enough
for the black sky
over Golgotha.

oh father,
forgive us
for we know not what
we do.
"parietal" pəˈrīətəl/ -  is a reference to the bones that create the side and roof of the skull (not fully developed at birth in the human body); Skull being a secondary reference to Golgotha, the location of the crucifixion Jesus Christ.

this poem is a heavily allegorical.
1.6k · Sep 2013
honeycomb
Dalton Bauder Sep 2013
cerebral collation,
the flesh of gods;
in amiable display
of communion.

communion of worlds.

raptured in a savor
of unity; unbounded
within our ceremony.
to unearth
the creed
of man
and beast.
collation |kəˈlāSHən, kō-, kä-|
noun
a light, informal meal.
• (in the Roman Catholic Church) a light meal allowed during a fast.
Dalton Bauder Nov 2012
everything that is eternal
I hold endlessly internal
connected to the great procession,
angles came to reach full circle.
the adviatic mystery 
 is humming deep within my being
penetrating masks of fear
and bringing forth the truths I see.

approaching what was meant to be, 
a sense of self pours out of me.
intensified perplexity
contorting your peripheries.
you don't believe that I can be
this massive creature that you see,
with eyes as big as saucers,
picking up the light that
flickers behind skin.

with wishful hope of staying centered
swaying gusts of my endeavors
seek to settle down forever,
as the selfishness dissolves.
I have broken down the walls
that separate myself from you
as shifting earth will still revolve, 
wholesome love is the only truth.

& I love you.
1.3k · Jul 2013
sucking lemons
Dalton Bauder Jul 2013
i’ve painted gentle pictures on the insides of my mind;
with a water-colored brush, no sense of where to end the lines,
without periphery to guide me, no direction to define
and even less, a sense of definition to entice my eyes.

but as the paint would splatter, there was always more to go,
and once her lovely darling eyes would ask me,
i would find new things to show,
as if they were becoming
an alignment with my own,
she was the only thing that told me
i could find my own lost soul.

and that’s perhaps the reason why
she could not stay to see
if she could be the one
to really help myself find me.

but i’ll always be
...searching,
for more
of it
1.3k · Aug 2013
bulb
Dalton Bauder Aug 2013
the world around me is changing,
gaged to see if i keep up.
I tend to think the ground is sinking,
so i’ve buried all my luck.
but gears are shifting,
though it is not time that they must keep;
[but] machinery of dreams
when i should hold the hand of sleep
into a place where no one
could have ever even known
the shades of every color
that now decorate my soul.
the spectrum of the source
now shining through
to make me whole,
I reach beyond dimensions;
make the light into my home.
1.2k · Oct 2012
bajo la luna amor
Dalton Bauder Oct 2012
thought i heard her slip
"i love you"
from her tongue into my ear.
couldn't catch it in the silence,
it was much too loud to hear
the warm vibrations of her hands
passing goosebumps on to me;
but i awoke alone to find
these things were only
of a dream
1.2k · Oct 2013
the problem of induction
Dalton Bauder Oct 2013
do you have your wits about you
when you climb into your bed?
do you pray for better days
as you try to clear your head?

we are all the same someway,
i assure you.
though we try to find a way
to ignore the truth.

as the huddled masses gather
and try to find their grace,
they tell of one to saves us,
to take us from this place;
but somehow still the tears, they fall
and they gather by the graves
of the ones that never made it,
introduced to unexpected fate

where have we gone?
where are going?
you can’t it take it from us
please, don’t take it from us.

not this.
1.2k · Oct 2012
rise and shine
Dalton Bauder Oct 2012
furious as the sun,
vibrant as the moon
dancing tantric motions
through a swift magnetic swoon.
our cups are overflowing,
now the spillage will ensue
but ive become alright
with spilling myself into you

penetrating my flesh with your gaze,
soaked into the earth
as the suns brightest rays,
a quite brilliant display
of the spectrum of light
you engulf every day. 
and once passes the light of the late afternoon
you still cut through the dark
as the light of the moon,
your heart shines on strongly
and the night ends so soon,
the hours are only as moments with you.

furious as the sun,
vibrant as the moon,
now I'm  lost for words
as once again it came so soon
we've come here searching the same thing,
the fearless conquerers of truths.
and when even the constants
start changing themselves,
our nature is
clearly
*unmoved.
Dalton Bauder Sep 2013
there is no silence within you;
and still, no place to resonate.
amidst a flash of deja vu,
how could you form
your own escape?

chastised tongues
are bathed in blood;
salt the wounds now,
as she weeps.
the truth rebuked
in sacrifice;
what does it mean
to truly sleep?

the vivid recount,
you’ve been here before
familiar sounds,
foreign allure.
do halted hearts
liberate souls?
is your last breath
even your own?

dreams
dreams of black and gold
remnants of arson;
smoldered coals.
dreams
dreams of severed souls
lavish closets;
empty homes
a poem for the light-hearted.
1.1k · Nov 2012
marionette
Dalton Bauder Nov 2012
Oh pretender,
actions expose the weakness
as cold November slowly sickles
it's gangly fingers to your ribs.
your bitterness invites it in, 
the ornate facade of skin 
only hides the truth from yourself,
no one else.
1.0k · Apr 2013
aorta
Dalton Bauder Apr 2013
you’re stuck inside the web;
theres too much tangled in my head.
im wrapped up in my thoughts again,
left dusting all the old cobwebs
from every subtle angle that
i hadn’t noticed you leave your caress;
you left your fingerprints in black
and pressed all up and down my chest,
where they might fill the empty space
and replace all that i had left,
but that’d been carved of replete stone
and so it can’t ever come back.

but somehow still my arms outstretch,
just waiting for your blood red hands
to come devour the last of it,
to sink your teeth
because you can.
1.0k · Nov 2013
Dysgeusia
Dalton Bauder Nov 2013
your flavor is acidic,
sharp & sweet like lemonade,
& we play a symphony
with violin-hearts,
resonate.

you are the moment of rest
between every breath;
you’re there when you’re not,
I’m lost
when you leave.

where dreams and life collide;
leave your weary bones behind
time has it’s own heartbeat;
every gear will turn, in time
i don’t believe in miracles,
but i believe in you.
990 · May 2013
reciprocal
Dalton Bauder May 2013
trust is like a mirror’s lust
to convey only truth;
to portray even clearer views
of what remains astute.
and in its path;
beholder’s eyes
are searching for the roots;
reminded of the innocence
protected by their youth

but left with only what is there
the self observed is unaware
and though reflections seem to move;
at truth you’re made to stare.
|riˈsiprəkəl|
adjective
1 given, felt, or done in return: he was hoping for some reciprocal comment or gesture.
2 (of an agreement or obligation) bearing on or binding each of two parties equally: the treaty is a bilateral commitment with reciprocal rights and duties.
• Grammar (of a pronoun or verb) expressing mutual action or relationship.
3 (of a course or bearing) differing from a given course or bearing by 180 degrees.
4 Mathematics (of a quantity or function) related to another so that their product is one.
968 · Apr 2013
gnossienne
Dalton Bauder Apr 2013
if you don’t have the map
then what is it i’m trying to find?
you’ve left me deep within
the corridors of your uncharted mind.

without a single room unlocked,
engulfed by boldly ticking clocks
your shadows come to strangle me
and cover every step i walk.
...
i’m choking; as i gasp to breathe
these demons tower over me,
your mind is locked from the inside;
no doorway out, no way to flee

these moving walls are closing in
they’ve got to swallow me up whole.
the sacrifice that must be made
shall claim my body as it’s toll.

yet even still i’m in your head
the lucid harbinger of dreams;
a watchmen over blackened hearts;
the life within the planted seed.

if i were you,
how could it be,
that we would stand as enemies?
if you were me,
we’d clearly see
the roots of every
selfish deed.
gnossienne
n. a moment of awareness that someone you’ve known for years still has a private and mysterious inner life, and somewhere in the hallways of their personality is a door locked from the inside, a stairway leading to a wing of the house that you’ve never fully explored—an unfinished attic that will remain maddeningly unknowable to you, because ultimately neither of you has a map, or a master key, or any way of knowing exactly where you stand.
947 · Jul 2013
tipping the hourglass
Dalton Bauder Jul 2013
I watch the lines gently divide
and slowly make my way inside
the fringes of this path of time
that I have called my own.

I chase my dreams with certainty,
but what will come to be, will be
unchanged by what I choose to see,
unshaken by my goals.

with wond’ring eyes i come to find
that what was once clearly defined
is now a figment of my mind,
that dreams have surely grown

i’ve made my own reality,
now casting blame unto the sea;
it's swallowed by eternity.
the tides forever rise.
sometimes it's difficult to know that things will get better, but they will.
946 · Aug 2013
postal
Dalton Bauder Aug 2013
I can feel the weight that is contained within your bones
all packaged up and then delivered right into my home;
a heaviness that carries with you even when you go.
i feel it in my chest where i once thought there'd be a hole.

and i will carry with me all the weight that you have left
for it will be an anchor to the flight within my chest
and it will be the difference between us and all the rest;
when we can bear between us that which weights upon
our best contest.
i don't write many reaction pieces, but this would be one of them
936 · Jan 2013
singularity
Dalton Bauder Jan 2013
there's anchors behind every sigh
to hold these bones in place,
and two black holes behind my eyes
that catch all spectral waves.
by faintest glare of candlelight,
I see into the soul;
the concentrated substance,
hidden deep within the folds.

time and space cannot exist,
I've rattled loose the cage.
forged in fire of molten mind
ive broken links within the chain.
tearing open doorways
to objectify my fate;
tethered bindings frayed to string,
still heaving dead hearts weight.

knots have tied my heart to yours;
keep true that steady beat.
percussive steps of progress
to invent a new machine
our blood is but the oil
to turn the gears within our chest
turn back the dial, 
expose the key,
and love congeal the rest
920 · Oct 2012
anywhere, everywhere
Dalton Bauder Oct 2012
morning, evening, noon and night
i want you always in my light,
always you are in my sight,
always right
here

sunday monday, through the week
i need you next to me to sleep.
because of all the dreams we keep,
its easy to breathe
here

i'd wait forever for your kiss
for an embrace that curiously fits,
i never thought it'd be like this,
i need your lips
here.

you are sunlight through the clouds,
the rays envelop, the light unbounds
and they sink into my skin and chest
they come to rest
here.
aglo rof
909 · Feb 2013
portals
Dalton Bauder Feb 2013
the bread alone must be devoured,
we swallow all our sins
to feed the purple petaled flower
blossoming within.
with roots that mingle with the trees;
come see my holy shrine
I've brought my hearts deep rhythmic beat
to this plane from my mind.
as moonlight penetrates the soul,
the blue eye illuminates;
behold the great concentric hole
found in all shadows wake
cyclonic swirl can welcome home
the sines that hold our place
the frequency disruption rolling,
shaking time and space. 

I've made it real, I have become
the great creations eye.
beyond the dam is liquid thought;
and my veins contain the rise

galactic arms reach out to give
connection to the streams,
great consciousness possessing
every molecule unseen.
binary skin peels back to show
the crystal prism form
as light pervades from every space;
perceptions are adorned.

the calmest storm you've ever seen
will surely make its path.
I've witnessed all that's come to be
through proper eyes at last.
894 · Nov 2012
october is over
Dalton Bauder Nov 2012
october is over,
and our hearts are tied like knots.
into each others beats we fall,
oh how easily we can get lost.
a new rhythm to march to,
gives us step’s we’re unsure how to take
but each footprint we leave,
is evidence to believe
not one step has been taken in vain.

                                                          ­            october is over
                                                            ­          and my hands have let go of their fists.
                                                          ­            no longer clenching tight to anchors,
                                                        ­              so the weight can find its exit.
                                                           ­           as a new ray permeates
                                                                ­      i’ve stopped the shadows clever games
                                                           ­           and dropped the baggage of distain,
                                                        ­              becoming your light once again.

october is over
and you don’t even know the truth
how i have held your supple heart,
tucked away and hidden from you.
some day you will discover all,
if, that is, i do reveal.
you’re meant for me, there is no other
& our osmosis will slowly congeal.
883 · Aug 2013
panoptic
Dalton Bauder Aug 2013
in what archaic light
might i be made to be seen pure?
when shadows will not taint
the progress of a life reborn
& what projection may impart
the whole of what i truly am?
in what dimension might we see
outside of where the fringes end?

to recognize a truth
how can we say we know it’s path?
when even light may bend and ruse,
deceive the structures of the past.
to awaken any hope,
hold fast to faith in what you know,
but even that is made like sand
elapsed, with no hands made to hold

unbound by words or thoughts alone,
the spirit flies above the sea
& language foreign to the earth,
can somehow now make sense to me.
the ancient life, known before birth,
the way we were before;
is somehow still a flick'ring flame
that burns forevermore.

so cast your burdens to the wind
that carries our hearts home.
a vast new force from deep within
has overturned all stones.
within the currents,
all encompassed progress, not our own.
as galaxies may shift,
so may all hearts become one home.
panoptic |paˈnäptik|
adjective
showing or seeing the whole at one view: a panoptic aerial view.
871 · Oct 2012
summoner
Dalton Bauder Oct 2012
come and find me,
wayfaring soul
chase the heat of my smoldering coal.
the embers of an eternal fire
spread wild as dogs, mad with desire
and i will walk upon a sea
the tides forever carry me
as flames gently lick at my feet;
i will not bleed, my heart will never cease.

the dream from which all life is taught
the realm from which all love is sought
i walk that line, the rope is taut.

there are beings in the wind
they whisper to me to pretend that i am one of them
a fluent river in my head,
a flowing coordinated thoroughfare of dead
these spirits cary me away
carry me to the grave
to awaken them.

and so they sing with me,
they breathe with me,
they live with me.
inside of me there is a seed;
the roots of every tree
intertwining with my dreams.
shaping reality
i am the awakening.

they live in my breath
they allow me to see
the realm of passing death
softly brushing the reeds.
finally free
eternally
867 · Jul 2013
heavy skulls
Dalton Bauder Jul 2013
beyond the ticking of the clocks,
i am undressed and out of touch.
embracing only fleeting thoughts
and the sound of my own breath.

yet there you stand in candle-light
with your hands upon your breast
and what a strange, familiar sight;
to know what lies within that chest.

the morning, oh she cries to come
awaken me from weary dreams,
without that lover’s heartbeat hum
i wish was resting softly, beside me.
865 · Jun 2011
entwined
Dalton Bauder Jun 2011
i wanna know the feeling of your hand inside of mine
i wanna whisper in your ear, send cold shivers down your spine.
and when i lay beside you, put my hands right on your thighs
and tickle you until you can’t breath, so you punch me in the eye.
i dont wanna think anymore, it’s just a waste of time
because theres nothing there but you inside my lonely mind.

i wanna take a train with you and ride into the night
and when morning comes, and we’re outside just standing in the light,
you’ll dig your head into my shoulder, as the sun will shine so bright
and i’ll tell you, dear, don’t worry, everything will be alright.

i wanna step into a balloon with you and start to fly
and we’ll float across the vastness of the open morning sky.
dont bother looking at your watch, we’ll live outside of time
and towards the moon, we’ll get there soon,
if not, at least we tried.

i wanna melt into your ears, and get inside your brain.
i wanna feel your tongue reach out and try to catch the rain.
i want to shield your heart from anything that causes pain.
i wanna scream and shout with you as we both go insane.

i wanna scream to all the world how cool i think you are.
that everything i’ve done has been in search of you this far.
i wanna crown you queen and take you up into the stars
ill come to you and take you there no matter where you are.

ive taken every measure just to show you the way inside,
so come and make even more of a mess of my silly childish mind.
i know its strange as strange can be and that this might not be the time,
but im behind your eyelids girl,
so come and get behind mine.
851 · Jul 2013
vnder kast
Dalton Bauder Jul 2013
reaching out for empty spaces;
[but] paralyzed in fear
the knotted head contorts the faces,
death is all to hear;
the dying breath of long lost dreams
left scattered beyond reach
& the daunting laugh of all the demons
in their victory.
left frozen by the hands of time
in darkness more than black,
engulfing more than just the mind;
there is no turning back.
845 · Sep 2013
lost in translation
Dalton Bauder Sep 2013
by the gleam of idols,
governed,
minds’ defied;
no sanctuary
untouched
by their guise

disguising love as god;
a masquerading truth,
entailed with
the cycle
of the moon.

around and around
the shepherds lead
lost souls,
hung on hooks
by fishers of men
845 · Oct 2012
violist
Dalton Bauder Oct 2012
Sing to me in the dark
with your harmonies of touch,
the symphonies of sense you create.
sing with all the scratches and marks,
melodies lined by your lips,
and the constant rhythm of the beat of your heart in my ear.

sing me lullabies of goosebumps with kisses goodnight,
threading my skin through your teeth
like a bow to the string
I can feel it,
the crescendo 
ringing from me
this is definitely not about ***.
also experimenting with different style.
827 · Jul 2013
tell-tale
Dalton Bauder Jul 2013
a shivering reminder of the things I’d done before,
the man that had been buried is protruding from the floor.
awakened by the stirring of the sounds that had been made
the man I thought was dead, it seems, may now be here to stay.
his tender wounds beneath the skin are still trying to heal;
but the vessel cannot heave the weight, the blood cannot congeal.
this man the world has made of me is not who I’m to be,
the gangling creature looming in the shadows over me.
not quite a demon, nor a guardian of any sort;
this mimicry of me is now beginning to contort.
a mockery of what once was, I must confess, it’s close.
to the impression i must make, when feeling quite morose
...
but once I can transform my heart to harbor in its plight
the center will unfold and be revealed within the light.
i only noticed after the fact how well this follows the theme of 'a tell-tale heart' by E. A. Poe. sort of eerie.
820 · May 2013
about-face
Dalton Bauder May 2013
as the weary morning lifts her head
her sleepy ***** wakes;
and dreamy eyes will wonder on,
apart from memories she's made.
engulfed by newly realized dreams,
her mind will not capitulate.
in something now she hides her key,
no lock could ever make her stay
capitulate |kəˈpiCHəˌlāt|
verb [ no obj. ]
cease to resist an opponent or an unwelcome demand; surrender: the patriots had to capitulate to the enemy forces.
818 · Sep 2012
mercury blood
Dalton Bauder Sep 2012
with tinfoil teeth and steel wool hair
silver feet and iron stare
the coldest one, the coldest one here
conducting light from the horizon into my bed.
i need the sun to feed my head.

but you know me so well for
bolting shut that iron door.
i never leave it exposed,
my mechanical heartbeat
nobody has to know.

my metallic heart is the satellite
my metallic heart
reflecting the dimmest of lights.
804 · Jan 2013
spite spitter
Dalton Bauder Jan 2013
there's grace in all humanity, but
like a dog you've lost everyones faith,
by the pain of self pity came outward disgrace,
while you become time's eternal slave.

for now heads above water,
but there's lead in your shoes,
as youre always observing the lines.
drawn out step by step
in the sand where once slept
a great ego, kept fed by your pride.

now you're patiently waiting for them to be crossed,
like a snake youve coiled yourself to spring
but your bite will not spite anyone but yourself,
as the poison's already in your veins.
if you must poison yourself in order to pass on the poison, at what point does that risk become worth the while?
793 · Jun 2011
zero
Dalton Bauder Jun 2011
i’ve waited my whole life for things to get better.
but they never did.

no love i could have ever kept,
no friends whose sides i’ve never left,
no voice pale enough to calm unrest,
no hand to grip my chest and show me how to live.
no smile to greet me openly.
no weight to give me gravity.
no pleasant reassurance,
only ruthless self endurance.

so i’m done waiting, i’ll do this myself.
pride may cause the fall, but i don’t need any of your help.
i’ll watch the stars, and hold their hand,
keep my head towards the sun and trust nothing else.
& i’ll slowly let go of my demands
and let my thoughts accept themselves,
because there is nothing more fulfilling.

you know that simply breathing isn’t living,
that the days can’t be contained by time.
existence is more than a heartbeat,
and whatever you’re looking for, you’ll never find.
so don’t cry to me with broken hearts, you don’t need it anyway.
i cant hear you down below me
so come up here and bury the sky.
i’m not afraid to leave my body to the worms,
but death will come to me on my own terms.

sometimes i stare at the stars and ask myself
if anyone is even listening.
781 · Jan 2013
tantrum
Dalton Bauder Jan 2013
with this self-haunting breath
I've painted walls with all my words
ive filled your ears with all my fears,
excuses you've already heard.
Ive strewn my pain across what's left
of what I destroyed all my own 
for sake of coloring the walls 
i see as monochrome and cold.

I couldn't hold it all inside
boxed in with every little lie
and now I'm slowly pushing out
all that I once said i despise.
look at me, look in my eyes
convince me I am still alive
I've made this hell out of the things
that ive held from you my whole life.
some people just need to grow up
768 · Nov 2012
cogitation
Dalton Bauder Nov 2012
I sink too deeply
into the reflections of my being
and in this pithy mirror I see
all that has become me.

tracing the fibers in reverse
every memory dispersed
churning out the eldest curse
loosely piled unspoken words

thoughts become, ubiquitously
a visual soliloquy
entwined with all the subtle dreams
that shape present realities
entrancing eyes toward morphing scenes
the air has now become a sea
of every possibility
that ever could have been

and I swim so gracefully
in the ocean of could-be's
holding onto this pristine
moment ever so closely
close enough that 
I can see
clearly
765 · Oct 2012
my hands
Dalton Bauder Oct 2012
These hands are now the handlers
of dangerous undress
they tie you in without a rope
by swooning hearts caress.
The union now's been slowly made,
situation assessed,
and so they glide unto your thighs
to hold you while you rest.
as they proceed to slowly tease
the goosebumps to your breast
they do withhold a secret code,
just masked with clever jest
the way they play upon your frays of hair when lips are met.
the subtle call to forfeit all,
your heart lies in my chest.
742 · Oct 2012
refracted from shadow
Dalton Bauder Oct 2012
the thickest breaths of smog for me
in endless search for purity
approximate serenity,
a purge from which i cant escape.
my bones do ache
and muscles tear;
the trembling quake
of the heart i bare.

i pray for oxygen
to clear the dust from winded lungs
to cleanse my chest in sacred tongues,
a heart that rings with ancient song.
i pray for us again
to clear the fires from our hearts
to cleanse my motives from the start.
a moment’s calculation off
resets the forward destination
-infinitely

its so humbling,
through the broken glass i see
the endless possibilities
of all that could have been
mad to live
scared to love

I'm so alive.
"we're suffering to live, we're scared to love"
707 · Jul 2013
a new monocle
Dalton Bauder Jul 2013
what spawn of madness lies behind the crooked lens
chains tied to the entropy of ends
chaos bound to nothing but ourselves;
now unfolding fate that we’ve propelled.
somehow now, beyond the folds
withholding beyond reach;
the light of every star unknown
will rapture; be unleashed.
so I may bend and break the lines
of all the rules they teach
i’ve made my own,
this world is mine,
no longer shall I sleep.
692 · Nov 2012
möbius reflections
Dalton Bauder Nov 2012
rising from the bottom of this sea
is the bubble of my next breath
contorting itself into smaller beads
of possibilities,
rising to meet the plane of release
beyond the glimmering surface.
in angelic exodus, blood leaks
from my heart to fill
the lonely corridors
of this vessel. 

my thoughts stir like static,
white noise channeling the great beyond,
with no form to settle into.
the mirrors lie.
no hominid can contain this.
there is much more behind my eyes
than there is
in front of them.
679 · May 2013
paradigm
Dalton Bauder May 2013
you’re insecure, just like your mother
and she like her mother.
and i’m a lover without a lover,
living in the shadow
of an empty father.

we were both afraid that we’d fail at love
just like our parents; where we came from,

unsure of how much
that defines
of ourselves.

i’m still trying to make sense of myself.

and so were you
and so we fed
on each other’s
uncertainty
still never being certain
of whether or not it was
even happening,

convinced that
we were creating
an assurance
of self
inside
the other.
She's the song I replay until I know all the words and I feel sick.
I can’t sleep because I can still taste her in my mouth.
678 · Jun 2011
of me i am
Dalton Bauder Jun 2011
i am the beginning and the ending,
the king and the peasant,
the victor and the failure,
the restless and the relieved.
i am the liar and the deceiver,
i am the prophet and the believer,
i am the proud and yet the humble,
i am the lion and the lamb.

of me, this is reality
of me, this is the truth.
i am all that shall never be,
of me, I hang this noose.

i am the religion and the believer.
i am the forgotten and the retrieved.
i am the rotten and the beautiful.
i am all that myself has conceived.

i am the only thing controlling this,
i am the blessing, wrapped in loneliness,
i am the center and the circumference.
i am the only book on the shelf;
nothing can get to me if not through myself.
672 · Dec 2012
old crow
Dalton Bauder Dec 2012
she loves me and my broken heart,
the tattered mess I am,
and she deserves much more
than I can give to her.

maybe it's some kind of game she plays
with placing back the shard remains
of every shattered soul she sees,
and until now she hasn't found
but one soul battered and torn as me.

it's like she's made of flower pedals, 
always coming to full bloom;
and when I hold her in my arms she moves
the monolithic structures inside me;
as if it was a breeze, just placing them aside so I can actually walk free.

or more-so, she could get to me,
it seems. i've
been out of breath for longer than I can remember
but she'll give me hers forever.
so I've got more than I'll ever need.
662 · Jun 2011
the ninth circle of hell
Dalton Bauder Jun 2011
oh woe be to my heart,
that it begs for the sustenance of love
but is satisfied only by my own mind.

and woe be to my mind,
which thinks only to love itself
and to satisfy its own body.

and woe be to this body,
as it consumes and destroys
the very things that keep it alive.

woe be to these dreams
to intertwine with the vacuum of nothingness that is everything.

to be nothing, oh to be nothing.
woe be to me.
oh, woe be to us all.
660 · Nov 2012
warm
Dalton Bauder Nov 2012
the way you love me is softer than the pillow beneath me,
as I lay and dream of a place we can
sink into acmatic scenes
of harmony.
yet still, there is intensity
that permeates internally.

I once believed I was incapable
to hold such love inside.
but this feeling so benign
has left that empty shell behind.

every day our fates are moved
by all the doctrines  we've made true.
and slowly ill invite the warmth,
hot as the sun, ill melt with you.
638 · Dec 2012
while you sleep
Dalton Bauder Dec 2012
I'll play your ribs like a piano
hold you closer than the fibers of my own shirt, I see now how
over your chest it's draped
just like a cloth holding back the violent flames that spring out from beneath,
I can feel it in my feet,
the burning coals upon my toes
as I walk the streets of your heart,
paved with all the lovely stones you've tossed around and stepped upon.
not to mention
the brokenness you've tread from filling everyone's shoes,
even mine as I traverse you in your sleep, thinking of you as I
continue to hold back my view
of my own past,
hung from my back,
I've got a lot to learn
but I know it's always just for you.
it's always just for you.

you've made a home inside this hollow heart of mine,
down to my bones you've made a nest to come and live.
and I can't thank you enough for making me whole again.
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