Splitting a boxed wine
right down the center
staining cotton shirts
sentences ending in hiccups
blood boiling from
growing up

I crave
            simplicity.

I haven't been this relaxed
In longer
                than
                         I
                           can
r e m e m b e r

My mind is drained
looking for a way
to be less used
like the back side
of the page.

I would watch that movie
just one more time
if I watched it with her.

two burns decorate my shoulder
due to drunken recklessness
one on my forearm
by a stubborn game of pain
but the second in the same spot
was not in ruckus or fury
it was born from being
terribly, terribly
empty

Nickels and dimes
              are not enough
                      for this
heart

Dear Eddie,
        The best
and worst
thing that ever happened to me
was you dying in that car crash.
It taught me that
life doesn't last
and
that the past
is
the
past,

Your friend and brother,

Dan

She dyed her hair and everything is changing
I don't care, I want to go back home
And I swear, if her love is fading, I'll get her back
somehow

I'll take her out and go to parties
I'll steal my parents' car keys and drive way out
singing
"Baby, what's going on in that head of yours
Baby, what's on your mind
Baby, what's going on in that head of yours and
are you over me yet."

I cut my hair, cause I got lazy
I'm going nowhere, well I guess I'm going back home
She'll be there, I wonder if she's thinking, "I...
I want him back."

I'll sneak out and go to parties
I'll steal my parents' car keys and drive way out
singing
"Baby, what's going on in that head of yours
Baby, what's on your mind
Baby, what's going on in that head of yours and
are you over me, are you over me,
are you over me yet."

I used to be nice
before the world took my hand
and showed me the bad side
of everyone and everything
including me
including me

I fight everyday
to keep myself from going under
But the more I grab
the more it slips away
the more it slips
away

I'm coffee and you are cigarettes
I keep you going
while you **** my slowly

greetings Darkness
you always sink into the ground
when Light isn't around
only pesky Moon
tries to ward you away
soon Moon won't shine
for just one night
and Light will fail its
daily battle
you'll rattle with inky conquest
rejoice in the hours
at your disposal
all yours
all Dark
I'll envy you then
more than I've ever envied
that pesky Moon
or too bright Light
I want to topple your throne
and be the ruler of quiet
Night

Cut a fish, split it in half,
turn my time in for a bit of cash,
has my career path
swerved and crashed?
I don't know much about
anything,
I don't own much of
anything,
and my skill set is out dated,
no one wants to pay for poems,
they're over rated.
Put the pen down, grab a blade and,
slice up veggies, your hand, and salmon.
The perk of this job is there is always
more work to do.
If you finish at one store,
there are fifty more to go to.
They'll ship you out,
pay over time,
all they ask is your body, your mind,
and your future.
Can I suture the pieces of my creative
side, fix it up, write a poem that
doesn't ****,
**** it, I'll start off by posting
this ****.

Two left feet have me
walking crooked
calculated my chance,
took it.
I've always been poor
at math.

Sorry that I found out
the price of freedom
is always leaving first.

Fairytales once seemed far away,
things for folks who were fools.
Frog princes, magic kisses, happily-ever-afters
just trifles for filling time.
Resigned to let whimsy fade,
my poems grew dark.
Gloomy art from a gloomy heart.

Once you fell into my life,
a quick kiss, a skipping heart,
the veil was lifted.
Like all fairytales
the darkness was defeated,
magic restored to the land
and the hands of this silly poet
now set to pen brighter things.

My poems swung toward the sun,
and life with you has become
the fairytale,
bound to have a
happily-ever-after.

I let Tony know
left a message on his phone
"Dude...my grandma died"
he called back twice
then dropped a text
"call me"
I was hesitant
but did
first thing he said
"I'm sorry man...that *****..."
but in minutes my
spirits were up
it's like I never left
I was so scared things would
feel broken
I was wrong
he hung up with an
"I love you Dan"
I couldn't have asked
for a better friend
to help me through
as we change from children
into
men

I found your old
hackie sack
all the beans had
fallen out.

I've held on so long
that my fingers might break
under the pressure of the weight
you dropped on me
I can't shake this feeling
Like a pencil stuck in the
schoolroom ceiling, just waiting to take
the fall.

I've cried out so much
my throat might crush
I can't take the tingle
that intercepts my veins
like the warnings you gave me
straight to my brain.

I don't mind it
Shovel up another spoon full
lets get through with it
I like the taste of medicine
any
way.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
two bones and two bowls
legs like twigs
and the only thing that
makes it feel like
Saint Paddy's Day
is my corned beef sandwich

The thought of light beams
painting your thighs and collar
just a bit tanner
as you offer in a smaller than normal voice,
"I could sunbathe in your backyard"
is more than enough.

I don't know how else to say this
I've waited, I'm patient, *******.
I keep my kind heart, selfless, but helpless
and loveless.
I'm tired of sleeping alone, or even just not
having cute voice mails on my phone.
Tired of putting my neck out
and getting chopped and not bit
and I know swearing is unattractive
but **** it, this is *******.
I'm a good kid, for the most part.
Never put people in harms way
don't bash on those who aren't the same.
I love people, I love them so much,
their laughs, voices, touch
so why am I laying alone again,
what is my sin!?
What the **** did I do?
Why do I mean nothing to you,
and you,
and you.

My timing is almost as perfect
as the broken glass
that lines my cracked feet
tired from walking
running, leaving
It'll be worth it
But my timing is almost
as good as that lie
that spoils my tongue
tired from saying,
"It's a big change. I'll
be                        fine."

Sitting in the bathtub,
face flush, warm like the water,
as I sink in further
I think of you,
off on your adventure,
and wish the moon, like a bow,
could shoot me across the sky,
a flash of light
that you see with delight,
until I fall down at your feet,
my journey complete,
returned home again
at last.