Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
David Lauer Jun 2011
The glinting steel,
the bell-guard bright
Beneath the stark fluorescent light
Upon the armor, black and white
The Epees two did wheel

I dance, dart, leading with my unbloodied tip
The battered blade glints and clatters

I grapple with another steel and titanium edge,
Twisting, trampling, fighting

Thirsting for blood, the electric jolt of victory
I wait.

A mistake, an opportunity, an open port
The walls are breached, the banner glows red

And victory cries its piercing song.
Then, A pause.

Prepared again, back into the fray I dart
Adrenaline rushing through my warm, glinting steel

A catch, a crunch, a splitting sword
My upper half flies, spinning, across the battlefield.

Flashing back, battles won and lost  
Then cold silence

He who lives by the sword dies by the sword.
And the brightest flame burns half as long.
David Lauer Jun 2011
BOMB MARS NOW
BOMB MARS NOW

WE'VE GOT MEGATONS OF NUKES
LET'S GO BOMB THOSE MARTAIN PUKES

NOT IRAN, NOT A 'STAN AND NOT NORTH K,
LET'S USE OUR BOMBS ON MARS TODAY

BOMB MARS NOW
BOMB MARS NOW

THE MARTIANS HATE OUR WAY OF LIFE
THEY WANT TO **** YOUR KIDS AND WIFE

THEIR RELIGION THROWS HUMANS ON THEIR ***
LET'S TURN THEIR PLANET'S GROUND TO GLASS

BOMB MARS NOW
BOMB MARS NOW

BOMB MARS NOW
BOMB MARS NOW
David Lauer Jun 2011
Two lips are as two lips do
One is one plus one is two
Two minds mean four lips
One plus one is one eclipse

An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when one celestial object moves into the shadow of another.

Two heavenly bodies
Orbiting a yellow dwarf
I am but a satellite
To your world

Plunged into stellar darkness
As you cross my path
Eclipsed by you, bright planet
Planet of millions of beautiful things.
David Lauer Jun 2011
Hazelnut hair over hazel eyes
Listening to my funny lies
For all I know, the Egyptian Helen looked just so
Smarter than the girl in the library, I know
David Lauer Jun 2011
I am the only idiot who is so thick that he would think to take a walk
At three in the Monday morning

But I am not alone.
There are others,
Transient beings
Venturing forth into the shadows between the street lamps

No one is here to stay.
We are all travelers.
Where are you going?
From whence do you hail?

Why is there not silence? There is no one conscious here.
My footsteps do not make a sound. But the sounds are there.
Under every streetlamp, the highway sings.
It is an ugly song, but a song that calls one away never the less.

The sailors heard its prettier, younger voice.
Now it has grown old, and its voice is gravely from too many cigarettes
And it strains to keep singing, nothing but a cup of coffee holding it back
From peace.

Now, a dog.
Bashful, quiet, dark, tail held between its legs
Runs out under the streetlamp, beside I, the boy in the trench-coat and fedora
To donate to the national trust

He glances, back, and forth.
He knows I see him, but it don't matter.
We are partners in crime.
I am here, laughing at the world too.

Where are you coming from, friend?
The dog asks me.
No where. I like to think I am going somewhere beautiful, though.
Where are you going, friend? I ask the dog.
Paris, the city of lights. I have heard it is lovely this time of year.
Then godspeed, pooch, for your journey is a long one.
And with a nod, he let loose one more line: You realize you look like a ******, right?
And then he was gone.

Another transient being.
What a funny place
This world is
On Monday morning,
At three AM.

And here I am, heeding the highway's siren song.
David Lauer Jun 2011
Six AM, on my feet and staggering. Eight AM, I'm on a poetry binge again.
You know, I've got no sleep and my words ain't deep but I've got so many dreams.
David Lauer Jun 2011
The clouds are slowly parting
Dew is in your eyes
Leaves are slowly falling
As summer's peeping dies

School begins, children learn of arts
And freedom gives a little cry
But roses live forever in our hearts
And lilacs never die

In the minds eye

We are soaring over the city
We cut through the air as a knife
Brave, bold, quick and witty
This is the springtime of our life.
David Lauer Jun 2011
I’m dreaming of summer
And girls in libraries*
And sailing and fencing and gazing at stars

But I put out that glimmer
This valentines Sunday
And sitting and brooding I watch passing cars
David Lauer Jun 2011
Waves roll in, pounding surf
Speeding along below the grey skies.
Spewing ****, screaming ******* songs of sadistic “self-control”
According to angry-woman, assessment of everything outweighs any enjoyment
Waves roll in, pounding surf,
Speeding along below the grey skies
Red in the distance reflects the ranting repulsive requiem that redefines our ride
Learning loses love and lacks life when you demand ludicrous lapses of logic like lectures,
Busy-work, bad business that burns the brains of brilliant children. Breath in, breath out. Listen.
Don't burn out. Let the waves wash over you
Waves roll in, pounding surf.
Speeding along below the grey skies.

Only human. The sky is clearing, but in this car you become a demon.

Only human, beneath grey skies.

Waves roll in, pounding surf.
David Lauer Jun 2011
Five minutes ago
Five minutes before his death
A healthy man flipped a switch

Now, miles from sunlight
We hold six billion worlds
In our hands

And now we feel the shockwave
Through the miles of concrete and steel
We feel the sunrise of a million tiny suns

And now we decide
Whether to launch the missiles
That end the world

“Vengeance,” we ask?
“Justice,” they scream.
David Lauer Jun 2011
Bundled and tucked in layers
Of warmth we wade
Through the thick snow
Of the frozen football field
We guide the rocket down
Its cast iron rail towards the
Firing plate and then level
The launch pad
“Do we have continuity?”
One of us shouts
“We have continuity”
Comes the confirming shout
As the countdown rings out
A hush falls over all else
Then a fizz, a phhht, a flash
And our rocket accelerates, screaming
Into the out of
And beyond our realm
David Lauer Jun 2011
There is But one Uber-Sun!
And many Uber-Suns around it!
It was that way when creation was done.
And that is the way the verse is knit.

The Uber-Sun is big and bright
And bright are the Uber-Suns many
And no matter what has been or might
Candy (on the uber-sun) will remain a penny

And the Uber-Suns see no despair
No hunger and no fear
For Uber are the people there
And on every planet near.

But do not think you would live upon
A star, uber and mighty
For on the Sun a fire is a lawn
And air conditioning is flighty

And for a Minnesotan chill,
A sun is very scary
For lack of snow, you take a pill
And two for lack of prairie

But now-now, child of the earth
Do not think all is lost
On Earth there is much mirth
And solace in the frost
David Lauer Jun 2011
Fate isn't a rock, or even a path.
Fate moves in eddies, currents, and tides.
Some you must embrace, and some you must fight.
Of course, they all look exactly the same.
David Lauer Jun 2011
Walking to school
In Minnesota
Is interesting
The cold burns
But it is not dark
The black of early
Morning is pierced
By the lights of
Hundreds of cars
Hundreds of all
But empty cars
And Trucks
And SUVs
Youths half asleep
Staring at the
Black road
I stop
Extend my arm
And stick
Out my thumb
For a moment
Then I turn
And put my hand
Back in my warm
Jacket Pocket
And trudge on

— The End —