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You introduced me to a game that neither of us can ever win,
So let's just stop rolling the dice.
I no longer have the moves to bring me to the home square,
And I've used my only get out of jail free card,
Next time, it's the slammer for sure.
In strategic thinking, he can beat us both hands down,
So put away the playing pieces,
Fold up the board,
Let's declare a stalemate.
Joint losers,
Game over,
Time to call it quits.
I have a new, jaunty bob,
And there's a stranger in the mirror.
Last time you saw me I had a short crop and a kiss curl.
Do I seem softer now, with my sleeker bangs?
Would you like the new look?
Would the change help us to move from the past?
You could pretend I'm someone different,
That the sharp cropped siren is someone else, long gone.
It might draw you in again.
That's not what I'm aiming for, and yet...
I'd be lying if I said that I hope you wouldn't like it,
And what does it matter?
You're gone. You will never again see
Any part of me.
 Dec 2013 Derek Yohn
tayler
merely an iridescent adolescence.
flickering soul-bulb, a match for the pyre
i could not handle her fickle essence--
her gasoline in my trembling fire.

i fell into love with the moon and stars,
burning up passion in the atmosphere;
changing in space but never away to far.
immutable freedom in my worlds here.

she left me interstellar drunken enticed,
my spirit burning brighter than ever before,
seizing every moment, photon spiced--
night skies will be my companion forevermore.

burning bright, soul hypnotizing the moon;
fading skies, my love will join my eyes soon.
 Dec 2013 Derek Yohn
tayler
innovation: creation in destruction
matter cannot be created or destroyed,
and neither can art.
unity in paradox
we are
            passing thoughts sauntering in the winds of mortality
            drunken stupors, with eyes blurred, stumbling in a beautiful world
            famished spirits, consuming our own radiance
            fools caught up in our fabricated wisdom
            skeletal souls reaching for the sun's hand, while being consumed meticulously by the dirt
the reason i write--
to let you climb on my back
and maybe reach further than before;
pain is a part of life,
don't disregard it;
i have hope.
let us be free
in love;
do not search out pain,
do not search out pleasure,
do not search.
let us saunter as friends,
let us lie down and sing,
let us be passionate about beauty.
my hope for all of you
is that you will be the
heart
in this heartless world.
find glory in love.
find art in love.
find peace in love.
be love.
Take me out of time and space
And love me.
Only for a moment
In that other place
Just love me.
Make my heart soar and my hands tremble
Let the tears run down my face,
In that other, lovely place.
Only you can take me there,
You know how, and you know where.
 Dec 2013 Derek Yohn
Jeremy Duff
I had been sober for three days
and I had not seen you for three days
but tonight I took
five times the recommended dose of hydrocodene (they always were my favorite)
and I looked at old pictures of you for three hours (you always were my favorite)
 Dec 2013 Derek Yohn
Reece
What steps he took, after losing his edge
Cocky **** running wild in days, never slept
Took drugs, took women, took men
Never slept again

What cliffs she admired, after seeing the edge
Tormented in fuzzy daydream childhood afternoons
She came down and stayed for days
An obsession with time to the point of stasis

I think I'm losing my edge
He thinks he's dead again
She lost the bed again

A faceless man was sat on a bench by the seafront
Hood high, said goodbye
Told me his missed the old style, wants more
Told him I was tired and this is whorish
What vines are these, that bound my ankles
and I was screaming into vacuums, grand clocks, strange houses
Safe houses that become embers
Magic men, shaman, shaggy hair, danced there

To use words in multiple places, placing clues
A whole story, absolute, read it backwards, forewords
iTunes shuffle function, on the poetry of the soul
(if it exists)
But he lost his edge again

Yes he went to Africa, saw the face of God and the Devil, unification
Iboga, uneasy stomach, vomited and killed them all
Watched the world burn, and children dance
Bluebell Lucy on arrival, back home
Taunted the skies, saved the proletariat
Grew wild roots and sang, some seraph

Admittedly not an architect, or a poet or *******
How many people have made these allusions
Sold drugs, killed men, ran home, all there, ghost of government
Hedgerows grew wild, were noticed and cut down
Still praise beatitude, Ginsberg, love-made, Kerouac, still plays

She was Hannah and she was Malcolm, also Marvin
He was them too, all the same, transcendental self-infatuation
Peach trees, coloured blinds, ashy scattered floorboards
Burnt home, music playing, popular culture
All free-form even with formality
A stream of conscious way of life
Outlook unsure

He thought he lost his edge
Turns out s/he never had it
Crashing outside the bedroom door
at the end of the hall
Scratching like nails on your front door
awakens you in sweat

Mormons, Witnesses, maybe Catholics

In silence the lump in your throat grows
Chokes your pulse stone cold in your arm as you throw your gaze at the window

Oh. . .
The moon's out.

Crashing into your living room
with the sound of moisture
Mashing pulp feet to your bedroom
to the speed of your heart

Beat increasing to keep from screaming
Meaning well with your gun as you reach for it, gasping, swallowing spit

Oh. . .
Two eyes flash.
Two more.
Two more.
Two more.
More and more.

Give
me any face in shade
emerging but the
flesh rot, putrid
stare of the
ones who
followed
death
and
in death return to night.

Tonight.
A pearl is kissed; licked
By a gentle, questing tongue,
Ecstasy greets her.
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