All Hours of the Night
there's a war going on inside us all
don't get up...
I brought a storm chaser to deter the turbulence
I know the effect of a lightning strike
that's my love smeared everywhere
If I could channel the glow that powers the well
where beautiful grows in the eyes of of a girl
who believes in a boy
that digs her mind more than her behind
til it's pipe time...
between me and the walls
I need a big score
I could double down on the underdog
everyone leans on the longshot
false hope
false God
I bet on love... I always bet on love
there are no shortcuts
you believe in ya boy like smart is ****
I wanna stand
with more than my mishaps in my hand...
an educated man
before your open book
and scale the pages in braille
with my big imagination
what does it say in there
about mind ****** before marriage
I'm not settling on secondhand joy
If I could just channel the glow...
and if I could recall the way to its light source;
love is the one thing
no other divine thing persists without
All Hours of the Night
there's a war going on inside us all
don't mind me...
I sleepwalk  around in my sin
every mortal moment and again
that rust colored stain on the corner
is what's left of my lust;
can't be rinsed away
a trick I should have never entertained
any ****** could tell
it's always love
streaming live in hi-def through your brown eyes
if I could direct the energy
that mains the intensity
it takes to unbreak a guiltless heart
the bass would pulsate like saintly drums;
biblical horn sections
don't get up...
His Majesty will find you
between me you and the walls
I need a big score
more than pipe time most mid-mornings
I could have gone against the odds
if the purse were the purpose
I'm not a gambling man
I'm not afraid of being the favorite
or favoring one thing
love is the one thing
no other divine thing persists without
you are my one thing
All Hours of the Night
our glow powers the well
where beautiful grows in the eyes of a boy
who believes in a girl
more conscious of his brilliance than his abilities
I believe in us. Smart is ****
this book is about you
all verses in cursive and indelible ink
the master key
the last and only link to the hilltop
I bet on love... I always bet on love
your lifeline is the way to its light source
no shortcuts
my world in the palm of your hand
your touch alone
is why I know the effect of a lightning strike...
there's a war going on inside us all
less settling than white noise by now
I've learned to ignore the static

All Hours of the Night
you get it by now...
I'm no ordinary dude
I'm the Guardian
I vouched for you
and if I don't make you accountable for this mess;
you were quick to stick the puppies face in it
because she's gotta learn right "you know how ******* get"
a moment of weakness you've called it
crawling back now on the same bended knee
you take to to pray about it...
on the same bended knee you take to to take him
and you kiss your kids with that mouth
how irresponsible it would be of me
to not post your offenses
tough love
or tough talk
which one are you
I'ma go with my gut
because you said to... I'm paraphrasing
"always take a ***** at her word"
we set better examples here
so I'ma put your nose in the wet spot
and as for your performance;
I gotta give it up
kudos
standing o
but I can't wait around for the encore
and I can't wait to write your review
and now when it's aching
and everything smells like me
clenching won't do;
fistfuls of your bed spreads
feel like your back is breaking
but no more O's for you
miss it
All Hours of the Night
you're supposed to
do you miss him like that too
oscar - nominee
my crown is your crown now
that's how we felt we were supposed to get down
for the rest of
however long the rest of
turns out to be
there's never been a language ever spoken
or scripture ever inked on how we move
because it's a given here
where we quietly defend the dynasty
inside these gates
outside ourselves
and between me and the walls
haven't you been nervous for no good reason
haven't you missed the butterflies
because you still can't wait to see me
we came in undersized
but your crown was my crown now
because you know good and well
that's my breath
when a breeze leaves just a tease of warm air
under there
and because you love butterflies
wasn't *** better than ***
fascinating **** huh… me
like you didn't know before now
and now that yearn
can't be made well by any earthborn figure
outside these gates
or inside you
and only between me and the walls
there's been no language assigned
we still can't pronounce it
but it's called love no matter your accent
or if you speak in tongue
fight it
All Hours of the Night
it's tiring
and you're weak
I give it a week
before you come crawling back
on the same bended knee
you take to pray about it
and to take him
you kiss your kids with that mouth
I am no ordinary dude
I'm the Guardian
I vouched for you
codefendants
love is war
I thought you understood our plight
I have to make you accountable for this mess;
you gotta learn "you know how ******* get."
how irresponsible it would be of me
to not post your offenses
tough love
or tough talk
which one are you
it's okay to miss me
you're supposed to
do you miss him like that too...

I was born in the congo
I walked to the fertile crescent and built
    the sphinx
I designed a pyramid so tough that a star
    that only glows every one hundred years falls
    into the center giving divine perfect light
I am bad
I sat on the throne
    drinking nectar with allah
I got hot and sent an ice age to europe
    to cool my thirst
My oldest daughter is nefertiti
    the tears from my birth pains
    created the nile
I am a beautiful woman
I gazed on the forest and burned
    out the sahara desert
    with a packet of goat's meat
    and a change of clothes
I crossed it in two hours
I am a gazelle so swift
    so swift you can't catch me
    For a birthday present when he was three
I gave my son hannibal an elephant
    He gave me rome for mother's day
My strength flows ever on
My son noah built new/ark and
I stood proudly at the helm
    as we sailed on a soft summer day
I turned myself into myself and was
    jesus
    men intone my loving name
    All praises All praises
I am the one who would save
I sowed diamonds in my back yard
My bowels deliver uranium
    the filings from my fingernails are
    semi-precious jewels
    On a trip north
I caught a cold and blew
My nose giving oil to the arab world
I am so hip even my errors are correct
I sailed west to reach east and had to round off
    the earth as I went
    The hair from my head thinned and gold was laid
    across three continents
I am so perfect so divine so ethereal so surreal
I cannot be comprehended except by my permission
I mean...I...can fly
    like a bird in the sky...

there's nothing personable about wintry skies above the boston harbor
it gets ugly along the ridgepole of rhode island and providence plantations
this time of year

i ink off the dome
along the varicose veins of these violent streets

we smash more
because life indoors
is the gateway to new manners
or points of psychosis
if your boo doesn't get you
enough to get along

it storms snow where we bump

some think it's fine
or that it's by design lakes freeze over here
and mold mirrors made with angels in mind
but it's a terrific tragedy
the death of colors, inhibitions and innocence
choked away from the branches certain seasons undress

the way no one knows enough to mourn

but mother nature's a chameleon
and new england is the skin that won't keep

it's the backend of the wannabe springtime middays in may
when shorties lose their minds again
a few hours every other day
rock cutoffs and capris
because the sun showed her shine again

but she's so premature
and we've dreamed dreams before this way
against the grain
so we get high to get by like smokeheads do

but i need something sexier to wake up to
like garden birds and backyard bird feeders
american robins and the orioles
that i imagine must use their sugar water to maintain better bongs

because it's a slow burn...
the backside of northeastern calendar months

and my consequent mood swings
are 1 of 2 things that need adjusting
but it is what it is, and too cold anyway
so smiles crack beneath the pressure
like glass poets in poetry slams

my joints are protective like laminates and coke corner lookouts
they're.. less forgiving, less tolerant
and less inclined to suppress significant emotion
so as much as it might make me no nevermind
you'll be unfairly called out
unfairly because it takes both halves of anything to fulfill a split
and i was so spent; our nonlove had used me up

cross me

and they're.. that much more callous, vindictive
and less likely to fall back and dust you off

is why every drop i co-author will vilify you
i swear on everything relevant
co-author because anyone who's been through anything
is the voice of my writs
and every someone afraid to ink it lives vicariously through rants

my joints won't not be heard

they.. won't be negotiated and can't be bought off
they know how irresponsibly you've loved
and mypoems won't hold their tongues
or your hand, i promise

you should watch your back and wonder no more
if everyone's looking at you or if you're trippin because.. they are

i told you not to **** with me
but you forced my hand
and i've written you up and posted your offenses on poetry boards;
a journal worth of she-love-not and who gives a ****

my readers get it
heartbreak.. that's universal
and everyone wishes they could articulate a dear john or jane
so i supply a public service
pro bono

this here... is the way to the mediator

i'm full off new love;
some, our shadows have compatible marrow, secret lovers love
so my reserves are thick
and thin as i am, i want for nothing

but, i know some malnourished fools
can't remember the last time they had a belly full of anything close to it
anxious to get what i got

the fat is in the fire
and i'll be just as much the supplier of your provisions

full off new love;
some, holds me so tight i swear we might become the sum of one type love
thick reserves and the full measure of love
we'll want for nothing

and i know some malnourished women
who've suffered aspiration pneumonias, dehydration
and electrolyte imbalance
because they couldn't keep the generic brand down
tissue damaged and toothless now
as if they thought lust was less acidic

we're so satiated

ours, is an hourglass set in stone
and i've flushed the seeping sand with oil and molasses;
my nearly black blood, and your sugary secretions to thicken the grains
to keep time, and so death at bay

I don't know that my blackened lungs still stretch
because they love me back
or if that's why my ruptured heart still thumps like that
I just know I'd be lifeless without
the same way I'd love life less without you
Loving intently and at the risk
of never having another someone love me again
because your eyes say you don't
your lips say you can't
and you only keep feelings for a man you've never met
The perfect love...
a takes me dancing til my feet hurt for his strong hands
reminds me I'm adored because it crosses his mind again and again
cooks when I'm too tired to be wined and dined
two legs to stand on love
I've watched the opera from your vantage point
and the fool who portrays me killed off before the third act
How many anxious moments have you sat through
rooting for my demise...
loving intently on a hope and a prayer
scene after life shattering scene?
Flawed love...
a he can't catch me if I fall
or fall on hard times
hold me tightly when life won't let up
or hold my hand to put the world on notice
can't be seen in public like that
no legs to stand on love
I don't know that your smile thrives behind my half dead eyes
because they love me back
or if that's why my gut still fellowships with my soul like that
I just know enough to eat pride before the reasoning expires
the same way I treasure my gifts, I know...
at the risk of sounding redundant
You'll always be the only other someone I'll ever need to love me again
but your body screams yes
your heart just won't
and you only harbor meaningful emotion for a man you've never met
The perfect love...
fantastic with the kids, mine and his
ambitious stud in the boardroom and the bedroom
traveling the world taking our show on tour
introduce him to my father
two legs to stand on love
I'm still taller than my limitations
I'll massage your pain away with all the right things to say
the way you swore only I can
catch you if you fall for me again
hold you down on your way up, I know...
at the risk of sounding like a contradiction
and romance your fam from a beautifully realistic vantage point
Love!
The altar
Love!
and crush our first dance...
legs or no

i'm up
i'm straight up
because i still can't give my heart away
after all this time
and love ain't even hard
like riding a bike... and once you know how
different wheels now
but i don't let it bother me
use me/use you are the twosomes i'm used to
and i've got more than these entendres to give
i'm still what's happenin
it just so happens
there's no one's here to lie to my face
i need that
it feels good sometimes
no one i can front for right now
like love is genuinely an option in my condition
i've been called a coward
emotions die horrible deaths under my watch
lust is less complicated
try me... surprise me
but my heart is too wide to fit in your handbag
you could strain something vital;
the weight of it all
you may hate that it excites you
waiting to fall, but... no love
just a one-way ticket and a long ride
take my word
i'm still standing
bracing for a crash landing
when you splash down
and i've got more than these entendres to give
i'm up
i'm straight up
because i still can't give my heart away
after all this time
and love ain't even hard
but there's no one else here to lie to me
no one i can front for
try me...
and try me again
just know i meant don't fall for me when i said
don't trip
use me/use you are the twosomes i'm used to
but if you need me to **** with your head
straighten up
and ride my empty promises
i got all night...
medicated via syringes with selfless intentions
i'm still standing
and you've fallen asleep before
to the rhythm of my love notes;
and you've wanted before now
to get to know my ***** mouth
can't explain why you want more... because what for
you were only curious to begin with
don't trip
use me/use you are the twosomes i'm used to
lie to my face
i need that in my life
feels good sometimes
so i'm good if you **** with my head
lust is less complicated this time of morning
i'm up
i'm straight up
i still can't give my heart away
after all this time
and love ain't even hard
like riding a bike... you never forget how
but here i am
and i'm still what's happenin
it just so happens
i'm more vulnerable than recent installments
but i don't let it bother me
use me/use you are the twosomes i'm used to
leave your heart at the door
i would hate to strain something vital
and take it... my word
that i'm up

All Hours of the Night
That range of time is too random
to be alone in the dark with yourself
It's the loneliest time to think you over
because like the sweetest stanza
of the prettiest poem no one will ever read;
we were pointless
If I can recall
you said so yourself
My faith in the possibility had been exhausted
My heart...
I've since changed the lock
with no bother about a spare key
Sounds like some slick ****
a poet assigned to you would say
I found a reasoning you should try yourself...
I trust nothing;
I know me too well
to believe I can talk myself into getting over you
You must be proud of yourself
the way you get all up in me right under my nose
My defenses though... just in case
My personality splits
All Hours of the Night
I captain this hook
and refuse to pardon heartbreakers
with three strikes at love
I rob in the hood
I'll take everyone for everything
and give anything I can get away with to you
Those are my instincts
There's nowhere to go to get around yourself
I work like a fool
but when the struggle rises above my head
I learn to swim again
What's a synonym for dope boy
Started as a runner
Stick up kids out to tax
when bust your gun
is all you've got going for yourself
Around and around
and I hate that I love your badside
All Hours of the Night
By the rim of your ears
and nape of your neck
To the point of your *******
and past your belly's button
Until my mouth found your flower's fruit
and sipped its juice;
Until your *** was trickling down my chin
I wanna lick you senseless
Imagine that...
I thought you were ready
but knew about the clause in your description denouncing heavy lifting
And our love was like dead weight back when
At least there's that...
I'd have to eat the blame one way or the other
I've seen you zing it from your index finger
at everyone but yourself
You ain't for this life
A mountain lion
would knaw off it's leg to escape capture...
Is that a chill or a phantom sensation
All Hours of the Night
You were on some other **** yourself
The way you captained this hook
and made me wanna pardon heartbreakers
with three strikes at love
Those are your instincts;
Never trick where you lay your head
Keep your family close and your haters closer
Improve yourself
Progress
Prevail
And money before good ****
Sounds like some slick ****
a demon assigned to a poet would say
in the condescending tone
you've owned
since the very first frame
I found a reasoning you should try yourself...
I trust nothing
You must be proud of yourself

busybodies made the sign
center mass
of imperceptible crosses over themselves
and swore we were jane and joe
for the umpteenth time..

God as their witness

the re-embodiment of ***** slaves
evident by the way we run.. instinctively
and sometimes in dissimilar directions
afraid to feel since their intercession

i'd straighten up against the wall
so you could measure
if the nervous system was my major
or some simpler thing to interpret
or i could make gravity forget
and you would see that i'm taller than my dreams

there's no make pretend at the roots of my poems

as honest as a kiss
as fair as the day you fell from a door in the sky
wearing a cloud for a parachute
singing something about giving good love

these applications were hardly suspect
before the mistrustful mouths of boys and girls
without enhanced halves of their own

for whatever reason
they need to see us segregated
and claim to have "the goods" on my ghost
but can uncover no more than what i've written

the world was unsightly before i met you

i was a thief and a liar
and peddled too many types of toxins
so even uglier
and was irresponsible in love and life
but this season'll be brighter than former editions
even without the ginger and gold
that made the trees attractive  
or the banks you made angels in

what more can they tell you

who i was is the bogeyman beneath the bed
that will steal your eyes if you let em
and because love battles..
i've since removed it's overweight tongue
buried it's spirit alive
and kept no past account so sacred
as to raise any uncertainties from the dead

what you've seen is all there is to me

but i'm almost sure beauty can't be taught
and you must care for some secret all your own
in the silver locket maybe
you wear around your wrist

is why they'll rumor about its contents as well
and unapologetically so
if history or the natural order of things
is any indication
until you swear you're no root woman
because someone had to have convinced the village
"it would take a drop of his blood and an unholy spell..."
for you to have me
but we're only imperfect apart
so our music makes more sense
mean in the throat of a hummingbird
or on old vinyl records

static is a metaphor for the arduous nights
and only makes us stronger
if it doesn't **** us in our sleep
we were predestined and earlier than this life

i committed your profile to memory
in a carolina rice field
beneath a haze as warm as hellfire
more than a decade
after the  emancipation of the grind
when you bet everything on your wedding ring
and was taught there ain't nothing complementary about (free)dom

they couldn't break us
they never will
this thing we've comprised is a gift
from the Gods who gave us mary and mahalia
and stars like vanilla chips
embedded in a dark chocolate sky
even before we could read
and i could write you poetry
about ordinary things as soft as your smile

there are no plantations in heaven
though death is some thing less than a formality
when true love is as relentless

for the umpteenth time
if we come back without our papers
i'll wait for you, barefoot in the churchyard

ready to run