he stopped to rest along the creek and watched
the water slide by.  he closed his eyes and
the trickling sound soothed his ears.  breathing out,
he opened his eyes in time to see his
breath dissipate into the sharp air.  clean
winter sunlight touched his cheeks.  he noticed
a large stone at the edge of the water.
two smaller stones rested on top of it.
there was a space in-between the two stones.
he wondered if a third stone was once there.

and then he thought that the things we miss when
someone is gone, the things that come to us
in the quiet moments- the moments when
you watch the snow fall outside the window-
that is the essence of the one who has
left.  it is what they have left behind for
you to find, in the space between the stones.

in the old garden
moonlight on the stone statue
head moves as you pass

Clifford was having a tough year
money was tight, couldn't get in the clear

by the time it was autumn
he'd reached rock bottom

nowhere else to turn
and nothing left to learn

he decided to consult
a man of the occult

who sent him on a quest
to help him manifest

the riches he desired
but it all backfired

now there's demons in control
asking for his soul

all because he messed up the spell
and opened up a back door to Hell

the vampire hunter and his son
were like "lone wolf and cub"
if you know about that one

well they were always together
battling the undead
through all types of weather

then one fateful eve
they could not help but perceive
the shining blood moon meant war
they were not naive

outnumbered they were
and survival wasn't assured
but they battled and brawled
until it all was a blur

but when the smoke cleared
it was not as they'd feared
for all the fanged beasts
had been successfully speared

the hunter then turned to his boy -
victory! they both were about to enjoy
but the hunter saw something that made him a wreck
two tiny red holes in his child's perfect neck

for his son had been bitten
and so it was written
this would be his final dawn -
he was incurably stricken

fate was something they could not ignore
so they waited until the dark was no more
he vowed to always remember his son's final night
as they walked, hand in hand, into the sunlight

she wanted a new face
because everything in the mirror
looked completely out of place

everyone told her she was so lovely
but despite all of that
she wanted to be just a little less ugly

the doctor said, "your visage, i can improve!"
so he gave her a mask
that she could not ever remove

he rode deeper into the desert, his
tongue dustier than his boots.  the thirsty
noonday sun siphoned the last drops of sweat
from the back of his blazing, blistered neck.
the horse staggered.  he knew he was just dead-
weight in the saddle and there was nothing
but sand.  mounds, bluffs, ridges of pale yellow.
time passed.  passed?  but the savage sun was still.

then

she appeared on the dune in silk.  blue.  a
cornflower blue that rippled against her
body.  he closed his eyes and thought of the
rolling fields of breeze-ruffled, dotted blue
back home
he saw himself riding ahead and then
he was there.  off his horse at the foot of
the dune, and she descended.  her eyes were
the same blue as her dress and her lips, red
lips, were parted and he could see her hips
move like liquid through the silk.  swish. swish.  as
she came closer her long dark hair brushed her
shoulders.  swish. swish.  and then she was there and
she pulled him into her breast and he breathed
in and it smelled like the wildflowers
back home
and the silk felt cool and he wanted to
drink it from her body and she drew him
down onto the sand and it wasn't hot
and he began to run his cracked hands up
her thighs and she sighed and he felt it on
his face like a spring gust from the green hills
back home.

then

the federales found him three feet from
the edge of the oasis.  face down, arm
outstretched over a patch of grass.  water,
like a mirror to the sky, lapping his
chafed fingertips.

no one seems to understand!
human knowledge, i just want to expand
i'm only trying to be of service
there's really no need to be that nervous
try my delicious potions
or my very, very soft lotions
and you'll be helping me on my quest
to benefit all! truly it's for the best!
lie there quiet now, it won't hurt a bit
you're helping humanity
so i'm sure you're ok with it!