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Hank Roberts Jun 2014
Princess

Chances are slim because
she's in another world where
She rides her unicorns high in
the rainbow fields to find
her *** of gold that's been stashed
secretly inside the blue devil
that trolls the interstate
highways, north and south
east and west beneath her.
Puffy clouds and angels
serving you, your own heart's desire,
She turns empty drinks
into liquidation for
everyone and can walk mangled in
six inch heels and tell you
the small fork is for the shrimp.
Hank Roberts Nov 2014
Take your blankets off his floor
and let me sing songs of freedom
quietly through your drums.
We'll run so far out that
we will be closer in  
to the way through.
We both know once we
start burning up in the
atmosphere, the only hopes
of making it is to burn at a steady pace.
Hank Roberts Apr 2013
There ain't real salary, wages, or full time
only disgruntled currency and
spoiled company that left the
milk out after breakfast while flashing

Nike sneakers, Motorola phones, burying
a forgotten geometric axiom, bestowed
with several hammers, in the
place where angels fall from trees

when you shake up their limbs ,
threaten to pull their hair. Sleeping used
to be a victim-less crime until I left
you swinging all by your lonesome

even when dad was shaking me awake
at two after two. Noon. I
was up, down, in and backed out sideways
through a diagonal cave that

was flooded by Europeans
who lost their leather shoes
trying to find Truth by
shutting themselves inside out

Even if God turns out to
be dead or under a trance
because he found his true love
wearing ***** pants, folded backwards

and frayed at the shins, while
she's got holes on inside her
thighs and the final schema,
parallel to the referee

signalling for the bell that's
situated behind environmentally
friendly nuclear bombs that
Bin Laden used to get at a discounted

price and sold them to America
marked up 3 fold.  They'll burn medicinal
plants besides the **** in your
backyard and feed us cancer while

selling us over-priced tickets to
watch over-paid men play with
***** while those on wall street
pull out their carving knives

on the turkey that was too dried
out that upon entry it burst
into a double helix of poisonous
rat-tails that fell off Zeus when they

shattered his lightening in the sand
and opened the glass to the forbidden
triangle of the man with *****, soiled
wrinkled hands, placing his spine out for all to see
Hank Roberts Nov 2013
sour tongues spit out decrees to
the other leather sun bound  
twisted skins who try to reminisce
of the days of words, written and spoken
from a non-uniform refuge of thinkers.
heel-less sneakers won't keep them
from the last skirmish
even if the fireworks are skimpy
and with only one brother left
they'll still carry the ****** Mary
in the helmet they might wear for the last time
Hank Roberts Dec 2015
we need another
retaliation in the
Luther King way
Fire for fire leads
to nowhere quick
Jesus wouldn't be
anything if his
fists went flying
after the lashings
Hank Roberts Oct 2013
You sure ain't got nothing when
you're in love with every lady
you meet while there's leaves between
your toes that are spread around
the street.

The boy wrangles in anger
but mostly just helplessly
until the snow fall crystallizes
the earth and makes all wind
northern blown.

Sisters scratch and hiss over
dresses stitched in 1666 while
hiding in a black lit room, texting
and making sure their attacks only
make others' dooms
Hank Roberts Mar 2013
She said I deserved to dance with the angels
and that she didn't cut it.  With her I'm
just paper so she cuts it for me.  I guess she
thinks she is backwards left handed kindergarten
scissors trying to cut freezer burnt
ground beef.  Even if she is, I like
when she tries to slice through me in her way,
even if she gets really good and gets me halved through and through
Hank Roberts Sep 2014
I'm going away,
down to the place where
they drum the circle
and put motors on
feet and hips.
Down to where the fire
is my jacket and love
hand in hand with harmony,
is my fleeced inside.
I'm going away to where
the glitter princess and her
fairies sprinkle us with happy
dust to lift the downs we have found.
Hank Roberts Sep 2011
No doubt my love’s great
No one in the world can see
To me You’re the moon
Hank Roberts Apr 2011
She picks her poison
and she picks it well.
Doesn't matter which
she thinks it's swell.
One day it'll hit her hard
Then, from me, she'll be barred.
She thinks of nothing but her,
It's all for her own sake.
Even the fact that she's
nothing but a lousy fake.
Her mind won't ever wake
No matter what the stakes.
She picks her poison
and she picks it well.
Hank Roberts Aug 2010
Sitting under the sun
trying to find some fun
Will you join my scheme?
Give me the chance to make a gleam

The words were similar to mine
with you around, it'll all be fine
Only time will tell us how
But now, I can only say wow

Will you join my scheme?
Give me the chance to make you gleam
As the sun does everyday
making way for life and its way

All I ask is that you stay
Don't ever leave me astray
Our words could speak together
Making us lighter then feathers

The words were similar to mine
With you around, It'll all be fine
Your eyes are bluer then the sea
If you don't leave, I'll never flee
Hank Roberts Aug 2010
Sitting under the sun
trying to find some fun
Will you join my scheme?
Give me the chance to make a gleam

The words were similar to mine
with you around, it'll all be fine
Only time will tell us how
But now, I can only say wow

Will you join my scheme?
Give me the chance to make you gleam
As the sun does everyday
making way for life and its way

All I ask is that you stay
Don't ever leave me astray
Our words could speak together
Making us lighter then feathers

The words were similar to mine
With you around, It'll all be fine
Your eyes are bluer then the sea
If you don't leave, I'll never flee
Hank Roberts Aug 2010
Oh my forgotten sleep
Why do you remain so deep?
You keep me up of late
Why do you steady me in this state?
Even when I count sheep
Why do you curse me without sleep?
As I lay with a blank mind
When's the last time you've been kind?
It seems like endless ages
Why keep me locked in these cages?
Just wanting to see my dream
why act thoughtlessly supreme
The More and More I want to sleep
You go farther and farther deep
Hank Roberts Dec 2013
The angels' dandruff fell with no prints
disturbing, while the world froze outside
us, as we lay inches from
one another with a pounding
heart and electricity
that could melt the ice stone
branches now creaking in pain.

Riding away, the words I wanted to
say, are now just heartfelt ruses
that turn melancholic
as the miles of distance
between us grows but this distance
can't keep me far even
if my car does 360s when it snows.
Hank Roberts Sep 2010
Under the sun I saw,
what made my heart jump.
The girl I saw in white
My heart leaped into the light

Words I wish I'd spoke
Float around my head now
It Wouldn't matter what I'd say
I'd still be entirely far away

I look over to see the smile
When at night, brightens the world
this twinkle in her eyes
wants me to go and fly

Only in this solitude
I watch the sun go down
The trees slowly away they go
With feelings I can only bestow

My world melts around me
even the grass before my feet
When I let me feelings unwind
My love is much harder to find
Hank Roberts Dec 2012
I only spit shine our hikes
in the woods and I marinate rain drops
in melted wax so we can peal

it off our skins when we get bored later.
I only exfoliate on lost time while
maneuvering around false hope

you seem to deliver from an eternity
void, stamped and all. I must jump its
sound and skip a couple staircases

to find its Jonas Salk.  I only go mad on
the colors I write about the clown who keeps
his nose on a rounded cliff and

his acts in prepositions. I invest
verbs with the future and liquidate  
past futile nouns in denial.  

I plunge the toilet of the oppressed
monk who never gets the good and
rough *** those mornings the birds sing.  

I sew fellowship when viscosity
is at maximum and the sewage
ruptures four feet from the prince

of mercantile who ends up
building a wall to protect himself
and others from the foggy morning.
Hank Roberts Aug 2010
It was only yesterday
I can remember my loneliness
Until I saw my sunshine
Going down across the way

The moon shines bright
Against those evening clouds
When they clear and steer away
That’s where majestic go and fly

My shadows circle and die
Even they utter and cry
No matter how hard you try
You can’t have all your dreams

An occasional reckless scream
In the distance I try to listen
Mixed morals sound and glisten
Shut my eyes while I try

The suns usual rotation
A God or natural creation
Understanding Life and above
Is like capturing your love

Even those that taught you so
Tell you not to lie but theirs glow
Whether it’s a songbird or a crow
Sometimes you got to let it flow

The sky always waits
No matter how bad the wake
Never ever trying to take
You, me, and nothing more

My mind toggles and boggles
Good and bad being smuggled
Trying to erase and start anew
What’s left that I can see?

Shooting star across the way
Wishing that you’d stay
So I’ll never forget
That my sunshine’s gone away
Hank Roberts Jul 2012
I'm like a dog
                        You could bash me, beat me, and cleat
                 I'll come back for more. There's no sense in arguing.
Just put me back in my cage.

I'm too simple
                         I'll bite the hands that feed me until there's
                 No more room on his arc. I could use a swim anyway.
Don't tell me what I'm getting into.

Think me stupid.
                          Fall for your tricks that bewilder and trips
                 that make me fall but foundation needs to be invincible.
I'll learn to build on a speckle of light.

Please count me out.
                           There's no sense in dying over others beliefs
                   especially since I'm in stuck inside this cloud in hell chatting
with Hades. What's left for me now?

Don't remember.
                            It won't help when I'm on that marble ledge
                    that's where you once stood. Don't count on me when
you're east not west and I'm all you got     left.
Hank Roberts Nov 2012
She's my little Philly girl,
Cambodian shirts and hindu
sings. Purple nail polish and summer
hats. I can hear her voice when
rain falls on new shingles.
The way she squeezed my hand
the morning after; my heart and
brain switched spots while
standing in some parking lot.
Hank Roberts Oct 2010
I went out around quarter till ten.  The fun was starting up. The concerts were starting and the music I felt.  Moving my hips to the upcoming popular song, I saw this girl I'll never forget.  She had roses and lilies in her hair.  How pretty she was, I was afraid to talk.  I tried to mention a few words as she walked by.  How wonderful she moved, and so gracefully like the setting sun.  A few hours pass I'm walking home.  I glance to the right and there she appeared! I crossed the rural road and actually to my surprise spoke.  How great the conversation was.  I felt the connection how the trees feel the wind that blows. Inviting me back to her house. A party was starting. Everything was fine until we arrived at her house. Following her around I did since I didn't know any other person there. To the bathroom I went, came out, and music was now playing.  I saw her, disgustingly with another dancer.  I sat on the couch, thought, and made up my mind to leave.  As I did, another girl approached me, as pretty as the first.  We left together, back to another concert. Late it was, but we were dancing in the moonlight.  Coffee she wanted so I went to find some.  I got two cups and walked back to find her.  Then I saw her, her lips were locked. I dropped both cups.  I went home.  Early in the morning or late at night, I'm not sure which one it was.  I sung Happy Birthday to myself and couldn't sleep.  Both of these girls were on my mind.  How cruelly they acted to me.  Using me, I couldn't understand what I did.  I'll send them a message I thought.  So, I went and grabbed the message from the drawer and back to the concert I walked.  Both of the girls were at the concert with the guys they were lip locked and dancing with.  Not even leaving a note, on the stage I went.  The girls saw me and started to wave.  As they did I pulled out my .45 and to my brain it went.
Hank Roberts Oct 2010
I left this carnival,
or so it seemed to be.
My views have
Changed. Good or Bad?
I won't be the one,
To say in the coming years.

Girls with hula hoops,
Boys watching in awe,
How fantastic the
Colors seemed to swirl.
Like the fallen leaves
On a windy day.

But not the trees
are mainly bare, as
the circus crowd
Gathers around to
Catch the acrobat if
they should Fall.

Outside on the dirt path,
is me. sitting in thought,
Talking to more then myself.
The trees, grass, and
The earth listened to
my many tricky questions.

Why can't life be
Like tonight.
With all the vendors,
music, and travelers.
I tried to hide from
the rising sun, instead
my body made me absorb,
every bit of light.

The sun was the reminder,
To return home and
be in this other life.
More free then the
bird floating above me,
I thought of people
and the whole world.

No money left in my
money clip.  I found some
water.  I saw the ring leader
of the carnival and,
She eagerly smiled
"Life is what you make it."

No help this was, as
more and more contradictions
Sprang from my mouth.
Again she just smiled, so
Pretty was her smile.

Early that morning,
I tried to talk
to other beings, spirits,
but no truth was found.
Then like a lightning
bolt hitting a tree,
and causing fire everywhere,
The answer hit me. On
the ride home, I had
The same pretty smile,
as her.
Hank Roberts Nov 2012
There's one cat who meows
in the alleyway but mimics
a fowl dog who ate
larval staged meat. There's
two headless horseman
racking leaves to find their heads
that teenagers rolled
down the country hills.
there's three furry bears
in a cave testing hardness and
softness while four bats
hang backwards to avoid the light. The
five cowgirls had six cowboy hats
each exactly. They're going to run
out if they keep throwing them at
groups of seven boys.  Eight dentist chairs
were rolled onto stage so the
nine musketeers,
multiplied by three,
could get ten root canals.
The doctor said he could have
given eleven more of them
but he heard twelve whimpers
of pain and gave up.  There were
thirteen bounced checks and fourteen wrinkled
foreheads who were lost in eternity
for fifteen years.  Sixteen world banks
filed bankruptcy to drive dollars down.
Seventeen hands were squeezed
from an angel holding glowing
red lips.  eighteen hearts and
brains switched spots
anatomically leaving nineteen
grown men sprawled on the
ground like they drank twenty
or so too many.
Hank Roberts Jan 2012
Big boiled blood,
Boiled big blood
Blood boiled big

Black soot, thousand flies
They're headed for your eye
grinder teeth sagging eyes

Busted ear drums
only seen here on top
of the pile of brimstone over there.

The blood boiled
over the pan, too high.
Carlos! I got Marlene.
          
              II
Moldy muddy maze
muddy moldy maze
maze moldy muddy

Tomato stained imperative notes
nails bitten, tied the tongue
Grease stains, hand and feet.

Yellow Teeth and nacho cheese
The teeth's termites
Don't let the shoes come off.

Rotten eggs, spoiled cheese
The bread is rock, crusty;
Mold muddy Maze
Hank Roberts Jul 2014
Leaves blowing in the wind are just waving hello
as they try and remember which branch
they fell from even though they know
it's their last descent as the sun walks them home.
Hank Roberts Feb 2012
Sleepless nights
Gruesome fights
Endless charade and hopeless relief
Rich-less but paid
Watch the thief
He'll come when you sleep

Slippery snakes (slither)
Through liquid waste
Forget the mannered, wrestle the man
For he's hammered
Money's at hand
Everything is left on you

Empty cupboard
Bills unanswered
The bread sits at the store
Swiftly grab it,
Wanting more,
Can't hide more than one

Dribbled beer
Obese chins
Sweaty hairy, middle aged hounds
Cheer with Merry,
Ignore the sounds
Almost out and homeward bound

Dirt cold shower
They took your power
Fungus for soap, mildew towels
Don't just hope
Jump on the prowl
Winning will end it all

Seven, Eight, UP
Counter, upper cut
Momentum rising, moving in  
Swing for his eyes,
Flattened chin,
Nine, ten..You're out for the count
Hank Roberts Sep 2011
I feared the
girl
hanging from the
tree,
with knit knotted
rope.
Hastily I tried,
I
Swear that I
Tried!
Under her I
went
I thought me
Hidden.
Hidden: my attempt
failed.
For the girl
crept
Persistently through my
Head.
Hank Roberts Jan 2012
We were in the midst of the mossy oak
with some old bloke, my money was broke.
The moonlight tried to
guide us through but to no avail.
The man was pale even before we set sail.
We were the head and he was the tail
of the old coin no one
wanted to keep around their home; just in malls
Standing in the hall only knowin' how to stall
the onset of everything that's to fall.
The phone's always close to await the call
hopefully later than sooner.
His ghostly countenance eclipse
the cloud and moon, through the oak
one could never mistake sights of ghosts.
Hank Roberts Aug 2010
As we come across rivers
rough, easy, or deadly streams
All we can really do is shiver
Because nothing is what it seems

However you decide to cross
let the wind whisper in your ears
Look down at the soft green moss
stop your senses from your fears

It doesn't matter who you are
The heart Bridge doesn't discriminate
Makes you feel like a shining star
But may lead you to unstable fates

The mountain tops we can't see
Will be a tough precarious climb
at the top is where we all want to be
Going hastily, forgetting the leisure time

Why not the easy slow pace
Observe and listen all around
Catch all the surrounding faces
Capture everything that makes a sound

The Heart Bridge is tough to cross
You'll hear words of kindness
You'll feel like nothings at loss
After you cross you'll feel timeless
Hank Roberts Sep 2010
I could hear it
from behind the door
that was locked.
I couldn't determine
what was the sound.
I go to the other
room and grab
the key that's
resting on the hook.
Slowly I moved
trying to avoid
to unlock the
locked door.  
I put my ear
to the door trying
to figure out
what's behind
the locked door.  
Darkness fills the room
until everything hides.
Then I heard
a whisper coming
from the locked door!
"Open the door
and enter" I
picked the silver
key. Or I thought
it was anyway. Hands
steadily shaking. I
can feel the sweat
on my palms. Once,
Twice, Three times,
I dropped the
silver key.
Finally, I calmed
my nerves and
I took an anxious
breath. I heard a
shutter behind me,
and my hair
is on end.  Slowly,
I turn and nothing
seems to be here,
until I felt a
poke on my arm.
I ran through
the backdoor,
but I was still
inside. I see the
locked door and
hear the whispers.
With the most
hast, I got the
key and unlocked
the locked door!
I stood for seconds,
straining all my
senses. I see a
light switch. I
flick it up, and
in the most
wonderful gaze,
I saw the locked
door, I just happened
to walk through.
Hank Roberts Dec 2012
I think I may love you
but not in the wedding
fashion but in the sheep drapped
On my neck sort of way, or
maybe how clown fish feel
for the barrier reef. You made
me promise I wouldn't be your Judas,
I agreed as long as you weren't my
Jesus. We never realized Pontious Pilot
and his means when he washed his hands
of us and gave us some wood and six nails to
go around while asking everyone what they thought.
They said our love would be
hammered together while we hang here for awhile.
Hank Roberts Jun 2011
It was a tireless night for the endless fight.
Beaten and Bruised
Men and I in uniform who used to wear
Hawaiian shirts and stripped pin ups  

There's no protection left for the poor section.
The bombs keep comin'
Oh, I failed to mention that
we're infantry men with helmets as

life's before our eyes not sure if we should deny
Or just merely die as a final prayer.
It was a lot like Jesus, that
was the incentive under assumption  

The purpose of the fight was left with us men of night
those above can only wonder
They say we're brave soldiers but they get a medal
The only gravestones missing are theirs.
Hank Roberts Aug 2011
At this point in time everyone is just a separate entity with all different views and different thoughts of life. We're all connected technologically rather than personally. We share cyberspace but not each other.  We're distracted by the things that aren't important. When we call out to our leaders about life threatening measures, we are just shoved aside.  Tomorrow could be the day, the day where we are all together, not in space, but on earth.  We're all worried about our place on earth and the job we'll serve rather than worrying about ourselves and how to improve.  We're just being the pawn in the modern kings game.  Without our duty, our tears, our sacrifice, or the sweat we put into his method, the king's goblet will spill. When the goblet spills its wine, maybe the light of existence will prevail.  Existence shouldn't be us handing ourselves over to blindingly agree, to turnover for the king and what HE thinks is right.  We should turn ourselves over to ourselves. The purpose of man shouldn't be for him to be pawned.  The modern king isn't one person but a court, telling us what to think, to feel, to express, and how to simply just be.  They demand and expect us to believe what isn't real. What is real is right in front of us, the earth, the trees, the sky, the poverty, the greed, the self-righteous, and most importantly ourselves and each other.  When do we see the court looking onto our plate and making sure it's full? Where's the right to stand-up for what you think is not only right but wrong?  The thoughts of these swine have taken over and I'll be ****** to see it take me.  Take my arms, my legs, and my voice but I'd rather die before you try to stop me from thinking twice.
Hank Roberts Oct 2012
I can inhabit white
walls. I've survived  
crackers and loss before.
What is stopping me now?
The world is a white wall.
Minds are white walls.
Potential are all white walls.
We're all white walls,
well at least at first anyway.
Add the dark colors first
or the accents won't show.
Meaning's lost in this piece.
Hank Roberts Apr 2011
There's nothing like home
unless you're there and,
there's nothing like home.

Dream of nothing else ,
But nothing else,
That feeling of home.

Always on the run,
Runnin' from something
you just don't know.

Only so far to go
To only go so far
Until you're back at home.

It's after this far
You start to see, Home
Where you never see.

There's nothing like home
Unless you're there and,
There's nothing like home.
Hank Roberts Oct 2011
Maybe with the tears
we shed, the trees will grow;
may the earth as well.
we see what goes up
and down and around.  Through
the smoke we can hardly see,
but it's just part
of the ride.
When we're off the ride, the tales
shine with new light.  
The world as we know
changes with just one hint
of inspired intuition.
So many songs to hear,
too much knowledge to learn;
outside ourselves, when
we don't even know
inside ourselves.  
We see the sky as blue,
the grass as green and
life as grey.
but somewhere else we hope
life is different
in some other way.
With the tears that fall
may the process of
adaption; never let
us stall.
The road we paved
is ugly and fray, but the
future spins and rocks,
into a path that's  
wary, winding, and
not negotiable.
Hank Roberts Dec 2011
The world is full of dead carcass, brown leaves,
fallen trees, dirt grass, crushed dogs and cats and other pets.  

What's littered is always used, never new
cigarette butts, consumed cans and bottles, {wrappers}
and containers of all kinds.  
Everyone’s cars are ****.
Just piles of them throughout these gilded states.

Dead markets, one market.  {Do you have your receipt sir?}  
buildings crumbled down, ones with recycled wood,
ones used for a set in a movie.  

People gather like seagulls in the streets, with dead
skills and dead opportunity.  {No bread -- no dough.}  
The only thing that remains is the sound
of music. God forbid if this turns to
{shrunken} heads too.

Horrid scream and pull of {blood]. Who
Would have that you knew the girl
they showed on the news getting shot.
{They} make sure
you never forget { }
something you should have probably forgotten
{     }
Hank Roberts Sep 2010
The fog lifted from the cold pond water.
Bodies jump and dive, naked in the moonlight.
Thinking of nothing else. Not even the degree
of this cold pond water.  The trees around are
all undefinable to the eye this night. In the universe
they were, as the stars are shining bright.
Laying in solemn wonder, a soul with
nothing but love on his mind. The one he
loves, their heart's away someplace in another
lover's eye.  Jealousy grows while trying to
find how to get her love in his dying eyes.  
More and more bitter his feelings arise. Looking
at the stars for answers to his most
unanswerable question.  Slowly, he grows weary,
and his thoughts are dreary. Entering into another realm
his senses stir.  The lover of his life is sitting
on a blanket, in the grass. Her thoughts racing,
she tries to hide them. She goes to walk and it's
him she sees.  The suns out by this time and the
fog dissipates but dew remains.  Back to the
blanket they go. No word was spoken between
them as, he reaches for her hand.  Embracing
it happily, they lay on the blanket in the grass.  
Keeping each other warm on this cool damp
morning.  Happy times they were, and more
then holding hands occurred.  The only thought
on his mind, how lovely she was. He never
wants to let her go. Both are laying, discretely
sleeping.  When the unexplainable noises of
nature sound.  His eyes grow wide and looking
over to the right were she was, Now Gone.
Hank Roberts Aug 2010
She walked from her house
She was wearing a blue blouse
As she crossed over main street
Looked over her shoulder in the sleet
Did she catch a glimpse of my face
I ran to the closest hiding place
Where I could still see her pace
I stayed far away just in case

Three years ago just the other day
Her and I would never part ways
Always under the morning sun
During the evening stars, we weren’t stunned
Everyday we were hand in hand
We loved our feet in the sand
It was on this fateful day, the other day
She told me she didn’t want to stay

I crossed the park with snow on the ground
Noone was around, nothing was at sound
Her curley hair flowing with her hop
Making everyone look and forever stop
Turning left down the alley way
Hurrying, I didn’t want her, twice, to be away
Even through this numbing winter
In my heart, I can still feel the splinter

Three years ago, just the other day,
Her and I would never part ways
We were standing on edge, peering at the lake
My feelings for her were far from fake
So I got down, asked her for her heart
The unforgivable, nervousness, tore me apart
It was on this fateful day, the other day
Where she went and left me down and astray

After all the endless calls and letters
Nothing was better, I tore her homemade sweater
Seeing her on the street, she hides her face
All I want is her to plead her confusing case
She climbs into the red striped car
I called a cab to take me this far
Far in the forest, it was the lake house
I peer through the window, I see another spouse!

Three years ago, just the other day
Her and I would never part ways
We would share hands, skip down the lane
These memories will be forever stained
For two years prior, we shared desire
Now I realize, her words were just to conspire
Never I thought, it would never come, this day
She’d leave me in tears as I lay, away

My brain said no, my heart said go
By this time, I was at the very low
I entered, walking more then slow
I could hear here laughing below
Walking down the wooden steps
As I came close, I took a misstep
This was the first time she saw my eyes
Seeing that us together now, could only die

Three years ago, just the other day
Her and I would never part ways
Down by the place at the lake
I gave her everything I had at stake
She told me her dreams, I gave her my soul
It wasn’t just my times, it’s my love she stole
It was like every other lover’s day
But on this day, I was left to only pay

Everything happened as fast as it came
Two polar extremes can never be the same
The other man, stood tall, like a king
He led me with his left, gave his right a swing
Being scared, I picked up enough courage
My anger was the one to encourage
Ending his life, I saw my trembling lover
She looks so pale, as I put her under the cover
Hank Roberts Feb 2017
There ain't no moon to
guide a tide, nothing my
flow can't ride.
It'll be fine if you call me
beautiful just once more or
even if you just said hello,
before it's time to go.
The sun will still
burn hydrogen and
I'll get through the night. 
I can't leave until the sun
is up and the beer is gone.
I puffed all my smoke,
you always have one more
with another tune or two
because we speak through
all of those songs to seize
our few moments together.
Hank Roberts Feb 2017
Flip the record,
lay on the floor,
let's just forget
about before.
Hold my mind
close our eyes,
before no time
commits its crime.
Hank Roberts Oct 2011
You're stuck in this old soul,
not sure which
road to venture down.
Although some are
clear and safe.
The road with
thunder and lighting is often
the way to go.
It's all your eggs in
one basket;
but you're left  
with just the one.
You think yourself
a martyr but all in all you're
just killing yourself.
You're not ahead
of your time one bit,
You're long
passed it.
Hank Roberts Oct 2011
She can't pin me down,
her face ain't
smile nor grin
She had the look of
sin. Oh how she
pulled it off.
She coughs
and they're
all around. Nothing's wrong
she fools those
devils. I know
all too well;
For in the
morning
my pockets are
crisp and clean.
Sweet and blonde,
her eyes; they'll
stare through your
heart
She can't pin me down,
For I know, all too well
Hank Roberts Oct 2011
The smoke circles up and through the vent,
into the room above
and the people up in the room
don't know what they
are inhaling

It seemed to me that the more smoke in the room,
the more the tension built
against each other
though feelings seem
to be entangled

The smoke ventures through the window and to the
air outside.  To those
walking and standing by,
Once clear and on the right path
seems ***** and torn

The smoke ventures farther and farther down the road,
Drivers and passengers,
just as clear as headlights
turn their cars around to go
nowhere bound

Down the alley and off down toward the main drag,
Business, folks, and slickers,
coil and talk to their palms
for they know what's comings right
around the corner

The corners not to far down the road,
Pulling together will be
the only way out by finding
the way through the
growing smoke.
Hank Roberts Aug 2010
I thought these feelings surpassed
In reality they never collapsed
I want to drop it all and take a chance
But it's he who holds your stance

Drop it all and fly with me
you'll never be happier, you'll see
You're everything I want it to be
All this is like a rough sea

I feel this definite connection
Such a natural selection
All the mean that affects you
Hurts me to the heart too

I stay up late at night
When there is no more light
Thinking of everything we said
Wishing mutual feelings weren't dead
Hank Roberts Jul 2012
I lost 100 dollars on a bet
because I said you'd be my bride.
I don't have to say much more
besides it's not the money i miss.
you gave me **** with my cheerios

and water with my oatmeal.
At least I got some A-1 with
my steak, only about
a half ounce though.  not too
much more than that though.

you gave me sunlight to make some snow
some fire to have some falling rain ,
You gave me nine protestants in Spain
While you laughed and told me
to cry because I deserved it.

you cut my eyes with Band-Aids and
mined a new road to magma. You had one
bucket to put out the volcano
you gave me a plastic knife
to whittle you my heart from stone

but at least you gave me the box
that had 500 knives. you said
I'd never run out.
Hank Roberts Aug 2013
I called it depravity when she
scratched all the marks off
the measuring tape, while leaving
the condition of my brain
being in reverse and my heart
without a motor, unnamed.
I thought I could deal with torture
until she caught my words in a
porcelain box far to small.  
It's similar how they put the word of God
in a fabricated leather bound.
Hank Roberts Feb 2016
Hints of lipstick on
my chapstick, quarters
in candle lids, an
unsent letter and two
forgotten crescent
moons
Hank Roberts Mar 2013
It bothers me when people mention
that time will tell. I say they're
full of it, seconds, hours and minutes.
It all happens within space, not time.

You don't always have to flip an egg
but you don't want sunny-side
pancakes during any sort of  
grief.  You got to touch

when you have to and put gloves
on when it gets sticky, have socks when
it's cold and a chainsaw when
you're trying to cut someone in pieces.  

Sometimes you just got to trust
all your socks are being washed and that
you're only going to have a couple
lonely socks.

In a time of crisis the only constant
is change. Even the pope said god is sleeping,
but no one told the pope that God's
been asleep for a long long time.
Hank Roberts Mar 2011
It’s been two days since I’ve slept and
I think they’re coming to get me.  They
come for your money and spend it
On things you would never waste
Your money on.  

Walking the streets in the early
morning or late at night, whichever one,
There was somebody following me
up to my apartment steps, I hurried,
Inside, I was safe.

My house is burning down, down
to the poor old ground. Memories
never dissipate.  Then I froze in my spot,
It couldn’t be! I have to forever
Leave this place.

Burning burning all around here,
Not just my home. All the rebels up
in smoke! There’s got to be a revolt!
There’s got to be more in life than,
all this war.

But it’s this night, this brisk cloudy
night, I heard a cry for freedom;
a shout for each other. Of course
they’ll lie, they’re not the ones
that are dying.

Where to go, where to hide,
Nobody really knows.  Pack
together tight to prove our rights!
Democracy, ruled not by the people,
just, some people.  

Down the street holding hands,
Everyone who wants this change,
Ask more questions, nevertheless,
they’ll always try win no matter how
hard we try.

Here’s our chance to make an
impact, take the country, turn
it to a new direction.  It’s coming.
Who’s going to be the first to do
anything about it?
Hank Roberts Dec 2013
I'll stand around with a sign
that says, "free the rights"
when America turns to
the United States of America Corporation:
Where the trees, mountains,
and even coral morph into dollar signs.

As supplies last morality is quantified
into algorithms and sold in vacuum sealed
plastic while the president rules
all cellphones must be attached  
to the brain because it's affordable for
taxpayers. Direct connect,  instant
success, calls to any mind, anywhere, even
up on the cloud. mother and the pope are
on line two while  politicians will only
be 5 minutes away with the 100 percent
satisfaction guaranteed customer
service team, on the clock
24 hours and seven days a week,
while the black suites and white hair
earn credit for troubleshooting and calling
everyone unpatriotic because no one wants
to be outsourced to the next course of war.

Meanwhile, being a scientist is
secular progressive and doesn't meet
requirements for the 3 year warranty
but guarantees rush delivery, overnight twenty-four
hour shipping right into hell because
the business of women created from
mens' ribs didn't seem like viable coverage.
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