crushing on your better state of mind
and the curves beneath those clothes
thrown on so haphazardly
eyelashes tickling my common interests
eyes like the characters in the comics I used to read
have you ever known somebody to hide from sunshine?
You drew little doodles on my forearm
and the scratches and smudges of ballpoint ink
still rest in my flesh’s memory - hazy as all hell -
but still there
these lines don’t stack up much in comparison
to the notes which you emit
my not so secret secret love bird
If I hadn’t lost the key to the cage
I’d shoot you my arrow straight at the sun
to see you spread wings in dazzling flight
watching the children straining their arms to touch you
but you’ve always said I hang around with the wrong kids
and I can’t deny it - but you’ve gotta see that you make that cut
mine were always the stoners and the drop outs
too young to be quite so lost in the big bad city
we pretended to be wolves and went off on our lonesome
I found you there
dire in your attempts to shrug off a world of lesser cares
you said you’d adopted a puppy in wolf’s clothing
so my bark is worse than my bite, so what?
know that I’ll be the annoying neighborhood dog
waking you up every morning at six AM
the dog that you’ll miss when you get the hell out of this town

When all the magic is gone
we will crawl from checkpoint to checkpoint
with dull great white eyes
always hungry
always starving ourselves
gotta look good for the summer
when all the magic is gone
we will howl out for sacrifice
it’s shoe harvesting season
and you’ve gotta cop some of this crop
when all the magic is gone
the national anthem will change with top 100
and when the air is stale
the prophets and poets will be driven out of town
to test their mettle in uncaring wilderness
when the magic is gone
we will hail the president on bended knee - blindfolded
when the magic is gone
everything will be trending
and nobody will give a ****
so get your abra kadabras in now
you don’t know how much magic we have left

Give me **** kicking string pickers
give me harmonica headgear
and bluegrass heroines
Give me the Southeastern porch nights
beneath stars which flicker like wind burdened candles
Give me you - swaying lazily to the rhythm of cicadas
toss me to Atlantic shores
the geography of this passion knows no borders
Give me your flaws to toss as skipping stones
the sun outside bears down on us like
infinite overzealous mothers
but the ground is nothing but black ice
slowly melting into midday
by this time tomorrow the trees will dance with life
rainbows spouting from lonely buds clinging to long dead limbs
Give me the picturesque green lawns of academia
reaching out to caress the breeze
Give me overcrowded coffee tables
and long talks about nothing with good friends
Just know - that if you could give me Christmas
I’d spend 12 days writing you 12 thank you notes
each one more genuine than the last
Give me all of this
Give me none of this
either way I will give you
as much of myself as I can

David was waiting. Always waiting.
David did not know for what.
He didn’t speak until three years of age -
regardless of the speech therapists.
School came and school went
David the underachiever
who always got good grades
his mind wandered
and he spent most of his time inside of day dreams
he moved around a lot
always friends with the outsiders
punk rock, heavy metal, hip-hop
skate boards and ink
comic books and stand up comedy
one summer he met drugs and alcohol
and fell in love for the first time
with altered perceptions and thoughts
all the while -
David was always waiting,
but now, he was searching
searching for something -
******* anything which would bring it all full circle
whether he was shy or reserved is up for debate
but he always sought solace behind the locked door
notebooks began stacking up under beds
and thoughts began finding their way out of the nest
until the day he graduated high school with honors
He came upon the realization
that the time for waiting is over
the waiting - but never the searching
and David is out there - somewhere
looking for answers that he might never find
but at least he took the leap

can you taste the iron on your lips?
acid reflux creeping up your tongue
as you swallow another soul whole
sweat stains on a pillow
all of this surrounds us
time will tell us as legends or monsters
we aren’t in control of the wheel
tirelessly we maraude the alcoves and nooks
of an indifferent planet
they call the thing we’re looking for love
we call it whatever gets us through today
but if this shriek of pain sets your teeth on edge
just know that it should
just know that even the smallest island
is connected to the most landlocked country
through an underground railroad of humanity and history
the bedrock is constantly shifting and warping
but it’s key elements remain eternal
tattoo my address on your forearm
should you ever find me lost you’ll know what to do
with the baggage I carry like heartbeats in a ribcage
do not burn the bridges
regardless of how rundown they might become
do not convert drift wood into an idol of the sun
because time is relative but the moon will always have it’s moments
eclipse your protests with apathetic motor oil
manifesting the robotic machinations of another man shackled
tethered to anchors which set out not to drown him
but to keep him on the precipice of high tide
all of the great words in the world couldn’t paint a picture
of what this all means
so why do we try so ceaselessly
to see the face of God

got a new health system for the new wealth victims
take it on good good faith
why try communicate
when the fake and faceless
don't seek illumination
all across the nation
we've got nothing except teenagers coughing
racing each other to the coffin
dear God will this globe stop spinning long enough
for me to tough out these spins
I'm sweating on the bathroom floor
losing all the words I could never ignore
and yeah I like to live in the similes and metaphors
but I'm just looking for a ***** of Babylonia
moaning on the phone as again as I **** my paper n' pen
give me an acoustic mariachi quartet in the morning
urge me from snoring dreams of soaring
because rent is due
and I'm way too broke to waste so much time
sitting here writing for dimes and nickel spots
fraudulent paychecks not enough to cut it
no room left to say **** it
something has to put a stop to this
we've been playing chicken for too long
with your favorite song on repeat on my radio
the flowers are now in bloom
until another winter brings their doom
and we ally say it's too soon
so pour another tall drink into the kitchen sink
and make some time to think
if we keep treading water like this
eventually we'll all sink

I'm on my way to see you. Sailing through the in between parts of our state. Hay bales and horses. small town auto shops. Men and women with tired eyes. I'm on my way to see you. Open up the box wine. Open up the *****. I'm on my way to see you. Remember all those times that I never measured up? I track my progress by the path of raindrops. You are the only person I think about on a daily basis. The only person to have ever left me tongue tied to the train tracks. Play me my favorite song. Sing me to relief. If I had the courage to be everything you wanted - believe me I would. But day fades into night just as I fade into my many costumes. I've never felt less than the sum of my parts, but you are the missing piece to the jigsaw I've been slotting together since puberty. I come on strong. Only because I need the warmth of your bravery. Generally, I avoid the mushy stuff. However - I'd be just as mushy as you want. This rant doesn't come close to the thought left under lock and key. And yeah I do want to get into your pants, and yeah I do want to get under your skin, but I'd be the parasite you wouldn't be without. I'm on my way to see you, and I don't want tonight to find the full stop.