what if you knew
not only the poet
but also the monster?

would you like me enough
to keep reading?

I weep as often as I laugh
not from sorrow, nor from joy,
but because the world hums,
and I refuse to be deaf to it.

lips can be zipped
a thousand ways
ears come into their own
seemingly hearing
for the very first time.

Go visit other
Places and let me get rest
You big old bright *****

Stumble through this place
Claim it as your base
Make it look like a disgrace
Waste more of our time
Weaponize your words
Shout them in every direction
Then expect a loyal herd
Tell us all of your lies
Never know an objection
Rig every election
Lie to our face

I ask,
Why me?

When I see the old man,
sitting by my side.

An old man with a notebook,
listening to my monologue.

Saying,
that I am the one who's wrong,
for complaining about life.

But he doesn’t know
what it means to live in my skin,
to be the echo of a scream
no one wants to hear.

And I care,
because I’ve always
been the one who's wrong.

i weigh twenty-one
and three tenth grams
so why does moving
feel so heavy?

like a dog tied to a tree
all i can do is bark
but no one can
hear me scream

why am i trapped
in a suit of flesh
if i am destined
to leave it?

As long as you're here,
as long as this works in its own way,
I'll keep taking
the hits,
the sips,
the bites.

Because you're the kind of substance
that makes me want to write,
contemplate life,
and feel the ache.