i didn’t understand you–
i don’t think anyone did.
i don’t think anyone could.

you were the wrath of the lamb
and the rib of Adam,
you were the burning cherubim by
the savage Garden,
you were Samael and Apollyon,
brooding in Gehenna  

you were a god and a devil,
and i’m afraid
that i never found out who
won, in the end.

when you loved me,
was it because you knew who
i was or was it because
you knew what i would become?

here's to the kids who skip school
not to drink
not to smoke
not for ***
not as a joke
here's to the kids who skip school
to take care of a sibling
to take care of a parent
to help pay the bills
to feed empty mouths

Once thin skinned like orchid petals all
frustration was mistaken for tears.
Then resilience took over so to cry
only having the feeling of no amend.

So far bones resounded metal cold,
lack of nearness is not about fears
but to save weeping for better times,
trying to roll over any sign of dead-end.

Whether eyes or not drops come from
They're salty stories and may reveal
promises made to oneself but unkept in life
like the notion tears fall not at our command.

Open your heart
And spread good cheer
Be a positive force
Each and every year
Guide the little ones
Show them the way
Encourage and support them
Teach them how to be brave

Abandon.

Such a beautiful thing is a shell,
floating it sings 'tho half-empty,
sculptured for strength in excess
of accents or patterns an ecstasy
with wave-lovers has undressed
its close-partnered togetherness.

Oh shell of beauty, gone forever
your wholeness but in a sea-bed
still white your glisten measures
pace with the breakers in restless
dance of sheer abandon even yet.

Is straightforward
Anything
Abstruse
Enigmatic
Esoteric
Is
Suspect!

Crumbling grey tombstone
Overgrown wild hedge
Rusted Victorian fences
Sitting on the edge


Ancient hollow moon
Resting over the sky
As lonesome empty voices
Fill the air and pass me by


The night is still
Devoid of stress
As I learn old tales
From the spirits at rest


I listen for a time
The stories to keep
Then close my eyes
With the stars to sleep

Forty dollars of *****
151 ***
You will find me in the alley
a drunken ***
Lights flashing in my brain
Spinning gripping my soul
Ecstacy in alcoholic rage
Writing off the page
I raise the flag
To Ira Hayes
A fallen hero
And his last days