Tell me anyone
Caesar or Pharaoh
Emperor or Beggar
Saint or the ****** -
tell me anyone,
if you ever found life
stable, smooth and fluid

Let's dance then
with clothes of silk
and a life of ease
let's throw our arms about
our feet like a deer in a run
a life smooth and refined
for that's the best we can do

Let life sway as in a dance
Let there be energy in purpose
and intent
And take a leap -
never a bow
Let your hair fly
and your clothes in the air
A life light and nimble
for that's the best we can do

Tell me anyone
Caesar or Pharaoh
Emperor or Beggar
Saint or the ******-
tell me anyone
if you ever found life
stable, smooth and fluid

I can be so brutal
or so you say you can tell
but stop and look again
this could be a match made in heaven
for two angels straight from hell.

We could sit here
and stare the clock down
stare it right off the wall
or dust off our top hat and spats
and strike out on a crawl.

Now I know what it is to be drunk
and I know what it is to be sober
I know what it is to be young
and quickly growing older.

The safest bet by a long shot
is to keep time hung up on the wall
make believe we can predict
just which way it's going to go.

Shake those dice
and give them a blow
dealt a straight in spades
you'll know just how it's going to go
we could do it up just like a drug
except we're all out of any float
it's back to throwing out a life line
to draw some heat out of this late winter's cold.

Heads I win tails you lose
you can flip a coin
a thousand and one times
before you just get tired and stop
knowing full well
that it isn't always the cream that rises to the top
no some times it's the slop
that makes the piggies come.

Dive in off the high board
zooming toward a teardrop,
waiting for the belly-flop
aiming at the blues
what side of the line are you on
when you disobey the rules.
A fist full of dollars
and a bucket full of small talk
about something, somewhere
being a once in a long time long shot.
I've got nothing left to lose,
I'm just aiming at the blues.


© 2012  All Rights Reserved

At the start we are all helpless,
Utterly reliant.
We stand
We fall
We cry
We crawl.
Not always so compliant.

In the middle we are at our peak.
Suddenly defiant,
We smoke
We drink
We ****
We think,
We forge our own alliance.

At the end we are all frightened.
Our life is at its tether.
We think
We're ******
So we'll drink
To good luck.
And hope that we'll all
Live forever.

riding a rollercoaster
and losing your shoes
in the chasm below

sneaking out to a concert
and meeting your parents
there

trying new food
in a hole-in-the-wall
restaurant

picking up a guitar and
playing till your fingers
hurt

saying hi to the new kid
every day until he isn’t
new anymore

writing poetry about watching cats
or drinking soda or driving at night

watching the end of your favorite movie
and thinking of all the things you want in
the sequel

yelling till your lungs hurt
and crying till it doesn’t hurt
anymore

eating ice cream at
two in the afternoon

watching the sun set on the beach

forgetting about your uncomfortable chair
because the book your reading is just that
good

finding meaning in simple things

shaking somebody’s hand
when you know they’re proud
of you

walking around
in a new pair of
shoes

getting in a fight with a plastered guy
in a tiny theatre because he you couldn’t
hear the actors over his yelling

doing something you should never do
again and again and again

not being happy,
always

finally asking out the girl
you’ve been crazy about
for seven years

doing something stupid and
brave and messing up, big
time

listening to a song
and
feeling your heart soar

eating **** because you
****** up

rising up from pain and agony
and forgetting it, swallowing it
whole and breathing out all the
emotions that boil out

carefully holding your new-borne child

smiling

these are some moments
in a good life, not entirely
my own

may you fill your life with some of these
or fill in these pages with a few moments
of your own

When winter comes I miss the sun.
My tear freezes.

Dreaming of sandcastles
Well into winter.

I build a snowcastle
To satisfy
My fantasy, my misery
And occupy
My grieving
Eye.

Snow castles harden,
As snowflakes grow dearer.

I slice through patterns of sand
Attempting to make
A sandflake
To understand
And heal this (stifled)
Ache.

When summer comes I miss the snow.
My tear melts.

I think I let it go today

there was an agony
living under my skin
and whatever it was
whatever creature
lurked just
beneath
prying at my heart
and devouring my mind
is gone now
and
I hope
will
not return

I think I let the pain go
today

though there was no one moment,
a transformation from sick to well,
I sit with myself and feel somehow:
better

I think I let it go
today

I think tomorrow is a good day
to begin again
and
maybe
I’ll do
just that