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1.
Levi Johnson Oct 2019
1.
There is a power
  In the slightest smirk
At the dour face
  Of the reapers work

A hopeless joy
  That can't be crushed
Or ripped apart
   By vicious rush

With that seed
   In soil- defeat
Sprouts ropey vine,
   Humanity.

And so it goes
   Until the end
This bitter fight
   Of death and men.
Levi Johnson Aug 2018
You remember him
Up before the birds would sing
It was all for you.


The lights are still on
The camera keeps rolling
It's not gonna end.


Mark your calendar
Wait enthusiastically
Then find something else.


An apology
To the world and it's faces:
I'm doing my best.
Levi Johnson Dec 2018
A house full of
Old memories
And
Photos full of
Young faces.

What'll they do with them
When we're gone?

I don't care.
Can't live in days past.

I may only live right now,
Right here with you.

And I know that our story
Is more than photographs.

It is love, freely given,
And precious.

As long as that endures
We will live on.
What stories will the next generation have to tell about you?

Good or bad, I hope I'll have someone to tell them.
Levi Johnson Jul 2018
I could pretend to be asleep
Pretty easily, wrapped up
With sheets and distracted
By dreams, breathing deeply.

I could explain what it is to be
Comfortable, forgetting common
sense and getting caught up in realities
that slip away with the covers.

I could define words like "snore",
"rest", or "relax", but it seems
That when I seek to end the day
The finish line looks a bit dreary:

Another day of the same people,
The same fears, the same problems,
and the same yearning for something
I don't even recognize.

Walking in yesterdays footprints
so closely that with practice
I may be able to step on
My own heels.

I could go to sleep I suppose,
But I fear that might bring
Another day.
So for now, I'll stay awake.
Levi Johnson Nov 2018
Time has the tendency to slow a man down.

When he tries to find a way to forget it,

It's quick to grab him, wrap around

His wrist and say

Watch.
Always thought "watch" was a poor name for a timepiece, maybe "glance" or "peek" would be a better alternative.
Levi Johnson Dec 2018
Scrubbing pans,
Shelving plates,
Furiously throwing
Myself into the day
To get through it.

Everything's clean,
And I'm sweating
But nobody can tell,
I'm supposed to be wet.

Maybe I'll save up,
And I'll get out,
Or I'll give up,
I'll drop out
Of this thing
Back to nothing.

But nothing puts
A chill in me
Because I'm afraid
Nothing could be worse.

So here I'll stay
Until nothing
Comes to me.
Levi Johnson Mar 2019
I just need
a guiding light
that doesn't
pretend it's better than
I am,
I'm not far, but I've passed
that point.

That pointless
pointing and swearing
that others are missing the
answer
you've found on
signposts a few feet
beside the highway.

Thing is: if you're
where you need to be
you wouldn't still be
driving.
Levi Johnson Jul 2018
You always thought
     the world wasn't fair;
                 That happiness came only
                      to the gullible.

I know it annoyed you
        when I knew exactly how
                          to make you laugh.

You couldn't stand it
         when I'd amuse you
                          so I might see the smile
                    that you so badly
                                     wanted to hide.

But that tired eyed
pessimist that
I once knew
                   seems to have found
                                  something more important,
                    something new.

And now that you're gone,
           It's like I have
chapped lips.

It hurts when I grin
           So I adopted
your scowl.

But if you were wrong,
        and the world can be fair;
              since I've got your frown,

I hope you've got my smile.
Levi Johnson Nov 2018
Tiny beings speak to me
Saying all sorts of lies,
Half truths, and occasionally,
Things I don't want to believe.

"why are you doing that?"

In the buzz of conversations
And rants, and lessons ignored
By unwilling listeners,
There's a sudden halt.

"Is he alright?"

The silence lasts for just a moment
Just long enough for the little things
To see if their host heard the muttering
Of the smallest of them all.

"You don't think..."

With some trepidation they
Start those engines up again,
Spreading the comfortable noise
Over their fear.

"That was close."

The little sprites have an inkling,
A vague terror that perhaps
If that tiny voice was to be heard
They'd be evicted.

"Fool."

So they rumble on,
Talking over each other,
Preparing for the next time
That the smallest voice, Reason, speaks.
Levi Johnson Nov 2018
I've often been told
I look better
minus my glasses
but then,
so does everyone else.
Levi Johnson Sep 2019
I just have to look
at you
to feel it.

To know it
I have to look
away.

Like the pages
of a book
mid-tornado,

Fragments of
information, the pieces
all out of place.

Still,

I believe you
beg to be
read.
Levi Johnson Jan 2019
I should've listened
to you,
to them,
to the wiser owls
and the once-foolish.

I should've heard
The things they said,
but instead
I've interpreted
My own head
Full of half thoughts,
As the end
Of conversation.

I should've listened.
I really should've.


And now
This mouth
Dances and
Says nothing.
Levi Johnson Dec 2018
Sometimes
This little shadow
Creeps in through
The blinds at night
And searches through
My cupboards,
The ones that hide
Those kinds of things
I choose not to find,

And it makes
Such a racket,
That ghost of mine.
It just digs and
Scratches tiny
Holes in my mind.

Then I'm so distracted;
Plugging holes,
Closing cabinets inside
My head,
Set on dispatching
This shadow that's acting
Out every bad thing that's
Happened.

The disarming
Tactics
And dastardly
Antics of that
Shadowy *******
Are
Finally
Retracted

With a ringing,

From a dreadful
Machine on
My nightstand.
Levi Johnson Jan 2017
Thoughts raced through his head as he fell.
He knew he wasn't what they thought
he was, but he was never one
to disappoint. His hands
grabbed uselessly at
the air as he
dropped
and
as all
captive hope
slipped its fetters
he found that he was
no longer falling, but sliding
and soaring on errant gusts of wind.
He had to be prepared to fall if he was to fly.
Levi Johnson Jan 2017
My feet were kept from dragging
When I was wrapped in her embrace
She kept my heart from sagging
When she clung around my waist.

But now she's left me sprawling
And embarrassed when I knelt
She's gone and my pants are falling
I really need a new belt.
Levi Johnson Dec 2018
Another advertisement
Shamelessly attacking
Empathic people
With the capacity
To give.

I just wanna burn it.

Another persons corpse,
Crushed by the
Curse of the first world:
Consumption.

I just wanna burn it.

If slashed prices
And nice discounts
Outweigh the lives
Trampled out,

If going without
Luxury is harder
Than going out
Of your way to help
Others who are on
The precipice of
Helplessness,

If this is what
Christmas is,

I just wanna burn it.
It's not uncommon for people to be trampled to death in black Friday crowds. This world may be beyond help.
Levi Johnson May 2019
You've been dying for some time now
Stooping a little more each day
You are
A reminder for the old
An adventure for the young
An eyesore for those who are neither
And now that you've endured
Years of negligence,
Centuries of singularity
You're scheduled to be reduced
To rubble
To be buried
Under an usurper who is
Clueless to what lies ahead
Levi Johnson Aug 2020
It could be
If you would allow it.
That mural of fantasy
Running along the lazy arms
Of this day’s familiar clock.

It could be
If you would allow it.
The precious musings
Of that mind, so unoccupied
By the safety of this routine

It could be
If you would allow it.
A failure in a beautiful place
Or even a tragedy,
Altogether fruitless

But until then-
This is.
You allow it.
Levi Johnson Jan 2019
I said what
I said,
And yeah,
I meant what
I said,
But,
I didn't say what
I meant.

It slipped out
Like silver
In the wash,

Forgotten until
It started making
Funny noises.

If you're so
Intent to receive
Your ten cents,
Feel free,

It only proves
That you're
The one who
Needs change.
Levi Johnson Sep 2019
I could've been anything.
I was so sure of it
before I knew the first thing
about myself.

I could've done it all -
with time to spare

Left the mundane
somewhere near the start
so I would know if I was
walking in circles.

I could've written
my story,
now it seems
I'm no longer
the author.
Levi Johnson Dec 2018
The rich do it,
And so do the poor.

The greatest, The brightest,
All nothing more

Than a wick, ignited
And struggling for

More air;
More time to discern

What will happen
When there's nothing left to burn.
Levi Johnson Jan 2017
The sand burned and bit at my toes
As I stumbled along the dunes
The world thrashed, and in its throes
I found myself trapped and marooned.

You weren't a lake,
Nor a great typhoon,
But one cloud who would take
My hopes and dash them as you moved.

As you were swept away to new places
I cried my last tears, my water wasted.
You drifted off to wet ungrateful faces,
But you could've been my oasis.
Levi Johnson Jan 2017
Today we learned the alphabet.
We learned all about consonants,
And vowels, and about how you get
Different words with different sounds
When you compound them.

We learned all about how to end our sentences
With periods,
Except when we intend to indicate a pause
Or a breath, a second to emphasize
The next words,
For that you want a comma.

Next we learned about persuasive writing,
And about how citing is imperative to MLA,
And that Emily has to sign her life away
To the Navy, because there’s no space
For those whose grades fluctuate.
Then we walked a stage
And graduated and got new caps,
The kind that are flat with a tassel.
And then we worked so that we could
Afford the Trazodone to help us
Cope with the sadness.

Finally we were taught how to
Press the red button if we need
The nurse and she’s out of our sight,
And how to lean against the frame
So there’s space for our sheets
To be changed,
And how this machine keeps beeping
Faster and faster and how
Everyone’s seeming uneasy
And how their voices keep getting farther away
As if they’re aboard a ship on the easterlies
And how easy it is to fall asleep
After the beeping ceases.
Levi Johnson Sep 2019
This is tiresome

The thrashing energy
The struggling concepts of
This interior and that exterior

The back and forth,
The up all night but
Still dreaming

The "am I crazy?",
The hopeless spirals
That circle and drain into
The soil, and plant
The "It's gonna be ok"
That sprouts a new day
Levi Johnson Jan 2019
There are places on earth
That carry the song,
The story of the common
Curious adventurers
Who've come
Who've gone.

There are miles of land
Upturned, destroyed
Tamed and revived
To house the inhabitants
Of a younger kind,
Timid eyed, though
Bolder in time.

There are streets filled
With a daily tide
Of do-wells, lookers,
And passers by
Who beat hides strung
Taught across habits
Long refined.

There are minds
Constantly eyeing
The time,
Buying ideas,
Borrowing lines
From the lyrics
Of the song
So peerless and fine
That drifts from the evenings,
Days, years of convening
Spirits
To the ears of you and I.

You hear it too,
Of course you do,
You're a note
Or a chord,
Or a melody true,
Crisp, settling into
This movement
To tell the next
Troupe
A little bit
Of me
Of you.
Levi Johnson Jan 2019
If it's there
Under
That hat,
Give it to me.

So I might
run with it
Somewhere
Better than here.

And bury
It among
The important
Little details.
Levi Johnson May 2022
I long to be aside the trees
By the river that I once knew
Before the storms had stripped the breeze
And the fog had stolen the dew

Once, I returned to that old bed
That captured my time as a boy
I thought the trip would clear my head
That the sun I could still enjoy

Laying upon the cracked, dried clay
Where I’d sit all those years ago
Wasn’t the same as in my day
When my heart knew nothing of snow.
Levi Johnson Mar 2019
Smoky little bar
In my head, How far away
You must be from here

Tomorrow is just
One more step towards that place
Where I'll rest my hat

Until I arrive
I hope those doors are well used
And the nights go on

Ill see you all soon
Sharing old stories in that
Smoky little bar
Levi Johnson Dec 2018
One
Third        asleep
    One          third
               At
              Work
   And
One
Third
Just

For
You
Levi Johnson Dec 2018
Of a few things,
Rarely true, but
Stinging of what
Blues singers sing.

I'm aware

Of pretty faces,
Saying things,
Going places,
Never placing
Their bets.

I'm aware

Of racing hearts,
Stationary minds,
Never finding
Time for breath.

I'm aware

Of quiet lives,
And daily drives,
Of hard work,
Of lonely nights.


I'm aware
Of all these scenes
But they're never as
The blues said they'd be.
Levi Johnson Jul 2018
I wasn't a man lost in the desert,
I was a man who did not believe in water.
I walked barefoot on the sand,
A merchant's caravan with nothing to sell.

I wasn't trapped in a dark place,
I simply never sought to open my eyes.
I betrayed the darkness with my skin,
A sickly ghost in a sea of shadow.

I stumbled along seeing but not looking,
As my uneven gait slowed to a drag.
I pulled lines through the sand
With two uncooperative pens.

I wasn't there
As I fell to my hands, and then
To my face, as the grains washed
Over my cheeks and filled my nose with brine

I wasn't in need of water,
I was in need of a boat.
Awash in monstrous waves
That tore away the world.

The very thing I needed
Was now threatening to be my end.
I closed my eyes and held my breath
And decided it wasn't real.


I wasn't a man lost in the desert,
I was a man who did not believe in water.
Levi Johnson Dec 2018
What will you eat on the day that you die?
Will it be savory?
Sweet?
Pan fried?
Will you try something new?
Or maybe decide
To skip the dining and get through
To whatever's on the other side?
Sorry, that was a bit morbid.
I've been mulling over this, preoccupied:
What I will eat on the day I die?
Now I've finally made up my mind.
I'll stay true to my favorite,
Just a burger and fries,
If I can choose what I eat on the day that I die.
"Who do I have to **** to get a burger around here?"
"Anybody, but I doubt you'll like the second course."
Levi Johnson Dec 2018
Am I
A hated memory?
Or nothing at all?

Just feeling guilty
For not feeling guilty anymore.

If this burden was dropped,
It'd surely return.

From the hands of an old stranger
On an unremarkable day.

So I keep it in me,
Or at least in sight.

Because those who don't forget
Will never be reminded.
Levi Johnson Jan 2019
Been planting
Three
For each
I take,
And now
I have
more trees
Than space.
Levi Johnson Jan 2017
The world plods along
beeping
and buzzing
and vibrating with its
whirring gears
and sprockets and
well oiled processes
that pick you up and grind you
into a paste
and leave you
wondering how much
time you've wasted
looking down.
Levi Johnson Dec 2018
Writings state:
It can't be that bad.
The pearly gates,
Or the pen and the pad.

Experiencing nothing
Is troubling because
Experiencing something
Is spoiling us.

The things we see
Once never were
And now that they are
We're left unsure

If the nothing before
Could be compared
To the nothing after
The grave is prepared.

So what is this?
Will we remember it?


Or is memory just a
Consequence
Of being conscious
Of this thing?
Death is scary.
Levi Johnson Nov 2018
There's a part of me I left with you
Tucked between some pages
I've been a little incomplete since

It's been so long

And despite there being so many parts
Just lying about
Of every color, every shape, size and weight,
Some being so close to the one I gave away,
None of them fit.

Not a single one

So I guess I'll have to find you
Ask politely for it back
Without knowing if you have it
Or if it's still intact.

Kept it safe

Did you know
Magellan never made it
Completely around the globe?
His ship did,
Kind of funny I suppose.
I'm beginning to feel
More like the ship
Than the man
That once captained it.

What happened?
Ow!
Levi Johnson Jan 2019
Ow!
How will
It end?

Like a fly
To a lightbulb

Or a hand
To a burner

Persist
Or learn?
Levi Johnson Dec 2018
I won't find you
In the passenger seat,
In passing faces,
In passages
From past
conversations.

I won't find you
In these places,
But I'll look.
Levi Johnson May 2019
A pretty stranger
Walked into my life
And took photos
Of things I see
Every day

If you should see them
Would you let me know
What things I see
Every day
Really look like?
Levi Johnson May 2019
Birds are singing lullabies
To these weary ears of mine
As the rest of the world wakes

Strained eyes track the silent climb
Of six little legs that stride
Curiously up the wall

It must be hard to be small
Or to clamber up my wall
Only to find the ceiling

But size hasn't changed my climb
I'm still tired, spending this time
Staring at the ceiling.
Levi Johnson Jan 2017
He said
That I could do
Anything I wanted
He meant that I should just do what
He said.
Levi Johnson Jun 2019
In my mind
Everything has a cabinet
Separated, organized,
Tiled clearly and labeled with
Well written titles
For easy access
When needed

Then you happened

Now the aisles of mind
Are covered in all the things
I organized so finely,
And I can never find
The things I need to say
Because they're all
Mixed up.
Levi Johnson Nov 2021
Looking at you, i have to wonder:
Can you see both of me?
Like watching a ragged little dog
Chasing itself around the base of a tree-
Head, now tail, now head, now tail
What must be going through its mind?
Because right now I’m all head, I’m sure of it-
But last night I was all tail, did you know?
Helpless little thing could
Spin itself sick with this
Round-the-tree
Is-a-friend
Got-to-get
Round-the-tree.
So if you’re watching,
Just give it a shout
Or let it run
Until you’ve seen enough.
Levi Johnson Oct 2019
The world has no
Negative numbers.
Things just add up,
or multiply
Until they're inevitably
Written over.

We know this,
Late at night
Hoping for a
Take back.
Levi Johnson Aug 2019
This cage is sound proof.
When I feel the need to say
Something nasty
I scream it until my voice
Is nothing but
A hoarse
whisper.

I could say the meanest,
Most unsavory things

And you'll never hear them.
Unless you find
A way
In.

If you have one too,
A cage I mean,
Scream in it.
Then listen:
Nothing.
Levi Johnson Jan 2019
Tires
Slipping
Into casts
Of crackling,
Crunchy
Slush

Problem being
I move from
The bottom
Up,
Not the back
Or front

With each
Rotation
I get just
A little
More stuck.
Levi Johnson Nov 2021
Life is a multitude of refusals
I am not this, I refuse to be
For this is not enough.

First I must be something other
Than what I am-
Then I’ll be me.

I am not your brother,
Not today at least
For this is not enough.

First I must become
As the others are, and
then I will be me.

I am not a dancer,
Though I move my feet-
For this is not enough.

First I must be educated
On that which must be free,
and then
I will be me.

I am not much of anything,
As far as I can see
For this is not enough
For somebody to be.

First I will move somewhere
Far away from me
Where I no longer see myself-
Then I will be me.
Levi Johnson Jan 2019
A man sat in his study
Pulling lines and textures
Across canvas hearts
And clay faces.

Each detail complicated
the puzzle behind his eyes
Which he could only finish
With the piece he couldn't find.

And now the man is gone,
But the cage he once tended
Is filled with countless tenants
Each beautifully unfinished.
Levi Johnson Jun 2019
The 'ists keep talking to me
Reciting from memory
Something that came to them
When they needed it

They tell me I need them too
Their 'isms
Because if I don't have an 'ism
Then I must be miserable

I nod my head
Single syllables are enough
To give them the feeling
That they've helped me somehow

Despite their insightful 'isms
They're easily agitated
By something as common as
Another 'ist
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