I think I'm crazy.
The space by me is *spinning,
and I'm seeing stars.

© Matthew Harlovic

Take a little
puff, puff,
before you
pass, pass
judgment.

© Matthew Harlovic

Head held high, flexing the shell
bright lifestyle, I know it too well.
It’s a tall tale to tell but its best that you know
that things get better at the end of the road
Not too long ago, I felt the same way
I dealt with demons that crept in the grey
And maybe it’s hard enough to ask for help
but it’s harder to watch yourself
give up once you’ve left the shelf

Nah, I couldn’t stomach the pain
like a trumpet, I blew the in out of sane.
I popped open a vein to paint my blues, violet
and threw a pair of cans on to block out the silence.
I’m not defiant; I defy any tyrant
that tries to buy my compliance.
I ride with the giants, stride like Midas
minus the greed, all I need is kindness.

Spread your wings; shed the ego
live amid the kings like a needle.
Be your own hero, succeed the sequel
take charge, zero in on the easel.
Reach for the stars, you are an artist
Van Gough goals; erase all the hardships.
I may try my hardest
but I’m not the smartest
but good work ethic leads to a harvest.
Reap my carcass, long after I’m gone,
brains over brawn, shame on you all
for thinking that these walls can hold me in.
You get the memo? I’m better than I’ve ever been.
Binge drinking is a sickness in itself
try to **** the pain but the pain kills the help
as well as low thinking it will **** your brain cells
if you try to **** the pain, you will **** yourself

© Matthew Harlovic

Smoke rings around the rosie,
a pocket full of posies,
ashes to ashes,
Ashley fell ashen.

© Matthew Harlovic

'As toddlers we sat on that
timber floor, playing like wolves.
You tugged on my collar,
lifted my chin and made a promise
that we would be brothers
till death did you part.
But death didn’t do a part
in breaking up our pack.
Throughout the years you taught me
how to hunt and gather
my props, you taught me
how to front and swagger,
you wanted me to be at my best
before you left. But you never told me that
you had to leave.
Then when you started to stray, I tried to trail
your footprints, thinking that you were just
past that tree line waiting for me to catch up.
But the farther that I went, the farther
we grew a part. I can forgive you
for never giving me a warning
but those years that I fought
as a lone wolf still haunt me.

© Matthew Harlovic

I’ve been babbling in Babylon with all the scholars
dabbling with dreamers,
thinking like a toddler,
mocking the monsters
dancing at the masquerade
and walking with the wickens waiting for my wake.
I’ve been rambling in Rome,
hanging with the hippies,
skipping some stones,
gambling with gypsies
getting dizzy with the drunken monks,
putting pity parties on for the pacified punks.

© Matthew Harlovic

That porch was where we returned during summer’s twilight
to plaster another memory into our childhood chronicles
Where we sat next to each other
while ice cream drizzled down our lips
And we clashed philosophies like Socrates and Plato as
fireflies sputtered their light in the gloom
Where she delicately hemmed BFF into my skin
and we thought that our friendship couldn’t, wouldn’t rift.
But, when the school bells rang
our friendship became a scalpel in which we
twisted incisions in, together, for the last time
to retrace the alphabet. Forever isn’t to be.

© Matthew Harlovic