i love her tender,
i hold her tinder
i told her as her
cylinder smoldered
keep the cinder.

© Matthew Harlovic

you can call it self-help
but all's relative in kelp
when you tell it like it is
and whelp give up
what you lived for
sedatives that have yet
to set in so you betta’
help yourself or let
someone else into
that little capsized world
of yours before you hurl
or wash up on shore
so take the boardwalk home
when you wake up in the
morning toward the nearest
port that is still storming.

© Matthew Harlovic

you reminded me
we have to eat a peck
of dirt before we die
but why on earth save
the pie in the sky?

© Matthew Harlovic