A thousand times
I've trodden this path
still there's some thing
I encounter to stir my heart

nothing is ever the same
our every thought or feeling
even love changes and evolves
this is the essence of living and being

You can write a long paragraph
on each of the people you know
I'm asking you to write a sentence
on yourself-- why do you hesitate so?

Do you want to see
my collection of knives?
Jim asked
sure

I said
so he went
into his
ground floor flat

and I sat
on the grass
outside
his bedroom window

cleaning my
6 shooter gun
with my handkerchief
here

Jim said
have look
at this beauty
and he handed me

a narrow bladed knife
with an eagle
on the handle
and German script

on the blade
Meine Ehre Heisst Treue
what does that mean?
I asked

Dad said it means
my honour is loyalty
Jim said
I ran a finger

along the blade
it was still sharp
it's an SS knife
he said

I handed him
back the knife
and off he went
to get another

this one
had a curved blade
be careful
of the blade

Jim said
it's very sharp
I bet that's taken off
many a head

he said
sliding his thumb
under his throat
what kind

of knife is it?
I asked
it's a Gurkha
combat knife

he said
he took
that knife away
and brought back

a knife with
a knuckleduster handle
what the hell is this?
I said

taking the knife
into my hands
and turning it over
it's an Aussie

fighting knife
Jim said
could have
slit open a ***

he said
I tried not
to think of that
but looked

at the knuckleduster handle
and imagined
a man's hand
and fingers there

at one time
I handed Jim
back the knife
and he went

back inside
there were voices
coming
from Jim's room

and Jim's old man
came to the window
and said
don't tell no one

what you've seen Benny
Jim should
have known better
and backed off

into the room
I looked
at my 6 shooter
in my lap

Jim came
along the grass
back from the flat
sorry about that

he said
Dad has this thing
about knives
and such

he helped
open up
Belsen camp
and saw too much.

What a happy life
I realized I have got
When I stopped thinking

The shucks of it is,                                                  The shucks of it is,
You don't control me anymore,                            If you didn't want,
You don't dictate my actions.                               People to hear the,
So if I go to a friend,                                               Way you *******,
To vent,                                                                    Me up than you,
You don't get to call it bad mouthing.                 Should've thought,
The shucks of it is,                                                  Shuck through,
I'm not telling tales,                                                I'm sorry but the,
Just the truth.                                                           Truth is truth and,
I am my own man,                                                  It won't be silenced,
And you have a new man,                                    Maybe your new,
So get out of here.                                                  Boy will fall for it,
MY poetry is my outlet,                                        But you've broken,
So if I write about what you did,                        Me so much already,
You don't get to tell me to stop.                           I won't change more.

                                 When education is not liberating
                                     The dream of the oppressed
                                      Is to become the oppressor

Unfortunately I am liberated and born anew so your threats aren't going to throw me askew I won't say I would change how things have been between us because there was good and we had fun but I think it'd be better if you stopped saying you can be there for me if I deleted my Hotmail account if you stopped emailing me because you don't want drama if I stopped responding because I want to but I don't know why I don't stop if you just focused on your new relationship instead of giving a shuck about me if I just let go of my grudges instead of being so mad at you for hurting me so much,

If the world was simple
                                                                                       If we lived in truth
If things were black and white

      If everyone knew where they were meant to be from the start

If I never wanted love                                        If I never deserved love

I appreciate your concern, and yes,
   I'm still very much alive.

I'm just a father with a full-time job,
   and an allergy to social media

I used to work on this in the wee hours
   and now I use those hours for....
   sleep

Your donations got the app started
   - and I'm so grateful -
But the app isn't ready to share yet.

I will get an app finished.
   I will.
      I will.
         I will.
            "But when?!"

I won't promise anything yet
    but I won't forget either

Sending you all love from
    the real world

Rocking in the empty space,
Between loneliness and overwhelming love,
Is where you'll find me now.
Looking up in the night skies,
Thinking about the stories I was told,
And told.
Life is what you make it,
So I'd like to make it this.
Running after storms,
Holding fast to the ground.
Coming home with dirt stained shoes,
Hoping someday I'll come home to you.

It's always August 31st,
In the last week of August,
It's always August,
That makes beautiful things.

It's always the first fading trees,
In the forests around this house,
It's always the thought of coming fall,
That makes us forget winter's creeping jaws.

It's always the first winds of fall's fading,
In the empty chapels and lonesome evergreens,
It's always the feeling of ignorant cold,
That makes people run to what's not meant to be.

It's always spring's first flirting's,
In the midst of things you thought you wanted,
It's always those who love you,
That show you how better things will be.