I sharpen my wits and pencil.
She lathers lotion on her hands.

It can't be wrong to be neither here nor there.
Standing two foot tall life may seem unfair.
Because I'm not better than you,
and you're not better than me.
Not everyone but anyone can one day see.
And once the confusion has passed,
you find there's a person hiding there.
Caving the love that you need,
somewhere somewhere...
Holding on for one day,
a day when you'll be free.
Waiting for forever.
What will be,
will be,
will be.

Let’s teach one another
all the algorithms
of love.
We can balance
the chemistry
and learn each other’s
foreign languages.
We can walk down the hallways
of each other’s minds
and I can carry your literature.
I will learn the beat
to your music
and you can jot down notes
about the anatomy
of my heart.
Let’s meet in the
solitude of the library
so I can study your history
and
when the time is right,
we can explore the geography
of one another.

I was sitting by the bay.
I was thinking about the other day.
The way you looked I just had to say.
I couldn't ask for a better day.

I was sitting. I was thinking about you.
I was thinking about all the things we could do.
The sun was yellow and the sea was blue.
I was lost in an ocean of you.

The waves were crashing and the sea would spray
kisses on our cheeks from far away.
I hold you close so you never stray.
Safe in my arms you will always stay.

I thank my stars for this lovely day.
Deep in my heart it will always stay.
Near or far our love will always spray
kisses on our cheeks from far away.

Like an aged piece of wood
that has
sat idle for too many years,
I am petrified.

Like the rotting leaf
that has
left it’s safe spot on the branch,
I have fallen.

Like the sweet sticky sap
that cascades
down the surface of the tree,
I am running.

Like the seed
that has
sprouted from trees before it,
my love is growing.

The sparks that glow, around your head,
radiating your poise.
All the commotion you create in me,
but still we hear no noise...

the breeze
                 brisk
the sirens call
a dance of a million
stars is
      upon us
wait for the awake
of
dawn
cherish her
   natal light
for the stars
                 shine
not only

    at night.

Impasses from existentiality
tend to note a lack of traction
that stem from the over-indulgence of reality
and leave no room for satisfaction.

Impervious to legality,
a man’s thoughts bear no restrictions
and they retain their vitality
in the hallows of his diction.

For the undeniable veracity
of a man’s veiled civilization
can be shadowed by the farcicality
of his pursuit of ostentation.

------------------------------------------

However­, in all actuality,
the ever-looming devastation
that’s caused by man's functionality
is paint on a canvas.

i
  always
              want
                         what
                                    i
                      ­                  had
                                 and
                       what
                     i
         cannot
  get.
        on
            the
                  hill
 ­                       the
                             grass
                                      is
                       ­                 greener
                                 and
                  sl­ippery
        when
wet.

Now I’m no mathematician
but correct me if I’m wrong.
Last time I checked, ‘forever’
was more than one week long.

My fault, I suppose,
for wearing my heart on my sleeve.
It was there for loving
not as a wipe for your sneeze.

The smile on my face
is a lie at best.
What matters is the sinking feeling
deep inside my chest.

The highs are so tall
but the depths go too low.
It’s too dark down here,
no light left to show.

Such is this life,
no birds left to sing.
I suppose all that is good
needs replacing.

In honor as captain
I’ll sink with my ship.
Carelessly lost
like a last poker chip.

In the depths of the sea
I’ll have much time to ponder.
Why it went wrong
and what lays on yonder.

The sinewy thoughts
that glaze over the fragile crust
of what was once my mind,
track not a trace of what I've left behind.

The sharp angles of this early morning’s sun
shade the horizon like a night just begun.

Wasting time on questions
is a sure way to go insane.
Splitting hairs and counting chairs
just put it all away.

The lieutenant walked somberly up to me in the crowded walkway of decapitated foreign bodies. He raised both hands up to his forehead and stiffly saluted me simultaneously with each.

“Sir,” he said with a look of defeat on his face, “the brothers…”

Reading the melancholy look in his eyes, I took off running down the aisle, hurdling over piles of the enemy scattered all about the grocery store.

Turning the corner at the end of the aisle, my heart dropped down through my feet to the ground as I gazed upon the aftermath and fell to my knees. There in two chairs facing each other were my alien comrades, brothers as it were, sitting limply and almost lifelessly. Struggling through the last bits of pain, their thin arms set delicately on the arm rests of their chairs struggling to reach out to one another.

I began to cry.

Kneeling beside them, I softly grasped each of their hands and laid them atop one another as the distant stares in their eyes became more vacant with each passing moment. I placed my hand on theirs, lowered my head, and sobbed relentlessly as my breaths became short.

When I looked up, the two brothers were hunched over and almost motionless setting next to one another staring longingly into each other’s black, moribund eyes. They gazed deep into each other souls consoling their sibling in their final moments, staying connected down to the last second. I laid my other hand atop their touching hands and cried gasping for air as I kneeled there next to their dying bodies.

As they passed, I felt the greatest sense of love I have ever felt for this set of alien brothers, whom I had never before met.

I like my women
like I prefer my wine—
warm and smooth
and better with time.
Upon coming home,
I know what to do.
I'll loosen your top
and begin drinking you.
I’ll open you gently
with a smooth, fluid twist.
Let you flow past my lips,
first sweet and then crisp.
My head starts to spin,
my face feels flush.
My world is on fire.
I must be a lush.

Imagine a place
where the occupation of space
can all boil down
to one big disgrace.
Like a rat in a race.
A turn of the face.
Until we all disappear
without even a trace.

The calm rush
                       of
warm coffee
streaming
           down your chin.
The hot tears
            of
candle wax
escaping
           onto the floor.
The bitter taste
     of
stale grief
swirling
            in your cup.

Your sorrow
      hardens
to my skin.
Let me pour
                   my
warmth over you
and
         allow
my steam to radiate
   and lift your
         lament.

There's a lot of pain
down the drain
of the tunnel that's known as my heart.
Too much to take?
I'll take a break
deep in the shadows of dark.

I do it to hide
the fear inside.
Just cover it up for now.
Take a ****
and blow the smoke.
What nonsense I allow.

Often I run,
hide from the sun
and lock my troubles away.
Tossing the key
far away from me
and in the darkness I stay.

Tired and lazy,
groggy and hazy.
Oh, just what I would give
to get past my strife
and get on with my life.
This can't be the way to live.

Face my fears?
Or have a few jeers?
Time to light up another.
Deeper I sink
away from the brink,
hidden behind my smoke cover.

How could I have been
such a fool once more?
Should have learned my lesson
a thousand times before.

What a game we play
for the ones we wish we had.
I should be grateful
although I feel bad.

My door swung open
before even a first knock.
Life is one big question
when we are staring at the clock.

And the clouds hanging over my head
make me want to stay
right here where I’ve sat so long.
What foolish games we play.

Smooth as sandpaper.
Limbs stretched in all directions.
Cleansing has commenced.

Walking down the street on a sunny day,
I got my ******* my arm and I feel okay.
Heading to the bank because we're leaving LA.
It's gonna be a good, good day.

Mr. Bank Teller, how you doing today?
I'll just take my cash and be on my way.
You see I got my girl and we're leaving town.
Ain't no reason to stick around.
Next thing, it happened so fast.
The door swung open with a mighty crash.
"Put your hands up high. I'm gonna need your cash.
Let's be quick and don't half-***."

Mr. Robber, Mr. Robber
Please let me go.
Mr. Robber, Mr. Robber
Please let me go.

"Alright everybody no need to be funny.
In this bag, you're gonna put your money
and everything that you hold dear
I'm gonna take right from you here."
Whispy clouds, sky grey-blue,
I said, 'Honey, I sure do love you.
Here's what I want you to do,
take my ring never let it stray from you.'
"Robert, my love, please don't let me go.
Let's just do as we planned and go to Mexico.
Our feet in the sand, the sun in our soul,
together you and I, we can grow old."

Mr. Robber, Mr. Robber
Please let me go.
Mr. Robber, Mr. Robber
Please let me go.

Suddenly I turned my back.
I took a step and made my attack.
I grabbed him by the hands, together we danced
a unfortunate dance with much less romance.
With one fell swoop, I thwarted his plot,
forced him to surrender right there on the spot.
The people around they shouted their praise
for they would get to live to see more days.

Mr. Robber, Mr. Robber
You must go.
Mr. Robber, Mr. Robber
You must go.

In that moment when I looked lax,
Mr. Robber, well, he played his jack.
He reached at his leg, his finger was hot.
The people all cried when he fired that shot.
"Robert, my love, please be okay.
The police and paramedics are on their way.
The security gaurd, he got the robber.
Robert, don't go, you're going to be a father."
'Listen, my dear, I want you to hear me.
Where ever you go, that's where I will be.
Show our boy all the love that we have
and never ever let him forget his Dad.'

Dead Robert, Dead Robert
Why'd you go?
Dead Robert, Dead Robert
Don't you know?
Dead Robert, Dead Robert
Why'd you go?
Dead Robert, Dead Robert
Don't you know?

Here I sit as the clock strolls along.
How much more time till' this is all done?
The angst and grief and time that I waste,
All so that one day I may have a taste.
Tell me this and I'll do that.
I can't put up with all this crap.

The feeling is back.
The one that I lost.
Why find it here?
And at what cost?
My sanity dwindles and I digress.
What I would do just for some rest.
Pushing yourself through life's many bends,
Do they understand the message they send?

Growing up, sticks and stones.
All these things will wither your bones.
Tired and wired, pushed to the edge.
A new beginning, a trim of the hedge.

Other people, they throw it all off.
Under my breath, I sit here and scoff.
Friendly or not, it is up to me.
Time to find out just what will be.

Here,
         Nobody here.
        
         Always,
                       Alone

Who can determine what is right or wrong?
Standing alone, it will take too long.
The vicious circle your mind creates.
Between you and yourself you must debate.

"Objection, your honor!" one side will scream.
"What about us? Think of the team!"
"Over-ruled!" he will reply with a hiss.
"I want to see what comes of this."

Bicker and banter and all of the above.
Oh, the distances we will travel for love.
Can I or can't I? Should I or not?
Why does it seem that this is all that I've got?

Time presses on and you begin to doubt.
Doesn't water always fall down from a spout?
The way things are and how they are supposed to be.
Wishing and waiting and praying it's me.

Which side to choose? The decision's not mine.
Meet my new worst enemy... time.
Crimson red eyes glaring back at me.
Oh, how I wish I knew what would be.

The fate of the world does not lie in our hands.
Please help me whoever is in command...

Worlds apart,
we are still looking at the same blue sky,
the same green grass,
the same summer scene that seduces the heat of the most beautiful past,
the same birds that chirp their merry chimes, you know,
the same ones we've heard thousands of times,
the same bugs that crawl up your leg and down mine
and the same whispering wind that speaks like a mime.
Over the rolling hills and the calm still of the black water,
the same sentimental thoughts, like the heat, grow hotter
with the same wispy, white clouds that conceal the sun
as he turns to escape and takes off and runs.
And although the same sun that sits over us sets,
the same fire that burns still beats in both of our chests.

syndicated stars in the celestial sphere                              
a marksman fine tunes his aim.

heaven haunts the hallows                                                          ­
two deep inhales.

an entity in the empyrean                                                         ­     
his hands tremble.

noble as the natal night                                                            ­      
two deep exhales.

amidst astral auras                                      
a bead of sweat falls down his cheek.

a nebula nurtured                                            
chatter from a robin across the field.

a dimension divine                                                           ­                     
he closes his eyes.

the orbit orchestral                                                      
moonlight shadows the land.

aphorisms of aligned astronomy                                                      
­his shot rings out.

hold the handwritten harmonies                      
*a cloud of smoke left in his place.

I look at you
through
          beams
                      of
            ­­             sunlight
and all I see
is the shadow
of the boy
that
I used to be.

The silhouette
                 of your lips
pressed against the
smoke stained,
off-white walls
    mouth the words
I can no longer
hear.

And it is here,
in the space between
shadows
                and silhouettes,
where a boy's dreams
so innocently
lie.

Take a chance and fly with me.
Let’s take a walk in the park.
The sun falls as stars take rule.

What makes you believe?

I swear I won’t deceive you.
Take a chance and fly with me.
Hold my hand and clutch my heart...
and follow me out of the dark.

deep-rooted
sentiments
       permeate
a sun-leathered
  surface
calloused
    and
        raw
mourning
th­e frozen tears
   of a
crestfallen
night

Sometimes I wonder
what dreams have to do
with real life.
Are they remnants
of unconscious thoughts
from the day before?
Or are they
some strange connection
to the unknown?
Now I realize
that dreams are simply
dreams,
until you make them
a reality.

Seven billion hearts
float amidst
crimson tides of
revolving tendrils.
Obscure in their
nature, forlorn
in their plight,
a path coalesces
from their pleasure
and pain.

On the wings
of angels,
do they fly?
Torn from their
natal host
in a vacancy
of eternal slumber,
do they reside?
Their leaking orifices
exude the lost prophecies
their primal heir
toiled for.
The timelessness of decay
in a vast plane of
logic and enigmatic
illusions.

With grandeur abreast,
wiped from the millennia
of ancient tales,
do they remain?
A mountain of reason
overlooking a murk laden
lake with prospects
aplenty conceals
the hidden wisdom of
their inner youth.
A barren pursuit
of friend
and foe.

Or inside their fever wrapped
marrows, do they fall?
Further from emancipation
to the gallows of
thought and ill-fated
treasons, do they fade?
An infallible musing
of periled destiny,
ripe with the
wounds of the
forgotten dust.
Their revelations a
twisted grove
of fate
and misfortune.

Seven billion hearts
float amidst
crimson tides of
revolving tendrils.
Once symbols of
idiosyncrasy now
footprints on a
black canvas, a single star
in a universe of eternity.
Simple in their movements
yet aloof
in their time.
A perpetual reminder
of the wondrous
before
and after.