Flawless
We like to think
our minds and their creations
can only be described as such, can
only be compared to perfection, machine-
made fabric and glass and hugs and love all
wrapped in cellophane and shipped (free of charge)
to Tahiti and Cozumel and other exotic places well-known
for their supposed perfection with brightly-lit, carpeted floors

                                                               ­                                            But our tendencies
                                                                ­                                           Mislead us

It is our flaws that define beauty when true heart is lost among neon
advertisements promising change and retribution only to deliver
the last things you'd expect, the last things anyone would
want: a remote-controlled vacuum, a light-up fish, a
sock that chills your foot rather than warm it in
the night. What a joke, what a sad turn in the
progression of our society. Flaws are and will
always be prominent parts of our lives with
good sound reason backing up this fact
It all comes down to whether you can
come to terms with the reality of
your situation and the little
scratches in your self-
image or whether
you will remain
content to fall
endlessly
into a
lie

Is love what we make it out to be
             when we cling to it out of desperation
     fall all over it in forgetfulness
          drink too deeply and grow drunk on its richness
      
  brass is the heart that is mistaken for gold
                  functional but misleading

Is love what we want it to be
      when we ache in
                  fond recollection

I look into his words
Really open up the stanzas
And see a man not broken by time
A man who stood strong

He deserves respect.

Say your goodbyes
       pack the door closed
       spread your wheels
                                                                                          and fly off
  
     dreaming of yesterday
                       working for tomorrow
      for a whole new time
                        a whole new you
      as unknown fades to familiar
                        and you sharpen a pencil
      to ****** the words ahead

Reality bites
       sinks long curved narrow pointed teeth into a daydream
  drags it to the ground, rips away
     flecks of joy flying in all directions
             generous splatters of hope on the wall

and it is done.

Flint of question,
Steel of theory
Light a candle in a mind

Tonight was to
   be the night of flair of
pomp and extravagance and
  life and reason

Though months of late close their doors
    this transition is a welcome one
  to fresh fiery fall
         and associated mindsets

In the winter we will sleep
  Spring brings rabbit-like copulation
And our summer leads emotions to run rampant

But now, 40
     note-cards later
  no progress has found me this night

If you really wanted to
    
   grab
                   my attention, you
would have tried something a bit more

            sophisticated
                                     and it
might have worked, if
                                                  not for the fact that
                       I want nothing to do with you

Be brave enough to tell that
    girl she doesn't have to cry, no, it's
   alright these are dry-erase markers
and there are not enough tears in the ocean

They've turned life into a numbers game
At least we agree there's no right answer
But joy cannot be found in forever counting up because
We start at zero and finish at zero and no matter
How large our numbers got, this fact does not
Make us any more "here" now, does it? No
Good old George rising from his casket on
Account of all the quality investments he made over
The years, that's silly

I count. down

From birth a finite number of seconds allotted to
Running risks by the hourglass like elders
Skydiving when the grains are so few who
Cares when we go but how

                           How is the question

And words will always
                               always trump numbers

My friend said she would turn into a cloud
         I told her that's physically impossible
She warned me her form was fading
         I was occupied elsewhere
She asked me if I wouldn't help her stay
         I didn't think anything of it

And when I turned around

                     She was gone.

I'm going to capture you one day
When you least expect it, all
           sneaky approach and
quick action

You won't realize it until it's too
Late to protest and assert your
Presence in the present, which
Might not always be the case so

I'm going to capture you one day
When you least expect it, all
           sneaky shutter and
quick flash

And a smile of yours to pin on
My wall, personality
In a picture

To admire the waves from beneath
Calm into crash into calm
And churn up the sand underneath
Calm into crash into calm
And sit there and gnash your teeth
Where land is what's upside-down

To pray with earthen lips
Bow with wooden knees
Speak with singed tongues
                           Strength is the image
                           Strength is the intent
                           Strength
                                          was the lie
but no longer

Today is a new beginning with
Which steel will begins to fill in the
Air behind the painted walls

And genuine laughter rings in the aftermath of
A world gone so wrong it turns right

Peace is healthy
   in moderation

Challenge is welcome
And to become strong on your own
The support of others may or may not
Make a difference

You stole a moment from me
A delicious morsel of life
En route from plate to lip when
Your "hello" dashed it
Burnt and broken on the floor

Names grant things identity
We lack the ability to determine this for ourselves
And so others assign it
For us to blissfully pour our ignorance
Into their molds

The pattern of mortal life runs
From the early explorations to
Gradual acquisition of knowledge to
Ultimate realization of this prize's futility

There, it cannot end
As the leading tone is
Always resolved
And the turn of the Being
Reveals dark places in light

The face that passes before your eyes
Is it mine that plagues you so?
Oh to condemn its actions and wander
A featureless phantom
Lest you be troubled

Have you
              twisted yourself up to see if you can
Have you
              passed the night awake by fire
Have you
              come to realize the significance of significance
Have you
              come to recognize your realization as flawed
Will you

Names are failed attempts at
      guessing the true nature of things

In light of current world standings
The committee of the human condition
Has agreed to conduct an experiment
Each of you will be given precisely
Three hours, in which you are to find
Another
              Interpret these instructions as you will
Your time begins now

It will be strange to see you again
after so much time
has meddled with us both, it
Will be strange to sing with you
now that we're both in chorus
and know what we're doing
more-so than we did two years ago, it
will be strange but
We are not strangers, and
I look forward to the day

I feel as though I'm falling
And **** myself awake

But sleep is a feast
And I'm starving

Anne learned to play piano
At the tender age of four
Swore up and down
She'd leave that town
But never seemed too sure

Around her all the fellows
Would gather and they'd dance
For hours on end, she had a way
To put them in a trance

And that slight figure wobbled on
Until it was her time
To raise the curtains
Face the lights
And play like it's a crime

Away do I sing, away with the wind that I've known
I used to believe in love, but that's changed since I've grown
Call me a liar, I wear that I don't know how
To take back the moments that
Brought me to here and to now

I found your old shoes, left on the side of the road
And what will you do, when your feet are tired and cold
Write me a letter, telling me how you are
God knows I miss you and pray that you've
Kept safe your heart

I see you there, standing next to me
And I know you care
So I try to let you know
I'm on your side

Pull yourself together
******* with scotch tape
Pieced back with rubber bands
Nothing whatsoever to do with paper clips

Caffeine in crosrodaires
Kicked the habit to the curb

we're done with all that

so get back up on your wall.

Silence on the radio
radio silence for all of us

A battered pair of soft leather shoes
    brown against gray cinder-blocks
        remembers the roads once traveled
  nights surrounded by forgotten
                       popcorn at the movies
      long afternoons spent embracing sweet grass

The casual passerby would not notice
            but the crease where
                                      had the topside been a face
               its mouth would have been
                      curved upwards in
                           fond recollection
                          of times long since past


blink


                      and it is once again
                  a battered pair of soft leather shoes
                      brown against gray cinder-blocks

I found a bottle in the attic
Beneath a film of dust it read
"Liquid Dreams" and "Do not consume if
you have a history of broken hearts"

A gray-green light shone
Through the tired glass

I popped the cork and drank deep of others' desires
And here I am

"How quickly the clouds seem to move
When there's no space for thought"
A mantra once forgiven
I'm glad that I forgot

The air between these twisted words
Jumps straight up through the page
And stays with you, awaken to
A hollow earthly grave

I can't talk with you
   I hope you understand

the rain
        every last drop
     warned me not to
          
told me to stay the hell away
               and that, my dear

is exactly what I will do.

listen
   the sound of a million tears
       soaking you

drenching your mind, and
  won't you come outside to join them?

a million more
and they keep coming

        no light but their own
          no warm, yellow glow

             just gray-white, off-color
               liquid sadness

               pouring down from the sky
                    and into you

just silence.

                   
silence        and       rain       and
               hidden screams

Tornado warning for where you are**

good
      bring it on
                
   there is nothing here that I would miss
                                        so, sweep it all away
                                              if you please
       I'll cheer for you

Why do I make music?

            well, dear
to drown out the god-awful silence
                         you give me

Thought I'd seen it all in a crowded room
                                           I hadn't seen anything
                                           Least of all truth
We talk about the things
That day and night and our light bring
                                                   So tell me just a bit more
                                                         about you

Don't leave me to my own defenses
Leave me up against a wall
                                                          
While I recognize
        the reason I keep coming back is you
It's always been
  you


The streetlight sputters like a flame
Maybe it senses our sincerity?
         that here and now is where we're meant to be

Side by loving side.

It is a slow, sad rain
that falls today

And I do not define
myself by the weather

It's ok to not care
      and pretend your eyes are just watering
   and pretend that it means something to everyone
  
             and not just to you.

It's ok because they
       don't really want to know if you are
     and you can't take admitting that anyway

that

  it kills you

I'd like to be a jumpsuit
  so I could wrap myself around you
       in an endless hug.

You know what I mean when I say that it's strange
To come down from heaven and walk through a range
And serve as a target for all of your pain
You should know what I mean by now

                                            You know what I mean when I say that it's true
                                             I haven't found anyone who's close to you
                                             But I couldn't start looking because I'm a fool
                                             You should know what I mean by now

You know what I mean when I say that I'm tired
Of all of the cheats and the ****** and the liars
Yet I'll sit and roast with them above the fires
You should know what I mean by now

                                              You know what I mean when I say that I'm done
                                              And your little mind games have lost all their fun
                                              And I'm through with sitting here, I'd rather run
                                              You should know what I mean by now

I lift my eyes
Up from the dirt where I am standing
Up from the hurt that I've been handed
To the river where I find myself again
To the hands that offer me a second chance

White ribbons on
     black dresses

Luminescent roads against a
   night sky

A wonderful clash
A welcome crash

Of thunder's warning
Of lightning's fire

This day is not complete until
           I've eaten watermelon
             danced in dizzy circles
                and napped with you
                      in the forest

             And the sun hurries us along but we
              make him wait for

                          just a moment

I need some help tying off
         knots in our

      l o o s e    ends

Nothing is wrong when
               the trees remember to smile
               and birds have a place to
               roost for the winter

Nothing is wrong when
          life bubbles up and over lids
          of eyes well-versed in late-night
          conversation

Nothing is wrong when
                       she catches someone's gaze and
                       neither one of them feels the need
                       to look away

Nothing is wrong on hammocks set
    deep in the green


            But everything is wrong today

Gather then and witness the
        kindness at the heart of
                     human nature

Purple mountains purple
Circles purple eyelids
Purple wrist

She's dead
     you see

A log
sitting
on a
man
gets
up

Remove the news from
Inside your mind, you're
Soon to lose all
Sense of time

The burning
      man
   watched
       the
       fire