It sputtered and coughed to life in my mind first
And I believe yours did the same
Worn paint, chipped and weathered
But fresh new wheels
Roaring down desert roads

Mind the way from Phoenix
As you begin in Santa Fe

The nights were the worst
Cold coyote howls
Lonesome worries

But soon another came into view
For you it was me and
For me it was you

Easing the brakes and turning the key
We smile and set up camp

Maybe we all are the pins to
         explosive ideas
  and the world will shake apart
                   once we let ourselves go

Plans have gone and changed, I'm
off and away regardless, couldn't
care more about this vagabond desire, I'll
burn the laughter down and run right out
of town, not stopping ahead for a yellow like
an eight-sided rule anymore, you've lifted
the unknowing latch and I'm out, I'm
out out
out.

Testify before your false god
        built of owned wood
        burnt to glowing ashes on
          pulpits like eggshells


    forgive all transgressions
  for to give
       merit to
     an inch to the game
                
                          will mean the end.

Ambition
           as in
         where the hell do you want to be you
         can't be satisfied with where you are so get
             up get out get out get out to
Beauty
            holy like swiss cheese, all
        tricky to find but once you've got it
        it sticks for life, our redeeming quality
         exquisite fault for
Heaven
          's sake, rich warm liquor still
               coaxes words from reluctant throats
           did you think you'd make it did you
            honestly believe we'd let you slip
       away not a chance not a
         chance not by chance chance chance

    I've forgotten why I came
   *Let me help you remember

Candy love
          neon colors bubbling up through
     pink cellophane quilts

                  Voices that
                                 despite all logic
             pledge allegiance to the sincerity beside
                                                            roma­nce

You say it's hard to run on nothing
                          but it's harder with a broken heart

Trying to write all day is beneficial, of course
But the only word that plagues my mind is
"explode"

inhale and
compose like wildfire, searing
words passing warmth like a baton between
minds, distance easily traversed by
a whisper, by a calling

"I am here"

and all is well.

How do you **** an idea?

Find its weak point and
smother it with insincerities

each breath fills me to the brim like a
    pitcher of pure sunshine

   ribs
        e x p a n d i n g

                if I do break, it will be
            with the biggest smile on my face

broken
            but still smiling
     :)

Won't we all dance our ways to the fireside
             when it's particularly chilly

You'll take to the grave of their question
What did I win?

Enter night
  the first nights
        we wanted to die
    but we didn't and
  discovered ways to hold on

Enter night
  win grin night
          we rolled around and fell
    with purpose

Enter night
     crazed bonding night
  we ran from the cops
    and cried together

Enter night
   no reason night
      you left and I indulged
initially to cope

Enter night
  tonight
     I indulge
         for the sake of indulging
   and I'm reminded 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

Inside the water
crystallized memories like glass
fall head over heels

I'm a bit of a ****-up, sure
definitely not a honed ideal, a little bit
askew around the rougher edges, with no
niche found as of yet to proudly call
my own in this humbling collection of
determined bodies, but I wouldn't have
it any other way

I must be me. Otherwise
there is no chance
whatsoever

      and every dream is
      worthless (which of
      course is miles from
      true)

stand up and start
up (you'd better get
up) with fiery eyes and
a wistful heart

When we see each other again, if
the skies and waters should allow

I will not let you go for a second

learned as we think we are, only
let me take you in once more

trails of smoke in the night sky
      where are we?
  the occasional glimmer of stars through the curtain
       it doesn't matter where
    each flower
       keep the pedal down
    a rainbow on your pillowcase
       *we are now.

The mouse
Knows he can fly
(She told him so)
He straps paper wings
To his paws
And climbs the Tower
Of Mouseville
To the cheers of all his mousefriends

Standing atop the Tower
His little chest swells with pride
At the sight of the crowd
The parades, the balloons
The thousands who gathered
For him, for his flight
His dreams are becoming reality

He sniffs the wind and concludes
It smells of promise
Of adventure
Of opportunity
Drawing in every ounce of air his mouse lungs
Could hold
He bellows
"I am Mouse
And I will soar"

The crowd watches as their little mouse
Takes a flying leap from the Tower
To splatter at their feet

A hush fell over Mouseville.

writers block with
all you beautiful people

knowing what to say
and not wanting to say it

knowing is the worst

like bending an idea around my
head and getting hopelessly stuck

move along now

From my vantage point
This vast expanse of land
Bare of any soul save myself
Separates you from me
And the sky hangs over
As if to laugh at our plight

Billowing clouds, faint smiles
This is no place for a wanderer
No place for a thief
Who steals smiles from
Beneath mother's nose
No place for a liar
Who corrupts this peaceful scene
Flinging time bombs as an afterthought
To bring an end to light

No, I'm not entirely sure who belongs
In this place
I am nothing but a visitor here
Come to drink in the beauty
The stillness
And soon to depart
From the hole
In an otherwise
Troublesome world.

every raincloud a challenge, a
puddly smile

Questing after perfection
never for a moment thinking
(it's not even a possibility)

the now
could be everything?

Change.

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

never sleep
don't want to waste a second

life is a blur and
                     then it ends
  so

<

never fade
         never fade
                 never fade
                       never fade
                 never fade
         never face
never fade
         never fade
                 never fade
                       never fade
                 never fade
         never fade
never fade

     stop that you're doing

     stop fading

Pointed tongues rage
Liquid illustration
For an often
Misjudged combination
Wounded station
And lately

They've raced a new direction
Embraced the bleak reflection
Erased their true protection
To worship their children
Eyes in the fire

Upfront and personal
disclosure through windows, fingers,
twos and threes jumped outside, robbed
of their ingenuity, beaten for the sheer wonder of
sound, popular opinion tattooing
rhythm into their skulls

delight transforming destiny into
ranks of the destitute

Our world cannot stand still
when early morning silence only invites
remnants of thrashing nights to play
across lashes like dewdrops, a face like rain

I have witnesses similar shadows on the
moon, just as distant and untouchable, just
as hard to swallow in the fresh air, the
blank stare of post-understanding where we
don't try anymore

Our world cannot stand still.
     It's running itself raw.

the idea that roads are
necessary paths for
discovery is absurd.

exploration within
boundaries is a pre-
meditated dream,
worthless

let them fall into
disrepair, testaments
to our falsely-perceived
control

Pages rustle past as I close my eyes
And begin

The history of those
Who cannot choose their own histories for
Fear of messing some crucial element up or
Adding too much salt to the batter on account of being
Far too distracted by that bird chirp chirping on the turquoise window sill

Jump on top, pillow, cartoon kerpow
A fort of us
Untouchable, impervious
Like every horror movie extra, only

To keep an open mind and recall times
Spent  below the technicolor roof we built one afternoon
And chasing the one member of your family that
Runs away for a romp each time I open your door

Yes, into the dreams we rapidly hunker down in
Anticipation of a bombshell

expository fiction, written
coals for eyes burning

watch where you build your
fires, we wouldn't want to

burn these trees

falling
  falling
        failing to remember
    amidst the joy of early mornings and
waking skies' company
                                             it's really good
    to have some freedom while
the world is sleeping except two
             who bring light with them
       and coax the sun from his downsized bed

let's do it again

If you want to be productive
             Place socks over your eyes
and giggle
                at your dog's beard
                         and the bitter flavors of life

My vision is flickering
       which is strange

                   I want to be an artist
                                     a musician  
                                                      ­                no
                      I am an artist
                                     a musician
                             and what I want is
                                             to be able to share that with the people
                         to laugh and cry and live and die with you
                           to inspire you to take risks every now and again
                            to guide you
        
My vision is flickering
            but allow me to correct myself

    I'm perfectly content

Find a day of rest
Our lives are far from other, with years for you to
Come to your senses

We should find a weeping sunset story far from
Our lives and memories
And read it aloud together

Have I woken to find
myself surrounded by
such stars?

Brilliant
Deluded, perhaps
But delusions are, by definition
Slightly confusing in nature

Yet there is no confusion here
In this corner of my mind
Where there are not walls
But faces

If you look quickly
You can see where they meet
The juncture
But look again

Is it there?
It is.
Where?
     There.
There?
     Here.
Care?
     Everywhere.
Now
?
Stop
?
Interrupting
?
Me
.

I'm a washed up fool in flannel pajamas
And I bet that line got your attention
See I thought there might be, between one and three
A whole world for us to rent space in

While time rambles on, I'll still write my songs
And hope you will make your way home
To a warm wooden fire, a mug of hot cider
And a kid who still calls you his own

What is it that we as humans lack
To make us question our existence
And seek a meaning to our lives?

The trees live and do so
Splendidly because
They do not worry about tomorrow
Or what they should be doing, and
All would benefit from such a carefree attitude

Behind the shed
Lies the single thought that
May save us all

Allow me to investigate.

It's late is it late
          already when the floor smells like cinnamon and
       welcomes you softly then refuses to let you up
                            and fire climbs streetlamps sheds
                                      orange-red light on this scene
Did you catch the
           entrance of our heroine by the stair
                 with patented uncertainty
                                 mystery's mark upon the air
                                           we breathe so
                                                       casually
I couldn't tear my eyes away
         wouldn't miss it for the world the
                       one I like to be in every
                             once and again

Good night, everybody
Are we wishing for one
or convincing of one?

That little heart shaped from green?
                         as I am.
         love formed with time and care, growing
     stronger and more vibrant every second,
            
               immortalized
                    there with you.

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.

One slim tapered finger
Brimming with determination
Slides the plunger home
With a soft wet ripping gasp

"You may experience a slight
tingling sensation as it spreads
outward", she recalls
With moderate amusement
Written in black sharpie
On the side of a mason jar

But she had cared then
Filling the long hollow chamber
Cared as the anticipation
Held her captive
And filled her mind with lucid
Thoughts, disturbing and familiar

and this commotion makes it down
To the depths of a stone well, hidden
Inside the medicator
Where a beautiful girl
Turns her face toward the light
And curses her prison once more

laughter all laughter cascading past mountain
caves, pushed aside for so long in lieu of the ocean
and now looked upon with fresh eyes and new time

you are not ready for this life

you are not ready but you step ahead, you
fall on the steps and catch your breath and
rise like an angel

stay where you should be, even
though we are technically free

I don't want to be.

Dying is a ways off
but life slips away into the
afternoon, minute by unforgiving
minute, relentless in its
passing

keep track of time before the
change as madness, an endless round
of applause cutting corners in a
racetrack mind

velvet stains, sawgrass breath of junebugs over again

Let's meander down this
road
         flustered so wonderfully flustered by
you, taking the
time to pause and appreciate each little
intricacy along the way

so that some day, when we're older
we can breathe in and pop
evaporate, travel
only as vapor can, spread out and cover
(a part of us in everything and everything
apart from this)

say it louder and louder still, echoing
off your ribcage and shaking my throat
I believe in your words and
nothing slips away without so
much as a nod
that's not the given (not
even close)