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Steven L Herring Jun 2021
Destroyers
By Steven L Herring

From foreign shores
came the dragons fire
Hordes of killers and devourers
Wake
******
****
Strip
Take everything
Never sleep
Carriers of plague
Brimming with contempt

Their hearts hard and burnt
like the land around them
Subjugated
Subdued
Subclass
They would burn their own kind
Children's screams to pay no mind
Day in
Day out
With or without
a stare of indifference

A dragon's breath
makes his words worthless
Paper mache fire
Wearing a wire
in the precinct
Burning question after question
Minds on fire want to know though
:
Who's the dragons?
Steven L Herring May 2021
Press Pause on Monday
By Steven L Herring

Deep and dark
Spark the candle
Light the fire
and grab a handle
Turn the crank crush the hold
of the weekday doldrum mold

Grab a boat
Grab a paddle
Pull the water
and drop the worry
on the saddle
Glad ol' lad showed me
Life's better off the ladder
Life's cloudy, but not
on a weekend
**** work!
See you on Tuesday my friend!
Steven L Herring May 2021
The Getaway
By
Steven L Herring

Some silhouette of a sad song
Quick as it came
just as quickly it was gone
The monster in the sky 
breathed its fires
put some glass in that hole
Peel tires

Chasing that blue sky 
til it gets away to space
The stars collide with the mountains,
only here to make their case
for quiet
for peace be still, child!
Feel that mountain air
or the hot sand on your toes
Taste the salty overspray
Smell the sun-screened skin
basking in the moment
Awaken the sleeper within

Put em down and feel the wind 
dancing in your hair
Tussled and tangled
Smile on your face without a care
Ever wanna pack up the car 
and go somewhere?
Anywhere really
Not to run
but just to get away from here
and go there
Steven L Herring Apr 2021
Fireflies Light the Way
By Steven L Herring

Saturdays…
Listless
Effortlessly floating away
in an acoustic haze
A man breathes
into a microphone
with the greatest of ease
slipping softly
into melancholy

Blue sky and warm
sun sing songs that
make the heart beat slower
and in the distance
you can see it
start to sink a little lower

People hustle and bustle
but the shoreline calls
the wounded to her
The mountains and the rivers
heal the heart's decaying beat
and beckon like a worried mother

If you listen closely
you can almost hear them say
Just hold on for one more day
As heads hang low
hearts skip beats
as summer's massage
tells them it's on the way
Steven L Herring Mar 2021
Rockwell's Burden
By Steven L Herring

Skinned knees
Peel the scab
Over
and over
and over again
Nothing ever heals
Broadcast
for the world to see

Never forget
Never forgive
Peel the scab
Peel the scab
Hold the pain
Comfort in anger
Peel the scab
and flash the message

Still life on a magazine
Cover up the dirt
with a moldy shirt
It's a flag print
How American!
Sand in the ointment
Rub it in
flashing colors
Broken power button
Who gets up
to shut it down?

Peel the scab
Don't go fast
Make it last
Perpetual pain
like an evening post
on a Saturday
Paper cuts work best
when the media is fresh
Steven L Herring Mar 2021
year in prison
piece of cake
**** show for entertainment
United we still stand
Live bait
for the piranha tank

What's on television
****** death neglect
and two rich guys
ripe with disrespect
and a silent killer
in the air
and for a second there
I didn't care
Mind full of disbelief
I couldn't help
but to stop and stare

Death by cop
means the fascists
get a city block
let's break brick and glass
I got a couple rocks
storm the capitol
and lie on the internet

In retrospect
vocal chords are obsolete
Safe space
to save face virtually
nothing is a secret anymore
Left
      Right
Split down the middle
Haven't seen each other
in a whole year
Mutual digital choke holds
Private lives no longer strongholds
and our minds no longer match
and everyone…
Everyone…
Take a few steps back…
We need time to breathe...
We're all too far away
but we're united…
right?
Psst
I want to remember
what you sound like

Missing America deeply...
Steven L Herring Mar 2021
Blinded by Regrets
By Steven L Herring

You ain't woke
You're a joke!
Walkin' around with
one eye closed
and a stick in the other

You're supposed to be my brother
but you mope around
like everything's wrong
and cut the tongue
out of the mouth
of your own mother

You're a cancer
fighting against a cure
Cutting down Osimandius
with a blow torch
refusing to recognize
his death as final
The sand was all that was left
but you dredge it up
while hiding your
true intentions all the while

What's the harm?
You ask me to fall in line
I got a little bit of chalk left,
so I draw my own
to avoid your land mines

Your a disaster
and I'm a commotion
that stirs it up better
than the roughest of oceans
Cancel me not already
doctored up by censors
Keep the truth steady
and the history for mentors

I only got one question
before the judge calls for recess
When will you let go of the past?
At this rate, America will never last!
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