Where the red rocks erupt from the ground
tinged with turquoise.
I'm full of the devil's salt, dancing around;
With a youthful grin and the energy of a small boy.

Elevation like a highway rest stop seeping water
Guard rails and traffic shortening my trek
across the freeway, lest I falter
and taste the iron; taste the granite, taste America's highways!

A spark...a fire...a wolverine across the Midwest.
I'm a match from the televisions of the eighties.
I'm looking for that rock that spells out our pride...
Our blinking light from the rocks and the Reagan wreckage.

But was it really that bad?  Nah!
We had broken walls, metal, and blue jeans at cost!
Trickle down economics
And a beaten communist block.

We had a people united
In more countries than one.
We had a crew dedicated to digging up landmines...
So no one died, while taking the long, unfamiliar walk home....

What are we voting for now?  Some strange new world...
Well, it's nothing new really!
It's just a bunch of the same **** that you never heard of before.
But mostly, it's because you just weren't listening....

Chicken Littles coming out of the wood work
Like maggots out of a dead deer dangling
From Santa's sleigh ride

Got a devil in the white house
What's new?
You can't recycle old news
You can't put dead bodies in church pews

Pockets full of politics
Heads stuck in blenders
We'll all become activists
As long as Samsung and Zuckerberg can make it happen
On eight inch screens!

Never lifted a finger for a cause past a ballot box
Never gave a fork full of ***** for bums sleeping in parking lots

All of a sudden,
Everyman was stuck apologizing to a female
For an offhand comment
To an off brand television host

Meanwhile, it's still cool to walk up to a reporter
From the five o'clock news
And **** her right in the *****
While she's recording the neighborhood's on going blues!

But hey!  As long as he's not running for office,
He can say what he wants in front of cameras
About any jive female's orifice
Right?

Hmm...

I'm sorry,
Maybe I'm just confused
I don't know what's right anymore
When everything's wrong....
I'd rather just crawl back into my 20 something hole
And take hits from some ****.

I need a good body guy
My ride is a wreck
The engine just sputters
All of the passengers are *****

I give up hope
I think it's a total loss
No one wants to listen anymore
and everyone's the boss.

In a country where the shelling never stops
Where the winter's winner won the war of words
When the anger blows better than the strongest winds
We will work; our fingers cut right to the bone regardless

You're a fighter fighting fists you cannot dodge
Like running recklessly through forests with eyes closed
Its all downhill from here
Slippery sloap; soaked with blood
Hurdling towards the wood cutters wedge at the bottom

See the snakes on either side
Keeping you in check on your descent
Gore fills the bottom's torment on either side
You hear the weeping willows cast their final tortured cries

But now you're waking up
Your bed is soaked salty sweaty from nights cruelty
Your fighting once again
Reality's grasp settling slowly in your mind

You raise to shower to do it all again
This is the hour to join the work of men
To climb that hill and push your boulder to the top
To go back home and fall asleep and dream the end

Crash
Smash
Explode!

Mountains to boulders to rocks to dirt to dust
Come clouds and crystals of ice;
Tight ball of hot metal
***** dust settles

A storm develops
Universe ****
A solar system's lust is born,
and everybody's ******* like rabbits!

It's a big ***;
A couldron;
A stew is cooking and boiling over
As it tips, it spills out upon Earth
Filling the mountains and valleys and seas with life
Galactic money shot hit pay dirt

And
God
Wept....

Life should be about traveling and relaxing.  It should be about cold winter nights around a fire with your best friends and warm spring nights in a field with tents and a grill.

Life should be filled with laughter so loud that it interrupts most things, and songs that everyone closes their eyes and sings along with, holding a smile between parted lips and love in their hearts.

Life...big sigh.  Life is so short.  Too short to let go of.  Life should be ripped from your fingernails while dragged across a hardwood floor kicking and screaming; begging not to have it taken away.

Life is lived on by us.  We keep it sacred, and we love it.  We share it with everyone, and everyone who smiles at you throughout your day appreciates and understands that, whether they say so or not.

You're life.  You're love.  You are loved.  Never forget this.  Even me, as angry and as hostile as I am, I love too.  We all do.  And we pass this on to strangers, so they can and they do.  

Remember.  I love you.  Pass it on....

Beauty painted on
A silky, silver-blue sky
With jungles
And forests
And oceans
And plains

Every creature and every living thing
Perfect in its own way
With humanity at the helm
Earth's greatest flaw
Her greatest disease
Her infectious melancholia.

No worries...
Our mother knows how to fix herself
The clothed, wretched beast
Wollowing in its own self righteousness
Dreaming that it was in charge
Ruling itself as if it were King of the universe

Who lied to them?
Who is responsible for making them feel as if they were invincible?
Perhaps it was self imposed
Perhaps they dreamt it or read it in some book they authored themselves
Perhaps their ever expanding technology
Coerced them into appointing themselves as overlords

Beautiful world
Ugly humanity
A pity
Really
The possibilities are seemingly endless
Yet they bend themselves on destruction
And selfishness

Well...
It's almost over anyway
They will be reminded
Of their own fragility soon enough
Or is there hope still?
I think there is
But only through catastrophe
Such is their way....

Everything I say is perfect
Everything I say is right
Everything I say comes out in a storm
It's what I say, so run!

Dark, tired teeth.
Blood and arrest with a wreck
Got a set of eyes with a leather sheath
Chilling with harmonies surrounded by tears and a salted cassette.

Saw you yesterday
Never seen you before.
I find you in my dreams
You scare me in yours!

I scream!
You stay
I beg,
And you stay!

You haunt me,
But I love you.
I came all this way
But so did you!

Move Along There's Nothing to See Here
By Steven L Herring

Couples.
I hate watching couples.
I hate watching videos about couples
and marriage.
There's a finality flitting about them.
You can see the grave markers
shackled to their feet
like cheap price tags at a thrift store
dragging behind them
through the murk and the mud.

I was married once
It was filled with
damage and demand
and amusement park arguments
and broken promises
coming from all directions.
It was like running through the woods
looking backwards but bouncing
off of trees.
A soarly sour payment
for living life on my knees
and practicing idolatry.

Partners…
more like panthers in the dark.
Sharp teeth to tear skin from bones.
One steps out
while one slams the door
to anything near the word agreement.
Thanks for the reminder.
I'll pay more attention to my dog.

Noises
Overcrowding voices
Well intentioned facts figuring
******* figurines who wouldn't move otherwise
Fondling feelings of all the innermost spaces
No peace left to think
No left of center
Nor right way to finish this

I'll hang my hat here by the fire
and watch it's hot embers turn into cool coal
I'll hear the hunters pass politely by
As the spring draweth nigh
I'll wave goodbye as the vines cover my eyes
and the dirt and dust film up over my thighs
and chest quickly cover with surface rust
I'll bury the lust of hot words spewed in anger and fears
under flowers budding ever quickly from evaporated tears

I'm powering down
Wearing a frown
Disenfranchised with it all
How can I stand out in a crowd dressed in clashing colors
All shouting at once?

I'm cowering now
Under the brow
Of an angry man spited;
filling with more and more teeth marks
as the days hours and minutes count down on an ominous clock

There's a crowing **** in the yard where we all gathered once
His call is raspy and no one is listening anymore
All the more reason to bury myself in the gardens or in the forests
Only to awaken when whispers overpower shouts
And hot angry words turn into fading water spouts

I want to run to the top of a mountain and jump off of it.
I'll die at the bottom when I hit the ground,
but on the way down
at least I can say that I truly lived completely free
in a moment.

Drive
By Steven L Herring

Sometimes, I just want to go
You know?
Pack a bag
Grab the keys
Grip the wheel
and ******* peel

Who needs a rearview
when you got a bright
night sky
an empty road
and a clear view
with a soundtrack
for an escape?

Everybody just wants your money
and your time
but I'd spend every dime
I had on a little peace of mind
climbing up a mountain line
with a stick in my right hand
feathering a clutch and a go pedal

Left
Shift
Right
Go
and down the other side
I'd float
and I wouldn't ever stop again
until both my eyes closed

I could live on gas and oil
Eat the asphalt for dinner
and see
and feel
and hear it all!

But the truth is
I'm so plugged in
that when I got too far away,
the cord would break
and my will would frey
and all the insulation
would melt away

It's the fear
that keeps me here
chained to the ground all alone
like a bait dog
with an old bone
Broken
Tattered
and all the things
that shouldn't matter
cling to me like blood spatter

Am I a victim of circumstance
or a prime suspect
who blew a chance?
Only time will tell I guess
So I'll keep driving
til I'm out of gas...

Face up against the window
Eyes full of road, plains grass,
and a far away mountain pass
The sweet smell of summer
creeping through a window
that's slightly cracked
in a beat up old Volkswagen
with a broken 8 track

Mom's sleeping in the front seat
and dad's got some country music
singing sweet serenades softly
through twitchy speakers in a broken
door panel while we work our way
across God's country from
sea to shining sea

There's something magical
about a road trip
black asphalt
and the sight of a farmer's sprinklers
at sixty and five miles an hour
two in the afternoon
on a hot and dusty strip
of road between hotels and night's
long starry pauses
and sun's yawning rises

Nobody loves it more than
little boys and girls in a backseat
with a blanket
a pillow
and some snacks to watch
America come to life on a
window-cranked movie screen.

I don't really walk anymore.
Not anymore I don't anyway.
I don't run or jump or play.
I guess you could say I drag my feet,
but they never really touch the ground,
so that's not true either.

I float, you know?
I kinda hover around
just trying to stay above it all...
just trying to rise above all the lies
just nodding my head here,
and shaking a hand there....
I hear, but I don't listen.
It's not that I don't want to,
it's just that I don't believe most of the words
that escape lying, filthy mouths.
You see, I've been down this road before.
See those boot prints right there?
Yeah, those!  They're mine man.
Yeah that's right.  
You're walking down a dirt road
that I cleared out a long time ago.
Matter of fact, I can still smell the smoke
they tried to blow up my *** long ago
like it was just yesterday man.
Oh.  Nah, man!  Don't clam up on me now!
****'s just getting interesting!
It's much more than a little entertaining
watching you squirm as you tell your silly story.

But don't worry, partner.
I ain't even mad, werd?
You must understand that I was
born for this **** right here.
No, man!
Not this job.
Not this skill set.
Not this family or city.
No, none of that, my friend.
No sir, I was born for *******.
To sift through ******* to be precise.
It doesn't really matter what you,
or he,
or she,
or anybody
throws at me.
I'm gonna take it,
break it,
shake it down,
and turn that **** into gold, man.

I promise you one thing though.
I won't share it.
I'll just keep on walking by with mine.
Dig?
True Story!
Ha!  But yeah.  Good luck with whatever it is that you're doing.
Hope it works out.
It won't, but I hope it does anyway.
Smoke-stained face from when it all blew up.
I'll just keep floating...just keep hovering right here...
untouched and alive....

Grey, cold, soaking wet wind whipping my face
dripping disgrace;
drifting in space with a broken ship
wishing for a river and a broken oar...at least there I could swim!
Plans were made behind the scenes.
Schemes were hatched and summer fun put in a stall headed for the ground with no chute.
No end
No silver lined clouds on the horizon.
The air is cold and I'm stuck with strangers.
The flares are all gone as I duck from danger.
Castle corrupted and cockpit cracked open.
The pressure popped the seals, and I'm left too weak to pull it all closed again.
It's okay though.
I'll hide in my own dungeon; digging my own mote with broken fingernails and cracked cuticles.
My own prison suffocates me; melting into the mold.
Playing the role written for me.
There's no escape, just more and more
piled on petals from dead flowers.
What could've been should've been, but now gone...
forever in a vacuum and lost in some sea....

Blistered ego like a fractured egg
All the shoes fit,
so you walked out the store with a hundred empty boxes
and a broken twelve step program with your **** on hurt

Worried about words when
you really didn't have any to begin with
Just a picture with some meaningless *******
in one hand and spit in the other,
and when you clapped,
you got a
******
spitty
face

But I didn't mean to upset you
Not really though
I should've stuck to my plan in the first place
and iced this birthplace
of rage
and wrote a poem about it the next day

But what the **** do you want from me anyway?
I'm only human
Born to make mistakes,
but I'll drive this stake
through your heart with a tongue dagger
I'll say what I feel so hard it'll make you
stagger
and stutter step backwards
like "That guy's got some nerve!!!"

Sometimes I'm a butterfly
kissing you on the cheek sweetly
Other times I'm a fly on a brick wall listening
Still other times I'm the brick in your head glistening
with your drool
and your five mile stare
of disbelief that I would dare
hit you with the truth

No worries though
I only act like this on days that end in "Y"
You'll be okay
or you won't
All that really matters is that I'm gonna sleep good tonight...


regardless

Two broken branches in a cave
Both are just stories
Lies
Built by slaves
For slaves

A Golden book about a lost puppy
Men try to gather other men
Toss women into a lake,
and spit on them!
**** on them!
Worthless!

Both just stories
Both worrisome works written weakly by left handed men.
Barely men, I say!
Barley had more importance than paper penned by them!

Jews and gentiles...
Worthless spit
Of man's self importance!
All descendents of the same two arbitrary arses
Who made a break for a planetary
Singularity.

Cell division ******* by partisan politics
The very miracle of humanity ruined
by worthless people who couldn't
Feed themselves outside of a boxed lunch

But it's just a hunch...
Take Jesus off your cross and live.
Or, you can die....
Two ***** and a **** I don't give!

Good Books Have Frayed Pages
By Steven L Herring

There's a little dirt
under the carpet
The coffee coasters
cling to well worn rings,
chipped at the edges
like laugh lines
on a face mostly spent
filled with content
or contempt

A ***** door ****
with a sticky striker
and a bent frame tells a story
of tough times trudged,
and fingerprints smudged
corroborate the abuse

But none of that matters much
The sun still shines,
and the heart is still beating inside
and the cells continue to divide
so the chance to turn it around
is still alive

The past has passed
The future has only been lined
There is still time to pick out
the colors
to plot the scheme
and make a dark cloud cottony
To make a flower
grow out of a tragedy

My heart goes out to all the victims
of circumstance
Bombs bursting
Flesh torn to a tattered mess
Blood spattered
Sidewalks full of brain matter
and bones splintered
into nothing more than pick up sticks

In a world crying
and dying
for remorse,
all we see is your face
Staring
and uncaring
A toothy grin lights your dark visage
and your word for word interpretation
of your puny god's message
to dispatch the souls of the infidel
like trees felled
in a forest for not being hard enough

Just what are you trying to do?
You're all kookoo
for cocoa puffs
and the band plays along
to your song
too afraid to pass judgement
too afraid to get it wrong

You should know
that there are those of us
sitting
waiting
in the shadows
juggling our hammers
ready to lay hands of retribution on you
Just as soon as somebody says GO!
For thine eyes are filled with hate
and blood lust
and our hammers will fall for you

I'm Bill Burr on a bad day.  
I'm Mark Maron sober.  
I'm Red ******* Forman
with both toes of my boots covered in your ****.  

I'm a spinning storm
of hot tempered anger
throwing shade at you on a bright sunny day
and blinding you with the light of common sense
through your cloudy headed moment of stupidity.

Who am I?  
I am the honest angel with a devil's backbone
in a moment of cowardice.  
I am the tranquility in your search for land on a stormy sea.  
I am Human, and so are you!

Pssst!  Hey, what are you looking at?
I'm over here.
You keep walking over me,
but we're attached at the heel

You can take your shoes off,
but we share the same soul;
barefoot in the ocean
or in ten inches of snow

I'm with you thick or thin
All that *****
can't hide me, and by me I mean we,
because I'm deep within.

How long will you keep talking to yourself?
You know everybody's looking right?
They're looking at you
looking at me,
while you try to convince the world
that you're not ******* crazy!

Don't you see that I love you man?
Everyone else does but you.
You stand in front of that sink a liar everyday,
And I stand there with you, tears in my eyes
and words stuck behind the lump in my throat
to tell you that it's gonna be okay.

You're not the only one here;
standing in front of this stupid mirror.
I'm right here with you, brother.
We love you,
but you
have to love you
too!

Are any of these movements real,
or are they made up
by people with too much time
on their hands and sold
to other people
with similarly idle minds?  
Trump.  

Antifa.  

Unite the Right.  

Fox News.  

CNN.  

Social media platforms.  

Slogans.  

Peer groups and all
their graphic tees, pins, and hats.  

Support this.  

Down with that.  

What ever happened
to plaid flannel shirts,
blue jeans,
and cords?  

Whatever happened
to waving to someone,
asking them how their day was going,
and talking about the weather?  

Everything leads to
controversy,
gossip,
and politics now.  

Nothing is a secret anymore.  
Nothing is personal.
Nothing is shocking.  
Nothing is sacred.  

Everyone is on a side
and the middle is cracking
and on the edge of breaking.

I'm glad I live in a country where I can ***** to no end about every ******* thing I can think of.  

I love the fact that there are gay nightclubs within walking distance to my home and that there are transgendered individuals in and out of my house 24/7.  

I love the fact that my wife is Catholic and isn't afraid of Muslims.  

I love the fact that I have more firepower than I would ever really need (really...I ******* do!).  

I love the fact that I can question any religion I want to and attend a service of said religion if I want to as well.  

I love the fact that I can order a dido and a bible from amazon and have them arrive in the same box together within 2 days.  

I love the fact that I can call 911 right now and have a fire truck, a cop, an ambulance, and a medic all show up within five minutes of each other and keep my silly white *** alive if I'm dying.  

I love the fact that a woman just ran for president to try and take over for a black man who was president for eight years.

I love the fact that I live in the craziest, most free country in the whole ******* world and that no one can take it away from me, because I'm surrounded by other people who feel the same way.

America...land of the free and home of the brave!

There's fire on the mountain
Would you let it burn you?
It only hurts a little.
I'd die to climb it!

Give up everything to behold
The majesty of it's summit
Taste the air and feel
The vapor engulf me in its thick, smokey fog

Let licking tongues of flame
Burn away blame
Turn the impossible into a smoldering cinder
Ready to spark another trail of lust and adventure

I died on that mountain top
My eyes burnt from weeping
Never to witness it's beauty again for as long as I breathed
I gasped and spit with tears of ash and lungs aflame
At the end of a dying dream...
Only to awaken and realize
the mountain and it's fire were just outside the door
Waiting for me to come and explore....

We're all here
Look at us
Acknowledge us
Would you please not forget us.

I'm important
And so am I
It's my rights that are in question
I'm afraid I'll lose it all

We won the office
We'll take the crown
Turn this place
Upside down

Put it all together
A couldron of filth
Toxic mixture of lies,
hate and misunderstanding

Broken windows
and people in black bandanas
Hoods up with hate-filled eyes
With flags of anarchy

No peace
No way to know peace
Without a piece
It's all an incredible joke
And we're the ****

It's a new day with a new CIC
I pity you
I justify me
Oh say, can you see?
Not me...
Certainly not me
I don't know you at all,
and I'm scared!

Thunder
God's bowling alley
Lightning licking Earth’s most sensitive places
Striking a fire in a forest fumbling for new growth

The grass,
green with envy of winter's cold solitude
Last leaves crinkle brown under rubber tires
and fresh chlorophyll fills the air
In backyards around campfires
With children playing and laughing,
pale white skin with a touch of red
from warm Sun's rays

Ah Spring!
Nature's apology for long cold winter nights
and days trapped inside
snowbound
without an end in sight.

Come, spring!  
Give us your joy and your mirth
Bless us with flowers,
showers,
and a pretty, painted Earth!

From one thing to another
Molded
Formed
Stretched out across an expanse

Shifting to shape' s surface
Whatever service it is
Appearing stagnant, but never really quite still
I evaporate and reform upon your window's sill

Sometimes I never really leave
Still others never remember seeing me,
but I'm there nonetheless
Through thick and thin,
smooth sailing and choppy stress

I'm never afraid to stay or leave
Whether I gather upon the tip of a leaf
or blade of grass
or rain down upon all of Earth's creeks and crags,
for I am like water,
and I'll always be back for another dance...

A spark
Smoldering so silently
But still there nonetheless
They never forget

Not visible
To the left a little bit
Or to the right
In a corner
Out of sight

Evaporated once,
But somebody added water
So it simmers still
Sits there
Invisible and angry ready to spill

Been there for as long as I remember
Somebody showed me once
They showed you too
And as much as we tried to forget
It kept coming and coming back
Rearing it's ugly head

We'd say we don't have time for this
Let's move on!
That's what got us here in the first place
Just leaving it to boil on a back burner
Letting its power grow ever strong

But here it is now
Right up front for all to see
Split down the middle
Couldn't spit across the faulty divide
However hard we tried.

We can build a bridge,
But we'd better do it quick!
This division will swallow us whole
Or divided either way

Hate doesn't care
It's just hungry
It will eat anything
It's moved in now,
And it's here to stay...

It's cool to see all my friends get older
All that grey in their beards
Laugh lines and crows feet
creeping away from their faces

Life's at noon and lunch is on the table
Youth's slipping away,
but dinner still seems a far distance
and the bell has yet be rung

I see sunshine slipping in through open doors
and a warm breeze envelopes us
as we laugh and talk over a sandwich
even though we're so far away from each other

There will be dark clouds and storms to weather
There will be tears and sadness in our hearts,
but they will be fleeting and short lived
as long as we stick together

Pictures of kids and stories of our own youth
keep us young
Our memories of the good times are just waiting
to be overwritten by better ones yet to come

We're in the twilight of our lives,
but there's a full moon in the sky
When it's dark and cold don't be afraid!
The sun will rise on us again to
warm our hearts and ease our minds
of the troubles of dark and stormy nights

We will dine together one last time
and we will cross life's last line
under a star filled sky
Smiling
Laughing
Loving
Celebrating our friendship
as we gracefully slip into the great unknown...
together

Ground Hog's Day
Better pray.
Ash clouds send us all to the man to pay
tribute to the fallen soul of America.

Got a pocket full of ***** to give,
but that's it!
When I'm out, I'm out *******!
Don't come up and ask me for ****!

The apocalypse is a joke told to the masses to justify
all of the terrible things tyrants have done to terrify
us into falling for all of their lies!

But I am my own brand of devil.
I am my own brand of a ghost faced, scowling rebel,
and I will spread my brand across a thousand deserts
and a hundred seas to set the slaves free again!

Tell your Jesus mine is different.
Tell your Mary my martyr is a *****.
Tell your pastor I hate hymn.
I'll scream my praises to the most high
under a dark, grey sky!

I'll palm mute a motor mouth.
I'll put pressure on a liar,
and eat the weakness from a wraith.
I'll set your church on fire!
I am the funeral pyre...

Lookin' up to the sky at God like
"Gimme gimme!",
and I almost lost it all
but he shook his head
and dropped
a net under me
cuz Jesus laughed and said
"That's why they call him your boy!"

Pretty sure God laughed
a little when I bounced
Pretty sure he laughs
a little every time we bounce
He knows we'll be back...

The weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
There's nowhere to go
Nowhere to run
You're the dead they're bringing out

It's an apocalyptic utopia
Built with warnings of war
Glossed over with lies and contempt
Shrugging shoulders
Rolling eyes
Broken promises
And starving people

It all disappears with the flash
Skin falls to the ground
Sizzling
Burning
Disintegrating

We're all grease spots and shadows
Permanently painted on a page of crumbling concrete
No feet to run away
The warning call drowned out by selfishness
Frowned on by paper tigers

Then we're the glass
We're the ******* parking lot
We're the ****** ones
I paint a ***** picture, kids

I know you're rolling your eyes
And that's okay
They'll be dust soon too
The Walking Dead will be everyone else

Man!  What a way to ruin the day, eh?
What a way to sour the mood!
But I'm not laughing.
No!

I'm sad
Your so stuck in trying to stick out
You're so ****** with your history
You can't help but trip over your own feet.

You're shadows on a wall
Just as shallow
As you are fallow

I just hope the next group doesn't **** it all away
Like you
Like all the others do

I watch it time and time again
I have little hope in God's children.
Enjoy the taste of metal in your mouths again...

Somebody show me how to walk again,
Because I've fallen
and I can't keep from stumbling
Fumbling the ball
and mumbling to no one at all
alone in my car going nowhere

It's a shame I'm in such a shambles
Feel like an ant under a microscope
Crispy critter drowning in my own
molten pile of ******* with a sippy cup
full of broken promises and let downs
It's too late for me now
There's no quarters for clowns
only smiles turned upside down

Would somebody please stop this bus?
I think I want to get off now, ******!

peel the bandage back
beg for cleansing
beg for mercy
beg for attention,
but you shy away from the sting

The violin used to play for you,
but strings once stretched
dangle now
broken and frayed
as your left afraid of your own face

Your shaking shadow tip toes around you
where everyone can see
not you
not now
not even as the ground trembles
underneath your timid toes

It's not a devil that stalks you
it's not some shapeless, wispy ghost
that floats
behind you and makes your hair stand up
It's tangible truth tickling your comfort
and freezing out your warm spot

She is a monster that does not hide
She walks your path with you
waiting
plotting
excited for the day you turn around and look
in the mirror so that she can devour you

Scars Are Beauty Marks
By Steven L Herring

Hush and be still
It's a quiet fight
On a cloudy day
or in the dark of night

Dust from a moon boot
Cunningly clean
close up
to a motor boat
or bleeding bright red blood
from a fresh cut throat

Roses

Bunched on a bed
with sanded sheets
hand in hand
on a distant beach
I tasted the salt on her lips
contemplating the possibility
of my fingertips
discreetly brushing her hips

Ever so lightly
Slightly sliding through belt loops
Never let me go

I let her go
She told me to go
she
told
me
to
go

I cut the deepest
with the rustiest
of razors
She put the brakes on
with the freshest
of erasers
and when I think of her
she's faceless
But the saltiness is all gone
and I'm tasteless
but my scars aren't
baseless

Bandaged up
Boots on
Get back in the game
We got guys on bases
and you're up to bat son

My heart goes out to all the victims
of circumstance
Bombs bursting
Flesh torn to a tattered mess
Blood spattered
Sidewalks full of brain matter
and bones splintered
into nothing more than pick up sticks

In a world crying
and dying
for remorse,
all we see is your face
Staring
and uncaring
A toothy grin lights your dark visage
and your word for word interpretation
of your puny god's message
to dispatch the souls of the infidel
like trees felled
in a forest for not being hard enough

Just what are you trying to do?
You're all kookoo
for cocoa puffs
and the band plays along
to your song
too afraid to pass judgement
too afraid to get it wrong

You should know
that there are those of us
sitting
waiting
in the shadows
juggling our hammers
ready to lay hands of retribution on you
Just as soon as somebody says GO!
For thine eyes are filled with hate
and blood lust
and our hammers will fall for you

It's alright to be a little sad once in awhile
Little sad
Little while
Little faded smile
Little sweaty eyes
Little bit of dirt in life's aisle

Take it and run with it
See what it can be
Maybe it'll foster a smile later
Maybe....
We'll wait and see

A foaming, frothy sea
Between you and me
The rainy day
Making it less salty
Than it would be
Usually

No real tears
Just a little glum
Maybe it's the empty room
Maybe it's because the tv's not on
Maybe the sky's been gray for too long
Maybe we just need to change the song
Or play any song

It's okay to be a little sad
It's better than being overly mad
Always better than feeling really bad
Probably wake up and feel a little glad
But

For now

It's okay to be a little sad

I'll write poetry til my hands fall off and the only thought in my brain is horse broom *** trigger.

I'll write poetry whether it's read, ignored, or set on fire for blasphemy.

I'll write poetry whether it makes you roll your eyes and scoff a little or die right inside your head.

I'll write poetry because if I don't, the thoughts inside my head will send us all to an early grave without dinner.

I'll write poetry over sleeping, because it brings me rest.

I'll write poetry because sometimes it's not appropriate to walk around with my ******* up for all the world to see.

I'll write poetry because if I didn't, you'd never read it otherwise.

A shell
A husk tossed into the drift
Discarded and left to float
All alone in a sea of cold breakers

The insides were ablaze once,
Now burnt to cinders.
You'd never know that there was once a glow there
A spark
A heart
And now bled out
And dried up
That which was not eaten by the wolves
Or ****** up by maggots

Even the great ocean cannot quell
The anxious spirits that
leap laughingly at the furrowed
coal-like chasms that are but ghosts in this shell;
Blood lust in their flared nostrils
As they dance in victory
Over the emptiness.

Where once stood a great and mighty beast of a man
Now stands a silent statue of a
frowning clown left
brooding
Weeping
Teeth sharpened once,
But left flat from gnashing.

I am this husk
And I am left empty
With nothing left to do while dying....

I Lost My ****

I don't really know what's going on right now
                                                       right now
All I know
is I was ******* on the side of a highway
DEVIL faced
Evil.
Like a slasher with nothing else to do.

I didn't like it though
Nope!  
Some dude in a big diesel truck
Picked me up.

I got home, and I had no excuse for the mud on my legs.
I had no excuse for anything.
No excuse,
But angry
Was looking at me
But most of it was from my own face,
so who can I be mad at?

HEY STEVE!   STOP BEING A **** UP!  
But that's all I got
All I got
All I got
All I got
So…
Hey!  I can pick up heavy ****
So…
I can be an ******* better than anybody I know ,
So…
I'm just a ruiner that's no good at nothing,
So…
**** it all!

I'd tell you about me
but then you would stare
like I grew a second head

Then I’d feel ashamed
and draw back inside
or tear out your eyes!

You wouldn't see
You couldn't see
that it was still me

You'd club me with your book
give me ***** looks
and hate me for what I am!

I'd suffer tears in pain
deep inside my brain
and every day it would rain!

So I'll stay inside myself
living on this shelf
Leaving my feet
in this water
chumming for sharks!

You're all just probably sharks

Teeth

Meat grinders of people
and my feet…

My feet are
made of concrete
and I'll kick in your teeth
when they grit on me…

Ghosts walk these streets
The remnants of conflicts
of the past
Blood was spilled for soil
and the spoils
of war are baked beans
hotdogs
hamburgers
and coleslaw

The ghosts smile at the
peace,
passing through the streets
filled with the smell of
food and good times

These ghosts fought hard
and died well

Never let their egos swell
past the pins and medals fastened
to their chests

Never sat in judgement over
the mirth and laughter had
at their expense

Never reveled in boastful pride
or worried whether anyone
remembered why they died

But to be happy in their deaths
that the living could be
thankful
greatful
and speak kind words with their breaths

For judgement about how
someone spent a Sunday sulking
to the extent
of how history would affect
the macaroni and cheese
was for the living to worry about

A lot could be learned from a ghost
if we stilled our beating hearts to listen
if we let those be what they will be
and worry about me
instead of thee

Some light candles and say a prayer
Some light grills with no frills.
Some put their feet up and sleep
happy for the extra day off.

These ghosts smile similarly
upon all of them contentedly
happy to see
that they died a death of honor
so that we could live free.

Missing
Maybe lost
Situation unclear
It's a mystery now, but I miss you
and I wish you were hear.

I don't know where you went off to,
but I'm okay
and I wish the same for you
Maybe we can hang out
again someday…

I see the world the same way
I always did,
except I don't expect to get my liver pickled
just to get some laughs and eat a burger
or ride a bike and catch some fresh air.
Sobriety feels a little bit like I've been murdered….

But maybe it's just growing up though.
Whatever it is,
I ******* hate it;
look like a stranger in my
own
home
town

It's not all bad.
I mean I still got my best friend sleeping next to me
and I still got
my dogs
my kids
my health
and a job to keep me busy,
so….

I guess this lonely guy ain't so lonely
I guess I'm just bored
I guess I'm just missing invitations.
Maybe there just haven't been any.
Maybe everybody's scared
that I won't react well to company
without being *******,
blacked out drunk,
throwing chunks of memory to the wind
and my life to the nine hells.

Well, at least I've got what I've got.
Some people have way less you know?
Guess I'll paint a picture smiling
Over reality’s frown.
Guess I'm just having an up day that's a little down.

That moment when you're laying in bed
and the song cascades from an exploding star
to a calm,
quietly quenching
cerebral smile

Crunchy to clean
Fading out into a starry summer night
in a field filled with just as many points of light
in the sky as ears of corn in the soil around you
Grounding you
Planting you firmly on the earth
while reminding you that you're not alone in the universe

The corners of your mouth rise up
to high points on your cheeks
and there's a warmth
in your stomach similar to a liquor feeling
but you’re totally sober

Music makes my life worth living

He lived inside of his head
hiding behind music
politics and ****
It was a long lonely life
It was short really

She saw him sitting on a porch drunk
babbling about rock shows
trucks
and trailers and she forgot about
everyone else inside
and they talked for hours
...and they talked for hours....

They fell in lust and in love
and she bought a dump
and married him
They loved each other
but they didn't know why
they just didn't know why...

They sold the money pit
moved
and he changed jobs a couple times
but she was a career woman
and he was jumping jack on fire
and he couldn't sit still
He couldn't even sit still...

There were strangers in their house
It was scary and dark
He covered up for a long cold winter
and drowned himself in ales and stouts
and they stopped talking
they just stopped talking...

But the internet found him
and he found him too
then he found another drink for courage
and spilled his guts all over the floor
She pretended to clean them up
but she swept them under the rug
For six months she swept them under a rug...

Elephants and fermenting guts don't keep well
She pulled the rug up and danced all over him
riding the elephant
China closet catastrophe
So he moved out and she changed the locks
They signed a bunch of useless, expensive paper
Useless, expensive ******* paper...

He crumpled up ten years of marriage
She ignores his texts
They speak electronically
but the electricity is long gone
Not a spark left in the igniter
Just a long cold winter
Just another
long
cold
winter

I love original poetry, but sometimes I feel like poets ruin their work by doing weird **** with their form and layout.  There are a lot of poets out there who are clever enough to pull it off very well, but there are even more that just can't, and they sacrifice some of the best words I've ever read to a gimmick.  It's sad really.  Good poetry is art, but if you want to paint or draw, then do that.  Don't **** perfectly placed palabras with weird line breaks, spacing, and alignments that make absolutely no ******* sense and ruin the message.  It's all about the message, man.  You dig?!

There's a spot on your coat
And a frog in your throat
You haven't combed your hair
Or made your bed in months

Your days and your nights are all the same
Filled with a lack of desire and hint of shame
You've paced trails on all the floors of this house
You haven't been outside in weeks

The weight of those boulders
You carry on those shoulders
Would've cracked a lesser man in half
After an hour or two.

Now you're standing here in front of me
And the others here to see
Just what a mess you've left to clean up
Isn't this fun?

You're no good
To anyone
You mope around wearing other people's clothes
When you've got a closet full of your own fresh ones

Son!
You're no good to anyone
Nope.
No way.
No how.

You're a flicker
in a dying fire
A broken heart
and a lost desire
A blown out
trailor tire
The last ember
In a funeral pyre

Son.
You're no good to anyone
Not like this
Please...don't let it end like this...
Not like this....

Bring me my wretched
Bring me my people
and I will shower them in love
and hold them in my heart beat

I will lift them up by their arms
to their feet
and clean the dirt
from their cheek
with my own tears

For I am my Father's son
and I am here to love
the unlovable
and free the oppressed

I am here to crush
the doomsayer so take heart
and hear if you've ears to do so!
Let go
of those chains
and walk like men do

Come up from your knees
and stand tall
You no longer have to fall
I've got your back
and I'm here for you after all!

I'm sorry for what I said when it was winter
The frosty freeze of snow
hardened my heart
and made the ground splinter

I didn't mean for my words
to make you shiver
I didn't mean for my words
to be a reason for you to pickle your liver
but it's spring now,
so thaw out for me dear
The birds are singing all around
just for you to hear

I can see your sullen face starting to crack
with the warm air surrounding you
and the sun at your back
Grass turning to green
and the trees starting to bud
I can't say for certain
but I think I heard your heart make a thud

So while I'm still sorry for the
things that I said when it was winter
I'm hoping you forgive me and let
my absolution come that much quicker
and let the ties that bound us together
become that much thicker

I hate you because you let me go
I hate you because you put me last
I hate you because nostalgia attracted us
and brought us together way too fast.

I hate you because you stole my heart
I hate you because you broke it
I hate you because you were always right
no matter which way I tried to spin ****.

I hate you because I have nothing left but hate
I hate you because I'm angry
I hate you because the mirror won't lie
and...just one time...defend me

The truth is I don't hate you at all
but my heart is infected by sadness
I should've shared my feelings with you
now my mind is infected with madness.

Like luggage launched hastily,
haphazardly tossed to the ground
Back down
Feet in the air
Stripped of all my glorious hair

There's a fire feeding forks facing each other
upright like they were having a dual,
while two homies are having another
The third was an awkward brother
holding a sharp shaft, pointy at both ends

He poked and prodded at me
looking for a tender spot to push in
The cold metal burned me inside
as I was pierced, I cried
and thought I had died

All three picked me up like a sack
and threw me on the heated rack,
As the fire licked my skin
and burned my flesh,
they took turns turning me
Round and round I went
My goose was cooked
and I felt nothing left inside me at all

I wish I had stayed away from those three
I would never say that mom
didn't try to warn me.