Should I stay or should I go
clashed the words on walls
that minds make and turn us to voodoo dolls

Pins
Pride
Egos take a wide stride to avoid potholes
like a life less ordinary
with resentments on the side
Who wants refreshments on this ride?
I'll take two
One for me
One for you

I'm a kite that somebody flies
on Sundays whose
reverence
references those of a different time
but the same space
They read a book and act a certain way
just to save face

An old shoe lace
is the only thing
holding this world in place
while everything seems in a race
to trace it's way back into God's good grace

It's funny when you think about it
Right hand punched left hand
Left hand punched right
Nobody steps into the light in luxury
Only in desperate times
Only in foxholes
and next to bombs bursting with burglary

All the good shepherd can do
is sing sweet, soft lullabies
and keep us all from telling each other
little white lies
about how things used to be

I'm old
My father is older
His father is dead
yet we wage on and on
in a new day with all the same problems

When will it all end?
When will we put down
our weapons and call each other friend?
I can't wait,
because to that my sturdy branches will bend

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!

Poetry is the devil on your shoulder
who shot the angel by your left foot
and crushed its body underneath a boulder

Poetry is a cold blade against hot skin
it screams for BLOOD BLOOD BLOOD
when all you want to do is surrender

Poetry isn't love
it's violence
it's the tourniquet,
the ******,
the flash,
the sleep,
and the cold silence

Poetry is the lust you can't escape from
when you couldn't keep your hands off
each other;
when you woke up alone in an empty bed
and a cold spot on the pillow right beside you

Poetry isn't cute or sweet or pretty
She's tattooed with black hair and a whip
and leaves you heart broken, cold, and begging for
one
more
sip

What is poetry?
Trust me, you don't want to know her
She'll leave you standing in a median begging for change
while your friends stare at you sideways
and talk about you behind closed doors.

I wish that ***** would leave me
I wish she'd never left me
Baby!  Please don't ever leave me again...

The winds were quiet and peaceful
The streams cool and
running slowly through the reeds
and the lily pads frogless for the time being

Yet with all of the still waters
something stirs
Something whirs and wriggles
inside of this tin man
something shakes and shivers

Once cold, calculating
red slits
are now twinkling with amber
like the comet filled sky
throwing celestial fits

Grinding gears grabbing steel
and wire mesh
have lost the robot to
the sound of His timing
and blood's liquidy swish

At first, we were at a loss
and our worldly metallic friend
questioned his feelings
and thought this was surely the end

Until one day when
he shed his first tear
and the rust on his face plate
began to disappear

It was a miracle we decided
beyond a shadow of a doubt
This once mechanical being
With joy in its eyes began to shout.

We welcomed him to the world
with his sharp robotic eyes
as they softened to a glow,
His now heart-filled chest
full of love instead of lies

The metal scale began to drift away
and this machine was now man
who now looked at every new day
With brighter eyes
and a new love for which to stand.

Where are the heavens?
Above
Below
Some place where the winds don't blow?
Some place where heartbeats glow
and fires never die
and enchantment never tells a lie?

It's cold and dark the higher we go
and inside the earth
a fire always glows
The molten magma magnet
that holds us here to ground
At least that's what we were told
between trips to the merry-go-round

So who do we believe then?
The man in the robe
woos us with wonder and song
The woman at the podium
marks us high to get along

Where are the heavens then
my friend?
I think we may never know
til the end
Until then, I'll leave them between the sheets
or in dark corners where lovers meet
or in the hustle and bustle of the city street
or in a quiet cornfield where winds do rustle husk
and space envelopes her Sun at dusk

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...

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!

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.

Take your insides and tie them in knots
Rotted guts
Spoiled and pungent
Repugnant and bitter

Forget focus on good things
Spend your time and energy on another's opinion
Empty air
Wasted time
Fading light

Hot syllables should fall to the ground
in cold air
But people still stop and stare
Mouths agape
Faces contorted
Focus gone

These words control us
Manipulate and rob us
Tie us down
Chained and bonded
Won't let go

Let it go man.
I know they hurt you
I know
you have to let it go
Chains crumbling from rust
No more mistrust
Eyes lightening
Shoulders unburdened

Joy restored to those who realize
that they are just words
Nobody's bleeding
Nobody's broken
Stand up
Dust off
Walk away
Untouched
And
Alive

Let the bitter ones who speak unkind
Die in a heap of bones and blood
Lonely
Friendless
And fallen behind the rest of us.

Moving on....

My tongue is a pitchfork,
but my words wait wantonly
for your eyes to process them.
They wait patiently on the page for you to ponder them.

Like little deadly daggers dipped in poison,
or honey,
or lust to drive you to touch yourself,
or someone else.

Maybe you want to touch me.
Maybe you want to caress my leg.
Maybe you want to punch me or hurt me instead.
Perhaps my words make you
want to make me
dead
for something that I said.

Maybe not though.

Maybe you just brush by briskly,
ignoring me and my words,
but how long can you ignore the devil?
Remember children.
The devil gets his due...
he always gets his due!

Year at a Glance
By Steven L Herring

I see a sea of violence
riding a wave of hate
set to crush
set to destroy
Pistol-lined pockets
The nuclear option tastes
like metal in the mouths
of the innocent
as we take to the streets

I don't know about y'all
but the excitement is scarce in me
I'm not to keen
on getting blood on my sneaks
Media wars by media ******
cut the path
to peace in pieces
and all I hear is a vacuum
******* sanity out of the air
Rusty razors
tainted with nair

Breakout!
Skin crawls with virus
Hot pokers pierce the iris
TV
Feeds me
My eyes rolled out
of their sockets
to that tune
by love and rockets
I'm alive, but for how long?
Gotta feed a firing squad
fifty copper jackets
harvested from the hearts
of the ghosts of innocents past

Outcast
Stressed out
Stretched out
for all the world to see
Disfigured and on display
We screamed,
but masks muffled our airway
Patient's color grey for days
Streets worn and black
Center lines jagged
Petulantly painted
by a basket case wonder
This lonely road rages on
Let it spill into the sea
LET IT SPILL INTO THE SEA!

Locked
cocked
and itching to rock 
Ready for an attack
of modern made wack-ness 
I already waged war once 
when I ripped my heart 
out of the blackness


Destruction!
I'm a killer son!
Y'all didn't know
Laser-focused aim
with words waiting to go!


Bullets don't fly slow
and they'll land true
like planes on a glide *****
While you stutter and stagger
I'll be in the breeze
because your words don't matter
begging on your knees


You can censor me
but I know my enemy
and I see you as a frenemy
it's plain to see
and easy like 1, 2, 3


I don't need to leap tall buildings
I got tnt!
I'll burn it down like a village
in a DMZ!
Take a break
for some cake
Yeah! 
Y'all know me!


Both barrels loaded!