every lump in this mattress
a boulder against my back,
every wrinkle in the sheets
a two-by-four in my shoulder,

sleep denied by the fear
of what tomorrow’s visit
will bring. i squeeze my eyes
shut, try to focus instead

on the events of today,
find some relief, conjuring
her face. but then
visions of another face come,

black and white, frame by
frame, like in an old film noir.
dark, my love for her was very
dark, a source of secret shame.

i get out of bed, go to
the window, look out on
a surreal scene- moonlight,
and its muted glow, hints

of lacy flakes.

how much
of your life
has been decided
for you?

co-constructed
by the passing faces
on sidewalks

all life travelers
traversing dual rivers

what is
and
what shouldn't be

how often
do you enter
forbidden
territory?

At 1100 hours the guns went silent,
but for many men (and their families)
the Great War would carry on.

They had come to face a sneaky guest
that dug into them by surprise,
scraping skin and flesh and bone.

Shrapnel took their faces away,
digging ***** holes into their ears, eyes,
noses, cheeks, jaws, lips and teeth.

It took a pioneer of plastic surgery
to ****** it all back for them, not just the flesh
or just the bone but face, true face, their face.

Their faces finally looked back at them.
Now they found new friends, they stepped
through the mirror between two worlds.

So many lives in an essence of mind
the possibilities endless
there are so many of me
I don't know which one to give life to
I'm like a deer in the headlights
starring down my inevitable fate
how funny we should die together

She had a thousand faces,
Each hung and turned gracefully on a rack,
A rack that only she had the strength to balance,
And each of her faces spoke in a different tongue,
But when all thousand voices synchronized the harmony mimicked that only produced by love,
With a lavender scent and a porcelain face,
Royal embers burned in a powdery rage,
For behind every cracked white faith,
Is suspended a hidden strength.

Charming and beautiful,
glowing with iridescent youth,
they swarm about me
in their languid days.
Some wear all black.
Others adorn themselves
with baubles
and rainbows of color.

No matter how fair their skin,
or clothes or speech -
no matter how rich
or poor they were born,
they are all the same.

The clock ticks for each
at an indifferent pace.

By Arcassin Burnham

I don't wanna leave, I don't wanna go,
But if you tell you nope , then this lil
joint I'll have to blow,
No code , no conduct,
Looking for that love,
I got no where to go , I guess I'll have to
look above.
Eventually.

Have me , I said take me, but you didn't
want my love,
I'm burning up inside , I'm heart broken
inside,
I know that I can't hide though,
I know I can't hide,
You got moving through 20 different
worlds at a time for ya,
Would lie for ya,
I'd die for ya.
I didn't wanna tame you in a world so cruel,
With a life so bad where the bad men
rule,
And the lights turn down , dimming my
soul dark,
I was here you would keep my heart,
Thats a little lame , but I digress,
I swear I would have been your very best,
So what do you say?

I don't wanna leave, I don't wanna go,
But if you tell you nope , then this lil
joint I'll have to blow,
No code , no conduct,
Looking for that love,
I got no where to go , I guess I'll have to
look above.
Eventually.

It's sad to say but
the sight of your face
reminds me of all the time I have lost.
Faces older than they were.

Shadows of houses grow -
black teeth closing across the road.
Long yellow fingers claw between.
Golden, all the lines I have crossed
without thinking twice.
My general, I conscientiously object.