tha wanna get some TN's
in, man. It'll not be well for him
if he's not got none in colour
I like. Silver and blue.

Won £160 quid, man,
on the spin. Could see
the numbers dropping.
I knew what numbers
were coming up next, yeh.
So I sets up the twenty pences.
Folk looking at me straight up,
like I'm all these flashing lights.

Lost £200 on horses.
I'll try to get another grant.
Might get those TN's.
Have you signed up
for them classes
in mental illness
and depression?

Three probation officers
drilling me, man. I broke
the tag. It were dragging.
I was going to be had up
for criminal damage, yeh.
But when I were convicted
of armed robbery,
first conviction was quashed.

These trainers, man, just
turn your foot and its
like all these colours,
ultraviolet, and all those
blues. Trainers, man, yeh.

There is so much time spent being a reservoir
A holder of the things they want us to cherish
A tribe defined by what we hold in common
Yet our differences breathe life into our individuality
I don’t know if it is that I need a passenger
Should it be my destiny to explain guide or suggest
When it is that I prefer no past
And no future
Not because of shame or death
But because these things cause discomfort
It is instead a life of calm that I seek
As it is walking with nature or the animals we care for
I can only ask if you want to fall in love
Or if there is a word that would describe me
I hope it is honor
And truth
I don’t know how it is we can agree not to be perfect
We have such a precise expectations for our life
Would it be better not to watch through a moving window
Instead we could be a part of what it is we seek
Or create it for ourselves
If only we knew how

The most valuable resource that we possess is time
And I'm so very glad I developed a love for wiring together words that rhyme
Because making that investment of minutes of your life
Can be so impactful to somebody who needs it,  we poets sometimes don't realize
The power that comes with words,  whether spoken or written
We created something,  we brought it into existence

Airports are sad places
Or at least that’s how I’ve seen them
Through my fog laden eyes
Bright, florescent lighting
Lines upon lines of people excited
Or scared to death
Or drained from the previous three flights
And then there are families
Babies who look just like their adult counterparts

And then there’s me who sees you
Out of the corner of my eye
Hiding behind a pole
I’m brought back to reality again
Back to this tangible hole
I’m elated and devastated
At the same time

Why do you say I'm mysterious.
If you took the time
you'd see this book is as wide open
as the sky and stars above.

Whenever
you enter
a room,
your
whole life
enters
with you.

---

Once I wandered
into the labyrinth
of madness.
I spent
some quality
time there.
I don't know
that all of me
returned.

---

We were as gods then, he said, but the clocks came and rendered our lives into pieces.

---

People misunderstand me;
I only mean what I am.

---

On good mornings
I wake up
and sincerely vow
to change my life
for the better
which never
seems to happen.
On bad mornings
I realize that
I am what I am
and even
in America,
land of
mindless optimism,
endless second chances,
tsunamis of self-help books,
and an infinity
of religions,
that is all
I'll ever be.

---

If something
we value
means nothing,
then more
of something
becomes
an excess
of nothing.

---

Life without
a woman
to temper
my stupidities
is difficult
indeed.

===

It is easy
in stray moments
to forgive
yourself.

---

Don't be afraid of the world;
it isn't afraid of you.

---

Love rarely suffices;
friendship often does.

---

You are
the only sunlight
on my skin;
when you go,
I slip
into darkness.

---

The future
is a patient
dog,
always beside us
waiting
to be noticed.

---

I would die
for your eyes.
   ~mce

We get along with people we do not care for because we need the money but hurt and hold grudges against those that we love...

They do not pay us for our conscience or our ability to love; only if we provide value.....

A man is never worthy of another man's daughter because he knows we will never love her like he does....

The poor will always strike their stones together instead of making masa when those who rule them approach so that they will know that making bread is not giving up their souls...

A man who looks forward everyday to talking to a woman that he will never touch loves her more than the man who does....

No matter what is said, you can find a reason to disagree; but when men agree it is because they cannot find peace any other way...

You will know an honest man not only when he admits you are right in front of people who have the power to judge him but also when his eyes say so...

Why is a man who is able to arbitrage a momentary advantage in markets admired while a man who can repair your car is forgotten?

It is always assumed that a man who rejects luxury when it is offered for a moment is bitter... it is always assumed that a man who takes luxury when it is offered wishes he was someone else....

You will never understand how a poet can describe in the world without leaving his room....

Blood paints the sky in vivid streaks
Broken
Burned
Shattered
Is the light.
Frozen solid
Weeping still,
The day is murdered.