#fourthofjuly
Summers ago,
On a dark July night
The expansive field was lit by the soft glow of explosions
In the night sky.
One boy whom decided he didn’t see enough of the glow,
Ran out far away into the field,
But he didn’t see
The misfired shot into the blazing grass far away
When he realized a whistling winding whirling missile was before him,
It was too late.
In that millisecond that felt like hours, colors, sparkles, and ashes
Were all around
And when it ended
All he wanted
Was to see it again.
Oct 18, 2024
Oct 18, 2024 at 2:58 PM UTC
Deep in the backwoods of the Knoxville antique,
The black marble sky growls,
A panther,
To outsiders—those inside city limits—
The vanishing streetlights and,
Absence of neighbors,
May put them on extra alert but,
Here,
The panther’s like a friend
Watching over us
All day long me and my cousins,
Waited,
For the whispers of night to cover us,
In the last few hours before Independence Day drifted
Off for another year,
We broke out the rockets:
Nine-packs,
Missiles,
Roman Candles,
Sparklers,
Big and small,
The show was about to begin
Darting away,
From explosives right before launch,
Cracking up till
Our lungs hurt,
Bouncing on,
The backyard trampoline—
(I think I got punched in the eye that night
by accident)—
Playing with the border collie named Shadow,
We were frozen in a dream,
No person could break up this night,
Running without legs from parents’ rules,
And from mysterious police,
Hoping that Shadow wouldn’t go
Nuts,
Hurt someone
We were all—parents and cousins—
Drinking
In the elixir of freedom,
Caught in the secret
Between
The night and the countryside
Sep 17, 2021
Sep 17, 2021 at 12:16 PM UTC
The sky is bright with fireworks,
Splashes of color in the dark;
But Inside my brain it's black and white,
Clinical and stark.
I sit outside all evening
Till the crickets chirp no more,
And Sun is knocking lightly
On Moons shuttered door.
Out of the darkness and the shadow
Comes brightness and the day;
And I sit and think just maybe-
I might just be okay.
Jul 4, 2020
Jul 4, 2020 at 3:18 AM UTC
Can you feel that day a year ago today
As if it was just yesterday
When hope and hopelessness both hung in the air
Like the breath held before fireworks burst into the night
The marvel of the glimmer for the seconds that the lights last
Then the disappointment after at the clear dark sky
But there must be something about us together
Both times there were supposed to be fireworks
Electricity hummed in the air
Because we don't need vanishing works of fire and light
When our hearts are already carrying them
My air above your earth making storms of magic lasting
Jul 4, 2019
Jul 4, 2019 at 1:12 PM UTC
The United divided
America
Optimism can change progress
Justice matters
Make better and inspire
To be that dream
Jul 4, 2019
Jul 4, 2019 at 2:27 AM UTC
Him.
The way he laughs
The way he remains calm in tough situations
The way he holds me when I'm scared
The way he looks at me like I'm the only one in the room
The way he talks to me like he never wants to leave
This was a small reality.
A reality I had for a year
Then it happened
Whatever we had was gone
Like the autumn leaves
It disappeared
Our love was over
The fire we started burned out
It was gone
We didn't have the spark like the sparklers on the fourth of July
We didn't have it anymore
It was gone
Him.
It was all I could think about
Oct 12, 2017
Oct 12, 2017 at 7:35 PM UTC
Orange letters
On a black screen
Speaking of danger
Hot and intense by nature
No small sparks
To light the way
Of children's to be
Favorite memories
The middle of summer
Begins to mean
Uncomfortable nights
And light shows
No more
Fireflies
Beautiful dancing
Or bond fires
Just the bittersweet memories
Of a different year
The joy of years past
Leaves you sitting on the hard floor
Crying
For no other reason
Than not seeing
Those stunning bits of fire
That lit up your childhood
Having them withheld
Has brought you to this
Tears running down your face
As the bombs crack around you
Recorded many years past
With the sound of others
Enjoying the sight
Your favorite part of the year
Yet you never knew how much
Such a small thing could mean
Until you're left
On the wrong side of the fence
Hand in hand
With a new one
Different than years past
Who wraps their arms around you
As the tears slide down your face
Reflecting fireworks not seen
Jul 5, 2016
Jul 5, 2016 at 4:50 AM UTC
SSSSSSSS!!
My heart was a firecracker
CRACKLE!!!
And you had lit my fuse
ZWINNGG!!!
Foolishly, I stepped too close to the sparks
KABOOM!!!
And then I was blown apart by your flame
Jul 31, 2015
Jul 31, 2015 at 1:56 AM UTC
For all the broken hearted,
Open your heart again, and to all who think no one
Understands, to all the outcasts, lost ones, and anyone:
Reach out, there's someone who gets it,
There's someone for everyone and no one is truely alone.
Here in this very messed up world, I still see
HOPE all around me. It's
Out there, and anyone can take it. It's
Free and keeps you Positive.
Just thinking of Hope gives you power and
Understanding. We need more peace and
Love in this world and it starts with
You. You can help change the future!
Stay Positive! Stay Strong!
Jul 4, 2015
Jul 4, 2015 at 7:57 PM UTC
Bang, fizz
My mind goes back to years past
When bullets rang past my ears
And I couldn't stop the tears
As I held my dead brothers and sisters in my arms
But it's not without its charms
Because everyone is free
Everyone. But. Me.
Jul 4, 2015
Jul 4, 2015 at 8:55 AM UTC
It feels like New Years all over again out here, but my feet don't hurt,
and I'm not chilled to the bone.
There's always been that insurmountable amount of space
b e t w e e n
my body and yours,
and I still want to kiss you ever so badly.
It's misting now, and it's kin to the haze in my head.
I miss you
Jul 5, 2014
Jul 5, 2014 at 1:10 AM UTC
On a humid mid-summer night
We traveled so far, yet so near
To a place of extravagant revelry
We had no idea what was to come that evening
It was an old-fashion party
Everything and everyone was illuminated
And why not?
It was the night of our celebration of freedom
Everyone was dancing and laughing
The sweat, the dilated pupils of the jubilant guests
I saw everything standing on the top of the wooden foothill
These stairs tested your level of intoxication
You could trip on them sober, they were so spread apart, numerous and inconsistent
And if you were drunk to the highest extent, you’d surely die trying to conquer them
We were swept away with a cold beer in each of our hands
A bearded man with a bottle of whiskey pored us shots
We downed them
And then another
In honor of the moment
And to the chance that our whiskey toting woman chaser would get laid that night
The evening was miraculous
Alcohol flowing like cool crystal rapids
*** being burned like drift wood on an unmapped deserted beach
And a vibe of comrodery between all in attendance
Digital pixilated snapshots to save this moment for nostalgic posterity
Beer pong seemed like an Olympic event
Kings
Flip cup
Thumper
Quarters
I took no part for I was too far gone by that point
I was a mere spectator
I was more interested in the various airborne angels floating in the ozone of ecstasy
I staggered up to each one individually trying to swipe a kiss or maybe even more
“Hi”
Kiss
SMACK
“Hi”
Kiss
SMACK
“Hi”
Kiss
SMACK
“Hi”
Kiss
Kiss back
Whoa
Who
Was
This?
A familiar face
A gaping hole of pleasant surprise opened on my face
A look of false anger on hers appeared
SMACK!
We laughed and said hello then did a shot
***
Then another
And talked
Our chuckles were reminiscent of an orchestral arrangement
The mother of our seemingly invisible host stood up and herded the whole party into a unanimous silent yield
“TEQUILA!” she shouted
And the whole backyard of sweaty, out of it, ***** young faces cheered and tapped the thumping music back on and formed a line
The bottles flew open like flimsy shutters during a maelstrom of wind
Limes and salt were being passed around like ten cent ******
After the last drop of tequila was guzzled down the party seemed to be swaying to and fro
And all of us had the same heavy eyed toothy smirk on us that says “yeah…I’m done”
The glorious angel that I had plucked from the heavens and I wandered to the corner of the commotion and perched ourselves in a high tree and kissed
And right below us two of our friends began to make indiscrete inebriated love to each other on a rusty swing set
Nice
But our passionate, fearless kiss blocked that out
It was so pure and shameless
Even though we both knew we were betraying the trust of our then insignificant others
The sound of bachata
The knocking of red solo cups
Ping pong *****
And the ******** sounding voices of those trying to locate them
Were a loud soundtrack to our lustful voyage into each other’s comfort zone
We talked for what seemed like hours about how we were attracted to each other for so long
And how our relationships at the time left us unhappy and unfulfilled
We had a mindful understanding of one another
Neither of us had that before
But all of a sudden
The beer
The ***
The whiskey
And the tequila
All came back to say hello
Then goodbye as they flushed themselves out of my system and into our host’s garden
No one noticed
So I continued to relieve myself on the tomatoes and basil
The angel rubbed my back and let me go
And when it was done
She kissed me
Then and there I knew she was mine
And I was hers
Nothing mattered
Not my infinite bile projections
Not my unfit partner
Not my scarring past
Just her
Only her
Right there
Right then
We walked back to the epicenter of the soiree to see people leaving to go make their own myths of ****** endeavors
And the good friends sober enough to help their blacked out pals get home safely
So, my friend and I bid our goodbyes and thank yous to our friends and our host and their family and wobbled home
With a flaming heart and an empty stomach
Also a bladder full of bad decisions that I unleashed upon a parked dump truck on my journey home back to my bed
Mar 4, 2014
Mar 4, 2014 at 6:37 PM UTC