#kansas
Do you think,
the yellow brick road,
sparkles when,
it rains?
Dorothy,
we aren’t,
in Kansas,
anymore.
The tin man,
has become,
your best friend,
and your dog,
he’s running away.
Oh poor Dotty,
I’m so sorry,
the witch,
it’s actually,
deep inside.
Don’t you,
understand?
It’s raining,
the hanging man,
he’s swinging,
and the road,
it’s sparkling.
Sep 16, 2025
Sep 16, 2025 at 2:17 PM UTC
Almost 4 a.m.
on a misty Kansas morning.
I try to wash away
the sleepiness
from my insomnia crusted eyes.
Flip my racing thoughts
resting on a fresh sheet of paper—
spread so clean it sheens,
like fresh snow on a sunny day.
clean pen and magical colors.
drop and watch in wonderment,
as the colors sink in...
waltzing,
into the white stillness.
words never heard,
until this very moment..,
dancing in my frenzied brain.
the fresh trees reaching out...
a drop of sea, a chilly souvenir,
the stories of sunsets,
peeled back layer after layer...
and a moon laid on lake waters.
a tender breath of mystery...
a river filled with apparitions
here now—
then gone.
wet roads reflecting,
winding around echoing hills.
the stale winter breeze, now reborn...
floating across the valley as a new dawn.
steam rising from forgotten coffee.
my eyes wary, and then closed.
I feel the calm glow of lights,
the hum of the city,
the silent shadows.
the peace of the morning symphony.
Pen to paper, again,
mind firing untainted tales,
as the pigeons rise.
followed by the squirrel...
and the downstair’s neighbor—
a flick and puff of his first vice.
a new chapter, a clear desire.
the trees rise, the day rises.
night slowly walks,
forward.
onwards,
towards the
spring morning, reborn.
Jul 14, 2020
Jul 14, 2020 at 9:12 AM UTC
Heard powerful words move men to
action
“Hail ******
Millions of innocent souls lost deaths
so hideous
ironically
there are no words to describe
“I have a Dream”
50,000 Americans march onto their
capital to claim the God given right
to be equal.
The same words
Moving through time
staying strong
to where 30 years later
a small white girl
3rd grade
in rural Kansas
echos those same words
in a report on how the world ought
to be
I have seen great words
lost and alone
Concealed beneath pages
Stacked on lined walls
Masters who have manipulated
even the most minute syllable
to affect how you feel, learn, believe.
Vaporized to the literary abyss of the
library Knowledge untapped
Mute wisemen.
Last words
spoken
Desperate to sum up a life in one
B—R—E—A—T—H
what to say......?
what to say......?
One last, “Tell my, fill in the blank, I
love them.”
Or cheaters who manufacture
manuscripts
to be read at their own funerals
pre-written, pre-thought-out ovations
of pathetic lives in an attempt to give
them worth. Sadly, still trying to fool
others by sounding spontaneous
extemporaneous
Even after their heart STOPS
Jul 12, 2020
Jul 12, 2020 at 12:31 PM UTC
So baseball starts soon and pitchers and catchers reported today. This is the most excited i've been since the Kansas City Chiefs won the Superbowl. I know that's not long but baseball is just amazing and an awesome display. Baseball is that sport that you can't run the clock out and don't have total control. Anything can happen in baseball. It's amazing to see the comebacks that can happen. If your the Astros you'll just want to forestall. Baseball is always somebody's passion. Some people say is boring. Others say it is a smart person's game. How can it be boring and lame if all those fans are roaring. Baseball every season relights the same flame.
Feb 11, 2020
Feb 11, 2020 at 3:47 PM UTC
The sky is a reflection of
a child that's lost
It is screaming and crying
Painting our world with it's pain.
Why did it have to rain
so hard in Kansas
As we laid there in our tents.
Praying to God
For the second time this week.
Wondering if this is something
We will soon regret.
Sep 14, 2019
Sep 14, 2019 at 12:19 PM UTC
checkerboard flooring, red rose walls
the large caterpillar's snoring, lets count humpty-dumpty's falls
excessively strong tea, smiles that drive the crowds crazy
a snakeskin hat just for me, something in the tea made the world a little wavy
find me that hare, i want a scone
the white roses are still there, i want a jabberwocky of my own
please give me a design, i'll sew it up for you
NO THAT ONE'S MINE, i'll make tea for two
i want to save the world, then again it really doesn't matter
'cause you won't understand a word, i'm mad as a hatter
Apr 12, 2019
Apr 12, 2019 at 10:04 PM UTC
Iced coffee brew
Cars in a monoxide stew
Wind on a pigeon's back
Paper pierced by a tack
Tapping feet, concrete floor
Spray paint on the decor
Cold air swept in lungs
Gum rolled across sugar tongues
Change in a rough hand
Canned tomatoes, name brand
Pillars scraped by the sky,
They stare down, eagle eye.
Apr 8, 2019
Apr 8, 2019 at 3:55 PM UTC
The moon’s fingernail
pushed over the celestial dark fluid
that overflowed nightly.
The midnight blurred
my flattened, forgotten universe’s
center rather greedily.
The world ended
at the edge of my car’s windshield and
moved forward quietly.
From the highway
the faint heartbeat of Kansas
throbbed two-dimensionally.
Her heart cavity
collapsed under the infinite stretch of sky
and pulsed irregularly.
The fall of Atlas
forced all the beauties of the world to be
buried subsurface perfectly.
But my mind spitefully imagines mountains
Nov 23, 2018
Nov 23, 2018 at 11:30 PM UTC
ive never been to
virginia, ive never been
to kansas.
just a mirror image
of a dream i had, that
looked so real it
****** me over
for the rest of my life.
i call myself a writer but
i dont write.
i call myself a student but
i stay in bed.
i call myself a good friend but
i am gone.
i call myself a person but
i cant breathe.
Oct 4, 2018
Oct 4, 2018 at 3:40 AM UTC
People talk about Tornado Alley,
The part of the U.S where I live.
They act like tornadoes touch down every week in May through October,
Like storms go through every other week.
Like everyone’s not scared and they’re always calm.
The truth is,
Tornado Alley’s not like that.
Tornado Alley is worrying
When a tornado touches down only five miles from your house,
Your family’s in the basement,
Wondering if everything’s all right,
And if your house will be damaged.
Tornado Alley is praying a storm will pass,
The ever-looming threat of a supercell,
Swirling clouds above your roof,
The sky a nasty green and purple.
Tornado Alley is taking everything you have for granted,
Then being scared when it’s threatened.
Tornado Alley is knowing tornadoes exist,
But being thankful that you’re not in San Francisco,
Or Hawaii, Florida, the coasts.
Tornado Alley is flat plains and wide open spaces,
Not being afraid of a storm,
But of what lurks when the beginning is over.
May 8, 2018
May 8, 2018 at 9:51 AM UTC
I could write about the ocean
About the crashing waves calling me
The lulling roar
Of dissonant ambiance
Holding secrets under the tumultuous surface
I could write about the mountaintops
The serene scene miles above
Where the air is too pure for this imperfect soul
Where I have never felt more alive
I could write about the city
Where life never really stops
Where the skyline itself is a monument to human ingenuity
And the people are moving, always moving
As life goes on and on
I could write about any of these wonder-filled places
But my heart lives in the rolling plains
The seemingly infinite horizon
The hot summer days radiating off the pavement
The snow blanketing the smoothness of the landscape
Where the sunsets illuminate even my darkest hours
And the normality of suburban life is comforting
You always take for granted what you are born into
But my world has always been good land
Inhabited by good people
Warm hearts, genuine souls
And an appreciation for the lives around them
Where I've never seen a deer and an antelope play
Where I don't live on a farm
Where my childhood flourished
And my adulthood is burgeoning
Kansas
Like my own personal Shire
Perhaps one day I'll leave for an adventure
But I'll always return
To where the horizon reminds me
Of infinite possibilities
Feb 15, 2018
Feb 15, 2018 at 6:42 PM UTC
I'm as cold as Alaska, Can't seem to warm up like Texas , If I go to Las Vegas I would lose and go to Kansas !
Feb 23, 2017
Feb 23, 2017 at 2:01 AM UTC
The flowers of the Sunflower
turn to greet the sun everyday
As the sun travels across the sky
the flowers follow
And as the sun goes down
they droop over in mourning
May 17, 2016
May 17, 2016 at 8:44 PM UTC
The griffin outside my balcony
squinted and shook
flipping Kansas City
upside down and back.
Giant flakes descended
like softest down -
coating the plaza below
with a mantel of frosted white.
The griffin is squinting once more.
Watch out; hold on tight!
Here we go again
whirling about in a cyclonic flurry
of magic fairy crystals.
August, 2010
Feb 9, 2015
Feb 9, 2015 at 4:11 AM UTC
You could feel it in the atmosphere
Things were set to change
The girl from the Midwest was here
And things got mighty strange
She came from Kansas, the mid west
She was country through and through
But when she came in wearing that red vest
You never knew what she would do
She's a Kansas sized tornado
coming back from Kansas way
You couldn't click your heels
to get back home
This girl, she came to play
Like the storm that dropped
Upon the witch
This girl, she was a force
No red shoes there to help you out
You'd best get on your horse
Not a big girl..full of fight
You'd best stay back a bit
She was wound up really tight
And she knew just how to hit
Leaving damage in her wake
Seemed to be what she did best
Just leave her be when she comes in
And she's wearing that **** vest
She's a Kansas sized tornado
coming back from Kansas way
You couldn't click your heels
to get back home
This girl, she came to play
Like the storm that dropped
Upon the witch
This girl, she was a force
No red shoes there to help you out
You'd best get on your horse
Flying monkees in the sky
couldn't stop the storm she brought
She was nasty trouble, by and by
Like a devil can't be caught
You'd kick your heels and wish she'd leave
Back with the wicked witch
Cause when she showed up in our bar
That night would be a *****
She's a Kansas sized tornado
coming back from Kansas way
You couldn't click your heels
to get back home
This girl, she came to play
Like the storm that dropped
Upon the witch
This girl, she was a force
No red shoes there to help you out
You'd best get on your horse
Apr 5, 2013
Apr 5, 2013 at 12:13 PM UTC
you chuckle and say
your welcome
when i thank you for holding open the door
you blush and say
thank you
as i ask you
if you could play me more
you shuffle and question
if i want to go see a movie
you grin and say
for you anything
when i ask you to accompany
me on the violin
you grimace and say
of course not
when i ask you if you're angry
you smile and say
i love you
and i smile
and tell you
that your smile
is why I fell
for you
Mar 22, 2015
Mar 22, 2015 at 4:31 AM UTC
Ruby red slippers, rich with passionate love
for you, dear state, as I search your land,
grazing the colors, the life, and the mystery
of weeds choking gravestones, tangling the dead.
But you, dear state, yourself is so gentle.
Kansas, you stretch to ****** my curls;
to stroke my tender cheek with a
flock of sunflowers, blooming vivid gold and
a mizzle of musicality, too high, too loud for me.
Your screams of country overwhelm me.
Why you, dear state, never treat us to
tangles of concrete nor mazes of glass?
Kansas, your heaven gives me migraine.
Aug 10, 2014
Aug 10, 2014 at 9:59 PM UTC
The hanging star
falls to the west,
the heavens and earth
become one
and cue our travels.
Hazy smears of pink and orange
spilt the horizon
from the approaching darkness.
The road melts into shadows.
The celestial bodies awaken.
The sky goes black.
The past is put further
and further behind us
and can be seen in the
mirrors that watch our back.
We simply aviate between
two collided worlds.
Our eyes can only pick up
the yellow lights
rushing by port side
and red lights
that we pursue.
Vehicles of other travelers
searching for rest.
In the distance the lights
of a small city
are speckled
strategically in the black.
They tell us
where the earth ends
and the sky begins.
White and yellow lines
draw our course.
We fly through the black.
Faster now.
The illuminated city peeks
in and out
of flint covered silhouettes.
It comes closer
with every intercepted minute.
Our compass points north
and we chase the arrow
until we find our final stop.
Jul 1, 2014
Jul 1, 2014 at 2:58 PM UTC
I close my eyes, only for a moment, and the moment’s gone
All my dreams flash before my eyes, a curiosity
Vivid lands roll beyond into the horizon
Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind
Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea
Poseidon, his waters will swallow all, eventually
All we do crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see
Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind
Don’t hang on, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky
Just relax, let the canyons echo your shrillest cry
It slips away, all your money won’t another minute buy
Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind
Close your eyes, and let eternal peace overtake you
Stop struggling, ‘cause in your place life will grow anew
Don’t protest, ‘cause this is just too much to make it through
Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind
Look around, see the land growing fertile and green
Time will pass, soon enough they will bear the bean
Let it go, there’s no one else on whom you can lean
Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind
Forever, the one time into which nothing will last
In heaven, please don’t relive your crazy past
Carry on, we will, ‘cause the world’s infinitely vast
Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind
May 29, 2014
May 29, 2014 at 3:18 PM UTC