#rent
My wife sent me down to the store
She said buy this and not one thing more
I returned having spent
At least two months rent
Now my wife is passed out in the floor
Jan 2
Jan 2, 2026 at 8:34 PM UTC
In the small-heart of a tired town, where shadows fold like linen at dusk,
a young poet stacks his altar word by word,
stone by shimmering stone.
His lines rise like incense, thin and reckless,
carried by winds he still believes he can tame.
Beneath that altar, under the wooden ribs and trembling dreams,
an old poet pays the rent.
Silver in his beard, dust in his pockets,
a lifetime inked on the inside of his palms.
He watches with a soft, half-tired smile
as youth builds temples he once built
and worships gods he once knew by name.
The young poet writes constellations
as if the sky were his to arrange
every stanza a new star,
every metaphor a promise to outrun time.
The old poet, quiet as a page turned slowly,
pays in silence:
with years, with aches, with the weight of things he learned too late.
His rent is not in coins,
but in the humility that comes when fire cools to ember.
Yet together they keep the place alive
the altar rising, the foundation holding.
A duet of ages:
vision and memory,
flame and ash,
a beginning standing on the shoulders of what endures.
And in that narrow room of light and dust,
the young poet dreams upward,
the old poet holds the ground
and the future, sly and smiling,
rents space in both their hearts.
Nov 30, 2025
Nov 30, 2025 at 11:17 PM UTC
No matter how your head fell on my shoulder,
No matter how your hand searched for mine,
Asking me to hold it in yours-
As the weather grew colder,
You grew colder too.
Was it just a convenience?
Had we been running on rented time?
Sep 23, 2025
Sep 23, 2025 at 6:22 AM UTC
_rental cars_ – parked away ideals across the street; had a bite of the
sweetest dream, but must have chipped a few teeth. backwash waters;
just a taste of love – most of it stayed in the bottle, still I enjoyed that
little sip.
_rental cars_ – parked a little too close to the darkness, under a
billboard sign that gave directions to the light. by day I’m all that the
world’s eyes believe of me; the genius of one’s destiny only revealed
by prayers late at night. but maybe I’m preying more than praying –
believing in all the wrong, hoping to come up with something right.
_rental cars_ – sometimes I feel like I’m on this journey of life with so
many borrowed things, paid for dreams, passenger fears – sticky
gears, imbalanced wheels, a rusty engine, and an unfair lease
agreement, that I pray will expire long before the next few years.
Jan 13, 2025
Jan 13, 2025 at 3:58 AM UTC
powerless scream
and big old trees
invaded my home
you live in my soul.
the rent that you pay,
it isn’t enough
for the mess that you make,
you damage and break
the trees stop and stare,
my home is a mess,
because you live there.
Aug 27, 2024
Aug 27, 2024 at 4:12 AM UTC
The ******* which bore the oyster
The meats, the cheese, the cider
It always seemed to annoy her
Deep within her mind's dark cloister
The cost of one was the cost of all
A pity to pick and choose
An oyster with no *******
(nor meat nor cheese nor cider)
And lights'd be on for rent.
Or meat and cheese and cider
(No oyster shucked over a golden cent)
And not just lights, but groceries too.
Aug 20, 2024
Aug 20, 2024 at 7:43 PM UTC
If there is one thing that couldn’t
Be further from the truth,
Nothing in this life is free.
To do better in chase of sanity.
One of the greatest forms of currency,
In a world of chaos everything
Has a cost.
No matter the need or want,
Yet I am ever so appreciative.
To be housed, clothed & fed with working
Lights and water.
Stability, an antidepressant in a world
You wake up & do the same thing over
& over.
If there is one thing that couldn’t
Be further from the truth.
Nothing in this life is free, & I
Ever so appreciative.
I’d gladly pay weekly, biweekly,
even monthly.
I feel that much closer to liberation
Under the roof of your smile,
A sense of privacy unlike any other.
Your lips the doorbell to inner peace.
Your hands a meal to feed thousands
At a time.
Although nothing is free,
I am ever so appreciative that a smile
Doesn’t cost a thing.
I couldn’t think of a better representation,
A better place to be
Jul 12, 2021
Jul 12, 2021 at 11:29 AM UTC
Scrapping by without a lending hand
The rent raised, they’d never understand
Streets to wander with hearts heavy laden
A carefree spirit, hopes to have made it
While piles stack up with unpaid bills
They wish for freedom, to run to a hill
Without the trivialities and endless payments
To be well-off enough, not even famous
Toiling work and nights unslept
A bucket of savings slowly kept
And the climb and perseverance away from being poor
Gained them the freedom out of the door
Of sleepless nights and unfed stomachs
Their pitiful despair gave way to a plummet
Mar 9, 2021
Mar 9, 2021 at 5:05 PM UTC
when you make learning the goal
the world opens up
into a fantastic phase
of color and light
light's not quite the weight though
and color bleeds through
cause they don't pay the rent
they don't keep the gas
so a lot of us close the books
putting the pen down
with faux intent to one day, pick it back up
but that day's never coming
the years, they draw in on you
and responsibility bears down on you
the person you thought you'd become
is replaced with the one you did
but you can always make a change
Jan 28, 2021
Jan 28, 2021 at 2:10 PM UTC
The place I'm staying in is my body
She makes my decisions
She rolls my eyes
Every dress I wear is hers
Having a body means nothing is really mine on the inside
Hardly out of my mother yet and my cries don't belong to me
My credit card is food to make my body stay still
But that puts me in debt
And she wants to run because she needs me to pay rent
My body has issues with me that I don't understand
What's the problem if I don't want to move? I think. If I want to smoke why can't I? If I want to thrash around my room and break her.
Why can't I?
Why does she love so easily?
Why does she want to be alive so badly?
The bodies around me own their tenants
Their tenants are owned by other bodies
Our bodies are like children who cry when hungry
There are some things that need to be articulated
There are no more lives left to live and my body is grasping on to me like a lifeline
At the same time she's trying to stop me from drowning
She needs me to feel immortal
Even though I already am
Aug 6, 2020
Aug 6, 2020 at 8:04 PM UTC
New pair of shoes
New way of thinking
New type of coffee
New summer camp
So why can’t we adjust
To this new way of life
Physical distancing
And wearing masks
Sure, Plexiglass might be a pain
Back in the office, but
It’s better than working from home
With your kids hyped up on sugar
If you’re stuck in a rut
Don’t be afraid to ask for help
Sure, it might be embarrassing
But rent won’t pay itself
I hope you have learned
Check the CDC website
If you have any questions
During this time
Jul 10, 2020
Jul 10, 2020 at 3:40 PM UTC
to those who not born an aristocrat,
what it means to be a human-being?
a terrible exhaustion - result of attrition
soulless slave - six days a week
is there any other alternative, though
I cannot outstare the bill faces
rent will due soon
endless presentations
pointless meetings
118,000 unread emails
week long business trips
"bare minimum to get by" prohibited
I have lunch delivered
snacks delivered
dinner delivered
I have all the food inside my office
and a beautiful apartment facing the sea
with the sun rays peeking in through the blinds each morning
but I'm just too busy
hopelessly hoarding pennies
hopefully saving enough joy for the future
they say your hardwork will come into frution
repeating cycles of entire career till retirement?
Jul 5, 2020
Jul 5, 2020 at 3:41 AM UTC
It's that time of the month again, your rent is due.
You'd better pay up or I'll beat the hell out of you.
Don't try to get out of paying again, I don't want to hear an excuse.
Stop trying to get pity by saying you were a victim of ****** abuse.
I want my money, I don't want to hear excuses or lies.
When it comes to giving me an excuse, don't even try.
Do I get my money or do you get a beating?
Pay me or my fists are what you'll be eating.
You just insulted me, you said that I'm so fat that I look like the Goodyear Blimp.
I just punched you in the face and you've started crying because you're a wimp.
Stop blubbering like a two year old, be mature like an adult.
And I will permanently disable you if you hurl anymore insults.
I'd like to avoid sending you to the emergency room and myself to jail.
Just gimme my **** money, I'm getting tired of having to raise hell.
Aug 11, 2019
Aug 11, 2019 at 2:28 PM UTC
Passions are for children;
A passion can't pay your rent.
Rent is made to **** your passion.
Don't you see that the real you is crying?
Wake up, you're stuck inside dying!
Stuck inside you, stuck inside a house!
Rent is gnawing at you, you're dying.-
You've been dying!
You've been lied to.
No more hiding!
Your rent's due.
Jul 4, 2019
Jul 4, 2019 at 11:09 PM UTC
As time goes by
I don't mind
I was talking to someone
Staying rent free in my mind
Apr 14, 2019
Apr 14, 2019 at 12:39 PM UTC
I get up in the morning
Ride the bus to work
Hoping it'll be on time today
Cause my boss a real ****
I sit at my desk
In front of a computer screen
I'm already getting ***** looks
From patients waiting to be seen
Do this and that all at the same time
I spend the day multitasking
When will I get a break
That's what I keep asking
Well at least I have job
And money has to be made
Cause come the first of the month
The rent has got to be paid
Aug 1, 2018
Aug 1, 2018 at 10:10 AM UTC
In the morning her eyes paint the cities horizon.
Stretching and yawning.
Getting dressed; Her blue tapestry.
Opening the door to her apartment
She climbs down broken stairs.
It's payday Friday.
The mail man is late again.
Opening her box closing it right back.
She considers direct deposit,
Climbing back up those old creaks in the stairs.
To a notice on the door.
Excessive noise complaint
Rent past due
May 4, 2018
May 4, 2018 at 1:16 PM UTC
I live in a one bedroom apartment.
Everything is going great until I have to pay Rent.
One day the electricity turns off;
I have no money to put off.
The next day the water turns off;
I have no money to put off.
Then a roommate shows up,
And everything turned off.
This roommate I have keeps me home,
He keeps me awake at night,
Screaming at the top of his lungs,
Begging me to come home.
When I get home I feel alone,
Then he starts to peel the wallpaper off the walls
Like pulling skin off the bone.
This is not home;
This is my home,
And my roommate...
Is depression.
Feb 27, 2018
Feb 27, 2018 at 4:34 PM UTC
scraping enough coin together
isn't a sought after chore
there's always a payment needed
to settle an invoice's score
the wage packet slim
ever stretched right out
no surplus bucks for
a good bandy about
being short of funds
that's the jingle to sing
a red ink cheque account
can't afford any bling
luxury items are but
a rich codger's domain
being well cashed up
with plenty of grain
money
has
us
under
the
veritable
gun
a
lack
of
it
ain't
much
fun
the landlord has called
to collect the rent
he'll get paid and it'll
leave a wallet dent
Sep 17, 2017
Sep 17, 2017 at 9:03 PM UTC
Let me just hit this real quick, and I've got a question to ask you.
What the hell am I doing with my life?
I've seen a quarter century
easily fly by my head, right past my eyes. Credentials fill the whole of a short list, shorthand black ink on coffee stained white napkins. Got a paycheck, pay rent, I'm okay, then. Name it, it's likely I haven't done it. The thing is, I'm short on hobbies, too. When you got holes in your pockets, watch the pennies dropping. What's a penny for a little get-high? What's a penny for the internet when I don't have a vehicle? I couldn't pay for cheap unleaded. I pay for my shows and drink the TV. Deadbolt my door and get to thinking. Maybe it's all right if I imbibe just a little more. Maybe a few short words arranged in a line, will kiss the void if written right. Correctly.
The ground
Is burned
Rolls away
Life
Is short
So blaze
May 28, 2017
May 28, 2017 at 5:21 AM UTC
Daddy,
I know when I was born it was stressful; you already had two boys that needed your attention. But I needed you too and I know you gave me as much time as you could. You were busy I get it; that’s why you were never home. I’m not sure where you were or what you were doing especially late at night; but as long as it was more important than your children then it was okay right? Don’t worry you weren’t the only one to blame, Mommy wasn’t around much either. She was always working to make up for what you couldn’t supply us with. During the day at Home Depot and at night McDonalds, I know it wasn’t her dream job but you both started a family before either of you were ready. Mommy was the backbone of the family; she picked up the slack for all the things you seemed to lack. Because of both of your absences, this forced us to stay with our aunts the majority of the time; not that I ever minded, I love them so much and we always had a great time. But Daddy what you don’t realize to this day is what a girl without a father can turn into. Once you and Mommy split and the divorce was final I hoped day and night you would want a custody battle. Not because I thought you would be a better fit for us to live with but because it would have shown your kids you care, especially your little princess. Instead Mom got us during the week and you on the weekends but that soon ended when you met your new mistress. I was seven years old, and impressionable child and you walked right out of my life. Some parents pass away causing a child to become orphaned; but not you, you were in perfect health and perfect stature and you made the decision to leave. Do you even know how much I was hurting? Daddy you changed me and I don’t know if it was for the better. My father figure was PJ, my older brother, my entire world; if it wasn’t for him I don’t know who of where I would be today. But he eventually left me to however not for the same reasons as you. He went into the Air Force and did some good for his country; but that hurt to because after he left I felt truly alone, I had no one to tell all my secrets too. Nobody that I knew I could trust with my life. Daddy you’re the reason for all of my insecurities. You’re the reason I don’t see beauty or worth in myself; I look into the mirror and see a stranger staring back. I look into my eyes and I see you and that scares me so much. I don’t want to be you; but it’s inevitable. I don’t know the person I’ve become. I am afraid of myself and how is someone suppose to live like that? You’re the reason I can’t get close to anyone without the fear that one day without the least bit of warning they will just get up and walk away, I mean that’s how it works right? You are the reason I’m so quiet around people. You are the reason I’m fake. You’re the reason I have regrets in my life. I’ve done some things I’m not proud of and I lie to the ones I’m suppose to love. I want to believe that you leaving was a good thing, like Mommy always said you were a dead beat father anyway. But I can’t say that. You were absent for 8 straight years of my life. Not a single phone call or a simple text asking how my day was or even an I love you. And worst of all I didn’t even know where I could find you. When you finally came back into my life it was 8 years to late and all the money and gifts couldn’t buy back my love. Daddy, I use to say I love you every night and pray that one day you would see that light that Daddy I could be a good girl. I use to ask myself what I did wrong; why wasn’t I good enough? To this day I ask myself how can I be good enough for anyone or loved by anyone if my own father couldn’t even stand me? I know you tried hard to make up for the lost years but you are a stranger to me now. I don’t know who you are anymore and I don’t know what to believe. And Daddy you know what hurt the most, making Father’s Day presents in school. I never said anything but I always wondered who to give them to because I didn’t have a Daddy. But can I tell you a secret? Mommy’s not all that I thought she was either. Nights I thought she was working late and mornings when I thought she left early were all a lie. I found out now that she never came home the night before. She was out with other men as much as you were with other women. And Daddy after the divorce, Mommy would send us to our aunts again so that she could try to find a man to take your place. You both aren’t really all that different and i know you don’t want to admit it but you both care more about a ****** partner than your own ****** children.
Feb 20, 2017
Feb 20, 2017 at 11:57 PM UTC
Tomorrow is so uncertain that I'm convinced
if I can make today just a little brighter
I've succeeded. I've won.
I can't beat them.
You bob and weave without precision , swaying to a tune played poorly. Piercing eyes, and heavy hands, yet all the power behind those ten fingers
can't pay the rent on time, can't keep food in the cupboards, can't keep them out of your home. You are so much I cannot even imagine.
They come in like a storm, shuffling through the cracks in the doors and windows, a shiver up your spine, I can feel their breath on your neck. Cold.
Tomorrow is so, so very close, yet I'm convinced if I can sleep in my own bed tonight, they'll never find me. They'll have to wait like I do, till tomorrow, and till another tomorrow.
Jan 29, 2017
Jan 29, 2017 at 5:21 PM UTC