The rapture brings chaos to us all
While the indiscriminate winds stagger
As though drunk with the songs of the world
But look at the man below us
With his back burned and braised
Like a piece of meat cooking over open flames
A chain links around his neck
The knees shake like the loose buckle
The foreman whips while the master chuckles
But…the fields are harsh, and nature is cruel
A world at peace brings pain on us
The price is high and the cost is steep
Yet…no drinks of water for the thirsty soul
He’ll be dead before the end of night
But…like a phoenix rising from the ashes
Resurrection of Christ-like entities
Stone-walled faces of contempt
This is the life they made him live
This is the puddle of blood that came from him
But history doesn’t remember the man
History remembers the institution
So as to not give glory to the individual
But to give praise to the larger existence
Yes we are weak in the shrouded story
We are weak in the uncertain aims
We are weak in temporary pleasures
But I cannot be weak today
My vague life and clouded soul
Are a glimpse of what I could be
If I fail
But if I succeed, I will earn your love
And God will love me again
As he loved him with the braised back
All I have to do is turn around
Glance over my shoulder
And see myself for what I am
A man who is a slave to his desires
No control no discipline
The chain link around my neck
my knees shake like a loose buckle
As the foreman whips and the master chuckles
my burned and braised back
Instant gratification, instant pleasure
For a lifetime of servitude to my basest of sins
I have been dominated.

in my darkest hour
thoughts, though random, sense made
the brooding man sleeps alone
no shelter from the cold of wind
what spurs me on
I have walked aimlessly for months
compounded on one another like interest
turning into lifetimes of worthlessness
stock to be sold immediately
harvest to be burned instantaneously
love to be buried as though it never existed
at times I find myself in lonely places
in the midst of a crowd
surrounded by friends and family
I tune them out
but in so doing, I tune out myself
my father once told me
the greatest thing I could accomplish in life
was the sowing of my oats
I have no desire to do such a thing
instead, I desire to further explore
the limits of my solitude
to bask in it
to owe no one, to have no debts
to save my feelings in the bank of me
and let the interest compound
at times I find myself in lonely places
at a stadium or a concert
surrounded by strangers
yelling and thrashing about
they don't know, but I've caught a glimpse
of their very soul
at that moment, precise and to the point
I know who they are
but I will never yell or thrash about
regardless of a win or loss
or pure enjoyment or disdain from performance
I thrive in the land of forced mystery
a slave to the carcass of who I was meant to be
one night though, cold in September,
I recall a realization that haunts me to this day
that I have no roots anywhere
I am a floating vessel in a very large sea
days before my Great Depression
weeks before my Great Crisis
I will cash out
and leave everyone behind.

Let me be honest
The thought of you knowing me scares me
It sends shivers down my spine
My breath quivers and shakes
As I gasp and grasp
I have not been worthy
To look upon my angel's face
The auburn aura of your hair
A saint's halo
Though punished I am
Though incomplete I am
Let me be honest
I thrive for the yearning
The yearning I have for you
Hoping to never reach you
I fear satisfaction
For my goal is not to reach my goal
But my aim is to enjoy the journey
To enjoy the anticipation
Of your touch
Let me be honest
The best moments are such
The air between our lips before a kiss
The static presence of our energies
Right before they intertwine
In unending passion
Let me be honest
I've been burned before
So I just want to feel the heat
And not the fire
And this is why
I have not set hammer to nail
I don't want to destroy what I have now
I don't want it to change
All I want is to peer deep in your eyes
To feel your smile
To know that you know how much I want you
To experience the sensation of need
To understand my yearn
To be engulfed in the heat of desire
But let me be honest
I don't want to burn.

that resplendent note;
sanctifying my heart;
little droplets of salted tears;
in reply to a deep feeling;
emerge from unstill eyes;
what do they search for;
the same treasures on the global map;
the same pleasures;
love that transcends;
music that overtakes;
warmth that shelters;
every time I hear your voice;
my love, my soul;
when I hear your voice;
within the abyss of my mind;
from a long-ago memory;
I push your voice forth;
and it grabs me;
I am in its possession;
I am in your possession;
even from a long-ago memory;
I am still owned;
by the sultry whisper;
that floats in the night sky;
the ambrosia of your breath;
as it gives me love's immortality;
the sensation of your lips;
as they caress every letter of every word;
the vibration of each wave of sound;
as it moves from science;
then to art;
then to an unimaginable beauty;
how ironic, dear heart;
that the only words I can use;
to describe this divine linguistic adventure;
must come from your own lips;
as it sanctifies my heart;
with that resplendent note.

Definitely in love with you
Reddish tint upon the hue
Lively colors raise the plot
The story moves inside the lot
I make a show to make me live
My life of lies, my means deceive
I'll gladly gamble everything
To win my earnings on a whim
But glows like sun, your smile bright
Like heaven gave you all her light
The stars were dim with hellish plight
To make my soul lose all delight
When I fell, I fell so hard
I couldn't move, feet in lard
Romantic thoughts were all I had
No return of feeling, soul came sad
Thoughts of darkness in my head
My inner words still not said
They know me not, I came undone
Magical songs still unsung
Yet I filled my body with poison
To drown the volume, slay the cousin
Of noise, laughter with despair
The cries of joy filled the air
What punishment to hold you still
What void in me remain unfilled
The tear in eye, my inner battle
I'll herd them in, my inside cattle
But yet I see you with your guy
Someone other, not like I
Nature whispers in my ear
Why so mucky, when so clear
I want to disappear in your heart
Let my soul be a part
Of your endless, loving care
While I huddle in your stare.

in the muddied waters where corpses float
the moon shimmers on the lazy surface
of a tired stream, gliding on it
with the ease meant for those
that dream during sunny days
and those that ravage the stormy nights
but how can I pursue my joy
when it runs
from me
I gallop on the coast of life
yet coasting on its slide
contradicting myself in every way

I see the eyes of my estranged breeze
as she jovially brushes the branches of trees
as she makes once lifeless leaves fly
as she caresses each cheek
only mine remains unkissed
and yet she flows on
leaving me behind
so I ignore her
never asking for readmittance
back into her torrential storms
to suffer with glee
the hailstones of her affection
instead I built myself a shelter
and hid myself
from her gloried love

in an oakened parlour
where a private man sits
his brows furrow
face hardened
by the whips of life
his calloused hands
stay steady
as his breath shallows
eyes scan the room
searching for her
needing her presence
here in his last hour
as he sits in his prison
a castle devoted to him
vacuumed of all air
his heart beats slower
eyes scan the room
searching for her
needing her presence
here in his last hour
his glance rests
at the tinted window
and he is able to peer
outside
and see his breeze
still rustling about
with disagreeable fellows
those not worthy of her touch
he would break down those doors
gladly
to dance once more in the rain

instead, I sit, a private man
alone, with no companion
watching my breeze
engulf the world
with her dance
the shimmering wisps
of autumn's hair
rays of sun
like spears in the air
piercing through flesh and soul
arrows of Eros doing their duty
and all around
my castle of isolation
lay everyone
blissfully torn by the steel of love
breathless, while I still breathe
my breeze neglects me
for I was not worthy
I did not rise
to meet her challenge
I refused
to adhere to her demand
her demand
that…
simply…
I must love her.

most of what
I have to do,
is a result of
addressing
the consequences
of doing
what I want to do