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I've been to the
bitter, dark place
where dreams are
decorations in
dilapidated houses,
a building haunted by
the ghosts of spring.
I tasted the wine of
****** and convicts
there.

I've prayed with the
broken and wasted.
I spent
days and months,
almost forever with
the feral men and
women of America in
homes not fit for fleas.

Then one cosmic day,
while the wounded slept,
I chased a beautiful
moth that escaped the flame.
And that has made all
the difference.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEeNcBC_mnM
Here's a link to my YouTube channel where I read my poetry from my recently published books, It's Just a Hop, Skip, and Jump to the Madhouse and Seedy Town Blues Collected Poems, available on Amazon.com
I heard the worst cover of Radiohead,
Some man was singing Creep,
But with a polka swing.

He knew what he was doing,
The crowd wasn't too happy,
Yet, each word he sang,
Came with more pain,
Than the original.
For some, the lows are all you get.
The relative temperature of light
Is apparent to those that
Got arseholed in Spain
Fell asleep doubled over naked on the balcony
And thus exposed their fruit baskets
To the blistering morning
Takes awhile
But
The burn it keeps coming.
the worldly swirling reverberating, whirlpool whirling, the To Do list,
issuing senior commands, and the poetry dieting and exercise regime
is muffled, though notes and promises atomizing, ideas and excitations, on the cardboard backs of yellow pads jotted, on menus for Chinese and Indian incantations,
assembled in their own corner reservoir,

nonetheless and all the more,

no births recorded, no spawn of the dawn, product of mid of night
illegal ramblings by the
East River

none
achieve a hallelujah *******,
and the pile of drafts messy are assorted and distorted in their own corner of the white writing desk,

stillborn lay, or more accurately they cry out pained:

"no, no, still to be born!"
"not yet dead!"
"permanent gestation is not a destination"
and other survivor slogans,
and mind and body bloated with
need to ex and to in
hale
them,
to let the healing compounding components of
new compositions see a
glorious Mayday morn of a steady streaming of
howling babies, and all agree,
look at you, look at me, look at this
5 minutes sassy essay on your lassoed status,
now force the door ajar and let the nightlight lead you to dawn,
deliver us, satisfy out our cravings,
make us wholesome and then,
with a sacred finishing
wand waving of blessed
Hallelujah
Amen!
Selah!

now get to work,
*** of coffee witches brew,
knock off the stalling,
Sondheim humming,
crying out a
****** recognition,

"send in the clown,
no more; maybe next year,
too late,
I'm here...
"

4:07 ~ 4:25am
May One
2025
and the lid is blown,
an  evening of Stephen Sondheim
One, Two, three breathe,                                                         ­                           
                                     ­                                                                 ­    
calmness washes over
me                                                               ­                                 
                                                                ­                                                  
Allow me to close my eyes,                                                            ­          
                                                                ­                                                        
let the world pass on by                                                               ­     
                                                           ­                                                     
Permit my mind drift away,                                                            ­        
                                                        ­                                                            
shift my focus to better days                                                             ­   
                                                             ­                                                       
Open up my wings and fly,                                                             ­                                                                 ­                                          
  a free and graceful
  butterfly                                                     ­                                 
                               ­                                                                 ­                  
Feel the mist in the clouds,                                                          ­              
                                                  ­                                                             
 erase any and all doubts                                                           ­                 
                                                                ­                                                
Face up into the hot sun,                                                             ­                             
                                   ­                                                                 ­        
looking down on everyone                                                         ­                         
                                                                ­                                                 
 The brightness is blinding
me                                                               ­         
                                                       ­                                                           
but it's what I needed to
see                                                              ­                  
                                              ­                                                              
Ex­actly how I want to feel                                                             ­                             
                                                                ­                                                    
so that I can begin to heal                                                             ­               
                                                 ­                                                                 ­
Let it lead where it
leads,                                                           ­                   
                                             ­                                                           
Calmn­ess washes over me
Here I stand before you,                                                             ­             
                                                                ­                                                  
heart shattered, ego bruised                                                          ­                    
                                            ­                                                                 ­          
  The accuser and the accused,                                                         ­                     
                                                                ­                                                        
all judgement coming from
you                                                              ­    
                                                                ­                                                      
I'm sorry I'm not able to be                                                               ­                                   
                             ­                                                                 ­                        
the person you're
remembering                                                      ­              
                                                                ­                                                  
What I think I often speak,                                                           ­       
                                                                ­                                                        
it doesn't make me fragile or
weak                                                             ­ 
                                                               ­                                                     
As you stand here beside me,                                                            
                                                                ­                                                  
  you still act high &
mighty                                                           ­                     
                                           ­                                                                 ­    
  Like you have the authority,                                                       ­               
                                                                ­                                                      
to question me so harshly                                                          ­                  
                                              ­                                                                 ­      
 If you get cut you still
  bleed,                                                        ­                        
                                        ­                                                                 ­         
   you are no different than me
This is my voice,                                                           ­                                           
                                                                ­                                                      
pen & paper pain                                                             ­                                   
                                                                ­                                                      
I've made the choice                                                           ­                                     
                           ­                                                                 ­                            
to blot the stain                                                            ­                                                  
              ­                                                                 ­                               
Band-Aid pulled off,                                                             ­                                                           
     ­                                                                 ­                                                  
let the wound bleed                                                            ­                          
                                                                ­                                                      
Yes, it is
tough                                                           ­                                                                 ­                                                                 ­                                         
but it's what I
need                                                             ­                                       
                         ­                                                                 ­                              
I can't pretend                                                          ­                                    
                            ­                                                                 ­                   
  that I am
  fine                                                          ­                                          
                      ­                                                                 ­                             
so, I use my pen                                                              ­                                
                                ­                                                                 ­                    
 to speak my
  mind                                                          ­                                  
                              ­                                                                 ­             
Journal
everything,                                                      ­                                    
                                                                ­                                            
getting it all
out                                                              ­                                  
                              ­                                                                 ­           
because doing
nothing                                                          ­                        
                                        ­                                                                 ­             
is a silent shout
I'm trying hard to not react,                                                           ­                 
                                               ­                                                                 ­        
to get all of my power back                                                             ­                       
                                         ­                                                                 ­      
Calling on an inner peace                                                            ­              
                                                                ­                                                        
to set me free & give me relief                                                           ­                   
                                             ­                                                                 ­          
As I breathe in and then exhale,                                                          ­                        
                                                                ­                                                      
my cooler head soon prevails                                                         ­                     
                                           ­                                                            
 Confident that I can
succeed,                                                         ­               
                                                 ­                                                                 
 that I have all that I need                                                             ­           
                                                                ­                                                    
So, the tables are
turning                                                          ­                                
                                ­                                                                 ­                 
and I find myself learning                                                         ­                             
                                   ­                                                                 ­            
That if I take it day by
day,                                                             ­                   
                                             ­                                                                 ­          
I might end up being okay
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