My name means blood; dark and red
My name means words; unseen and unsaid
My name means love; misheard and misled
My name is all, my name is none
My name is the bullet and I am the gun

Break my bones;
cut my throat.
Pull me open,
learn the ropes.

Breath me in;
taste the fear.
Shank my skin;
stand and cheer.

Kick my head;
let me bleed.
Unbolt my veins;
enjoy the read.

Gouge my eyes;
punch my face.
Wrap me up
in your embrace.

Night sits on my chest
Squeezes poems out of me
And grinds my poor soul

One's lofty dreams, ambitious goals, what not;
     One's self-esteem, self-worth, self-praise and such:
Delusions of a stumbling drunken sot!
     Esteemed values whose worth weighs not so much.
One's intimates, loves, friends become a crutch;
     Of comforts, safety, food, concerns and care
Held tightly, are released from one's own touch,
     When oxygen is scarce and breath is rare,
Corona's taught us very well the worth of air!

(C)2020, Christos Rigakos

this is the last time
I lose sleep over you

the last time
my dreams don't come true

cause I'm done
making other people happy

stop stealing my joy
you don't have power over me

I'm giving you a yellow page
so tape it to your face

this is my final notice
the rest of you I erase

Silence hit me hard;
When I wasn't able to hear the melody of the waves near the seacoast;
When I wasn't able to find souls & species in the most chaotic street of the Metropolis;
When the cold breeze seized to blow;
When the rain drops didn't collide;
When life met death;
But above all ;
When my profound thoughts stopped yielding noise in my head, Silence completely took me into it's realm.

When the fatigue of the tree festers
When the leaves weep
And side-sweep
And sap leaks of the arboraceous bole
The foul smell of dampened,
Fermenting flora
The bog
The muck
The moor
Forever grot and grunge
But never moans,
Never loathes the morning
Never curses the sun for rising
Or hexes the moon,
Or thinks life bleak or banished
It settled in its mold
The duty it was told,
It’s destined purpose
As a puddle upon plates of terrain,
A tamed stain, remaining unmoved
And unaffected by
You and I,
Unaffected by passerby’s
Translucent and still,
Entirely exposed and yet unseen
Insouciant,
Tranquil
Composed
Serene