Carson Reed: Poems

Carson Reed Apr 2020

leaves they’ll fall in October
you looked good in autumn light
wind blew through your strawberry hair
when you walked out of my sight

I bet that you thought id choose to drive myself insane
I put on my shoes and went out walking in the rain

I don’t mind
that you're gone

I never noticed that the moon stayed up so high in the midnight sky
or the taste of whiskey and rye
I never noticed that the breeze smelled fresher than your old perfume
or that coyotes howl a western tune

I don't mind
that you're gone

If life’s so short I wondered
why the night time felt so long
the bottle asked me questions
and I answered it with songs

I couldn’t lie awake and let my poor mind think
I put on my shoes, and polished off another drink

I don't mind
that you're gone

Flowers Freshly Picked

Carson Reed Apr 2020

Flowers Freshly Picked

outside you run to me through a field of leaves
you're getting close you're getting close I can feel you breath
the wind gets hard the storm gets low and I can't believe
I want a summers day, to laugh away
but it never stays

flowers fresh upon your grave they're newly picked
I will hold onto the all of the things that you said and did
the days get short, the days get short and it's dark for you
the winter keeps the ground asleep
and I pray for you

let the dam break below
let your tear drops flow
let your fingers pull the string that tied your hair up in a bow
let all your inhibitions melt away into a cup
mix it into a concoction turn the bottom of it up

darling one day we will all be low
lying with our backs upon the floor
the one direction were all headed guaranteed is south
my mama told me never look a gift horse in the mouth

Hello Hell, Goodbye Heaven

Carson Reed Apr 2020

Hello Hell, Goodbye Heaven

hello hell, goodbye heaven
there's a road where it goes, theres no telling
but I'm letting it all sink in

cold steel rail, where are you heading?
there's a warm sweet heart and a hot sun setting
but I'm betting, it's not heading towards you

theres a thief among me and he's making it rich
he robbed me of my wealth and songs I used to pick
I've been hanging on but I'm losing my grip
falling like a stone

Theres a truth amongst us and he's having a laugh
watching me pour heart into an empty glass
One step forward and a few more back
how I haven't grown

hello hell, goodbye heaven
theres a road where it goes, there's no telling
but I'm letting it all sink in

Here and There Between the Crazy

Carson Reed Apr 2020

Here and There Between the Crazy

you sit quiet in the church house
you bow down your head to pray
you beg mercy of your demons
you beg mercy of all things

I plead for your salvation
I plead ****** in the face
I borrow all my virtue
searching for your saving grace

here and there between the crazy
matrimony rings out true
here and there between the crazy
I hear bells at funerals too
here and there between the crazy
might be worth fighting through
here and there between the crazy
I catch a glimpse of you

Here I am, still.

Carson Reed Apr 2020

Here I am, still.

everywhere I go, I am still there
I’m the first one to say “what are you doing here?”
there’s nothing more bitter than what I’m running to
because I’ll be there waiting with an old point of view

when I look in the mirror foggy and unclear
I prefer not to linger I get out of there
sometimes I don’t know him but he’s all I have
today I’m the stranger on the other side of the glass

time after time, I never came through
things aren’t what I thought and dreams don’t come true
I’ve left to abandoned the promise I’ve made
as if I say the words just to fill up the space

I could have loved it all

Carson Reed Apr 2020

I could have loved it all

the clinging stench of cigarettes from nights so long and lonesome
staying with me through the day
And a smile thats more tiresome than living with my devil
he helps me slip away

I walk through the fields of my saviors own creation
and think of what he should have made
but instead he made me and I'm here until I waken
aging slowly to a grave

there isn't much under heaven above
there isn't a soul that I couldn't have loved

It Hurts a Whole Lot Less

Carson Reed Dec 2018

It Hurts a Whole Lot Less

Whiskey drips off of my lip
it's sweeter than a kiss
and it hurts a whole lot less
and it hurts a whole lot less

The sweat pours down my brow and chest
I ache I must confess
and it hurts a whole lot less
and it hurts a whole lot less

My hands they shake in writhing pain
I write my mind to rest
and it hurts a whole lot less
and it hurts a whole lot less

The thoughts I crave I tossed away
I lie to myself at its best
and it hurts a whole lot less
and it hurts a whole lot less

I lock myself in darker cells
than nightfall could attest
and it hurts a whole lot less
and it hurts a whole lot less

Than to think of you
and what you do
on a night like this

Monsters and Men

Carson Reed Oct 2018

Monsters and Men

who grabbed the matches
who burned the map
who let the walls
slip through the crack
the blues and reds
of an orchestrated flame
both burn together
both are to blame
but I don't care
anymore
the only thing
I know for sure

they turned our diamonds back into coal
and death will make a fool of us all
when I'm six feet under my stone will read
our hero's were villains we just had the same greed
we left our hearts to rot in the rain
we got too consumed playing Franklin's game
the wind blew the ground from beneath our feet
we wrote down the rules so that we can cheat

In a room
sits a man
dark in mind
pen in hand
we're all crooks
of our own device
some burn bones
and others pipes
In a cage
waits a truth
it's a monster
and so are you

they turned our diamonds back into coal
and death will make a fool of us all
when I'm six feet under my stone will read
our hero's were villains we just had the same greed
we left our hearts to rot in the rain
we got too consumed playing Franklin's game
the wind blew the ground from beneath our feet
we wrote down the rules so that we can cheat

Sorry as the Man.

Carson Reed Sep 2018

Sorry as the Man.

Hollow as an oak, in old Plumas county.
I'm rotten on the inside, oh but who can tell?

Rusty as a rivet in an old cabin stove pipe.
I'm not holding in much heat, but oh well.

Sorry as the man, who looks me in the mirror.
Who told you love was just a waste of time.

Worthless as a pen that runs dry of its ink.
Short an, "I'll love you everyday until I die."

Tin Roof

Carson Reed Nov 2018

Tin Roof

Morning comes I know the sound
As it beats me into the muddy ground
We once roamed without a care
With wilder hearts and untamed hair

Like raindrops like footsteps on wooden floors
Like the tin on the roof and a creaking front door
I watched you walk right in and walk out once more
Like raindrops like footsteps on wooden floors

As nightfall lays you deep in my bed
I'll try like the devil to lighten the lead
The clock never tells the hour wears thin
It's a timeless night when a storm rolls in

Like raindrops like footsteps on wooden floors
Like the tin on the roof and a creaking front door
I watched you walk right in and walk out once more
Like raindrops like footsteps on wooden floors

Wary of December.

Carson Reed Sep 2018

Wary of December.

I tried long to forget it.
Silky skin and smile.
I'd sooner turn my lovers lust in for a barren desert mile.

I pour the water from my lips.
To grow her gardens' rose.
I'd hang from my neck and let the vultures peck if you'd just let me go.

I grew up in the void.
Neither high or low.
In the desert air under a heap of sage where the lonely people roam.

Silence I learned to love.
Never others like me.
When I saw her face and no words came she just felt naturally.

We married in the spring.
I kissed her wary for the ember.
We were tenderness, a fiery hot mess that would burn out by December.

Her likeness to the seasons.
So often she would change.
As if my loves' affection were coyote on the mange.

She had a borrowed heart.
Her green eyes made me shiver.
Test the length of the rope and the fall from the oak.
But not the onset of her blizzard.

— The End —