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You can't rush a still's chemistry.
Mountain folks know all about
revenuers and they're reaching
for our wallets. Taxes is just a
word for robbery. Leave us to
ourselves. We scratch a living
from the rocky soil and barely
eat from day to day. We dance
to banjos and fiddles and love
in the hayloft to sow our seeds.
Our mountains cradle our hearts.
Hardscrabble is our legacy.
We have hearts of coal
and love our mountain!
I was trying to catch her eye
when a bus happened along
so I caught that and
I'm happy I got home safely.

and now it's dark
I hear the ogres auguring
but cannot see them in the gloom,

in my room, a castle stands,
a monument to me and
I'm still thinking of catching her eye.
was a virtue
gentle and benign,
she offered up her qualities

but no-one had the time..
I refuse to sleep
I’m enslaved to my emotions
Hurting myself however I can
I’m tired of it all.
I stay in fear of my tears
The river flows endlessly
Out of respect for my blood
I stop the never ending bleed
I stained the carpet
Stained our love
Stained all that was sacred
With the sins of my past
I Melt my eyes
My flaws don’t exist
In a separate dimension
My vices thrive
There I am perfect
My envy runs rampant
My pride unchecked
And I eat to my heart's content
But my soul starves
 Feb 2023 Christopher Elwell
LJW
Water,
The ocean is the most desperate vacuum
Where I can ride out over it’s dangerous dark water, driving the boat towards an unreachable port, sailing on into forever, sobbing into the wild Atlantic winds, running away from misery, boundaries, barriers, and dreams impossible to achieve.
lalala cockpit's cracked
losing oxygen
I died in LA went straight to hell

put a price on my soul
for a bad man's consumption
trusted no one but it's cheap

gate's closed anyways
who am I to you baby?
don't care if this city sinks in the ocean

going back to Ohio anyways
maybe I'll use the pliers to escape the trunk
bite down, sizzle off the tar like a lost soul
It's the little things. Second hands in school
  clocks like hammers striking anvils too loud.
  Bored seconds are forever. Years later are now.
  We argue about everything. I'm always the fool.

  I fret over this old typewriter's ancient keys.
  I look for perfect words to write perfect rhymes
  that refuse to be born. I miss the simple times,
  young me at bedtime begging god on my knees.
 Jan 2023 Christopher Elwell
Shin
Candlelight and wax coated angel eyes.
Shadows dancing to an unspoken rhyme.
He whispers her name with velveteen sighs.
They clutch this moment forgotten in time.

Oh glory! Oh rose-tinted winter bliss.
How is it you fill a room with your grace?
Rest upon her cheek lies a snowflake's kiss.
Its warm trail leaving sparkles in her face.

Make peace and know, everything is okay.
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