my son turned to me today
"do you hate anyone?"
sure, i told him no, as a father, but it wasn't true
my daughter turned today and asked
"what am i?"
and, as a mother, i replied she was my daughter

i tell them santa's real
i tell them the easter's bunny is
and the tooth fairy too
i tell them white lies
till their insides turn black
till no longer
do they
turn back
i tell them lies
so they won't ask
it hurts to lie to them
more so though
to take the axe
to innocence
still so young

you left me an ellipse
in loves conversing

your hand touched my cheek
the other, resting on my neck
and when you brought my ear close
you said,
"Forever comes tomorrow"
and we kissed

but forever came and went
and the tired lies we told one other
went to bed
so maybe I'll sleep a little too

Displays of the wrong, &
Castigation of the right;
Tongues run to stay, even
When it comes to face.
Eye to eye
But, more often than not,
They turn away.
Not to brandish the cheek
But to break the gaze.

there's no need to be alone
so long as someone wants you
no reason to be sad
so long as there's happiness to be had
not for you

not a need to be afraid
unless you live with your fears
one track one line, a straightaway
only left to shift the gears
not for you

this machine
this marvel of a beast
a prize itself
but not for you

we stood tall;
free and unabridged
a testament to our youths

but when they called us down
we stayed standing
our height shrunk
wrinkles worn on torn porcelain
a graying of old stone

we grew fatter off decadent fruit
while caged animal fed on imprisoned others
and the minority was culled to a head
in internment camps
in privatized prisons
in the courts
and the legislator's building
in the very creation of the nation
stillborn at conception
an aborted fetus carried to term
delivered, to be chucked to the wayside
weened off the milk of a tormenting yearn
to make, to build, to think, and learn
but we stifle that now
in favor of rockets to fly
leaning toward oil to burn
will there be a scream when we die
or will this silence hold firm?