Had thrown all litter of broken love in dustbin
in front of me

She gave me a hug
Then she was smiling and feeling light

Earthquake hits from out of the blue
Sending tsunamis of emotion
Washing unobstructed
Over an unsuspecting world

The cleanup will be massive
Widespread and intense
The mayhem brings obvious truth
I should have kept my mouth shut

It’s the morning of a different day—who knew there’d be another?
Lisa and I went on our harbor jog @ 5am—that’s nothing new.
It was, like 44°—we’re enjoying fall’s cold, refreshing bite.

Anyway, my mind wasn’t on it and I nearly stumbled over
a chunk of dark, uneven roadway, made invisible by its function.
Charles, jogging beside me, wordlessly managed to right me
without us losing a step and I smiled my thanks.

argh! I’ve got to get out of my head.

Later, in class, lulled by the comfort of the stiff, wooden chair, my eyes unfocused and the professor’s voice seemed to fade into the backdrop. Suddenly, he was asking me a direct question that seemed almost without context.

Metaphorically slapped back into focus, I scanned the room and the whiteboard for clues before awkwardly—walking the edge of catastrophe—bluffing it out, because, well, I’ve an instinctive reluctance to admit defeat with any sort of grace.

I didn’t sleep well last night. I had dreams—nothing with a defined purpose–just an amalgamate of bonfires and storms in a coastal scrubland with an odor of fresh cedar and a sense of casual vulnerability.

My attention today is like an intermittent pulse.
.
.
Songs for this:
Headz Gone West by Nia Archives
Dark Red by Steve Lacy

The coldest night air
Seems no different than the
Space around the stars.

What an old soul you are,
Donned in leather that strikes tales of time
Cool tie and rocky shoes,
Leaves the girls smitten, caught in your gleam.
A presence that that feels like a rhyme
Is it your poise or charisma that draws them near? I ponder

Your mad hatter jokes weave laughter like art,
To what do I owe this delightful cheer?
A dance with you was never my intent.
With a glass down, I fix my flair,
Ready to strut to your grooves embrace,
“Shall we?” you say, each pun in sync,
A wink and a smile, together with a tip on the hat.

“Be mine for the night,” you say it with a smize
“If and only if we dance till the dawn breaks!” I reply
Laughter ensues and you pull me in,
Cheek to cheek, in this moment, we’re drawn.

Must be the wine, or is it the gentlemans pride, I ponder. You pull me in more and set loose for a little twirl.  We glide across the floor
Transforming the night.

The music spins and thrills. Slow and steady, we move on the edge
Glowing under the disco’s ball , letting the shadows sway
You pause and time stands still 
A grip on the guitar
with every strum you play.
A melody adored, an echo of the past,
In your music, it binds
Time gently unwinds
In the rhythm of your grace

the world so fragile so resilient embracing tight
its spinning delusions, inequalities, contradictions
while he is smiling at his fists, the most powerful
a mascarade game we play with reality
impossible to tolerate the contact with daylight
democracy no longer soothes us when it lies to us
political agency crushed in empty pockets
eyes full of a radical hope
the truth obscured in our mythical mind

we need to be brutally honest with our mental health
with the health of the oceans, of the air, of our dreams
he is a fragment tormenting our fragments while
the world is not yet prepared to grieve its disneyland

an escapable paradox will hold us
oh, how are we falling when we think we are rising

the future is unstoppable
its echo chambers are searching
for some truth

Taste it, wake from your sleep,
there is a bullet wound in your mattress,
nothing like a nosebleed to humble the greatest,
nothing like a shock to the cartilage to shake the least of us,
nothing like a slap to the face to
smother your plans for the day.

Join the flow,
swim amongst the platelets,
trickle down chins and stain silks,
harden and clot in bruises on the floor,
dab at stains with a blemished cloth,
wipe them away,
wipe thousands away,
clean up the 0 positives, the As, the Bs,
erase the negatives, the rhesus, the rest,
until only the nose remains, proud, pointed, right,
the nosebleed was useful after all,
the nostrils are stained but pure,
but nothing will be the same as before,
the nose soon must bleed again.

I heard a few people say
Their fear of death was blown away
By seeing a picture
Of their folks
Afore they were born
In the snap
An older sibling
In their arms
Giggling and wriggling
Before the stuff that made them was formed

At that moment
They knew
Gave them truth to hold on to
There was no pain and anguish
And they were not bored
And it will be the same
After The reaper came
No one suffers
All is nothing
In the void.

I may not know you yet
    After all, we've never met
       But I know this deep down
      That for me, you wait

Only you, wait
    Death
          
       Thus, I hope
    You too, will know
        that with open arms
Death
   I await you