We took a bus to Wilmington
And skipped a dream or two
In order to be cognizant—
When the “Are we there yet’s”
Rebounded void of “yet.”

We parked the bus adjacent to
The paint-peeling facade
Of lonely temple Wilmington—
Threatening no demon of the sky
With a keenly polished death spike.

It had no spendthrift window of
Christ Jesus with the sick
And poor, neglected derelicts—
Who glow with jubilee and gold chloride
For His altruistic charities.

Across its door was fastened tight
A rusted iron chain
Which barred the shallow, blinkered souls—
Who loitered at the barrier’s feet
Waiting on God to warrant entry.

But we who were of cogent view
Detached deterring catch
And entered with our chins *****—
A light-bulb-vacant sanctuary
Where taciturn shadows took a seat in every pew.

And down a velvet aisle stood
A lonely, weeping priest
Inhaling in unblemished palms—
That not a single pious doubter
Would dare inspect.

“Welcome to my church,” he said
With breathless, choking sobs,
“I am the congregation here—
The pastor, choir, usher, and Sunday school teacher
Of Wilmington Church of Reason.”

Inquired we what hidden woe
Enlaced with torment cast
Those salt discharged convulsions—
Quaking the sanctity of exultation
In the House of Apollo.

And with concise, unleavened words
He justified his tears
And whispered to our weary troop—,
“Alone, alone am I,
Isolated within this box of omitted truth.

“O, give me soothing slumber deep
And strip these sentient eyes
From ghastly sheaths of consciousness—
Repair this mended paradigm,
Or tell me that I am mistaken.

“Imaginary friends and foes
Make wretched hearts a wreath
Of roses red and mistletoe—
And bird of paradise to keep
Hope alive, alive and awake and well, hope alive…”

So each of us, a brimming cup
Of empathy, remained
To keep old pastor Wilmington—
Old usher, choir, teacher, congregation Wilmington
Alive and awake and well.

I carry in my mind, What is more potent than violence
A grin, Yellow, Tender and kind
A fraction of what cannot be divided

A soothing poison, Enlaced in this controlled chaos
Which brought endless tears to the soul
Shut down, what is left is a burden
As nature, magnificent yet unchanged
Desire goes on and takes it’s toll

Temptation of the fiery twins, Moon and Sun
A grin, Silver, A reverence to the past
What is lost, will never be shared
Though Attraction goes on and takes it’s toll

What is now seemingly impossible
As already been felt, and it’s pleasures lost
What is now unbelievable,
As yet been surrendered to the darkness of the night
A grin, Purple, Innocence brought death in the eyes of the knight


Altered Perception

Everyday,
I've gazed upon your enchanting visage.
Not the most beautiful of 'em all,
but there's something spellbinding
about you.
Like an iridescent pearl inside of an oyster.

Everyday,
I chant magnificent lyrics,
hoping that you could hear
harmonious melodies
that you've bestowed
unto my heart.
Beating --- slowly ---
at the march of your drum.
As if our hearts
are tethered as one;
intertwining our fate.

One hollows eve,
you've seen something special in me,
so you took a pair of scissors,
and cut my stem
from this rambunctious thicket.

I loved the feeling of your hand.
Warm, tender, yet firm.
It contrasts the bitter air
that latches onto your skin,
making its hairs stand on its end.
I could've made you feel cozy,
but sadly,
I didn't.

You took me to places
that makes my eyes water
every time I reminisce
about
us.

Do you still remember
when we went to the beach
with white sands
that feels like soft powder
on your skin?
A sunset that looks like
a vast canvass
watercolored with intricate brush strokes
of saturated rose quartz',
lilacs, and oranges.
Palm trees lined up for miles.
We've Imbibed on ardent spirits
while looking at the ravishing scenery.
How I've ached for this moment
to last
for more than one's own sweet time.

We headed off to your apartment.
After we've entered,
we took our jackets and scarves off
before heading to your kitchen.
You made hot cocoa
with tiny bits of marshmallows for you,
and iced americano for me.
We looked at each others iris'
as we talked for hours on end,
about life's devious plots.

Those eyes---
It's gentle, but at the same time,
you could see a great inferno
burning inside those scintillating garnets.
I know that it's a little unnerving,
but I'm having a hard time
resisting this unquenchable urge
to stare at it.

After our extensive heartfelt conversation,
silence filled the room.
Silence so sharp and numbing,
it could shatter glass.
In a heartbeat,
you've extended your hand,
so I held it.
Casted me a bewitching gaze
that made my heart skip a wallop.
Your cheeks turned into a florid tone,
and the nipping air
started to seem tranquil.
I could only feel this longing desire
of lovingly interweaving with your threads,
and so did you.

Stumbling about,
you dragged me into your balcony garden,
took a final look at my dilating visors,
before you started to inch towards my face, and clasped your cold, tender lips against mine.
My mind turned crepuscular,
as I held your waist tightly,
pressed my weight against yours,
and fervently kissed you
between this ragged concrete wall.

We slipped out of our clothes
like snakes shedding out of its skin,
and sprawled it all over the algid floor.
I carefully laid you on the sofa,
and gently nipped your delicate,
fragrant neck.
You dug your nails passionately
on my shoulder blades,
as I necked you from a gentle
to a rough pace.
Maybe I went too hard,
hence the noticeable congelation.
My lips slowly traced her neck,
down to her navel.
I could feel pain crossed with pleasure,
as you harshly tugged on my mane
while I gorged on your grand banquet.
We sat up and tightly embraced.
You enlaced your legs on my waist,
as I've cautiously entered your temple.
My love, we're one at last.
I could hear your gentle moans
as we heaved and weaved
through this concupiscent atmosphere
that we've invoked.
The longer this lasts, the more I could feel our bond growing stronger.

Two suns
finally reached its eminent zenith.
We laid on our backs,
desperately catching our breath
while laying on a puddle of perspiration.
We've gazed at each others' eyes,
and let out fits of giggling.

If only I knew that this would be
our final jocund moment together,
I would've savored it more.

Woke up with a note
stating that there's breakfast on the table.
Runny sunny side eggs, buttered toast,
and pan seared cherry tomatoes.
I would've ate
if you blessed me with you presence,
but I don't have the appetite
to break my fast at this instance.

I dressed myself, and grabbed my jacket
before I left.

Dusk turned into dawn,
and there's no sign of you.
I keep texting and ringing you up,
but to no avail.
I ended up falling asleep,
while looking at our pictures on my phone.

At my favorite café,
I was enjoying my morning brew,
but my vision turned blue,
when I saw you holding another rose.
Hastily, I ran up to you.
I was expecting a warm welcome,
but all I got was a cold shoulder.
You pretended that I was just another
blockhead rambling about.
After you brushed me off
and went your way,
my chest ached and my aqueducts opened to let excess tears gush out.

Every 3:00AM I wake up
to my heart thundering
and cold sweats;
turning breathing into a herculean task.
Memories starts to flood in.
I'm at my wit's end,
clinging onto the last fibers
of my sanity.

Gradually, my petals started to wilt.
Petal by petal
they fall off,
swaying in the air's gentle cradle,
before landing on autumn leaves.

Everything about you torments me,
but I'd rather stay,
than live without you.

What kind of monster are you?
You gave my world color,
when everything was monotone.
Left me without admonishment
about my cruel predicament.
Left me on the sidewalk,
feeling like trash.

Now everyday, I think about you.

Everyday, I long for you.

Everyday, I love you.

Everyday--- I'm dying slowly.

our lips, are raptors,
talons inter,twined in flight;
the sun, on the sea raptures
and beckons us with light;

we are beak,ed seraphim
entangled in a vic,ious embrace;
feverish blood rac,es and swims
within the snare, of our veins enlaced;

each caged in st,eel feathers,
spine grazing spine, eye slashing eye;
we, a comet tha,t rapidly withers,
conjoined icarus fall,ing from the sky

we will crash in,to electric waves,
flanked by cliffs made, of thunder;
on to our vi,olent graves,
we will tear, each,other asunder.

I hear silence on the wind
your voice already gone-
Gone away into yesterdays mind-
remembered now only in snatched dreams.

The wind alone whistles a plaintive song-
Song of searching voices to lift
and carry in its swirling womb.

Enlaced across the linear futures past-
All experienced now is set as diamonds-
Hard fast held in a heart made for love-
and the gathering power of a silent wind.

The ferocious hands of fate push me gently yet mercilessly me into becoming a pallid shell of a man.
A crumbling mausoleum of faded memories residing in my heart shatters all the edges of my stoicism.
Time passes slowly to a man trapped by nightmares inside a forlorn brick cage, simply unable to fly free.

I can see the garden of eden living inside a woman's smile before she abandons me in brimstone streets.
There are soft distorted melodies between the endless amounts of the harsh choruses of gnashing teeth.
There have been no words more sordid words spoken since the foolish final loud yet silent foolish goodbye.

All of my daily nightmares are enlaced with the makings of pleasant golden wishful and merry dreams.
Oh how I long for beautiful eastern maidens, long arid desert nights, and a love that I just can’t ever find.
In the depths of sleep between the screams and cold sweats I feel hope dashed amongst the wicked things.

What do you do when you wake from your sleep?
Do you mumble and grumble, or not make a peep?
Do you throw your covers overhead, escaping all time
To return to your sweet dreams, where nothing will bind?

When the day dawns and work needs to be done,
Sometimes we can't help but just want to run
From the stresses of life as they beat and they batter,
As they wait at your door, their knocks getting louder.

Some people frown; they groan and they pout,
Others, unfazed, just dawdle about.
There are people who jump up to greet the day,
While others, brows furrowed, shake their heads in dismay.

When I wake, I don't toss and turn.
I don't frown, although there's something I yearn.
Each day now, I wake with a smile on my face,
For my mind thinks only of our fingers, enlaced.

And the comfort I feel, wrapped tight in your arms,
Keeping me safe, guarding me from all harm.
The thought of your voice, soft in my ear,
Leaves my mind muddled yet simultaneously clear.

I wonder how it feels
To be in line with your sight
All the time, even just for a while

I wonder how it feels
To receive the smile you give
To someone dear, oh joy in your eye

I wonder how it feels
To have your hand, enlaced with mine
Safe and sound, even just for a while

I wonder how it feels
To love you freely boy, and not be told
You’re not worth my precious time

The traveler reeked of weariness,
His companion was Fatigue
Wear upon his clothes suggest
He'd come a million league.

Gaunt were eyes deep set and brown
Above his cheekbones high
His being was pure somnolence
And I heard his silent cry.

Hard roads had been his travel
The pains chiseled on his face
In lines of furrows on his brow
Permanently enlaced

Around I saw no motion there, then ...
His head began to rise
Finally he looked at me ...
Suffering in his eyes.

So quietly I attended
And with a heavy heart
I wanted so to speak to him ...
But knew not how to start

Within his labored breathing
He then began to speak
His words, when finally spoken
Were truthful and unique

His lips worked to form the words -
Then said; "My name is: Common Man,
I'm a father; I've worked hard;
' always done the best I can.

"The road's become uphill and steep with
Burdens I can't propel
I've tried to move on forward -
But, I stumbled here - and fell.

"There are others on me
Who so do depend
I must move on forward,
This mustn't be my end.

"Now I reach out to you
'Cause before I've never failed
I'm turning now to you
'Fore on hardships I'm impaled".

A calloused hand then extended
Toward my outstretched hand
And I want to heed the call
For this Common Man.

But, Greed and Avarice have won
And assistance can't be lent -
Wall Street, you see, owns me now:
I'm Your Government.

you can find me hiding
underneath the oak tree
further than the eye can see

thinking about how I'm not ready
how this can't be real
how there couldn't possibly be a you and me

yet here we are
and the memories resurface
of your arms wrapped tightly around my ribs
of your hand enlaced with my tiny fingers

I can't lie and say my thoughts are pure
Because many times I think things might not be right
That I’m not ready for this

my brain tells me I can’t ever love someone
that they could never love me in return

but then I move past all of the noise
and the memories resurface
of you sharing your bacon because you know its my favorite
of you carrying me when my legs have given out

Suddenly I am at peace
I reassure myself that this is right
and I know the thoughts will return
but for now, you can find me hiding under the oak tree
further than the eye can see

....And you became like water
That slipped between my fingers,
       there is no then,
Only a haunted now,
I move in the stillness of compacted time
     In the great masses of peoples
With the landscape unmoving
      Under dome of sky
Where regret crushes a tiny star,
      A memorial of light within light,
I am lost in your memory;

           Luminous woman,
          Golden haired woman
          Stretches herself over skies

We crossed the nocturnal
In a final dialogue of our bodies,
     We spoke fire like poetry
Enlaced in the verbiage of lovers,
     But words take final breaths,
    They distance themselves into echoes,
         we named new words
     And constellated sonnets
       Into the night sky;

      The living wound
      Cuts through my life,
       Be it your knife, my sacrifice

And in the kingdom of us
Where we crowned ourselves
In the momentary truth,
       All became our perception;
We created new worlds for our selves,
    We put the sun upon the sea
And set it to sail into our night,
       Everyday was a resurrection
as we governed our lives
     In an ecstatic harmony;

       To see your lovely forms,
            The sun throbs
       In the shadow of your living hour

     In forever I cast myself
        Unto gravitous time,
      Memories embody your form
     And the moment fulfills itself,
         Though the life is gone from me,
         The poem embodies forever,
             Immense as the look of your love.

I once had a dream that I was painting beautiful artwork onto a canvas,
I woke up and found myself tracing over every line carved into the palm of your hands with my fingertips.
You're the most alluring piece of artwork my eyes have ever met.
The sunlight of the Sunday morning was sneaking its way in through the window, giving your soul a radiant glow.
You were lying there still, profoundly in your sleep.
Your chest rising up and down to the rhythm of your breath.
I rest my head on your left shoulder and I can hear every blood cell moving through your body.
Your eyes start to slowly open.
Your smile is the reason I wake up in the morning.
Our eyes greet without saying a word, then our lips find each other and wrap themselves within.
Soon our bodies are so enlaced that we are no longer two different bodies; we became one.
How lovely it is to share your all with another human being.
How lovely it is to see the perfect piece of artwork wrapped within your arms.

Become more, for what? For who?
Why does it matter anymore?

Defining traits,
Surface level, it’s all they want anyways
So why even bother to face the pain

Introspective
And reflective
Admired only by myself

Not even in their language,
Mesmerized and entertained,
chasing always their counterfeited dreams, come to think of them as fiends

True gold is not recognizable by their shallow eyes
They fall for a quicker, shinier version, enlaced and filled with lies

“Cool,” their defining trait
Depth, care little if you portray

Theyd prefer the certain ease and masking of reality
Or perhaps they’re not even conscious of it, perpetually surrounded, lacking any reflection internally

See in others a reflected mirror image of themselves, providing a generic purpose, so life it seems has simplicity

Simplicity is a lie
Any man who believes he possesses it is merely in an altered state of mind

Ignorance will only carry you so far
Until time will make you see
Life is so complex, so we drown it out and reduce it down, begging to question what is REALity?

On nascent evenings
I find myself alone
My head up against an empty wall
While the weight of my mind is destined to fall
Or collapse into a billion pieces.
Luckily, I am not afraid of multiplicities.

Speech becomes paradox, sight remains illusory.
My bones feel cold, my skin burns with fever.
Forever burning, burning, burning

Each second is infernal,
Each alley enlaced in embers.
This burning makes me wander.
I wander wildly taking my neuroses by the hand
I follow blindly, always unsure where I am going.
And the face that I wear leaves no trace for showing.

Evening masks
Descend upon faces
Staring at the sky being brewed,
So blank and embittered
By the countless cups of coffee they drank.
It’s always too warm to take a sip,
So I sit back
I wait as the sky turns deeper,
As it drains pools of dark and rancid liquid,
Foaming at the sky’s mouth, eventually swallowing the sun.
Though the day has ended, the coffee settled too,
My mouth still feels dry and is unable to consume.

The night descends by giving directions
Through darkness. And colored lights
Join the cadence, so does the wind.
It is happening all around me,
But I cannot cut through
And I cannot simply join in.
My eyes are mere spectators
Since sight is all that they have.
And now the sky is melancholic,
So may the drinking begin.

I shall drink the pools that float above me,
I shall scorn at fools who try to teach me,
I shall hate and have hatred guide me,

Until I fall and the ground slaps me
On my smug face,
Until my senses seep into the ground,
And I am left expressionless.

Invisibility is a gift seldom appreciated
The comforts bestowed in darkness are unnumbered.
Too many to count, too many to list out loud.
It matters no more that I am human,
For I am not. I feel nothing, nothing at all.

Sweetly enlaced in his velvety notes, the little rag doll.
His arms cradling her torn body, fingers pinching all of the skin she could grab in her little doll hands.
Pulling as if she could bury herself even deeper in the embrace, tightly, tightly.
Concealed, her breath bared no importance, every last particle of her last would be only, solely, exclusively, entirely;
Him.

Harsh words were said that day . An empty space and time . Crushed by reality lost within  our minds. Egos  cast aside the chance to give it one more try and as I walked away that day I finally realized.
Though once we were together in bliss and jollity the endearment of our lasting love was lost for eternity  .engulfing desperation , honesty and shame , all life’s emotions, but who is to blame. Soaked now with sorrow,enlaced in disdain , cuffed by emotions with nothing left to gain.