Soft
but still my loft.
You aren't rough
and tough
inherently-
but you can be.

Not for me only, you care
but for four you despair.
In this tournament of juggling
no one knew you were struggling.

How can you be so gentle
when the world treats you like a rental?
This makes me cry.
A heart so grand must never die.

I had a glimpse of uphill
shattered by your will.
I only knew something was wrong
'cause your stubble was a little long.

I peeked 'round the corner.
You didn't notice me- your daughter.
Your face was taught with wretched thoughts
but relaxed into love when I got caught.

You were trapped in your minds corner
where -no longer- it was a little warmer
The clouds looked like they hadn't been washed in a while.
But you still smiled.

When you say you admire another
for their unique kind of thunder-
I try to unblind you-
see: Only you can turn the sky cove blue
after a hurricane Sandy
makes my life feel unhandy.

You never ask if I Love you
cuz' you know I simply do.
I finally know why you're so rad-
cuz' you're sent from above, Dad.

- Tronel V.

inside my chest is a coalmine. you have the raddest eyes I’ve ever seen & you hair smells like rain. I want to call you on the telephone & tell you a secret about your freckles. I wanna call you shakedown. I wanna call you shotgun. do you want to make a movie? I got this camera, see, & a backyard like forever, & when it snows it’s like the whole world is one giant pickup line. my body in a wooden box & you just like holes for breathing. if I’m lying my neck is a bird. free. the truth is skin & skin. your red and grey beanies. a stick of dynamite between my teeth.

we exist together
on some alternate continuum of
the physical world, a secret
corner of consciousness,
chances reality & the universe
would never grant us.

(somewhere in this mad world, i am
yours)

forget age & years & impossibility.
i knew
from the moment i memorized you.  you & your
brittle ribs &
soft lips &
geisha feet.  you
infinities of beautiful & eyes
Lake Michigan, sparkling waters hold
indefinite light.

(i love you, but
your bones show through)

you pretty lost girl,
the raddest human i’ve ever seen.
be my porcelain dolltoy &
i’ll kiss your every waking limb.

you were the only one
who thought to ask & i could have
cried, because you knew.  you knew, & it was
all right.  because you were
the first,
you were
the only
& forgive me for my
bright eyes
feverish
on you.

we lived that October sunset.
shifting our mindsets
and pressing the reset,
you are the hug and kiss I'll never forget.
as free as the breeze,
a love that could cross seven seas
when you’re with me
it will flow purely with ease.
crunching the leaves
and picking apples off of the trees
what our mind perceives,
is truly guaranteed.  
we walked up the road
along the yellow line,
here,
I know that everything will be just fine.
this story-line is no crime,
it’ll be clear in a dime.
but for now,
I love you,
the raddest dad of all time.

People used to ignore jokes in poor taste
and accepted that pandering had its place
but since then we've had an about-face
and now look to callously race
to moral judgment instead of grace.

The right is more malicious
the left is more annoying
they all sound like *******
with the tactics they're employing
making rhetoric vicious
so discourse starts destroying
both sides' wishes
for positive change
because lobbing grenades
has made us deranged.

The right burns books like Maus
the right burned down the house
the left wants to sterilize society by judging my propriety
and taking away the ***** things that have delighted me
virtue signaling violently
both sides' bile blending
into arguments unending.

They assign an extreme value to minority status:
which is the raddest versus which is the baddest
the nature of these arguments is madness
quibbling over The Little Mermaid's blackness
we need to relax this
nationalistic mindset
not get behind it
while the country is divided.

Now the only reason to cross the aisle
is to call the opponent a *******
so it's been a while since that word has had meaning
other than Facebook feeding nightmare needing
fever dreaming conspiracy reading
fools following the lecherous leading
us into becoming stuck with nothing to discuss
other than manufactured disgust
man have I had enough
of incendiary bluffs amounting to dust
encouraging purchased pistols to bust
for paper saying 'In God We Trust'
while believing political lies
like the accusations that fly
from the internet hive.

The country is Turning Red
because the green m&m
is now sexually dead
and Taylor Swift said
that she felt fat
so we attack
going off track
like when we crucified Cuties
it's an excuse to forsake our duties
anything with ****** and *******
gives us the fire to act rudely.

This is my fear:
******* about Lightyear
will bring years of night here
when the sun never shines on the cause
because people can't ignore or press pause
more important issues can get lost
and we won't count the cost
through frivolous frost.

So what if a movie studio makes a character black?
So what if the NFL's rules are a bit lax?
They're more worried about the estate tax
and we can all agree they ain't that
thing to end the schism
yet we cajole with derision
with puppet strings just out of vision
moving to industry's rhythm
away from personal wisdom
into the day-to-day we stay
concentrating on collisions.

We’ve got matching bands
And cheer squad girls
At the parade today
Being cool like you will
Yes that sounds so divine
Lovely flags and lovely songs
Yes I think that is cool
People dressed up as pizzas
Rocking around the clock
Big pink balloons shaped like
A little heart
I wish I belonged to Simpson’s
As a brother of Bart
People with groovy umbrellas
And people with wings as well
I like the dudes in wheelchairs
They really know their stuff wave wave wave your flag
And show it to all of the world the luck of the Irish
The best of Britain
And yes there is the raddest dude around in their little masks
Walking like a stork
Go the might of the cheer girls
Be cool and be rad
This parade is not all so ****** bad
Come on dudes let’s party
From start to finish

Sometimes I feel like a mauve germanium
reaching for the stars
Tried hard to be pliable
Give me your all
and I show where I'm sitting

The Sun shone at the Moon
Don't worry about me
I've got all I need
the raddest sketchbook
to colour you in
just as before