The heart slaps along
Tag: poems
I don’t want to smoke
I don’t want to smoke
and I sneak away
to coffee shops
and think about smoking
Now I have the time
Now I have the time
to pay attention to the names
of musicians
both living and dead
I know a great writer
I know a great writer
but you don’t
her greatness is planted
in not knowing, not
lazy day with nothing to say
snow buried, re:
whites, grays, haze
Trieved to a
Saint slobbering Bernard
Oh, rolling tongue
Oh, rolling tongue
thick fatigue
lolling numb
“I’s” and “Me’s”
A sip of marrow
My eyes glaze, I lick my lips
and dream of your apocalypse
Inside my chest there lives a cat
I called it names to which it spat
‘til desperation made me scream
I know not, love, for what you dream
And Paul
we want to see beauty
and we’re the same
with different words
so I choose carefully
Until I get to later
I tried drinking
Like Hemingway
But the loneliness was unbearable
Teddy bear
Teddy bear
picking seam
removing fluff
piling up
Teddy there
And I want to be the king of my castle
And I want to find words that aren’t in a book
And I feel too much pain will allow me to look
It was the times
And
I write them out
So plainly
Too quickly
Youthful Beauty
The pianist’s fingers bleed
for the raised voice
recognition
of barfly’s and
passersby
Pulling down words
Follows
Gravity
Mixed
Literal
I tried to bet the ponies
I tried drinking
Like Hemingway
But the loneliness was unbearable
Forced words
A train not even crashing
No explosion
Just quietly retiring
Off the tracks
If you’re lucky enough
And if you let yourself go
you’ll bloom in a shimmering galaxy
of golden hair
And it’s in my chest
And I keep pressing down
And I think of a pianist
And I want to make music
And I hate the things my fingers leave
And I make noise
The pianist
And the pianist
Presses
Amazing Grace
The sky is mottled with pregnant clouds
The sky is mottled with pregnant clouds
Contractions of wind huff harder and harder
Trees protest throwing down leaves
And still I stay outside
Tomorrow I leave on a road trip
I’m 35
We know each other’s vices
We’re driving to the deserts of the Midwest
We’ll see strip malls
gas stations
fast food
On our way to beauty
I took in a breath of fresh air
And now I’m closing
my eyes
and breathing in the pillow
she
leaned on
Liberty, Sweep, Inspiration
You, the conjuring of muses
Baring a bounty of abuses
Betraying only grace
And I can’t look away
True, Beat, Receipt
Bow rips
Sheep guts scream
Bow rips
Audience roars
Deny, Aloof, Fame
Wearing masks
Hiding flasks
No more smiles
Wandering aisles
Condition, Skin, Waiter
Pain, pangs, sharp, dull. Internal buzzing, humming, thumping, drumming. Moon lathers, shaving, slivering, chiseling, waning. Time
Trade, Imagine, Concert
To give one thing for another.
To create in the mind a picture of what could be.
To act with another in harmony.
And my youth is…
Let it be
in the silent scream
of a shooting star.
The Fool’s Pleading
The echoes of rejoicing muted by the island’s sands. Drowned by waves of realization that we are sound itself reverberating off of infinity’s pretzel-ed pipe.
Social Security
The castles moved straight,
the horses made hooks
as the black and white shapes met their fate.
I am a man
I have a hot temper
I am confident in changing a tire
I tremble when jumping a car battery
Cart, Applied, Pop
Forever
is the theory
of love
applied science need
not apply
