Down to Earth

An ode to a captured world

We all wear our chains

We all bear our weight

The doctor says it's cancer

Your lover says she can't stay
The world says
You'd better swallow this
It'll ease the pain and
Help you forget
The bartender pretends to listen
Cause she knows you'll leave a good tip
The priest tells you you're forgiven
Psychologist reminds you
Son, you've got a condition
But don't worry, Doc's got
Just the prescription
An ode to a captured world
Where we're all barely breathing
We'll take our medication then
And spend our lives begging
To be free of it
The doctor says it's over
He is finally at rest
And the state smiles and takes
Its cut, from what's left
And all you remembered to pack
Was regret
If only you had
Or hadn't
The ending might be the same
But the journey, certainly, wouldn't.

Goodnight

A soft-spoken breeze

Carries leaves across the shaded grass

Whispers along blades

Fragile as the words

That hung lifeless
On our lips
The sun filtered through
Cloud strands brushed to match
Her onyx hair and
The bony fingers of
Sleeping trees gnarled by
Memories of life

She echoed the soft light of evening
Eyes sparkling with a false smile
Worn by overuse
These days
She swallowed her wine with all the bravado
Of a woman who knew
Just where the sun collapses
These days

And God knows, where the story goes
From here
All hope dead on the riverbeds of long
Dried tears
But I'll remember the unspoken
And the cry of the ravens
The scratch of the leaves along
My throat
I'll remember how my world hung
In the balance
I'll remember the moment our hearts cried out
In horror

She revoked the smile from my own lips
An instant, bloodless and swift
Shorn as if it had never
Existed
She exposed to me my only weakness
That I dared love the treacherous
Preferred it even, to any other that
Existed

We've all got our demons
And I've still got my drinking
And what I can't forget tonight
Will be gone before the bottles
Are empty.

Writing

tap, tap, tap

enter

tap, tap, tap

enter

select all

delete

scratch, scratch, scratch

period

scratch, scratch, scratch

period

crumble and throw 

to my feet

think, think, think

silence

think, think, think

silence

maybe writing's just not

for me

ha, who am i kidding

all these thoughts filling

my head

would boil over like

the ramen on the stove

oh shit, okay

i'm back

what was i

saying?

tap, tap, tap

enter

we're gonna be okay

someday

scratch, scratch, scratch

period

the story's gonna work out

fine

think, think, think

silence

i wonder if she can

hear me

oh shit, it's not okay

with these words as
my only company

it's time for another
drink.

Alibi

Can you tell me where you were

On the night of January 6th

Between 5 and 11 p.m.?

Sure, see that morning

I woke up in a strange bed

There were dark brown sheets and

A rustic dresser, the top covered

Completely

With figurines and stuffed animals, two candles

A pocket knife, and a handful

Of colored pencils

Sir, I asked about the evening

Can you tell me where

You were then?

Take it easy, I'm getting to that

See, I didn't know where I was at first

In the fog of those first moments

Post-sleep

I deduced my location by

The painting hung on the far wall

The care by which each drop and stroke

Sunk into the canvas, stretched across

The imagination

By the half-mashed tubes of acrylic

The glass that sprouted brush-handles

From the top of it

And grayish-pink water that rose

Halfway to the rim

I could have just looked over

Any moment, but I hesitated on the chance

I was still dreaming

And the sight of her might wake me

Listen sir, this is important

I need to know what you were doing

Between 5 and 11

On the day in question?

Well, I started to stand

When I felt her hand

Brush against my hip

And she whispered, still sleeping

Don't go yet, I'll go with you

In a minute

My heart stopped, my throat caught

And I froze, half sitting up

Half held in place

By her fingertips

Still stained with paint, still as soft

As I remembered them

I stayed there, motionless, another fifteen minutes

Trying to draw a picture in my head

Of what had happened, and how much had been

Dreamt

And she kissed my cheek

And one eye opened, and her lips parted into a smile

As beautiful as I had ever seen

She asked me if I

Remembered

I wondered if I

Could ever forget

Sir, one last time

Where were you during the times

I've mentioned?

Well, by then the hour hand

Was approaching six

I couldn't imagine having slept

So late, til I realized we had been

Up til eight, plotting a revolution

Painting and drinking red wine

And laughing, catching up on old times

And wondering when they might have

Vanished

I cooked breakfast for dinner

She put on some music

I poured us each a glass

Of rum and coke, to ease the hold

Of our hangover

She danced like I couldn't see it

Or like I could, and she wanted to send

A message

We talked about what city might be next

What future we might have

What fortune had found us

In that moment

We washed the dishes, around eight

She splashed me with the water

From the faucet

I told her she was the most beautiful woman

I had ever met, she said well,

You haven't met them all yet

And blushed, and I knew right then

It wouldn't matter if I had, the truth was

As it had always been

She kissed me on the lips

Told me I tasted like rum and

Bacon, and laughed, and by then

It was almost ten, I brushed my teeth

We turned on the TV

And completely ignored it

And if you want to know anymore, sir

You're going to have to take me to court

Cause the rest is none of

Your business

But to answer your question

On January 6th, from 5 to 11

I was with her, and I'm fairly sure

We weren't even on

This planet

But somewhere between here

And heaven, and if you don't mind

I'd like to go back

Thank you for your cooperation

In this matter, if I have any further questions

I'll be sure to call your number

So we can chat

Fat chance officer, where we're going

I'm sure

There's no reception.

Love:

Love:

That degenerate;

  unspoken madness

  So often accompanied

By sadness
Heartache
That cold shower that exposes
The filth on your skin
Still cleanses it
  She wears a black dress
  I wear shackles on my wrists
And we dance like our breath is tied
To this movement
Love:That dismemberment
   of heart from mind and
   words from lips
Weighted by the kiss
Of death
Remembrance
That bold power that weakens
All but the strongest
Connections
   She kills my potential
   I draw her in pencil now
That I my erase her regrets
At the final notice
Love:
The eviction of sanity
   that we might move in
   those dreams unspent
By morning
Or sunset
The harsh light of midday
Seems too bright for my darkness
Still welcomes it
   She hears a veiled threat
   I steer for the cliffs
That I may drive us to love's grave
Before we fall for it.

A Window in the Clouds

What stands heavy on the waking mind

Lies gently upon my dreams

So many questions to reconcile

Between the devil and the dreamer in me

I take careful stock of my passions
And the cost they incur upon my sanity
Though I've yet to speak with Death
I know he's surely heard of me
I consider debts paid and owed
Stories forgotten and those yet to be told
I bury some thoughts in the winter cold
To fertilize others that demand to grow
I've suffered karma and happenstance
Emerged stronger than the consequence
Of keeping this lit match
In the palm of my hands
And now I know the light that glows
From deep within my tired bones
And all the love that I have shown
Has me inhaling sadness, and exhaling hope.This is the gift I have for you
Don't open it 'til I've left the room
Merely a poem to those who may not know me
It is everything to those who know the tune

Who stands strong through the prevailing winds
Who extends a palm to the nearly dead
Who begs love, if only that I have it to give
Who offers a lifetime of the moments we've noted
What stands heady, threatening with pride
To dismember those dreams that dare disrobe the light
I would shine on you a thousand lifetimes
If only to show you how you glow to my eyes
I dance recklessly across these oceans
I chance everything on remaining in motion
That you might see, there's no such thing as hopeless
When the devil and the dreamer in me come to bed
I've returned from the shadows a fire still burning
Emerged brighter than the days I was well hid
From a darkness yearning
To conquer all that has made me
I fight in the name of the undreamt moments
If I die, then my corpse will still hold this pen
And you'll know that I've given all that I had
To give you the one thing that can never be broken

This is the gift I have for you
It fits perfect in hand yet still fills the room
Merely a poem to those who know no other view
But you, whose soul was singingBefore the first verse was through
I am here for you.

Ariadne's Veil

Ariadne smiled, said

You're either ice-cold

Or scalding

Beads of sweat kiss the brow

Every time you look my way
And crystallize to raindrops
When the wind of your gaze shifts direction
You're a devil some days
All curses and seductive sways
And an angel others
When your light eyes fall upon my face
Though maybe a devil then
For enticing me to give in
As I sip the water of your words
To wash down the poison on your lips
Ariadne smiled, led
The way to her bed
She's either flawless
Or entirely broken
To tread behind her is glass at the heel
To sleep without her a thousand labored breaths
And where the sins of the grave keep us quiet
She's a come-hither wave from death
All outbursts and spent rage
And a lover like an overcast day
Who promises rain, delivers only the heat
When her dark eyes circle like vultures
And swallow the ground beneath my feet
Though maybe a lover then
As I spare her hazy intoxications and
Wash down yesterday with a glass of gin

Ariadne lied, dead
At the end of a romance spent
Having been either a potent lover
Or a better actress
Having swallowed the bitter pills of life
By the dozen, that I might come in
And regret, the last words before I left
When she said I love you
And I whispered
"Not yet."