A Fond Farewell

Thank you dear for the words that you gave me

And thank you dear for the words that saved me

Thank you darling for holding me at night

And thank you darling for never starting a fight

I love you beautiful for the looks you shot my way

And I love you beautiful for the things you softly say

I cherish you for always thinking of me

And I cherish you for always showing me to see

So I thank you dear-

For all the things you never did for me.

Private Lives

voices bounce in the air abound

through membrane of paper-thin walls

fuel-soaked words will set these walls aflame

before the night decides, it falls

the words float in air that surrounds

reminder that arson's to blame

flakes of fire ash

all that is left is endless shame

knowing this in my wooden chair

the echoes persist like a rash

bright red and orange like the burning sun

with plume of smoke worn as a sash

through nostrils filter burning hair

and process of things half-begun

afterimage dance

that looks quick and almost like fun

the words of end will set you free

but beg for one minuscule chance

to be given a look of knowing

one thoughtful, second, heartfelt glance

they speak, they scream, they call to me

with fervor and anger growing

the air shakes with it

I have a habit of knowing

when the words come tumbling down

from fuel can in the chair that sits

dripping on to the singed, carpet floor

rolling over with seizure fits

fluttering white of a nightgown

broken hinges of a room's door

the winged bird calls

with embers burning at the core

Second Attempt

ten thousand broken people

with ten thousand broken hearts

so many things left unsaid

so many unstarted starts

I am here as old as time

and you are newborn red

we are from two different places

and they still want me dead

you have so much left to learn

you have those empty spaces

there are no feelings still to feel

but life's lingering traces

broken, worn, battered, and all

I made a costly deal

to rid myself of holes and loss

it just took souls to steal

remorse is so uncommon

bleeding gums from razor floss

I accept what I have done

No matter the time or cost

peace comes, a moment's respite

an instant where I won

victory sours, vinegar and wine

at the thought of what is done

murky waters of my thoughts

only sad gaze in mine

glass orbs casting putrid green glow

a corpse stands as a sign

it warned all those passing by

of the hard undertow

the pull and yank of words and danger

from shore it's a stone's throw

most continue deeper still

until they meet a stranger

a man with no body parts

a man from a straw manger

5.41

in the cast-out gatherings of a somber generation

our family is what surrounds us

the barrel fires

the fire is my kin

the fire is our family

and the town towers, a whispering of an empty space

holes where homes were

holes where homes are not

but we will fill the holes with brick and mud

cement and rock

and other nerveless things

the demolishing of my home

I severed my feelings

because numbness is easy

numbness is something that doesn't exist

numbness is not there

and no amount of kindred fire

will burn some feeling into these useless limbs

no amount of fire will rebuild a home

in fact,

it will only incinerate all the more

more homes lost, more lives turned to ash and rubble

keep the numbness and the holes

wear them proud, your badge of honor

a beacon of the art the world has made

name

something stopped me walking

today

it was a voice calling my

name

and turning I expected to see

a human face

attached to the human sound

but there was no one there

no one I knew

crowded streets full

of nameless faces

and none of them viewed me

differently

so I took it to mean

that a familiar friend

was somewhere close by

in the crowd

hidden from my view must be

the source of the sound

I raced the current of moving

bodies

through voices of hundreds

warranting looks of confusion

distrust disdain

until I met my name

a name is just a word

a name is not identity

a name is but a nothing-speech

and the name I heard

and the person I saw

Had nothing to do with me

take a step on the life-giving sun

take a step on the life-giving sun

before the day's begun

and solemnly swear on lawn chair

that the only option is not to run

it won't kill you to have some fun

that's a dare

pick up your bag and toss your hair

fake a look of un-

caring and really you do care

from the moment you learned to share

when vindictive nun

bent down, smacked you, said "listen son,"

"I'll tell you what's fair-

it's life at the end of a gun-

in an empty nothing below the desert sun."

Sweating Cup

sweating cup

wandering eyes

over the table

they hit a surprise

sunrise

out there

through the glass

between salt shakers

people pass

at last

sun breaks the veil

peel my face from table top

with tooth and nail

as the day sets sail