Cardinal Red

Cardinal Red


One bird on a branch
He sings to hear his own voice
when an echo returned is heard
he is shy and says "that can't be for me, i am just a lark"
my measure is that by which spoons carry sugar
and notes hang like moisture.

One bird sits on a branch
She flies with grace, her feathers preened.
When it is color she sees
she says "I can't believe my eyes, winged as such i deserve not this sight" my worth is measured by my flight. Cageless but tethered, too bright to not be seen.

Two Birds rest, their heads tucked under wing.
Tones and sights matter not, they gauge each other
on warmth and nature's gifts.
When they call to each other it is harmony.
They say to each other "here i am , your mate"
You need only whisper and i will hear, need only hunger and i will feed. When there is heat, in me shade, when there is fear in me peace.

Distant Trains

Fifty feet of sand a beach out stretched
a landscape of tiny mirrors
the beauty surfacial
who is the fairest one of all
a thief, a beggar, a queen, a fool
your best guess is the narcissist with a limp
and the faint odor of candytuft.

a wish for obsolescence.

I breathe because i forget that i want to sing
who dares lift their arms towards the heavens and
speak like they know the deep.
you impress n o o n e b u t y o u r s e l f

a mere taxidermy of my former self
filled with the baubles of contempt and
the confetti of failure.
so let us celebrate the Day of the Dead
the noose is in place.
the children need to learn what to do
when confronted with a corpse
so give them sticks and blindfolds
blood and candy are one and the same.

so look away, no matter where you look you
see yourself in gauze and rubies
a spiders kill that dangles in the
display window.

so listen for the rumble of the distant train
know i hear it also
the sound carries only for so long
all songs must end.

Windows

Stitched together quilted and sparse
a loose collective of sequels
a long strings of losses
a fading format
snapshots

I wait for the disco automatic
a quarter in the slot
a selection made
a weak output
static

a sum not equal to the parts
heel toe heel toe
six quick skips and dagger stares
there is a tiger in the shag rug
he knows you are weak
he can smell the designer cologne
and empathy.

i have made a colossus
though hollow and fragile
you can see it from the rooftop
it's shadow falls on only me
it is warmer in the shade
and there in no need for sunblock

waltzing alone but never lonely
a solid empty built from the remains
of those things one loves and keeps
the scratch that heals into runes
i sing the ancient language and
keep my enemy close enough
to look out through his windows.

peepers

The purring of the color machines
the icing from the cake removed
it's structure bare the fragility open
you striped of robes in the town square
most beautiful before the decline
you are a martyr of oxygen, the stoning will resume.

By bus they stare and mock you openly
and cheer for your dormancy
you know that everyone loves a funeral
but they will get a resurrection
and curse your name and new hungry mouths
and take the pills that keep your sexuality at bay.

Hello All!

So this is going to be a dumping ground for my writings. This is what i have done recently. There will be much more in the future...enjoy!

Cherry Hill

The youth has spread like an illness
the laughter sustaining
a dialect from the east
as sharp as a coastline
the birds have all left the rocks
for a promise of panty pink visions
or a day in the rain
prepared with an umbrella
while the rest melt away

Some Pig

If there is a pit in my stomach
Then empty does begin to become
the craving that i have.
I left those simple definitions
behind me like a rag
tied to a hobo stick
the sand is is getting quicker
and the tide is coming in
is that laughter or seagulls
track marks or speed balls
the poison has picked me last
like fat kids in a Phys ed class
do i have cancer or amnesia
don't let those TV ads deceive you
if you don't have it they will find a way
to give it to you
2 wives a house a yard built for croquet
you know we all have our vices
Sobriety is a crutch for the lifeless
this whole ride is stalling car
even if you are born with more then your neighbors are
so i step on the pedal
so do i get a metal
or just a broken heart
my laces tied together from the start of
this never ending series of deliberating juries
i hang before it's done
from that web that Charlotte spun
some pig.

Restless

I have taken steps to correct my insomnia
but nothing seems to work
the stress the awareness the hours
a candid tapestry of disappointments
lingering notes on the edge of a scale
like all things, temporary.
sweet stasis
we are taught circles but live in lines
i have taken to wondering in the night
trying to look productive
acting, a destination in itself
hoping for solace but it is elusive
it hides when i seek, 7-up my thumb is there
no tag, when tagged only a shadow at the blackboard
an empty bag on St. Valentines Day
and a window looking onto an empty swingset
little has changed
I still sit alone at lunch


Water Water

water water everywhere but none that's worth a drink
so i guess i have another, and wish my lips pressed to yours
not to a glass which like most lips has been who knows where
i know where yours have not been
they have not breathed out in dark, me awake listening
they have not been inches away smiling that lovesick smirk
they have never said the right words i want to hear
but mine are no better.
sealed or stitched my heart encased tip of tongue always
mouthed but never spoken at least not to you
wallflowered age 12 school dance cold sweat
they leap up in song echo in my ears
keep me awake and leave my questions unanswered.


Distance

You, a stride ahead always
like a movie in another room
projector flicker light under door
distant hydrogen oxygen language
children playing down the street laughter
a curtain blowing, a beam of sun
music, always music playing
badminton friends allies feasts famines
now intangible mere electronic text
pixels hope when there is so little
even your sadness made me happy
it is better to be a part in the play then just set design
i wished your hand to the wall with mine on the other side
a hackneyed screen shot pull back freeze roll tape
never knowing but you know, you have to know
Secrets are not my strong suit


To A Cat

Always a bridesmaid never a bride.
Like a record skipping but no one wants to touch the needle
or an Pollock, from afar it is precious
get to close and you can see the cracks
the way the paint lays on the canvas
a fingerprint, the frustration, dust and imperfections
the veil lifted to reveal a crescendo of impatience
like the subject was abandoned midway
"i cannot work like this" i can hear the maestro say
"you wear your weaknesses like a woolen scarf"
constantly reminding, always uncomfortable
they rub me raw and shorten my breath
but it is cold without them
and i am afraid of another snow.
another expedition will surely be my end
an unknown corpse marked by a pile of stone
who tried to make his climb, but to no avail.
Will there be strings, a choir, family and friends.
honors and tears.
Or a confused cat, not understanding why it is i won't move.
I am indeed sorry to the cat, i hope you fair better without me.


Airport


this place, this palace
how blurred the point of relay is
surrounded by physics
encased in the tangible
running towards and fleeing from.

a gay couple's kiss
a foreign child's tantrum
the constant tide
a stab of separation

who's name was on your mind
when the wheels lifted from the ground
the distance is nothing new
i missed you before you left

the "you" that fed the want
eyes that once know my darkened shape
that were already there when mine opened
part and parcel, the answer unspoken

does healing become the wound
then pain becomes the stasis
when does a kiss become an insult
and"we"ceases to apply.