Battered body
Stomach scars
Dry skin patches
Rogue hairs
Funky toenail
Callus feet
Yet
If I snuggle up to you
It’s a real treat.

You blame him for it all
Claim he ruined you
But you were already
Bent and broken
Before that guy came through
And since you been around
He got banged up
Too

It’s not empty if you can help
Maybe it’s just with positive vibes
And wishes
Helpless
With intention and direction
Is not hopeless

He quoted Miss Piggy
It was the corniest thing I ever did see
But just call me Kermit
A frog who happens to love corn on the sow
Eating it
With only frog teeth
I don’t like to bite when I’m ******* my meat

Apparently
I happen to be
The most interesting subject
In my town
As boring as my life is
In reality
Someone imagines
I’m living it up
So crazily
And they want to
Knock me down
I suppose it’s a compliment
To be focus of so much attention
But I’d rather feel the insult
Of not even being mentioned

I wonder where you go when you’re gone
I hope it’s somewhere you want to be
But that thought is so silly for me
You’re not the type to be wasting your
Precious time
Doing something begrudgingly
Wherever you go  
The people around you are very lucky

You should probably take the long way home
That don’t mean you shouldn’t let me know
A little bit
Could yield a lot of something
If my something is something to you
Nobody knows
Not even who
What somethings sometimes do

With you
You carry the
Mighty Pen
Live a thousand lives
Within the Mighty Pen
Obscurity to mainstream
Back around again
Magic in perpetuity
Within the Mighty Pen

He caught my attention
With honorable mention
I was looking the other way
But land sakes alive
I’m feeling his vibe
And I’m hoping he’s here to stay

I do not take it personally
That you view me
So inconsequentially
Silly and frilly and spilly my guts
While you sit in gilded ruts
But who am I to judge or complain?
You and I, we ain’t the same
Despite my misguided illusion
And ignorant confusion
It ain’t you for me
And it ain’t me for you
And if I say it enough
I might believe it, too

Giving in is not giving up

Silver linings come in all shapes and sizes
Some are barrels
Some are bars
And some, just a sliver
Slivers of silver
Though
Are apt to make one bitter
Striving so hard
For pittance of pitter
Turns one into
A resentful sitter
Waiting
For silver
Which forever eludes
Waiting critters

Do you think we get all the answers in Heaven?  
Or does that only happen in Hell?

Pretty privilege
Is ******* by ***** privilege
Which can make up for lots of
Less
If you’ve got big enough *******
The rest of you can be a mess

Poetry is honesty
Dipped in
Chocolate
Or poo
Depending on the poet’s mood

The hostility of the blank page
Is nothing compared to
The tyranny of
The blinking curser
Paper waits patiently
But that **** curser is mocking me!

You punish me
Unintentionally
Make me believe you do not care to see
Me
Allow me to walk down this path
Alone
Won’t even throw me a **** bone
Letting me wonder what do you see
Or if you even notice me
Effort and honesty
I present to thee
And you present to me
Empty
I do not know what to perceive
Am I getting on your nerves?
Do you wish I would just leave?
Stop stirring things up unnecessarily?
Throwing flailing, foul curves?
Taking you through uncomfortable swerves
I set myself up for this punishment
So now I can’t complain
But here I am
*******
And I probably will be
Again

While she lays sleeping
I stay out late at night and play my songs
And sometimes all the nights can be so long
And it's good when I finally make it home, all alone
While she lays dreaming
I try to get undressed without the light
And quietly she says, "How was your night?"
And I come to her and say
"It was all right, " and I hold her tight
And she believes in me
I'll never know just what she sees in me
I told her someday if she was my girl
I could change the world
With my little songs, I was wrong
But she has faith in me
And so I go on trying faithfully
And who knows maybe on some special night
If my song is right
I will find a way
Find a way
While she lays waiting
I stumble to the kitchen for a bite
Then I see my old guitar in the night
Just waiting for me like a secret friend
And there's no end while she lays crying
I fumble with a melody or two
And I'm torn between the things that I should do
And she says to wake her up when I am through
God, her love is true
And she believes in me
I'll never know just what she sees in me
I told her someday if she was my girl
I could change the world
With my little songs, I was wrong
But she has faith in me
And so I go on trying faithfully
And who knows maybe on some special night
If my song is right
I will find a way
While she waits
While she waits
For me

He’s the type to encourage me
When I’m feeling all pretty and strutting my ***
He likes a proud woman
Filled up with cinnamon
And sassafras
Women blossom
Around him
He’s surely a worker bee
I feel my bud opening
Awaiting him to lay some work on me

I am the surprise
That appeared before your eyes
Surprises are scary
Chaotic
Addictive narcotic
It’s probably wise
To avoid the surprise

You are all of what Disney didn’t show me
On who a prince could be

I know I am special enough
To be loved by a man like you

I wish to see
A poem written from you to me
But would never ask
Maybe it’s best if I see
All poems as about me
Such a narcissistic task
But for every reader who identifies
The poem is about them, too
Personally, I’ve seen
Plenty of poetry
That could have been from you to me
In that it brought you to my mind
From wherever you are
And poetry responds in kind
To you, I’m sure
And then I meet somebody new
And somehow that poem
Becomes
About him, too

Currently
I stay attached to thee
Perhaps because you let me be
You do not discourage me
Which I perceive optimistically
But it could be true
That you simply don’t care
Or you’re completely unaware
Or maybe I disgust you
What’s a girl supposed to do
With no idea what is true
And “could be”
Maybe
Vague and shady
Glimmers of crazy
When not a no
Perceived as a maybe

The desert does not care how thirsty I be
The sun shines on me
Remotely
But I still be
Kissed warmly
By his beautiful heat
Even if I’m thirsty
I stand beneath he
Sweating freely
Hoarse voice
Still speaks

Fresh cake batter
Made from scratch
You are the spoon
To lick
Temptations tease
Of the feast to come
But spoon to lick
There’s only one

You didn’t steal my heart
But you made it work real hard
Beating intensely
Swelling up so immensely
And all of those flutters and skips
Who woulda thought
A heart could do flips?  
Beautiful, smart, artistic man
You’ve never been part of the plan
Suddenly there you are
Or are you here?
Who knows?
But I’d go anywhere
My heart don’t want to hear
That I’d be willing to walk right there
I know I can think it all I want
And my heart will never know
It’s caused me lots of pain
That my heart never listens to my brain

It doesn’t have to be
Between me and anybody
I got plenty of friends and family
And the water falls out of my tub faucet at the perfect speed
Whatever the thing between you and me
Maybe something, or nothing, or forever “we’ll see”
You’re not here
And I’m still complete
Maybe as much as I’m ever gonna be
But that’s OK; I’m happy with me
Completely incomplete
There is nothing from you that I need
It just seems
You could take me to my dreams
And who knows what that trip could do for you?
You might find out you’re dreaming too

Absence is a non-violent
Rejection that is
Extremely painful
Torture endured
Often by people who never say “ouch”
Admission that one’s absence is painful
Feels like breaking off a piece of
My inner self
And saying “hold this, please.”
Too much pressure to put on anybody
To let them know how much they effect me
So I anxiously await their return
Silently
Pretending I’m ok
With them going away

Excuse me,
Lady online
I’m playing Scrabble with
You are obviously not some mortal being
But a person who has ESP
Using your power
In scrabble to beat me
Or at least, throw me off of my game
Every time I’ve got the
Perfect move
You take my space
That I didn’t get the chance to take
And I appreciate that’s how you win the game, and beat the crowd
But psychic powers shouldn’t be allowed

There he goes
Looking all fine
Natural and easy
Wearing that beautiful smile
There ain’t no gum or no patch
No anonymous meetings
Either
He’s a dream weaver
This is gonna have to be a cold turkey
Quit
How long will it take me to get over it?

It used to be
When he said the word “baby,”
I thought he was talking about me

And so it begins
The social media
Farce fake friendship
Between
Myself and a relative
Who cannot agree
On ANYTHING
Aside from the fact
We both pretend
With great patience and tact
We don’t dislike each other
Immensely
The problem is her
But also me
We just grate against each other
Painfully
But that is kept privately
And we smile
And put on the fake friendship show
In front of everybody

Mother Nature
Eternal muse
Doesn’t aim to please
She just does how she do
Appreciated by all
From humans to fleas

I wanna tickle him in his happy place
Put a big smile on his face
**** him up til he is spent
Make him wonder where his inhibitions went
Bring him to the brink
And all that he can think
Is jumping over the ledge
Trembling there, at the edge
And then I set him free
Into the realm of ecstasy
That is where he’ll be
Whenever he gets under me

The one I still  think about
The one I loved the most
Was the one who challenged me
And that's why we can't be together
He still has songs on my
Playlist Though

It’s not as dramatic as I make it sound
I’m not broken, or damaged, or bound
I was hoping he would come around
But he didn’t
And that’s ok
I am still happy
His reaction
(Or lack of it)
Honestly
Has nothing to do with me
Or maybe it’s all my fault
But ultimately
I can accept finality
And though I should be bummed out
I feel kind of relieved
It’s better to know
One way, or the other
Than to delude in a pipe dream
I gave it my best try
One day
I’m gonna read this poetry
And think
“Who was that guy?”

Gender fluid
Poetry
As much as anything can be
Countless times I’ve
An image in my mind
Of who the poet could be
And the true image
Is completely different
From what I used to see
But the perception of the inside who
Is close to true

They call her “**** tease”
Because she is flirtatious
For two seconds
Without wanting
A night long commitment
Supposedly
It’s her fault that they
Got their *****
Ahead of reality
“I was thinking with the little head”
They say
To excuse stupidity
But somehow she
Bears some responsibility

You’re always trying too hard
Laughing the loudest
Celebrating the most vigorously
And wailing at sad times
Almost inappropriately
You must feel something true
Under all that bravado
It’s a backwards way
Of not letting the real you show
Often the biggest feelings we see
Are just a smoke screen
For no feelings at all

My ego is such  
That I don’t let much
Bring me down
Or make me boo hoo
If you block me
I feel sorry for you
You’re the one missing out
On all my cool

I know it when I see it
Trust my own voice
Which means also
Trusting you
Slowly
Slower
Maybe
Fortunate signs
As read by a skeptic

This is me
Again
Offering the rare and exotic
Five million in a lifetime
Opportunity
To talk to me
By tomorrow
It’ll be five million and three

Loss
The greatest teacher of all
You can’t learn to walk
Without learning to fall
Nobody great
Scores every play
Success surely has a cost
Paid in advance through loss

She was searching out drama
And wanted to pretend
I did something to offend
Not sure why
But it would seem
She searched out a beef
With specifically me
And so she imagined it to be
I’d behaved offensively
And with a few twists on the real story
She created a fantasy
That she seemed to really believe
In which I apparently
Did her *****
And now she’s gone from my vicinity
No hard feelings on my part, really
Good luck to her, but stay the Hell away
From me

I’m gonna come into your winter
Like a desert storm
I’ll get you wet
But I’ll keep you warm.

Sometimes I wish for the chance to be great
Some opportunity where I can test my metal
And find my fate
If it’s gonna come
It’s coming late
Maybe the problem is
That I wait
Whoever waited
To be great?  
Nobody you’ve heard of, I’m sure
The suggestion, itself, is absurd

Tease me out a sweet sip
Put me on my knees
Let me lap
Lazily
Little strokes
Here and there
Let me tingle you
Entice your skin to give it’s dew
And perk your pores up
All anew

We are done
You ain’t the one
My vision was skewed
But this is not news to you
I tried too hard
Or not hard enough
But that is irrelevant
I still took so much away from it
Maybe more than I gave
Thank you for the inspiration
Thank you for being my muse
Gratitude is what I feel for you
At this moment of truth

Life be wild and tangle
Brambles and bush
Burrs and slimy things
And falling on your ****
Life may be an adventure
Sometimes arduous
Other times
Full of glee
They say life is what you make of it
But why is it so **** reliant upon
Decisions we make when we’re teens?
For most of us
Life is decided
Before we are born
By whom our souls are entrusted to
Lots of people get children
Unprepared
With no idea what to do
Life is not what we make of it
It’s out of our control
Just something we tell ourselves
So we can pretend we know
How and why the turns of fate
Favor some, and deny others
It has nothing to do with
What we deserve
But what our parents have earned
Our fathers and our mothers