They found the shattered remains of my head and brain,
scattered around my bed in crystals and in grains,
shining red and white like broken candy canes,
Marked it down as evidence, A to Zed and back again.

Bring me back to breathing, today or tomorrow,
twenty hours of dreaming, nightmares of only sorrow.
Inevitable fall from grace, blood splattered on my face,
but a smile still shining when I turn down second place.

Rip out my changing eyes, I choose to go blind.
So many restless sighs, in this white noise mind.
Rip out my babbling tongue, the messages you will not find,
too many songs unsung, in this white noise mind.

You make the signs and I'll take direction,
keep feeding lines, it only increases infection.
I find my teeth to grind, biting down on affection,
that you tangle and bind, leave it in an unmarked section.

Take my burning ears, they listen far too kind.
So many haunting fears, in this white noise mind.
Take my shaking hands, they're locked and intertwined.
Nothing to understand, in this white noise mind.

I only see bright red stop lights,
they line my way, they trace my nights,
they always stay, don't leave my sight.

So take my silent heart, rib cage is too confined.
Rip all organs apart, leave behind a white noise mind.

You glance upon my skin, to see that it's covered in holes,
and compare them sweetly to only freckles and moles.
But what no one understands is they tunnel straight down to my soul,
and no one realizes the worth of gold in a world of coal.

The sun in arrears,
  its moon in default

With stars in foreclosure,
  the cosmos to halt

All time repossessed,
  the Creator has gone

Awaiting implosion,
—that last singing swan

(Villanova Pennsylvania: May, 2017)

The tides have changed, they rise and fall,
Your ship is trapped inside the sea.
And although mayday is what you must call,
You hope it's answered by anyone but me.

This isn't your first time setting sail,
Holes remain in the bow from the past,
But where nature before would always fail,
The eye of the storm approaches fast.

Your crew has abandoned ship for shore,
Saving their necks as they watch you sink.
And instead of letting me help even the score,
You choose to drown holding the chain to link.

Red skies give sailors a double meaning,
A morning warning or night's delight.
But as your vessel begins careening,
Remember you chose to ignore the light.

Dark dreams
Red streams
Black roses
Humans screams

Mothers fathers
Sons and daughters
Black roses
Human slaughter

Fallen seeds
Hearts bled
Black roses
Soil been fed

the last robot to name its baby.

two smokers
back-to-back
in the high
corn.

the spoonfeeder’s ferris wheel.

litterbug’s
shadow.

“Truth can be told in an instant, forgiveness can be offered spontaneously, but reconciliation is the work of lifetimes and generations.” Krista Tippett*

A healer by trade
The best he ever had
“stitches and backbone” was the operative term
Defender, protector, fan, and motto
Holder of the family tree she stood
A hen pecking out her given order
Tough as nails but a curse with vegetables
Pressure cooked cabbage Yuck! Beets. Yuck!
Good salads though
Dad got me eating green beans
Ma kept ‘em coming
Food, family, fun and memories
That’s all we have for now
That’s all we can ever have
Martinis and memories

my soul
has turned into a house
with leaks in its roof
my words are the raindrops
that fall through
and i
i am trying to catch them all.