the sun has returned me to safety
infinite shadows had haunted me
poetry and verbosity
the lack of intuition is an atrocity
i wish it did not bother me but it does
smudge the altar
tug on your t-shirt
and wear this shawl around your neck
it will protect you from the wolves
your dampness deflected
those radioactive isotopes
this pimple on my nose
those feelings i disowned
what a sad sad poem
so remove those spectacles
and place them on your nightstand
the moment is at hand to face our fragile faults
so many more than i had hoped
i am frustrated by this relationship
i no longer want to placate the truth
i demand emancipation now
so remove those chains
free is my soul
no more shall i be controlled or contained
neither enslaved nor bound to your person
make way i will find my own path
out of this darkness
stand back and let me walk
proud and tall i am skilled at maneuvering
its futile to try and restrain me
simply watch as i walk out the door
no more tiny compromises
i shall own my soul and my destiny
i awake from this dream of entrapment
palaces of anguish topple to the ground
the earth is awash with flames
if we were heroes we’d get on our horses
and roam the countryside
these lack of rhymes are so refreshing
from now on i will be expressing
my truth only in prose

looking out through a sea of disenchantment
her heart is breaking and his breath is labored
she cries softly into the ear of night
and though night whispers that everything will be alright
in this moment all is lost and nothing gained
all is a cost and nothing is the same
the piercing point has hit its mark
and our sky has grown bitter and dark
as justice requires virtue and courage
our faith is kindled solely by our spirit

I often think in metaphors of war
Like Rwandan gun shots
And the unceasing ululations of our ancestors
We are sometimes mistaken for our actions
Like pacts of night-time comfort  
Made between black and white lovers
Or packs of rubbers and grief lost in a garden
We forgot that the fountain's hands had once been held
And gods had taught humans to dance on this patch of dirt
There was a time when your eyes looked so promising
That even I considered pondering momentarily
That something divine might exist in me
If only once more we could feel the stars speaking

My song slips from my heart into the words on this paper
You start to unfurl them like threads curling around your ego
Dreams drift from pages into eyelids
Taking their time to remind us
That we are all just impermanent visitors here
We enter and rise to the sound of a fire burning
Turning morning into night and lightning into thunder
In slumber we shudder at the angels that take no prisoners
Gifts and poison all have their reasons
As everything is a part of every other being

For I am only a coriander seed
Would it be appropriate of me
To believe contradictorily
That what is appropriate
Appropriation must agree
If after all a waterfall falls
And the sound resounds
Until it's still, echoing
Within and all around me

why do we pontificate to the point of no return
if language is a bridge than i wish to toss you over the railing
and what if i did
would you despise me or be grateful
are we certain that we are angels
or perhaps we came about by accident
our opposable articulations mere artifacts of evolution
and would you be opposed to me
knowing your other names
forever shaming each other
for the ways that we are the same

same language
same bodies
same insecurities
same feelings
same meanings

if it comes apart at the seams this fast
it likely wasn’t that great anyway
so let it rip all this cheaply made *******
that is everywhere these days
made by hands who no longer care
and so our hearts no longer dare
to expand for fear of breaking
quicker than they are meant to
yet tearing a muscle may be necessary
at certain moments in our lives
we must stretch ourselves beyond comfort
though this elastic is not a fabric i'd want to overdo
lest it lose its grip and we slip into oblivion
i realize how easy it is to come undone
before you are ready to be baked in the sun
your feet are already out the door on the run
and according to you sun-bathing is now poisonous too
groins are now saving themselves for their own fingers
while it lingers all this saltiness and morning dew
on our lips the whispered promises
that quickly defeat their own existence
we are ultimately just muscles of impermanence
and your burning tendons rustle like falling leaves
and crinkle like paper made from the same trees
that we used to breathe, so try and find comfort in me
i am still seeking to make my own meanings
from the things that i cannot reach
so teach me all about love
while forensic psychologists wear gloves
and shove lightning rods and jumper cables
intermittently into your mittens
the levers that undress your needs and desires
for kefir and and candy
just a minute please, we all really need to grieve
while the next stop this bus makes is for brandy
still you are as blue as the hue of an amphetamine
if its true that in sentences we weave allegory and meaning
less we digress into a new substance
the chest holds a vision of the future
a culture of vultures searching for carrion
upon forgotten islands of furniture
stand back and let them attack
those empty nests are gifts to be undressed
as quickly as you can and they will remain standing
for as long as you try to impress them

We are making amends for the ways
We dissected our reality
It's a tragedy that the objectification of objects
Leads to a such a Complex Elegance:
In praise of all these isolated sediments
Sorely perplexed at our own self-vehemence

There are stars that we can never hide from
What we look upon shall see us as we are
What remains to be said
Is that the love in your head is blessed
And we have tried our best to find a nest
Despite the tides and strides of men
We are only half represented
By the songs of our fathers
And the names that we've made from them
Could only ever give you
Representations of our nakedness
So who's to blame you, certainly not I
If you choose to fade quite readily
Into nets of safety and obscurity, instead

You are a diamond made from dirt, stars and time
I am an island made from music, song and rhyme

We are carbon copies made from lust, kisses, and poppies
Nature is a lyre strung from everything in sight

God is a voice seen, heard, and known at once
Goddess is a feeling that echoes three times in our blood

Trust is a poem that is best spoken, read, or heard
Love is an open book with nothing left to hide

Illustrated by isolated breaths,
The math teacher denies his duty.

It's invigorating
Like the sound
Of oil frying in a pan
We are on fire
All of us
Tonight and forever
We have heaven in our spines
And can resume flying
Any time we’d like to
Remember who you are
It's now or never
For feathers are embers
Of the Sun
That have become
Flaming wings
To bring you
Back to eternity
We seek beings and virtues
Not material things
Money and fame
Are but arrows
Guiding us forward
On our path
We alone trust
The breath of god
And the space
Of kindness embodied
In the gentle touch
And melodic laughter
That resonates between
A lover and beloved

Ageless angels
Won’t live forever
Despite the fables
And the myths
We are equipped
With unstable bodies
And invisible images
Longing to become
Meaningful secrets
Sealed within our lips

It relates to nothing, yet it all comes down to this,
If something cannot be spoken, it's probably worthless.

Let's become sweet
As the last drop
Of honey in your coffee
I held her fast to me
And at last she was mine
Or at least until we parted
For then we were diverted
Like opportunities left untaken
And roads left untraveled
We were particles of light
Refracted in a forest

Whatever enrages you, can also save you.
These fragmented fingers,
long to bring the dawn to you.

Whatever you keep bottled up,
is more than likely to erupt.
Volcanic explosions are not enough.

You, who think that everyone has forgotten you.
Yes, you.
You, who believes that you are not worthy
of love or companionship.
You are enough, exactly as you are.

sentience implies you have the ability to feel and sense
can we test the hypothesis that we are anything less than this
semantics overrun our mind’s programs
stop the schedule of thoughts and immerse yourself in a sabbatical
from self governance and defiance
simply deny it any power over you
choose to face the unknown with a smile and kind demeanor
see the world to be a reflection of your own inner theater
steer clear of madness for it wants to be nearer to your soul than you should let it
lean back and relax
our children’s children are making contact through the arctic summer
articulating the precise moment that we will remember our yearning
for dialects undiluted by time’s vinegar
simple as honey on a sunny afternoon
i see the moon rise above the mountains
a statue in the square above the fountain
shadows of hummingbirds barely leave a trace
of the graceful feathers that massage the air
slices of moonlight cut through the fog
hours of darkness become our hearts
shattered silhouettes
stiff as logs
splinters of freedom longing for open arms
and i suspect that i've seduced one too many hearts

When your lover has abandoned you
There are infinite limitations
Towards making any headway against
The empty pages of your solitude and turmoil
They take for granted the lanterns
That you've rubbed and polished
With magnanimous piles of spit and silliness
Over a thousand lifetimes you've attempted
To mend your tired and divided mind
With the deepest respect
For the old magic and it's capacity
To transform being into beauty
And anger into humility
When otherwise we'd all be nothing more
Than a few unpolished pearls
Desperately cast before life's eroding shoreline
Still we were shunned for our silences
And warned not to run or there'd be violence
So we drifted into sinister desperation
And underlying our vacations
In the dirtiest of places
(imagine FL or Las Vegas)
Was the collective memory
Of a disheveled old kitchen
That felt like it was the safest place
That you had ever been to

Bees fly in the periphery of my vision
Friends smoke DMT
To get higher than their prisons
Perhaps there are no solutions at all
There is nothing to solve
And language probably can’t fix it
It will all dissolve
Eventually
So just relax and appreciate
The beauty that awaits you
For all the pain
There is perhaps an equal amount of virtue
Concrete forms
May take the world by storm
But they do nothing to tempt me
For once you see truth all becomes relative
And if everything is changing
Then we must learn to change too
I have a mission
It's been here since the beginning
If i finish it i will leave blissfully
All's well that is tended to
All is safe in the space of love
So come reach for my heart
All is a part of the whole Earth
And we are beyond your control
And punishment never seems to works too well
See the moon light up the night
Feel these words become a rope
And climb them
Spend time in the water
Keep your mind free from drama
Love is a head of lettuce
Waiting for you to pull it from the wet earth
Don’t curse the land that you stand on
When you don't know what you stand for
Are we furniture or appliances
Are we murdered by our silences
Confide in the smiling arrow
Break out of the cage of harrowed thoughts
You meander timelessly upon wild prairies
And dance wildly in the wind
Images precede words
Symbols are not the signified
We are absolved of our faults
And tossed into the forest alone

Too much order is the infrastructure of disaster.

Everything in life is colored by your feelings about it..

No exceptions
Your feelings color everything
Everything is colored by feelings
Colorful feelings
The color of everything
Feeling colors
Everything

That's all...

Oh and she swore that she saw
a ghost wearing a grey overcoat
two sizes too big with a red
scarf wrapped around its throat

Life is a complacent ***** grinder
Love is like the fingers that linger on your shoulder
While you wade through treacherous waters
I love to embrace the taste of honey
On your milk-chocolate coated tongue
We listen to the young and the dying
Who are crying out in accented whispers
That love is like a candlelit river
Finding smooth surfaces to dance upon
Its true that making love is a gamble
That's why we remain intangible
Despite the changing tides and winds
Please listen closely because life is not a given
We may be two shimmering bodies
But beauty is often wasted on the living
And you were always following the money
Until you found that comfort became a burden
And somebody else took your place
In the middle of the picture frame on the mantle
But who takes your temperature
Until your last breath and when you’re dying
I remain unperturbed by demons and diamonds
Love is a resilient supply chain
Come cuddle me here in the ethers
Whenever you are hard of hearing
Love is really far away despite its reaching
But tonight I can see the stars throughout your fingers
Lovers are always found without a compass
They're out cruising for a little beauty and some violence
We lost the need to believe in the sacredness of Spring
The moment we became feathers in the wind
And you never know what you'll find lying in the gutter
Until you roll up your sleeves and dig a little deeper

We are alienated by our namesakes
Yet we can’t complain about our problems
We make mistakes and if it's painful, maybe
One day, we'll learn another way to say I'm sorry

Which way are your stories pointing?
What direction are these symbols guiding you?
Where is the unconscious leading you today?

I don’t want to write poetry tonight
I don’t want to speak of your beauty
Or how the dawn sips your words like wine
I hate the light tonight and wish to abscond
Only with the darkness
For I am unfathomably angry
That there can be no more justice
As there is nothing left in our hearts
I can speak only cruelly of you
As if to stab at your tender flesh
We are each lost in our intellects
And I’d gladly give you back your gifts
If I’d known this love would be so quick to end

We are among the unlucky ones
Abundant silence siphons your soul
In slow-motion we roll on the pavement
Making snow-angels on the concrete
The heat of day gives way to icy treats
We buy them with money from your pocketbook
You are confused by this corruption
Its controlling our moods and our mouths
Until we see sparrows come out of them
I am half asleep in your window sill
Please shut me out and i’ll return with music and vinegar
We are the rolling hips of Elvis’ illegitimate children
You shook me to my soul until i needed a vacation
We are all born chasing spiders
Into the heartbeat of deceit's oblivion

all through the day and night
vision grows and pushes darkness away
light the candle by your bed
dream for love is all around
be steady and still
move not a muscle
nor a hair upon your head
remove the bundles that you’ve tied
and allow this medicine
to uncover your visions
fragile as a mouse’s child
sweet servant of the goddess
sweat with your heart
wearing shepherds on your breast
like a badge of honor
threats of Daphne
stones of emerald
i feel beauty breaking
i long for threadbare scarves
and blankets
to cover our hearts
in starlit fields
the music of remembering
through the night you held my shoulder
and forgot the words
that were heavier than boulders
its been beyond forever now
so do as much as you can
to receive the blessing of this land
if we revisit our wasted past
sand castles will stand up
for their last bow
their final overture
so many swords kept uncovered
in dusty roads
the words fell down like rain
asleep in gutters
and sad like shutters
closed against the storm
the true lover must swerve out of the way
whenever the Beloved is heading his way

Of the heart
I lift my words
You lift your skirts
There’s nothing left
Just promises and a pencil
And some empty bottles
You dropped upon the steps

when there is nothing else to do i write
when all the six tastes become one
when the idea of fun loses its meaning
when distraction has no longer won the game against awareness
when every day becomes the same essence

I write:
I write because i am alive
and because i wish to know the empty nature of the mind
i write because life is a story
and i am slowly becoming aware of the plot
i write because the characters are meaningful to me
i write because i am empty of conceptual authority
i write because of the phenomenology of awareness
i write because life is not separate from me

I write because lies and truth often appear the same
if we understand virtue
if we comprehend merit
if we seek enlightenment
then we must share it

it may be blasphemous
it may be unpopular
it may be delicate
it may be oracular

i'll write it anyway

Why was the controversial selfie,
Of a shellfish removed from the internet?

She was nacred.

paper trails and octopuses
***** buses and bisecting angles
fragile dancers fail to tell their story
dreaming is the faculty of insight
a soliloquy of sunlight
sunglasses keep the eyes safe
from burning retina love
still the iris is immolated in lust

I asked, "Could I borrow your angel?"
As I descended into the basement
What would we do without our fantasies
And these ancient archetypal complexes
We have no evidence to the contrary
And no evidence that we could make it
We are like blank checks left at the equator
So please save me a seat at your dinner table
I wish to eat with you and then go to bed
With your lovely wives and daughters
And find the time between affairs
To at least try to stay a little bit creative

Canvases and caverns
Concave inversions
Humid ontologies
Reside in reverse order
It's all imperfect
This i’m certain of
All is becoming
For total recovery
Is but a blind man’s fortune
And a soul is no surgeon
A thousand years later
And still no progress
Worth speaking of
What’s the matter with your heart
Is it a faulty circuit
Or did a fuse blow in the dark
We are all targets of uncertainty
Fallen upon piles of confusion
Still i am grateful
To be ruined by your love

She asked, "What’s worse, bad *** or weak coffee?"
I replied, "I think it depends on whether or not we are married."

Consumers of beauty
Rarely, truly, remind
Each other to breathe

Come connect with your friends
You hesitate to feed the bears
That live within your skin
I tremble and soften
Whenever you mention my name  
We are living prayers made to offer
We are food placed before the fire
Stolen from desire’s palace
Constantly making fools of our enemies
Observing life and all it's folly
Ever flowing into an enchanted river
Give the world it's heavy fate
While we try to remain the least bit tasteful

This is just a sampling of our regrets
To be the best at anything is to protest
That our attachment theories
Are merely empirical strategies
And praxis slips out of my mouth
Like dancing dragons
We climb to the top of Everest
Faster than you can say lightning
Mightier than a sword
Your words stand taller than an evergreen
Pinecones maneuver in the winds of destiny
A painter’s son takes lessons from the master’s failures
Congratulations on lying in your bed again
I befriend the endings so I can begin refreshed
And bed the brides at their commencement ceremonies
How are we so good at pretending
That it's always been alright to ask questions
When we already know better
Than to laugh at these humble representatives
Of our own defenselessness

Accept the arrangements you have agreed to
Why pretend to be disillusioned
By lovers and former relationships
God is both a child and a wild animal
Families demand our participation
Lovers lead by example
We are what’s left of the intangible
I am still a part of your council
Whenever love becomes
Just another past participle

Solitude is virtuous
Visions of the overgrown forests
Ferment in your dreams
I am embodied health
For wealth or for love
We must all shelter our self
Angels and devils and other parties
Are no longer wanted/needed
I'm wandering, wondering
It's a purposeful colorful mess
How we fell down the stairs last night
Complexity ignites you
But its business as usual
In barrooms and bus-stops
Busy waitresses
Fuss with their hair and makeup
To make themselves look good enough
For you to compare them to others
That's why we never trust our lovers
For Eros makes waste
And Psyche is feeling pretty
Lonely these days

A constant state of pain
Doesn't deserve to cover up your sanity
What was made was made
Yet please don’t give in to apathy