You'll lose me on that winding road;
On the guts of you I choke.
Wrought with knots like gallows' rope,

Your poem is too long.

He don’t wanna love you like I did
He wanna *******
Get you a baby
And give you the American dream

I have never stood accused of a sunny disposition
yellow doesn't linger in my eyes
see the starkness of the darkness
glare at the plastered happiness
smirking

What gives this paint such power?
What warmth is mixed among the chemical reaction?

With in my mind I feel daisy meadows
burning in yellow
petals of white caught in the breeze
shivering stems of green

Banana skin skies
haloed in sunshine kisses
brighten the world
with a joyless disposition

In my room, the walls bleed the same
yellowy and rusty
I'm mocked by an optimistic face
reflecting in the shadow
of my yellow walls

Will the irony fade?

Tick tock tick tock.
"When will my breath stop?"
Apparently not appropriate conversation to make at my family gathering.

The chicken is delightful. Would you give me the recipe? (murmurs of agreement around table)

"I wasn't kidding. I avoid pools, yoga and beautiful people that take my breath away so I don't have to deal with slight fluctuations in my oxygen intake!"

The table was set up perfectly by the kids, don't you think? Granted they forgot the wine glasses! (adults chuckle)

"I can't help but imagine those pillowcases in our chests that expand occasionally, as if rotating fans face them. It's an obsession of mine!"

Oh I think Johnny's about to fall asleep! Is there a guest bed room I can let him rest in? (assistance follows)

"Why won't you listen! When I take off my T-shirts, I count down and gulp the air before pulling the fabrics off, out of fear of being found dead, half-naked due to suffocation."

Oh Laurie I really shouldn't have dessert, I'm trying to watch my weight, but let me help you bring it out? (chattering of women on the way to the kitchen)

"Don't you know that I carry both an oxygen tank and an assortment of plants and trees wherever I go. I insert the tubes or the vines into my nose so that even when I'm gone my lungs may never stop rising."

(speaker dies the next day in car crash)

The words left unspoken
are always harder to stomach
than those which were said.

A loose *****
A torn shoe
Think twice before you paint it blue

Big numbers
Rolling thunder
The waves pull you under

Feeling down
An unhappy clown
A broken king’s crown

Feeling small
Pictures fall
I hate when birds cry their call

Scattered sticks
Magic tricks
Summer always made me sick

So fix that *****
Buy new shoes
And just paint it blue

I love how rain causes
My toes to tingle in
Shivering excitement as my
Flip flops flip, squish, and
Mush their way through the lot.

I love how rain turns
My windshield wipers into
Little syncopated skids that
Squeak like a dog’s new toy.

I love how rain leaves
A resonating glisten on the
Fragile, damp grass,
Causing me to slip as I
Go on to class.

karma is a thing of irony
its wheel can
turn
in the other directions
hour of
burn

be
not
a
fool
be
aware
of
the
change
shown
by
the
spool

the run of the mill team
sought a popularity
tag
and on gaining it were
able to cockily
brag

they'd disposed of
the crowd pleasing
Wolf and Rabbi
this did bring them
a greater share
of the pie

karma will
alter its lot
in the due passage of time
tick tock
              tick tock
                            tick tock
a date marked
with its
paradoxical chime