Journeys

Shadows     Even the wind was somehow hot and thick that June evening. Standing in front of the old bowling alley, my favorite old dirty Misfits t-shirt glued to my back with sweat, the oppressive night air seemed to somehow diminish all thought and reasoning, almost as if these record high temperatures were melting my brain. Finally, after enduring this for hours, I decided that I’d had enough and was going to do something...

Love Remains I’ve heard it said… That even if a man came back from the dead We still wouldn’t listen to a word that he spoke We’d tell stories about him around fire and smoke We’d call him a ghost So we’d haunt ourselves with old memories instead And leave his ghost to grow lonely inside his own head   I once knew a man They cut off his hand Buried it in the African...

There should be a word For the open road   You’ve been tailgating others around This town where you were born An impatient game of pac-man Where you are the hungry ghost   And everything you know of others You learned from their bumper stickers While wondering how the activists And theologians Would ever even see you behind them Through the decades of peeling vinyl Sometimes catchy Sometimes funny Sometimes true But who are they?...

Crunchy Pudding             “I’m so damned hungry.” I mutter to myself which makes me smile just a little bit. Momma used to always ask me why I had conversations with myself. To which I would always smirk and reply “If I want an intelligent answer to my question, why not ask a genius?” I have always been sort of full of myself, even at a young age. Somehow, I could take a problem and create...

The Devil Wins My Tears Once Again   You speak but your eyes tell the truth Deceit and lies spew forth from your mouth Hidden behind the walls of complements Forever speaking but never honestly My pain wells up behind a mask of caring My tears held back for none to see I silently carry the burden of Love Craving only Truth and Honesty from my partner in life I starve for Love’s sweet embrace...

Something so Small   Who ever knew the power in such a tiny thing. Many will claim to come save the day. Many will fall utterly short in that task. Like an Angel on high you came. Dispensing kindness without an ounce of selfishness. Miniscule in size, but massive in Heart. You have the ability to reach into one’s soul and heal them. What once was a broken husk is repaired. Crumbled and rotten is...

I’m untouchable. People think my shadow Has PTSD land mines. They keep their distance, Heads down, Safe behind the line Of yellow Traumatic Hazard Tape. No one wants to get blown to hell. Look what it did to me.   Life gave me chains To wear on my ankles. I broke them and made wind chimes. They sing how the breeze doesn’t blow back But forward. That love always rhymes. I have my storms. Depressions...

A poet walks in and pours himself all over the bar. He looks at every patron near and far. Word after word he brings to bear. Yet not even a single person really seems to care. Yet he refuses to stop and recites some old lyrics. But it is almost as if the patrons can’t hear it. He decides to give a few limericks a chance. But some grumpy old man just spits chaw on...

You sit there hidden away from the world, Sitting against your favorite knobby trunked Willow. Hiding from the hot July Sun with your head on a Burl pillow. Meanwhile participating in epic adventures in far off lands, Touring across the galaxies and exploring unknown desert sands. You have an infinite number of possibilities, The multi-verse of knowledge at your very fingertips, Should you just apply yourself to whatever problem is at hand. The princess desperately...

Sitting inside a dark room, Lighting home-made candles for light. Igniting up a roaring fireplace, Using old papers and wood we found last night. Not for smores or happiness, But for solely warmth alone. Blankets piled on top of blankets, Simply to quiet stifling cold stone. Reading by the fire, Or by using the moonlight. Darkness and the frigid cold, Were my only friends at night. We got the big food stamp box, It’s like...