28

Age is a shirt pulled form the hamper
It hasn’t been there long, yet you can tell
Near perfection masked
By a sign of time gone by
Scars and tears, wrinkles, discoloration
Though you want to pull it off
And iron it but don’t care enough
The small pleasantries become daily routine
In youth one routine is felt
Trick yourself into believing
I struggle against calculated reiteration
Of my days like a rerun cartoon
But somehow the soft caress of it
Calls to me and seems peaceful

27

Wooden floors and man made structures
We build and build
Creating new edifices of new elements
We need to put our place down
By a temperature too hot to be
Handled and it needs to withstand
An environment unknown to this
Structure………
Lets spend more money than half
The families make in a year
To create a slightly different
Type of cement
that is only one atom new
but looks the same

26

Bukowski told me to
He said to keep pushing
Not to look back
And tell it like it is
His words were dirty, like his mind
My mind follows
His sincerity is truth
My sincerity call me lies
So I’ll just read a few more lines quietly
His life spewed out
My piece
Paper confessions to an imaginary priest
How do I repent
Constant smoke, a cool haze
And the taste of energy
I write to get it out

25

A beautiful voice
That one day spoke true
And now that voice has
Disappeared
Gone
Banished for its opinion
Its thoughts
The strength and hope
Once heard
Lost
For the world cannot
Hear what will upset
The gentile place
It has reached
In ignorance

24

Sick dogs fighting in the alley
They have knowledge
They know where to bite
Blood flows and hits the ground
Possessed by rage and
A virus inside
Both bitten once before
Residual memory loss affects
Still both recognize and linger
Now the oly way to kill the
Moment’s pain is to keep
Reaching, bleeding
Maybe one won’t walk away
Is the past like a drug
That can enrage or confuse
Or has affect become a mask

23

Incongruency of live structure
And chemical inbalance
The recognizable subconscious
View of the light that
Makes up life
Like a film we view
Our lives are only
Perception of light and sound
Texture and smell nothing
Nothing has a defined
Or determinate figure
It is only the conjunction
Of description, verbage used
By all that coincides
Descriptions jive so their
Is no doubt
But cosmically somewhere
A moment occurs
When spirit becomes consciously
Aware of physicality
Possibly death for some
Moments of enebriation for others
That become lost
Played down by influence of drugs
And false awareness
Reality is a drag sometimes

22

Free Trade
Trade a chemical necessity for another
One bad, one allowed, one prescription
Another store shelved and labeled with a
Humorus charicature that secretly offends
The dark hides those who accept that the
Soul feeds on depravity and culture
Only when that light reaches them do
We dictate and force our ideals upon them
“No, I can save you…”
Look into a mirror and save yourselves
Self aware should be a motto and description
There is an edge between aware and overly aware
Why? Open your eyes, find out why
People are scared to know themselves
It is a struggle to stay aware
Fight a desire to be numb
Scary and lonely
But right

21

Humbled
7:30 Sunday morning
I pick up a 24 oz. coffee and a sandwich
I make my way to the subway
I haven’t slept
When I get there the train pulls away
Waiting is the only option
I am tired and happy
The only solice I have
Resonates from two large earphones
I finish my sandwich
Just then a homeless man
Reaches into the trash can
He is close
A few more times he passes by
Each is too close for me
I stand to get away, frustrated
Then he approaches and speaks
I ignore him, I am angry
Not because he is angry of offensive
He is sad, he is hungry
He holds a moment then recedes
How happy am I
He is away from me
I can return to my cd player, cell phone, camera
My pumas and my fashion
Thank god I am allowed to be
My angry, cranky, no sleep
World in my hands, twenty-something
White male, in college, middle class
Man of hate
I almost cry
Whomever sits out and looks down
Has just let me know
I am cruel and I have learned

20

There is noise behind me
It is growing and distracting
Mindless conversation
Jumbled words
And music unrecognizable
Is there a thought
I do not regret
One I can let go
I have baggage like no other
Like noise
All around me
Confusing me, scaring me
I wait only for the quiet

19

I think remorsefully of the days
I loved and have now lost
My cycle is to regret these feelings
And just ignore them
Why can’t I just accept and be thankful
I was allowed to love
I have placed the greatest
Value on this intangible thing
I prey for moments like those
Only conceived by mind
Forgetful I am that I have been lucky enough
To use that word more than once in my life
Why can’t I be happy
Why do I dwell
Why have I found it only to lose it?
Maybe a series of loves is how the soul grows
Maybe I made mistakes
The only thing I know for sure
That I do not doubt
Is that I am capable
and I do need to love again

18

Clasped hands and smiles open wide
Protective bubble
Summertime love and protective eyewear
The season of union
Visual cues and subtle scent
Man and animal alike
Off season is over

17

Yellow boundary with a green backdrop
Noise as silence
Pretty pony tails and a large bank account
Letting the danger bake in
Flapping wings with melodic chirps
Happy unpaid true musician
Nature’s canopy in high contrast
For once I’m calm
Driven by the right desire
I remember this feeling
I welcome it

16

Simplify the remedy and the masses will allow
No time for us to decide
Only those with true ability will last past the hour
Forget only that which can hold you back
And that is everything
The mind is a plateau of rectangular shape
With a beginning and an end
Most people stop short of really understanding
Which is the correct color of the sky
Feedback for ears as karma for the soul
The eye yet to open but the mind is awake
Keep living and you will die
Live to die and know eternity
Inspiration is an object, a place, a woman
Rhythmic time or your mind forgets itself
Think about now and tomorrow but not yesterday winding down today I will awake by myself but
I will not be alone
Thank the sun and your heart but do not forget
To keep your eyes open