planets collide

Such eyes
such lips
your skin on mine
was like a fire
your breath, your body
was like a furnace
I fell into you
little girl
were you burning for me
 
so many tried
so many failed
you didn't need keys
you didn't even knock
you knew you owned me
from the very beginning
what are you doing now
what conquests have you heaped
on your virgin body
what battles have you won
what percentage have you lost
are you still kind
do you still think of that abrasive,
fucked-up kid who had
too many ideas and too many bones to pick
do you still see him
monumental, ancient, sold-out
I think of you
I keep you in a box marked
"failure" with all the rest

your pieces never fit
you and I were perpetually broken
it's a wonder
you withstood me so long
maybe you were lured
by the same juvenile fantasy
by the same beautiful logic
that makes planets collide

maybe you still feel me
when the moon finds you lonely
or maybe you've won that war
maybe someday you'll remember me
still running in those ancient fields
still sixteen
still trying to beat the devil
still raging
still crying
still making believe
still partial to sad stories
because that's what you'll always be to me.

so much wine (handsome family)

*A Christmas song, Handsome Family style.*

I had nothing to say
on Christmas day
when you threw all your clothes in the snow
when you burnt your hair
knocked over chairs
I just tried to stay out of your way
but when you fell asleep
with blood on your teeth
I got in my car and drove away

listen to me, butterfly,
there's only so much wine
you can drink
in one life
but it will never be enough
to save you from
the bottom of your glass

where the state highway starts
I parked my car
I got out and stared up at the stars
as meteors died and shot cross the sky
I thought about your sad, shining eyes
I came back for my clothes
when the sun finally rose
but you were still passed out on the floor.

leaves of three

The moon is bright
my world is burning
I can see all
I can understand all
the rain is morose
the cold is unkind
the wind is a pestilence
this is Ohio
what did I expect to find?
little girls with little minds
is that what I came here for?
have your fun with me
before I'm done with this
before I'm too old
before the brilliant moon
leaves us all
in the dark again

leaves of three
let it be
my soul is poison
no one in
nothing out
a beautiful facade
a perplexing cage
what a weary end
to a miracle of a man
every word, every action
is guarded
every moment holds promise
that I painstakingly snuff out.  

tomorrow

They say salvation
comes from the hills
but I know
it is in vain
they say the wind
is the voice
of our ancestors
our much-pulverized ground
is sacred, is hallow
our breath is not ours
it was someone else's before
and will be someone else's after
what is truth
if it cannot be measured
is your world
as old as you believe?
aren't we all
just waiting for the fall?
are you like me
searching for the master's hand?

games are fun
life is joy
I don't want to take it away
from anyone
from the day I was born
I never believed
that I could or would belong
you ask me why
I don't take the easy way out
my reply:
a shrug and a smile
this is what you do
when you've been down a while
I had no choice
spat out on this planet
ill-formed and unplanned
broken by so many things
hated by so many
I remain unchanged
still lacking in all the same ways
the boy who couldn't fit
the boy who couldn't sit
I feel the pull of eternity

this damned world insists
that there is nothing greater
than today
but this world needs
more tomorrows.