a smirk and a laugh

I've let too many things
out of my sight
once, I owned the world
once, I created and conquered
but oh,
it feels like so long ago
there is madness in this
insistent failure
pain and bloodstains
follow every step
how can one man endure
such a world of hurt

wickedness is rising in me
my body is wasting
my mind is staggering
I am alone again
with my own poisonous thoughts
girls once tempted
life once beckoned
my thoughts were clean
but not pristine

now I watch and wait
a patient fool
while my world disintegrates
a smirk and a laugh
are all I have left.

silence reigns

Wet pavement
wet eyes
there is nothing but pain
falling from the skies
girls turn into women
boys turn into beasts
no one is left here
but you and me
the heavens are brass
the earth is iron
no one told me anything
I never saw this coming
one into two
and two into the blue
what the hell
happened to you?

wandering stars
wandering eyes
I've been persuaded
and have been
left behind
here I am
more an animal
than a man
waiting for the skies to heal
waiting for tomorrow
waiting for
those wandering stars
to run away distracted
new wine and new song
wait for me
the same old thing
can't keep me here
empty promises
beleaguer the story
endless rhyme
will end in time
wet pavement
wet eyes
midnight
and silence reigns
on the edge of town.

into madness

A once-drowning man
will always extol
the virtues of his saviour
such is my situation
no hyperbole necessary
my life is in peril
every day

what a time to be alive
what turmoil surrounds us
saints and sinners alike
are racing headlong
into madness

wake up, world
slumber no more
what has mesmerized
and blinded you
to the impending collapse?
your skimpy clothes
are no match
for the coming
cold of night

I'm trying to keep
my blessings in front of me
I need a buffer
of hope
I need a reminder
that night
won't last forever.

stone for a pillow

You say
I'm not allowed to walk away
you say
I'll find my place
you say
a lot of suspect things
I'm sorry
little girl
but I've already left you behind
my body
a hateful conveyance
still holds the minimum, the basic parts
whatever is necessary
to keep you fooled

the best and brightest parts of me
stand sighing on Jordan's banks
ready and waiting
permanently fixed on the other side

fifteen years
it's been you and I
suffering fitful contact
standing, sitting, shuffling about
but always waiting and wondering

you say
it's just a matter of time
but I don't believe it anymore
you say
"we all have to go through something"
but I'm pretty sure
something went through  me
you say
"tomorrow is another day"
I know--
that's what I'm afraid of
I am
the worm Jacob
blessed beyond compare
but I just want to go home.

braided

Two trees
trunks like vines
permanently entwined
like legs and arms
wrestling, fighting
sucking from the ground
what nourishment they can
it's you and I
planted too close
needing too much
starving each other
slowly, laboriously

neither can walk away
neither can thrive
pitied by passers-by
envied by the lonely

there is no truth
without you
there is no sky we can't divide
the wind is ours
the rain we share
we will remain like this
a tragic pair.