Sister (for Sinéad)

​Sister, the world is 

burning down outside tonight

A heartbeat left scorned

a flame soaking the fight

and i can’t believe the news 

that’s tolls loud and bright

and also moans softly in 

bluesy soft light

Sister,

theres a heartbeat humming

for the refugee tonight

for the children forged hard in 

anger and spite

for the mothers of lost souls

who strayed from their sights

And your voice 

had ensured there’s still

someone in the fight

and you, were

sullenly 

scornfully

cast aside

and villified 

when you tried 

to cast evil

from shadow 

with light

and then vindicated

when time showed

of course

you were 

right

your empathy anchored 

against hurricanes

your smile a dam cradling 

a river of pain

i was singing your song

the night we learned you had passed

and with the news

it felt far lonelier than the last

and the world held it’s breath 

for a moment it seemed

as the masses stood in reverence in celebration

and  

shame

for you revelled the lashings

that the masses were due

like a biblical cross

or fates card that you drew

indignant and poised 

singing back into their faces

holding firmly to truth

set ablaze in great graces

don’t let the bastards get you down

sister

you bravely stood strong 

against each new tide

nearly unbreakable

but

like a ruperts drop 

struck just right, 

you

desperately

shattered 

from

inside

your

mind

But left a 

white marble statue

      of virtue

           behind

Happy, Or: Whatever…

wrote down the

words

that state 

in fact

i feel

that I get older every year

just like that fucking birdfeeder

in the backyard

weathered wood turning silver

in the blazing sun and dripping rain

barely a touch

of the auburn highlights 

that used to adorn it

golden whatever it is

and years of life shitting 

on the roofline

the  nightfall bright

glean of halcyon

on the edge of a 

dauntingly rusty razor

shadowboxing

the reaper

i stand here

soaked in

so dark at night now

so bright in day

the only relieving balm is the sunsets

in golden hues of salvation

and also still you

your smile

i would pleasantly 

drown in

gladly

unlike 

in the summer

thunder

safe and

happy again

if only 

allowed

for

now

whatever

it

is

Love, or the weariness of fossils

i’m not obsessed

i’m simply enthralled

bowled over and heart akimbo

a life in limbo

forever and a moment at once

that night i lifted you

like moonlight into my life

and i’ve spent years

bathing in that blueness

naked and scared to flinch or move

for fear it would expire

i’m not depressed

i’m just tired

tired from loving you

that’s all to say

you pushed me into the ground

embossed by your love

into the hallowed mud

of history

bound into a 

stony forever

a mark upon the soul

or a flitting light

bursting into the heavens

crushed into stardust

a brief burst of flame

in an endless night

the rapture of your entirety

now living in my blood

and oil

a root into my soil

i will hold you

longer

than the 

earth

held the 

dinosaurs

Door

​There is a door

down a long

white

hallway

lilting ghosts

of linen 

lights

in line

leading lights

from above

drowning

dreamy

down

the long white hall

fits like a glove

down

to the dark door

that waits

for you

infinitely

or until the time

comes

whichever

is

sooner

and we all have

a door

and 

a hall

with white

walls

waiting

and

there

are all of my

creatures

the ones that

have gone

ahead

before

me

and wait

in the white

light

for me

to follow

reunited

again

a brief moment

​A brief moment

a flash in my eye and

for a moment

i pause

a lone man staring

from the cold window

of the factory bathroom

late night

snowing

blustering across

the empty lot below

by the graveyard

a car spins through

 the whitewashed pavement

under the lights

and slides in next to another

the lonely car

in the lot

by the graveyard

they sit in silences

these two cars

one of red

and one of blue

so it feels like you

but seems like two

a lovers tryst?

a night cap capped

or old friends

a day trip

and a stashed device

to get one home…

all alone

in the lot beside the graveyard

Sometimes you have to stop

and take in

life

in the

moment

my reflection

also watching itself

in the glass

watching

the empty lot

by the graveyard

a moment cast

in looking glass

a frozen lake

a freezing evening

they called for a storm watch

but mine were 

already here

lately

I am burning

from loss

and failure

failing health

and failing flailing

that writhes

while falling

i’ve never been this close

to the sharp edge calling

and i work with tools

every day

but not this way

a brief repose

a heart not beating

skipping from the 

longing

for a friends soft breathing

that timed with his

each night and day

now gone away

(in the dark

all cats are grey

but he was not)

Now this parking lot

that rests by graveyard

and i am frozen

in this mundane

ask me not

for what i am grieving

just know that love

has gone away

if in the dark

my hopelessnedd breeding

should grow to monsters

so i’d stay away

i’m in the woods

you cannot reach me

i’m in a moment

i’m in the grey

it won’t be long

for life keeps beating

my footsteps will echo 

the path again

but for a moment

i am frozen 

and the storm watch 

comes to fruition

and i can not come out to play

i’m in my feelings

i’m in this darkness

i’m watching strangers

from the distance

by the graveyard

i’m not here

i’m

not ok

grief is sometimes brief

but sometimes lasts forever

and it hits me like a feather

i will never get over this

lovers / embers / glow

I fell asleep and had a dream
and we were in the old place
the same old place and you had the same old face
wind was knocking knocking loud outside
but it was the same old ride
phone rang and no place to hide
you seemd much better
and i felt much better
but we slide slide slide
and make promises and
promises on fresh kissed lips
until we die
red lips in the static bleached out
wasteland
of the white sheets
in the white room
in the snowscaped windows
evergreen all topped and icy
and the bed in empty room
an empty fireplace staring out
in hopes for fire soon
in hopes the fire is burning
somewhere deep inside the room
but cold bricks sit there smokeless
and the people lay in rest
two people are their memories
two people lie a mess
a mess of married loving
a mess of cords and blood
the heartways cables pumping
entwined with hers in love
a twisted knot of bodies
that find they are in love
but love is cold chains wrapped up
around a worried cage
and i found i was the jester
caught in the acts that bind
that thought we were star crossed lovers
dripping blood all over time
and you hid inside the storied closet
and i was waiting on the line
it was set inside the bedroom
or perhaps cathedral of the flea
cold and snowy
pure and light for miles
flowing curtains
by empty bedsheets
and the little drops of blood
that foretold of how we ended
in the bruised and bloodied flood
like we found ourselves inside a movie
where all the heroes die
but there really are no heroes
just people flawed to the core
and silently wanting so much more
and finding life a bore
until a technicolor nightmare
flashed onto the screen
and the difference is astounding
and the scenery serene
and its deeply crazed and torrid
tho it feels just like a dream
but everything is real about this now
standing in my frozen sweat
there is bright beyond the picture
and running
running
from the threat
And your hair is wet
with something
water tears or mud
or maybe fright and fear and blood
or maybe it’s just tuesday night
and you’re lying in your bed
right next to your sweet lover
with a fever in your head
and you’re thinking of old partners
and your thoughts are soaked in dream
to awaken from the dreamscape
where everything is big
and boldly like the movies
but here instead
a calm
that
lasts
forever
and a 
silence
that 
truly
screams
two people
growing older
drowning in the house
with the cat that sleeps in corners
waiting for the moment
he
pounces
on
a 
mouse
Once again a lion
standing over a fresh kill
after life is still
its still living
in the
quiet
silent

chill