Frost of the Harvest

There is a revelry in the dark clouds of war,
upon the soft soil, drenched in blood
the unlucky ones dwell beneath,
as craven raconteurs spin yarns,
and cull the fog o'er the eyes of reason,
blackened boots cover the land,
one by one, cohesive with the drumbeat,
but not to the heartbeat.

Some cry out to gods in the sky,
others bemoan cruel fate,
yet still the graves remain full,
unwilling containers for the greatest mistake,
man against man on a never-ending
battlefield.

Still, each mourning draws hope - like every breath,
as the gentle winds of change allay cannon-smoke,
the stench of death in the fields of gold, now crimson
in the setting sun,
tilled in those fields,
a lesson in the beginning learned at the end,
in every mind, in every grey storm, in every life lost,
hidden in plain sight,
hope found
even in the frost of the harvest.

Forehead

Brittle as dry paint
faded in the endless sun
sweating on the back porch
waiting on the past
bodies writhing by the hour
it's the middle of day
and the well has gone dry
still we rest together
on diamonds of the beach
and the light shines brightly
pointed towards
restless hearts
the smearing of time
driving us on-wards
flying south like the winter
another ray of sun
piercing the forehead
like a forest fire
the leaves rain
and the dream ends
for another night in the wind
kiss and embrace
and the dawn will shine through
once again.

Soft

Prosperous tones on the sidewalk

in the footsteps, painted upon 

the banners atop granite towers

virtuous slant, in the sunshine

hidden away in sweet smiles

jellied in the roving eyes,

something slightly off-the-cuff

in the rainbow now, a grey dress

and black boots trampling o'er the 

green grass, o'er the calm, golden

like afternoon tea,

slightly bitter, but with more honey

the words come out 

like silk,

and still the cloying music plays

on the street corners, in our homes

a notice of times long past

when world seemed just a bit more

soft.

Lonely Sleeper

Lost again in the lochs of night
buried in dreams
the silence of a lonely sleeper

The fabric of stars plaster the ceiling
as the walls breathe deep
in candlelight's glow

August mists from the next room
and love rises hot like
morning bread

She's in the tub now
lips melted into the glass
tracing her body against the water

An angel drawn upon a dying canvas
delicate fingers enticed the paint
to make holes in the leaves

The rain fell like diamonds that night
pounding like a
nervous heart
throbbing in the ears
to a voice just down the hall

Lies in a bed and frost on the windows
buried in dreams
the silence of a lonely sleeper.

Sliver Moon

I caught a glimpse of her ,
right across the bow
in the lantern's sway,
with eyes like emeralds
shining brightly she called for me
as the ship breathed aflame
twixt the foam and brine
Poseidon's wrath thundered upon the shore
'neath the golden flash of fire
and silver crash of lightning
still she called to me
drawing me ever closer to her
jagged despair
but I knew not!
Her voice was as a summer breeze
gently buzzing like evening crickets
as she took me to her bosom
sinking down to the ocean's ruin
I looked up though the waves one last time
and saw her smiling sweetly
like a sliver moon.

Six Minute Romance

Yearning on the cusp, played on the fronts
dialogue like honey upon the ears
a slight glance perceived
words dance
kissed upon the wind
like ashes melted in the rain
the embers burn white hot
in lustful eyes and rainy days
sweet embraces in Harvest rains
till the moon shines through
darkened clouds
that last cab taken by another six minute
romance
a desperate tongue
and warm skin
the world seems to make sense
under the spell of
red lips
and broken leaves.

Hallows Twist

Surrounded by evening's embrace,

at the apex of the dreary darkness,
tingling around the edges,
reside uneasy musings.

Admire your tormented reflection,
ponder your fates as you melt away,
gazing silent into an infinity of mirrors,
remember each night was the same.

Born out of troubled minds,
and bedeviled by peculiarity,
unsure of your spindly fingers,
grasping always for the light.

Rising suddenly,
eyes searching the shadows,
it's been seen before,
the rage and the sorrow.

Is this still but a dream,
or another night in the
hallows twist?

Buzz in the Hedge

The days roll together
Like the slip of a tongue
Dog days long gone
And harvest moons tell
Of the whiskey sun
Shining in a daze
Late afternoons and deep
Kisses swelter
On the gentle breeze
Your eyes burn like dying
Embers
Alight in the twilight's mist
And my leg is asleep with
The weight in your head
But not for long
For it melts away like
Ice in the heart of hell
Sit with me as the sun dwells
In the hills
The vast horizon
Warms our skin before
The icy fingers
Draw the veil
Once more.

Patience

Forlorn the dusky hew,

atop the rusty hillsides patience waits still,

painting with broad strokes upon the

gold horizon

shimmer on the placid water

sultry stars,

travel across the sands

where flowers bloom in the early Spring,

we huddle together like loaves and fishes

awaiting the flood sure to come

to devour us once again.

Blur

These fingers play
a blur
within the lines they dream
tracing great fire
lines unseen
as figures dance against
the dawn
silhouettes stained on the carpet
with the music as a geyser
the teeth sharpened
it's all
time
reverberating off the past
it's all
I need now
flow
like simple minds
jagged on the canyon
flow on
soft words
intentions
like canvas blank
covered in the blood
one fraction at a time
one step after the other
till the sand runs out.

Back of the Mind

Light settles in

the back of the mind

nestling in the warm leaves

browned like an old orange peel

at the edges we all sit by the 

summer pool sun dancing on 

the ripples on the water like

stolen diamonds we all sit smiling

again in a dream and it's night now

and it's all grown cold as the 

shadows play and the moonlight

fades into the stark terror

as the bodies lay where

we were smiling

it's winter now and the harvest

came and went

left us behind in the wispy mists

in the back of the mind.

Gone

Take me your way, love

not the map askew

where harmonies turn to lust

and intentions turn to dust

Reunion of the bright eyes

twinkling in sunset

those who watch

burying the haste and

Simple-minded views from the edge

Someday we'll choke

now that its gone

we'll come off the rails

where the flowers lay down

Rip out my memories

like fish from a mountain stream

refreshed

over my dead body

Pull

Pull the skin, pull the slats
 It's on the way
  Hazy on the blunt horizon
   Setting us free
     Take a deep breath
       As the raindrops spill
        From the treetops
          Down the staircase
         Cacophonous on a tin can roof                   
        Blinding in the heat
      Binding us unto the wait
    A rainbow in the middle of the night
  Bodies writhing in the void fast as lighting
Chosen desperation, clenched in fetal-like hands


asthesteamrisesupintotheheavensandtheghostspray
fortheraintofilltheiremptysoulsflittingaboutlikecotton
onthewindupupupagainuntilyoucantseeandallthats
leftistheskinandtheashmixedtogetherinthepuddles
atheendofyourdriveway.

Stories

Separate

lines of flesh

dissect the difference

take us away

Meld 

colors intimate

love and hate

like yellow and blue

Entangled unto sticky webs

fleeting glances

ensnared senses

and lost embraces

with a hand on a shapely leg

reconcile half-breaths

soft kisses and sweet lies. 

Broken Ladder

Fleeting, speeding through the blue sky
fingernails ripped up the fabric,
and let the demons through.

Keep your eyes straight ahead,
don't stray from the narrows,
fallen off the edge of the world.

Stay with the pace, rubber legs
sinews afire, joints on loan,
desperately climbing the broken ladder.

Now in the black clouds,
a portent of the dead
where the light is consumed.

Tiny minds sway, under the weight
of broken branches, each a path
like lightning, a parting of the ways.

Come to rest, belay the wind at your back,
plant roots, don't let them go trampled under foot
trampled under the guise sweet intentions trampled
over something in the way, anger and laughter
a late night changing of the mind, confusion
released upon the scorched earth, don't say you'll cry
after the flood of memories subside take them into
your arms,

and watch them fade away, dancing like
the mist resting on your grave.

Hills

Across the polished black stones,

sparkling

like lost stars

in your crescent moon eyes

water pours

in ancient streams

pulsing like

veins squeezed too tight

hands release

and the blood flows again

towards the clouds

settled in the painted hills.

A Short Wait

Wilted flowers bloom in the noonday sun

as dry throats croak,

wanting, needing,

needlessly waiting

for that sliver in the mind

to strike gold


The river takes the fallow heart screaming,

down the raging rapids,

looking for some new sandy shore,

but there's no escape from

the jagged smile

from the rocks below


Climb again to the icy peaks,

while the scarred lands open

before you

like a lovers arms

in the deep of night

still alone in the meadows below


Stay, hunger

deep in the belly

fill the empty spaces

with promise of harvest

lay with me

broken in the sunlight

like crystal plates, shining

in the grass, a spectrum of haste

quiet and still

frozen in time

spinning

while the world

passes us by.

Harm

The lyre burnt asunder
swallowed into laughing clouds
one strum on the heart string
another kiss in summer's love

sing into the warm night
melodies of sweet surrender

lost in the trees
like southern moss

wilted in the morning dew


take another drought
and bare your breasts

late season
read in the leaves
harvests in the frost


and someday you'll understand
the loss

in the senseless phrases tosses on the wind

in the end
you'll know I meant  more good
than harm.

Lucky Number

The darkened robes of fear

enclosed about the bitter realm

there's something in the way -

a quiet thorn in the side

overlooking fractured minds

like a mirror

a lucky number

still numb to the cool wind

flowing over the jagged mountains

like monster's teeth

blood in the sink

a reflection of times gone by

niceties abandoned

drawn out over many words

spewed forth from greedy mouths

still a dagger in the heart

take it in

while the brain twitches

frozen.

The Masthead's Sway

And the rain came down upon the decks

lashing our poor souls to the edge

with wind and hail

the raindrops, raindrops

like shot and canister

raking across the bow

at once the cry came

"she came upon us in a fury!"

said the old boatswain with fast a prayer

and the masthead swayed to the

wind's fateful song

lighting glinting upon

the raindrops, raindrops

two men, one a mate the other our captain

strayed close to the howling seas

taken by hand down to billowy depths

and Poseidon's reign

no words uttered could now be heard

for the thunder crashed like

a thousand spears to a thousand shields

the raindrops, raindrops

suddenly the sirens waned

as the rigging came to me like

gossamer thread

and the sun peered through

clouds asunder

our senses returned but not our captain

forever lost on

storm's tattered black cloak

never to see again in this life

the raindrops, raindrops.

Skinned

Streaming flames

into the deep places

mysteries of the stars

lost on deaf ears

over the light years we

remain trapped

addled in a myriad of lonely

places

let me go, they said

pounding clenched fists and grinding teeth
till the tiny slivers shaved away to the
dry bones and the elastic mind long
gone in the stratosphere
caught on fire in the flowing
stream of flames
our bodies scream silent
lunar hymns!

shivering in the corners

doubt

explodes into the darkness

like a supernova

and you won't see the light

for 100,000 years.

Loops

Strange sounds, locked away in dark corners
the dusty places of the mind, sill waiting
for the morning sun, frozen sinews
keep you, stalk you,
tiny and frail, the silken hands

they bind you, amidst tangled
churning legs, as the damp earth
opens up before you,
and cold wispy shadows
encircle the weary mind,
grasping at your beating heart,
fingernails slowly tracing
the edges of sanity,

it is then that all hope is lost,

absorbed by fear like
a drop of rain in the parched desert,
as they gather round your fire,

icy gazes hang in the air
draped across the
brooding trees, eyes
and mouths greedily

devouring hours into minutes,

seconds to eternity,

as the bell tolls, tolls,

inviting your lost soul to
the feast
again, yet again.

Black and White

In the dead of night,
are you just like me?

Curled up in the depths of dusty shadows
feigning sleep
enough to carry on
the hope to last
one more day
scars dance
upon the edges of
four walls
carved like a message
on a fallen tree

are you just like me?

dreaming in black and white
watching old tv shows
and staying homesick
take my temperature
because it's cold outside

are you just like me?

pretend you know me dear
so I can sleep once again
change the channel for me
and put out the light

In the dead of night,
you're just like me.

Gold Dust Dysfunctional

Come down those ivory stairs,

traipsing along swollen clouds,

upon silver heartstrings,

dying with every step,

raining down on the holiday parade

like a gold dust dysfunctional



Just go away flies,

fear not the simmering cauldron,

when wild animals crowded around you,

retreat back into the wood,

into the shining meadows,

where flesh melts into a new day



Leave behind your possessions,

the ancient groves will take you,

unto the hearth of the earth,

should emptiness strike your glass

I will fill your mind,

like a benediction in the moonlight



Painstakingly sugar-sweet kisses,

decorate the hallways of love,

drawn and quartered by whispers on the wind,

the steeple will fall once more,

replaced again by your lips,

reddened by a stranger's blood


as dawn breaks upon the northern star
we're on our own,
ripping down the tapestry of lies,
clenched fists and empty bellies,
belie the end of innocence

Lilly in the Field

She stands alone in a crowd
Where the lights strobe like fireflies
Resolute assurance, in a burning gaze
Crashing fallow souls, piercing into the night
like a lilly in the field
No gold stars, for her mind is set upon
silver linings
The pounding of many hearts at once
Like drums beating away at cherished fear
Fear of feeling once again
Trembling to the touch, dark Irish eyes
Noting silken cracks in the wall
And the light pours through a
Mirage of lust
Like the wind she exposes time and space,
malevolence rendered
Caught in a web, words shrivel and die
Amidst the sultry dance
She feasts on lies
Spurning water for wine
Holding all regret in the
Back of her mind
Like an avenger
Set upon the world to set us
Free.

Wringing out the Colors

Don't tell me its real
Still you feel it
It's there
Don't tell me you feel it
Just because it's there
Always there

Trapped in glass
A fly on the wall
Just because it's there

We're nowhere
A sunbeam on the table
Like a tangle in your hair

It's something stolen
Don't tell me it's real

It's always the silence
Stirring in the pain
It's all the silence
Feeding you instead
Always in your head

I'm on the shore
Sitting in a chair
A shipwreck
In your eyes
Fallen
In your stead.

Feel it in the rhythm of
Religion's stare
Use it like a nightlight
When your cupboard's bare

In the din of voices around you
Found in the moonlight glare
My hand will melt away
And then you feel it
Just because I'm there.

Innocent

Alone, relection in the mirror, sticken
Back in the depths of time, lost
On the bottom of a lake, frozen

Through the haze of tears I remember
Your name, the one I forgot
Held me through long nights
When did I forget?

Like infinite horizons
Memories flood inwards
Foggy notions, faded laughter
If only there was a way to get back
Home, stolen years of fear
Forgiven in the end
A restless soul, just
Like me
Why leave me here?

Still here, a crumbling
Rock in an old stream
Facing the world
Like some golden fireworks
Dying slowly in the summer sky
Drifting across my young eyes
Unable to sleep again

Alone in a room full of
Friends and lovers
With no counsel
Faith in the past
When the dawn was
New
Imprisoned now
By the beauty of what was
And will never return
Again
Sweet respite like innocence
Wake me in the morn'
As the clock strikes
Last.

One-way Streets

Night stars streaming
In a view from the
Bottom of a glass
Words melting into
Lips stained
And the music
Plays on the
Tip of a tongue
Outside red lights
Dangle on her
Shoulders
Like that other
Man
Swaying to the
lurid beat
Smiling eyes
And empty mouths
Swirling in
An amber embrace
Spinning at once
The world
Released in
Fiery fists
Beating on the
Bathroom stall
While she stalks
Away in the
Early morn'
Just carry me
Home again
After one more
Drink
Tears on the
Golden sun.

Thousand-yard stare

Don't look at me again
That milky skin
And rose of red lips
Cigarette between
Spindly fingers a
Cold collection of
nights gone past
Stills in my mind
It's always the same
Smoke wreathed about
Black eyes stained
Doll arms spread about
Porcelain love
My glasses steamed
By the faucet's time and
last last night's cheap
wine
your body draped about
the old clawfoot tub
rusted away just at the
edges of
imagination
Of you in my arms
While the alarm rings
In a shiny new day
And the bed runs cold
Like blood
And you're still there
That look on your face
And the curve in your back
When I try to wake you
Against the currrent
Her face remains the same
Made a sillouhete by
God's hands
And the sirens's call
Shaken into consciousness
Bleary eyed
Stone
I awoke to death
Just like every mourning
But this was a
Dream.

Call

Feel the icy breeze, from your lips
Numb on the fingers, on the brain
Too cold to cry, yet heart on fire

In the height of sensation
In the depths of despair

Sheets of rain, layered like honey
Filtered thoughts, feast from the mind
Awake on sweaty nights, drenched in pain

On the horizon clouds plush
On the inside clenched fists

Strike hard against the hourglass
Against the wall held up
Up by feelings of hollow joy
Against a wall we can't
Climb up but keep on trying
Like a prisoner of glass
Dying in the afterglow
Take in broken smiles
Din of sullen eyes
Forgotten lust
Say goodbye
My dear.

Sinewy Burnouts (Writer's Block)

Wrenching playing hatred upon the masses
the ghouls and dragons of the mind melting
the one pure thing I had left
grinding my bones into dust
flaying the sacred places of the heart
pounding my way through the glass
windows my brain on fire
can't begin to stop the goddamned music
the same fucking tune played out over and over
again like a stitch in time
like needles in a haystack piercing every finger
every and staining the walls with pleasure
streaking across my vision the lies of everyone
I've ever known, the pain of those I've hurt
senseless anger breaking the dam
and I can't write a fucking thing about it
I can't give birth to the stars
and every frustration is kept there
locked away in a shitty cabinet
locked down in the embers of memory
disparate thoughts chained against the soul
holding me back from the flow
the river of heart
the lake of the mind
change me into ash on the wind
wretched stillness
spent now fallen on the horizon
these words spit out like mothers milk
I know that love will sometimes
change.

Feb. 9th

*Rant Alert* BEEP BEEP BEEP



Goddamn you Republicans, Catholic church, and your little dog too. Shut the fuck up about the contraceptive mandate. What is the matter with you people? How in the hell is making sure that poeple have access to free contraceptives an "assualt on religious freedom"? Your argument is pathetic. The mandate doesn't require anyone to be FORCED into using contraceptives, merely that they be available to those who want them. Stupid sons-of-bitches.

Yeah, it's politically inept of the Obama administration to out this out there for assault in an election year, but come on. Looking at the orange bastard John Boehner railing on the floor of the House yesterday against the mandate made me sick. It's such a stupid issue to raise when we have an economy still in shambles, a war in Afghanistan that we're trying pull a USSR on, and people who can't get affordable health care to save their lives - sometimes quite literally. So Boehner and the rest of you hypocritical fucking political bandwagoners, stop giving me yet another reason to hate you and all organized religion. Just STFU.

Ok. Whew. Rant over. I feel much better now! :-D

Winter Maneuvers

It seemed like soft twilight
and revelations spilt
upon the jaundiced moon
from a crystalline mind
like funeral bells

Comfortably crouched around
the little bonfire
delicately stoking
broken embers
steel-blue glow
buried in the ashes

Unfastened from the stars
icy flakes fell into the
golden inferno
only melting away like
an afternoon shadow's
silent wake

Mercurial dreams spent
warily under summer's gaze
never left his mind
for even in the snow
the sun's die was
cast

August's daze
and the dust's haze
coated dry evening coats
sweet harvest time
a reminder of Winter's
eternal embrace

Here in the glaze of
of frozen peaks
such thoughts seemed
strange
wrapped about his ears
congealed in time

The indelible sting of
the north wind
could never pine away
the cold comfort of
paradise and
Winter maneuvers

They found his footsteps
etched in the snow
a gentle smile and
parchment skin
stretched out for an
evening's nap
in the mid-day sun
like a despot of Spring.

Headstones

Traipsing dizzily across the yellowed
grass, perished under the
noon-day sun, hazily tracing forgotten
names, stacked together like
fallen timbers after an ice storm,
the headstones accept my playful
touch, fingers still ashy from tears
of old statues, baleful in watch
under the mossy tapestry, draping low
gracile tendrils woven
over sturdy oak limbs,
crestfallen beneath the weight
of ruddy sunsets, the stream of time
flows like honeyed wine in
view of a thousand eyes,
forever peering out from
Mother's embrace.