The tattoo would switch reasons under dreamers eyes
In a hush that caused static while the speaker sighed
I’m alive today he croaks in baritone
Left alone chipping teeth like spines sliding in and out of bone
Pop the socket in place
Don’t want to show the muscle leading to the tables edge a nicely balanced flowered vase
Is the room perhaps a bit drafty in the night?
Can you see the cars parked with snow that piles up outside?
Open up a bit
See what people say
Sprout gold plated wings
Ain’t no feathers that can hold the weight
Speed it up a bit
Rewrite till you break your back
Open up a vein
They’ll just skip the f-ing track
-Sometimes you want that static when
You flip the channels
And think in abstract language painting backdrops
Celery green walls with red lantern focal points
A scene of cold air where steam trails the blacktops
Figures play in fields of vision
Oblivious yet purposeful
And bend the purple light replete
With yellow brimming bursting glow
I’ve skewed the chain link brought in front
And managed to obscure and blur
It’s presence set before me meets
The stretch of my peripheral
But gimme a moment…
Who am I again?
Let’s retrace my path like
Silhouetted dance steps
Shoulder glancing distance
Empath
Misprint
It’s a eulogy
For lost keys
With teeth so crooked
Spent the morning
In the lock up to my shoulder blade
And plastic bags of lunches
Hung from wrists and salutary waves
Could write a thousand words on how compassion made my choices bend
But truth is that there’s little smears of guilt that drip beneath my pen
My wrist is smudged
Hope tomorrow brings another bridge to burn
The weather’s looking promising
But sometimes promise
is a back stabbing pain
your own blade
It don’t get sheathed
It just stays

I’ve got this… fear of success that I’ve drawn the face of failure on
Poor art restoration
Neck beard Christ
Pocket incarnation
Cans of laughter filled with pencils
My image crosses arms
But look down to fingers crossed
Beneath black ties and cracked utensils
If these songs could fill a weighted blanket
Space where nothing lays
Asleep on foam for cushion
Spine that’s never straight
Caffeine headache
Coffee maker broken
Rip the teabag open in the room temp
Dump it out
And watch the tea leaves line the sink
With a wrinkle in my scalp
Where’s my audience?
Wear a nice color
With a mind that knows no peace
Wear a feeding tube
Lose some sizes in your jeans
Lost incisors and your teeth
Lost recipes for foods we’ll never eat
Closed eyes that never sleep
There’s a processing fee
And a fee to not process
It’s a layaway plan
With bed springs flatter than the
Wear in the carpet
Knees with no cartilage
Stacks of books sacrificed for the harvest
Dry wood and burned authors
Broken steps means failed sponsors


I stroked his hair with semi open eyes he never would have let me get that close while he’s alive