Shoulder Of The Road

I’m at the shoulder of the road,

Meters past the vibratory bumps,

Inching towards,

Where the wheels and lamps align,

Sidled up, parallel as can be,

Beside the painted lines,

Under the lamps that hang,

And here,

Where gravel and grass unite

I watch the flash of life speed by

The eyes focus as long as they may,

Until either the darkness overtakes the

Landscape, or another pirates my line of sight

Incomplete Delivery

I’ve never been the problem

But then again, never had the solution,

To solve the misery that ponders us all

I’ve always been another question

In a long line of rhetoric,

an exclamation point in the middle of a hypothesis.

There’ve been times I thought I had the answers

But the easier things are,

The harsher scream the fouls

Watching the sudden twist of a turbine’s gale,

Trysting nautically, amidst a fresh gust of carbonic air,

Fleeting, permissive, derision, dismissing—

A damage plan for the self-defeatist, a manifesto for a never-ender—Sword of promise in disguise, a fury with a roving eye—Assemble NOW the gallery of rogues!

Too often we assimilate with those ravenous chills, elucidating amidst the shiver of a broken dream— a few moments truncated, by grammar, both bent and unrelieved…

Storm-Vein

The sap from the trees—everywhere this morning—the midnight storm did a number—Governor is calling for a state of emergency.

“…What about the vagrants? (Why in God’s good name, are those panhandlers positioning themselves at the forefront of my mind, infiltrating my most personal of personal thoughts)”

“got no idea’r dare, couldn’t care less neither, surprise you be askin’”

         “Yeah, me too”

Scattered everywhere—punctured tires from branches—prematurely broken from their mother’s veins.

“This debris’ all o’er the place, we ain’t doin’ shit today, lets see if we can’t make it to Downunder for a cupla cole ones—God, sure hope’s still dare—hope damage din’t make It that nort”

(in a daze, mesmerized by how a simple storm can alter both the familiar and one's ability to perceive abstractly), “yeah… 

...sure hope not”

Head on over to D'Verse, where Open Link Night is in full swing.

Into The Dark Beyond

As daylight fades into a darkened eve

Time drifts aimlessly—in search of recovery

Distinct varieties of transients and ne’er-do-wells approach, commingling about—a myriad of deceptions adroitly portrayed

Fall into the arms of fireflies

Flutter

Above horizon’s lit

Embrace

The variance in the stars

Blinking

As sapphires glimmer among the endless seas

Reflections

Unveil the minions of tragedy kept

Amidst

A skyline of sundrenched scars

                                         Eyes, once alive, quietly weep

As hours mask what lies beyond, take

Comfort in the sheltering caress of the dawn to come

The rogue’s gallery cannot see you.  Alleviate your fears. You are safe, for there are plenty of those without.

To occupy their gaze is an emanation from within.  The vibrancy of guilt is hereditary and you feel it must be claimed.

You cannot escape yourself. You choose not to. You feel safe amongst a violent sky, despite disgrace consuming whole. 

You kneel atop the moistened earth, hands clasped, eyes aimed high, wondering why you must be such a case.

Yet, after prayers complete, I spy you from my pane, as you live amongst the dark beyond, and crave the night the same.

Soon thereafter I do too.

An Enforcer ( The Affectionate Ends of Sullied Cloth)

His children,

pronouncedly exploding

amidst a carnival

of joviality—

         He spars—daily—

In the pugilistic

cage

of ends-meet grind

At a time much past the dinner hour

he waits, for moments—assembling

what cheer’s left standing

outside his front-door—

Punch-drunk

                                             from corruption,

                                    and it’s bare-knuckled ends

but bruises alone—

         could not damper

         the atmosphere

         within

And to his howling innocents,

         he needn’t pretend—

grinning, as pride returned—

and with each an arm to clasp quite close

         remember, he did,

the many reasons why

                           so hard he tried