Innocence.
Laughter.
Adventure.
Kindness.
Achievement.
Disappoint­ment.
Victory.
Defeat.
Honor.
Strength.
Weakness.
Loneliness.
Con­nection.
Choice.
Paradox.
Change.
Beauty.
Pain.
Compassion.
Anger­.
Courage.
Fear.
Drama.
Joy.
Surrender.
Peace.

All of this is life.
Will you embrace it,
or hide until you meet your most real moment?

fifty-five years of kissing
chores, fights, make-ups
two wars, countless pies
a near-divorce and three beautiful grand kids
what's it all mean, she says
her voice trembling, clinging to life
him next to her, paper-skinned, a deathbed
we're but temporary blips on a cosmic radar, she near cries
and every word burns like cigarettes in his eyes
we may be temporary, but it all adds up, my dear
his voice the strength and wisdom of ten thousand kings
would you never hold a flower,
knowing it would someday be dead?
and amidst an ocean of dreams and regrets
she smiles at his familiar warmth
the last, most alive kiss she ever got in this life.

she lived the perfectly edited life
far removed from winks of fire, or the heartbreaks of ice
believed her worst fears when they told her horrible lies
eyes never daring to drink in the real blue skies
treasured pixels always poke her back
but they'll never give her the hug she really needs
cue a million pictures
neatly ordered and
expertly filtered
curated and staged
perfectly acted
never fully present
always facing just the right angle
bulletproof lips worn as pink armor
clinging to a fairytale told by corporations
that they may grow their monopolies and shares
that she may avoid the awkward moment
when she realizes that
one day
she's truly gonna die
no tweaks
no edits
no retries
just this mysterious message in her inbox
the one you just read
asking two simple questions:
are you awake?
are you ready to try?

Built a crimson dragon out of cardboard boxes and dreams
Welded him with imagination, yarn, and spit at the seams
He always chuckles when I tell him silly stories
And taught me how to truly give and share
I'm the only one that knows
He breathes fire
And farts like thunder in his sleep
I keep his secrets and he keeps mine
Once flew him a million miles on friendship alone
But most of all
When darkness falls
And evil comes creeping and clawing from the black
I know in my heart of hearts
He will always have my back.

Don't think of
Pink elephants.
Don't.
Think.
Of
Pink
Elephants.

we obsess over top speed and delays
when distance should be measured in loneliness
instead of miles
we travel in light and time
a fate both cold and sweet
stuck in orbit
on a lonely blue marble
so we dream
some borrowed, some our own
sometimes regretting
something we should have done
but never did
we watch the news
but just for while
'cause it makes us feel
like
we're a play that was put on
and the director got bored
and threw away the key
another explosion tears flesh apart
and we're reaching for the remote
as high-definition cable
paints their far-away wounds
with bright salty colors
and we get to watch
as our lives happen in the ruins
of our most perfect, innocent selves
some walked away in anger
some never returned
some had a kid
but who's counting
unless it costs money
another candle in the none-the-wiser cake
we bought more beautiful things
maybe to hide the ugly inside
when did we get so afraid
to even look inside?
afraid of what we might see
afraid that there is still good
but that it comes at a price
happy birthday earth
didn't get you a present
it's not yet on sale

I call them mine,
These grains of sand,
On this neat-freak beach.

One for each fleeting thought.

Some black. Some white.
But who am I to say.

I just feel their texture,
Slipping through my fingers.

I fight the current,
Rage against the tide.

Hoping you're just beyond the next wave.

I will stay here,
Stand my ground.

Until I find you,
And your grains will mix with mine.

And we will have,
A most beautiful mess.

i love
i scheme
i was just a bad dream
i'm out of tune
out of whack
i stab myself in the eye with
an imaginary spork
can't find
the real thing
so i do a victory march,
not really pretending
wear my heart on my sleeve,
a faded t-shirt that says
"you shouldn't do that"
afraid to get stabbed in the chest,
i bleed myself dry inside ancient armor
stumble as i wear all five tons of it to bed
can't see
all the deepest scratches are from the claws on the inside
dragons may roam within,
but i'm no knight
rinse
repeat
same story
younger lips
ablaze
until i'm south when i should be facing west
off-axis
off-kilter
can't
make you
wanna stay
so now it's 2 am
and i watch as you ****
the promise of our unborn child with a single stabbing sigh
all because
i'm out of tune
out of whack
i loved
i scheme
i was just your bad dream.

frailty falls upon terror
snowflakes banished from the sky
casualties from a hard forgotten war
still burns my retinas
their softness whispers as they melt
and find death upon my hardened skin
to soon unwritten,
but their love remains of no consequence
i fill my lungs with the fire that gave them life
failing to recall
the hope their tragedy no longer breathes
and lower my utterly spent weapon
weeping on torn, bleeding knees
realizing
there's
nobody left to listen
as i scream.

i'm a leaf blowing in the wind
barely attached to its tree

gravity whispers a return to adventure
doesn't care
i'm still too scared to be free

suddenly
free-falling
tumbling
cosmic causality no longer resists
sets me free

a feather without a bird to feed it
cast aside
new-found freedom is unmistakably mine
but why then
does the earth below grow closer?

i struggle to spread wings
but my shape remains
both tragic and beautiful

free-falling
tumbling
the wind struggles
but can never hope
to carry the likes of me

my eyes no longer capture
the wetness of the sea
birds above more free

stick the landing
surprisingly gentle
i'm on my knees

night too is falling
feel my untold dreams dying
not sure i'm okay
that i'll pull through

a world so alien
new sounds
new scents
a nibble, then a bite
something is tearing me apart

creepy crawlers
fight over me
not sure if they love
or hate me
can't move
can't find a friend

dig deep
find a way to hang on
a way to bend
skin fading
cheeks longer blush with green
no longer like baby spring

the oldest ant notices
his eyes meet mine
tell me in no words
"you only get what you give"

i repeat the words
not sure if they were mine or his
you only get what you give
and like a missing piece that clicks into place
i finally let go
and as if by magic
it's a new dawn
it's a new day

sun's out
a familiar warmth
and i'm a brand new dying leaf
this unknown journey is required
before i return as a fresh blossom
reunited with the love that springs eternal from my tree.

you will yourself into existence
but with every blink of the audience
you disappear
and fade into unseen hurt and despair
your mascara is waterproof
but the tears are real
don't have to pretend
privacy is a recent illusion
now that your name sparkles like champagne
they call you a match made in heaven
but your heaven is a hell made of matches
and moments you stumble are never yours alone
never yours to keep
fickle and written in pixels
your reality is but a fairytale
always ends in loneliness and paralyzing pain
never pretty
and at the flick of a switch
your undying love is unborn
your greatest achievements once again torn
blind money only leads the famous to be poor
and at the end of fruits of labor
stands a firing-squad with imperfect aim
another limb is torn from your once perfect flesh
they could never lend ears to your scarecrow screams
and within moments written as you blink and flash your lashes
you secretly long for the mercy of a ****-shot
maybe through the brainpan
or maybe through the heart
but all that rings out in your diamond decorated ears
are the silent memories of fake explosions
and the echoes of senseless regret
and in the quiet of night
your nightmares paint you atop a throne of broken dreams
beneath a fickle crown forged from your own porcelain skin
see they scraped it off your back when they clipped your wings
and now that their spite fills your veins like poison
it's a fight to the death
poison against poison
the fountain of youth knows no kindness
so you lash out and turn to the promise of a needle
a momentary stab at eternity
and from your fake flat-lining face
springs a fairytale to remember for the ages:
pass over my grave and know this
not eight feet below lies in wait
a smile so eternal
or a frown
depending which way you're facing
but it's mine now
forever
and never again yours
to take.

And thus the ashes
Of your final
Broken heart sigh
Became a verse
Of such beauty
Within a verse
Of such splendor
Within a multiverse
Of such magnificent birth
Within the quiet darkness and glistening bright void
Of youthful spark as it ignites fate's breath anew
Within the promise that starts your breathtaking life all new.

Heart whispers
"Hell yes, just do it!"

Mind screams
"Scary, better not"

I find myself, once again
Simply,
Painfully,
And utterly
Overruled.

Missing out on childhood love is like
Being a kid in a carnival line
Being told the ride is now closed
Because the unicorns are on fire
And the rainbows have gone home.

such funny delight
caught my
sixty year old dad
playing
everybody
backstreet's back
alright!