the stars, the sea, and sleep.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Seasoned Lungs

Throwing my shells into the sand
I go.
Basking in the sun's final glow
Mindful of rocks
Without shoes or socks
I go.
My eyes on the breakers
The green sailor takers
Breaking the waves
And calling to knaves,
"Come home!"

What a welcoming shore
Though the pace has got my ankles sore.
Its foreign salt forms above me lips
And salt and sweat fall to my hips

My burning lungs
Compliment a setting sun
That hides from my eyes
As I try to keep up my stride...

Buoyant Constellations

For once I can attest
From sight of my eyes
That hour oceans reflect
To make stars in the sky
The lights that we see
On Orion's great hip
Are mirrored from oil rigs,
Light houses and ships...

But the lights from my hopes
That burn ever bright
Reflect in the seas
That reflect in the skies
It is on hope alone
That we all do feed
It's sometimes what you want
But what you always need

It's the rush in your head
And the fear in your heart
Like kissing the lips
Of crashing waves in the dark.

Monday, December 29, 2008

My Green House

In my green house,
I'm the greenest of green
My phone books are blank
So I can save ink
That would drip from the pages
And into the sink
That would flow to the sea
And kill manatees
Which would sadden sea things
And make them all cry
And in turn would make
Our sea level rise...
So I guess without contacts
I'm saving us all,
But how could I tell you
Without making a call?

Well in my green house
We never do speak
Noise pollution is dirty
And greeness we seek
So I'll shut myself up
And give you this post
So I can fulfill my role
As the greenest of ghosts.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

The Unequal Distribution of the Yellow Prison Solstice

The sun projects bars with the blinds in my room
Waking me, trapped in silence consumed.
I ask the sun, "What does the day have in store?"
He says, "Un-oiled doors and creaky wood floors."
And by that moment, I knew he had won
But let me tell you how it all had begun:

I challenged the sky and its selfish views
I told them to untie the knots in my shoes
"No you're not so blue and you haven't a clue
So let me tell you what you never knew:
Give me sentinels that man my doors
That squeak in the hinges and cold hallway floors,
Give me shadows that will darken my walls
Of black and relentless wrought iron bars,
Give me all this, if there's truth in your call
That I'll only find balance once I've taken the fall."

But Soleil's slow set was one I would regret
When it spread to the skies and blinded my eyes,
My irises melted by him, the great sun,
The heliocentric and cancerous one.

Doughboy

The bakers kneads my stomach into knotted dough
His demons walk my footsteps wherever I go
Biting at my heels
Restricting me to sight
Of what I really want to feel
So close it almost feels real

Instead he throws me into the oven
And the fires he fans
Patty cake, patty cake,
Baker's man,
Bake me to death as fast as you can.

But no,
You keep it slow...
Until the welts start to melt
And the boils begin to blow.
I'll only crumble in your hand, cold as the snow
And you'll throw me into the kiln's orange glow.

Friday, December 26, 2008

A Christian Ghost Town

It was one of those days I couldn't sleep in
I was rudely awoken by the drop of a pin
A mom tells her child, "Inside you must stay.
It's kind to give time for the tumbleweed's play."
All stores are closed
And a great silence falls
Everything has been bought
From the markets and malls

Cars sleep in their cells
And single Jingle Bells
Honking the seasonal tune
With bows on their hoods
And trunks filled with goods
With fashions as hot as mid-June
The housewives will squeal
And their cheating will yield
Until husbands foresee the gloom:
Tomorrow is near
And the water's not clear
The pool boy will be coming soon...

There's a sickness outside!
It's called Christmas cheer
And it fell down your chimneys
And got in your beers
It got in the cookies
You left for Saint Nick
And now whole the world
Is all Christmas-sick.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Cross My Heart, Hope To Die

I've got my envy.
Cut me and I'll bleed green
Saying things I never mean
These bloodied hands will never clean
Tainting waters once pristine

I've got my hate.
Raising guns to set things straight
Always saying it's too late
Exit wounds decide your fate
A bullet for the magistrate

I've got my greed.
Wanting things I never need
To my decry you must take heed
Sit yourself down, I'll take the lead
Until my sweat begins to bead

I've got my lust.
The smoothest brush
The softest touch
The lightest hush
A situation clutch

This is far too much.

I've got my wood and nails
And I sleep inside of this machine.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Dropping Babies On Their Heads

There's a stranger in my car.
He looked in my side view mirror
And called me his friend,
So drive.

I drove on the tracks
And put my seat back
And let out a heavy sigh,
I stared into the night
Adorned with red lights
Ready to speak if I must die:

You're lost in your addiction
And frankly,
You're not making this transition
Any better.
Now there's the door
So please excuse me
While I sweep my heart off the floor.

Twelve Days of Christmakwanzukkah

On the Monday of winter break
My true friends gave to me:

Twelve pounds of latkes
Eleven doubled people
Ten fingers freezing
Nine presents wanted
Eight presents not
Seven kinds of apples
Six eventful hours
Five blocks of singing
Four pitches sung
Three different songs
Two barreled shotguns
And a night very well spent.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

White & Red

The last gas is burnt
And the engines stall
I, the captain, announce
Our state of free fall.
Please fasten all seat belts
And return all trays
To their upright positions.
Once burning ambitions
Are now exhausted
Tired
From feeding insatiable fire
Triggered by the tripwire
On which I stumbled.
Ashes, ashes,
We all fall down.

Below they turn to channel five
Weather forecast for those still alive:
"Stay indoors for unheard of sleet;
Propellers and luggage and empty seats."

I just wanted to paint the town red
But what once was encased in my ribs
Is now dead.

3,2,1, impact.
...I'm a heartless son of a bitch.

Cold Hands

Moving faster than ever before
Meters, miles, light-years in...
Divide the second by infinity,
Times two.
Now where are you?
Lost in the rush,
The potential to kinetic
A feeling synthetic?
Well the rotational has my head spinning
So let's get close,
Closer,
Closer,
There.
I feel your hair on my cheek:
Fragrant shampoo apple sweet,
Here are yours and here are mine
On our fingers we balance
This moment in time.
Fragile, fragile,
Handle with care!
Get to know me as well as you dare.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Endothermic

If the world ever does kneel over and die
I'll have your bright faces to help me get by
Shining smiles that glisten with enamel pure
That shines light back towards the deep azure
Pitting star against star to catch human eye
Comparing their brightness and coloring dye

Because here in our realm lives a different race
That respects the value of human embrace
Two hands that wander, but given good time
Will soon find themselves with fingers entwined
I'm told, "Here, take this smile
And take this warm hug!
Silly boy,
Don't you see that you are so loved?"

Thursday, December 18, 2008

The Anti-Polka-Dot Party

We roast you on your boasts
Like fresh swine caught by the coast
Gagged with an apple
Heaped on a platter
With a sign on its neck reading:
Innocent.

But the language is strange
And we're far too deranged
To keep you from the burning flames.
And all we could do was jeer and jest
As the tears erupted from your hot head
That we put on a spit,
And on it we spat.

So I must admit
That I sang along
With the people who thought
That they knew your song.
We clapped our hands,
And stomped our feet,
And sang out the words
In three different beats.
...But then the music stopped
And the audience stared.

We were wrong all along,
I was wrong all along.

Try to focus...

Coils turn orange and bright
As the hot air softens the night
My collar once frozen stiff
Has melted onto my shoulders:
100% cotton hands
Undo knotted strands
Of tensile muscle and nerve
Until the skeletal locks unlatch,
The calcium creeps,
And the marrow meanders
From the matrices of my bones.

I can never fear heights
For my thoughts fall deep
As I sink into my chair
And slowly fall asleep...

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

New Years in December

Red blood cells rush
From the heart to the head
"Buh-bump!" goes the thump
As my eyes turn red.

But outside of the lens
The light starts to bend
In a shower of smoke and light
The pyrotechnician
Lit the fuse early...
But frankly, I don't mind.
Rockets burst in the sky
As tears burst from her eyes
That she shyly wipes with her hand.
She inhales the smoke
Her one last drag
Holding on to what's left to have...

My childhood.
Don't let it kill you, I'm going to make you proud.

Glove

Accepting new vessels for bloodstreams forlorn,
I hope that the name can keep my fingers warm.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Subways, Stabs, and Bright Yellow Cabs

While I'm planning my life
With dream catchers and sieves,
You're living the life
That I've always wanted to live:
The fumes,
The streets,
The lights and the sleet,
Oh how I'd die for... and from,
A breath of that bitter sweet air
And what a bonus if you were there!
Winter coat and heels,
Trying to hail a cab
And your red nose would wrinkle
As you got a little mad.
You'd twiddle your hair,
Making knots in your locks
In the same way that subway cars pretzel
In a symphony of gnashing iron.
And you'd say,
"Hush, this is my favorite song!"
As I ask you to tell me if this is where I belong...

But now I know your fate is somewhere far away,
So go ahead and say "Good morning!" to your brand New York day.

Moonlight Boomerang

The skies are so clear
You can see nature's skin,
Covered in goosebumps
And mapping out all of her intentions:
The storms and the floods and other cruel inventions.
And tonight, I sneak glances at the stars in the sky.
On the ethereal dance floor
A soft touch brushing by.
Tempt me to coldness
Yearning for that heat.
Head getting hot from the pump and the beat.

Damn you, Father of the Night,
Bedding down with Luna,
Conceiving your wicked child, Lust:
The contact, the friction, the sweat, and the must...
A bastard of bastards,
Oh, your child called "Lust"...
Breath upon breath
Hers upon his,
Following him back to his car
Just so he knows that she isn't so far.
Sensory overload...
But never release.
That insatiable hunger is never put to ease.

This one goes out to everyone who knows
This one goes out to wherever it goes
To those who want lust,
To those who want love,
Hell, this one goes out to all of the above!

And when the tree branches tease,
Their shadows cast by the moon,
Just remember:
It will all come back to you soon,
Very soon.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Slap, Pinky, Smooth, Kiss, Spank.

I'd put on a show for all the ladies and gents
Eat hot chili peppers for only twenty five cents.
I'd walk any distance with tarps on our heads
In torrential downpour, for some Mexican bread.
I'd get stopped by the cops two times in one night
To get tacos in Burbank, always tasting just right.
I'd wreck on my bike thinking, "Heaven or Hell?"
Just to have one more life-changing story to tell...

I'd even taste the blood in my mouth if I could
To relive my youth growing up in the 'hood.
I still know the handshake like we all still should,
D.B.S. for life! Yeah, we know what's good.

Friday, December 12, 2008

I Hope It's Golden...

Down from your hook, you hung your prize
A butcher shop to hungry eyes...
Shining meats of size and shape
From Puget Sound out to the Cape.
You dropped the line and I bit down hard
Bleeding mouth and disregard.
Yet deadly silence held your throat tight
From clicking heart in numbers, so the only light
Came from the clouds soaked in city light glow
And the fresh layer of this Hollywood snow.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

In L.A., it only snows on your TV.

A box of a thousand voices that Pandora left behind
Whispers possibilities that pass through ears right to the mind
And on their breaths I feel the chill of deaf winds and blinded snow
That freeze your sockets in fixed position
And never let you go.
So now I stare into the TV screen,
Teary eyed from static sun,
To see if what I've waited for is finally coming on.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Wanted

Tripping on my laces
Falling through time and space,
Chalk lines dictate a change in state.
Eighteenth out of fifty and then back again
I pucker up my parched lips,
Deflate my lungs and let go:
"I really wish I did... but I just don't know."
The gavel drops and the prosecution stops...
Case closed,
Court dismissed.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Arrhythmia pt. 2

Rush, rush,
It's all a rush!
I can't take oxygen in liquid form
and the air in my veins
Is causing the swelling pains
Inflating my brain and making me lightheaded.
In a mess of blinkers and ran lights,
I'm living life by thirty-second's
12341234123412341234123412341234
DONE. Yeah, there you go!
Sum your life into a series of yes' and no's
Die and take your receipt to Peter's gates.
Wait in the cue,
A sales representative will be with you
Shortly.
And there on your receipt are digits lined in gold
Variations of numbers in a binary code:
Zero, one, zero, zero, one, zero,
One second,
I need some time to think.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Contact

Tomorrow is now today
And for you I must make this one exception:
For you the sun will rise a little earlier.
Stripping my Sunday's best off of my back,
Doomed for the day work nonetheless,
But all in all, for you
Yes, my dear,
For you.

We were runaways, vagabonds,
Looking for sanctuary...
Head West!
It was the gold rush
And you were my precious metal
Ever so precious,
Panned and polished,
Put in my eyes as
Perfection.

So Cal,
So could!
So far,
So good...

It started as a light in my pocket
Keeping my hands warm
But my thoughts even warmer.
And the flashing lights of camera bulbs
Burn spots into my eyes,
Branding lights into the ground,
Branding lights into the sky.
So now the stars dance with sirens
Dance with my retinas
Dance with the thought
Dances with you.
The warmth of your touch...
Yes, keep in touch.

Sanctuary

There is such tragedy in disagreement
And its multitude of degrees.
Here in Louisiana,
In this very state,
You can find ropes dangling
From the topmost balconies
Flags to a confederate history.
They beat our windows at night
Stirring the fright my ancestors once felt
The panes cry as the condensation thickens
And the fresh wounds heat and swell.

But here in this dark ocean
The waves roar, but do not crash.
They soar in unison
The uplifting feathers
Of a caged eagle, painted black.
This is my pride.
This is my place.

Yet we are an error
You find you must white out
O, sweet southern belle
How I love you so dearly,
But this place is not meant for me.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

A Dime Short

It's been a long day.
Fifteen long hours
All yearning for showers
This is power through separation.
The social spiders weave their webs
The heated discussion singes the silk
Sun-bathed and curdled,
Once sweet flowing milk.
So here we are,
This day is done.
Gasp for the sneeze
That never comes.
Cathode rays
To quiet the day
And Bourbon's street lights fade away...

Friday, December 5, 2008

Twenty-Five Francs

Touchdown to the sound of the jazz and good times!
Mardi Gras beads and tequila and lime,
Louisiana friend chicken with an order of fries
Old men make their catcalls with lust in their eyes.

And now we all dance to the swung city beat
Under the bright neon signs of Bourbon street
This city is Atlantis in the right shade of light,
This is way too much right for just the first night...

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Heathens in the Sky

Challenging our God is the jet engines' roar
Cinnabon and tarmac as I open the door.
Challenging our sun is the cabin and fins
Their blasphemous wings lack in beauty of skin...
Hell's angels.
Or Satan himself, searching for the corruptible,
The weak,
Or the seductive and sleek:
LAX is our Eden
Our tower of Babel
We bask in the glory
Of our inventions in travel.

An automated smile in a knit sweater vest
Regurgitates her greetings all over her desk:
Follow these instructions if you're confronted by Death
Calmly grab the hand of the person to your left
And if that may be you, put your hand in the air
Open palms for the god who may not be there!

But you see, I've got this pill...
And I'll be able to close my eyes,
Though losing consciousness, justified.
So New Orleans,
Here I come.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Write Triangles

This
State is
What I aim
To achieve. I'll
Give it a shot, you
Have just got to believe
In me, so self-pitying who
Jumped straight to plan B, But
Proposed by my Jacksonville Gem
A sound middle ground called plan C.
So united we are, in this library we stand
My Floridian friend gave me a helping hand
Taking words off the walls to make reprimand:
I am (no longer) one boy in the dark garden of man.

Monday, December 1, 2008

( ! ) - Due Maintenance

Open up my glory box:
Beeps and boops and ticks and tocks,
Soldered seams and metallic blood streams,
Half-animal and half-machine.

This month it ends and I get release
I'll let my proud tongue rest in peace.
I'll grease the gears and clean my ears,
Shine light on my darkest fears...

It's stuck in fifth and I'm going fast
Future becomes present,
Just as quickly to past.
Roaring engine
Pumping pistons
Prowling the desert
Turning sand into glass.

And now I haven't shaved in days
Growing out my lion's mane
And if curiosity killed the cat,
Then I'll gladly take death
As a matter of fact.

Elastic Time Spent

Time to get back on track,
Bag of books on my back
Snap!
Welcome back, kid.
Try not to crack.