ofareitthat

The shade of the room reflects just how he feels
The lights are low as he runs a shaking hand down his face
He can’t see it but there’s a picture on the wall of the heart he broke
Sketched into eyes that look somewhat surprised
And he looks around not for anything in particular
He’s got a head full of thoughts and it’s hot so his shirt’s off
Holdin tight to the cross necklace he usually hides
Polishing up the bricks of the walls he dives behind
Writin’ down lines somewhat autobiographically
Though in fact, he takes each line back automatically
No confession worth sharing when there are doubts to be weighed
Burn dreams like incense to clear the stench of uncertainty
And reminisce for a bit of sun-dried driftwood and time

sense to me than horses

There's a point somewhere
Where all things come together
Even parallel lines, I suppose, must intersect
The universe gets bored of expanding
Twists full around and gives itself
A pat on the back
Or something like that

And anthills, yknow, have a funny way of appearing
Beneath my feet
Then around me
And never, it seems, ahead of me
They're like little dirt ninjas
I turn around
And they've been chasing me all along

The weird thing, therefore,
About unicorns
Is that they make much more
Sense to me than horses
I mean, cows have horns right
Or at least the bulls
And Bambi's dad had antlers
(even though he was a bum who was never there except to look hott for his baby momma's funeral)
Some parts of the year
Male reindeer have antlers
And some parts
Female reindeer have antlers
Which, if I remember, actually means all Santa's reindeer are girls
Is Santa a deer pimp?

I've discovered recently
Another thing I always knew
About myself
I would, in the end,
Prefer honesty to perfection
Or at least uniqueness to perfection
(on my worse days)
I like the asymmetry of real life
I like justice best
But the unfairness of life is beautiful in its own way
And both can exist
Symbiotically

Reverend RIchman

Reverend Richman washes the windows of his car
Till his mask shines bright and he can impress all the lay folk
There’s an old tent revival in the church yard tonight
And he wants to look good when he tells a new old joke


So he puts on the suit that his grandaddy wore
And he polishes his shoes and says a prayer
“Dear God thank you that I’m not like the sinners in this town
And that so far we’ve kept them way out there.”

After the revival where everyone got re-saved
He goes to the radio station and speaks
About corruption in the White House and drunkenness in the home
Which is where he then goes to add more bruises to his wife’s cheeks

His followers are loyal attendees whose ages
Generally skip from sixteen to thirty-five
But Reverend Richman knows the head of the local KKK
And says the elderly parishioners will keep the church alive

I walked into that town just a few months ago
And thought i’d maybe stop by God’s house
But Reverend Richman quickly informed me my God don’t live there no more
And it’s best that I be movin’ on and gettin’ out

He said, boy, we’ve no place for sinners like you
In this here building with these here saints
Their treasure’s in heaven and your heart cares a little too much
For the people down here whose treasure, well...ain’t

So I guess I’m sorry Reverend Richman for not gettin’ it right
I’m sorry I don’t always attend sunday school
Sorry I don’t speak tongues or tithe enough
Sorry I don’t agree with all your rules

Sorry I’m not entertained by your sermons
Sorry I believe Jesus meant what he said
And I guess if you don’t think that he did, well then
Why don’t you take your cross and trade with him instead

Yeah, gee, I’m sorry I’m not addicted to your opium
Sorry I’m not holy enough to wait in your line
I’m gonna go hang out with this homeless prophet I met recently
People call him the son of God and he’s a good friend of mine

There are no words...

Tense

Breathe

Rip

Squeeze

Drip

Blot

Red

Dot

Dark

Hold

Wait

Release

Pain

Repeat

The paper bleeds...

No Good Reason

I will hurt you
It’s only a matter of time
I will desert you
Just get in line
I’m not here for your forgiveness
But I’m ready to apologize
‘Cause I will hurt you
With no good reason why

Heathern

And this is how we fall apart
We'll rush the stage and crash
Right into the lights that blinded our ambitions

And this is where the fun will end
When truth is worth its weight in breathing
Halfway there, we're halfway home

And this is my brain on you
Eclipsing every regret, moment by moment
With your warming smile

And this is the twisting spine
A collapse within my wrenching gut
How much I miss what I can't hold

And this is both sides of a flattened coin
Cooling slow on abandoned train tracks
My heart reaching over like weeds in the wild

apple pie illusionist

where could i find you
where have you gone
i used to walk beside you
we used to be so strong
and fear was a distraction
but it kept me by your side
this desperate interaction
the place where my hopes would hide

but there's no future in the waiting life
regrets are not a friend as loyal as i'd ask
and dreams have come to questions and the waking "why"
as fragile as the glass face of your compass

where did i lose you
and when did i care
i seem now to fall through
this drowning affair
and love was an ambition
that i sought with half my heart
but for lack of true contrition
i don't know where to start

'cause there's no rhyming with words left unsaid
melodies of innocence lost to the monsters in your mind
my past a skeleton i carry on my back to praise the dead
forsaking all delusions of attempts at a better life

that was then
this is now
it will always be

In Hiding

These roads lie
Intertwine and divide
Beneath shifting skylines
Redefining my night time

This sleeplessness
In reckless bliss
And emptiness
Circumventing callouses

A dark embrace
Shadows on her face
From a distant place
Unknown to retrace

What I wish is a dream
No one knows what I mean
I'll rip you out by the seams
But your face still beams

Are you everything I need
Sit here crying where I bleed
Warnings die when children heed
Silence where the ravens feed

Your Heart is a Crime Scene

What am I doing?
Countless faces, and I, the clumsy diver
I fall headlong into the one
This one, the one whose every footstep
Encompasses a hundred miles
And even now this (relatively) short distance
Is my own resistance exemplified

Fears in trembling hands
Not unlike cell-phone static
The weak signal of the temporal backbeat
Verisimilitude for grossly inopportune reflections

And I sit and wonder at the blinking eye of time
I sit as a frog on a lily pad, contemplative of the flies
I sit as a coyote, hoarse from howling all night
I sit as a moonbeam upon your eyelash
Glistening before the tears even form beneath
Winked away in a false flirting gesture
To prove the sweet to your bitter
The sweat to your labored breaths

For don't we all build in love's dark caverns
A halfway house for our once captive hearts
And sit on a creaking stool
In the kitchen of childlike wonder
Chewing on the edges of despair
Dreading and dreaming the day a knock is heard
The door swinging open
A perfect moment held in time

But my house has been built with rickety boards
The creaking floors are marked with scuffs
The ears of the walls have grown deaf to screams
And there is a scent of old death in the air

Convince it is not so, and I am forever yours
Try to convince me, and I will hear no more of you

Interesting

who's to say i want perfection
destiny has a tragic tone, don't you think
i guess i'll walk this road and take the long way back
fall in love with the idea of being alone, unknown, and sink
even deeper into your eyes

who's to say i need direction
whoever found their own way following the maps others made
i'll trip and fall, but cuts and bruises, broken bones don't fail me now
it's easier to stray then stay inside these lines that fade
even deeper into your eyes

who's to say anything is safe
walk the cliff edge because the air tastes sweeter
i'd jump with you if you asked me to
twists and turns in my head still playing follow the leader
even deeper into your eyes

who's to say i need more than a moment
take my breath and don't stop believing
there's a thousand things you're saying in the space between
i'm not finished yet just synchronizing this silly dreaming
even deeper into your eyes

who's to say that rain ever smelled this new
take my coat while we walk in each other's oversized shoes
the wind waltzes with your hair across your glowing face
the soft unknown as we talk, and i'm falling farther, falling through
even deeper into your eyes