Earache

hollow
like a gourd or a drum
echoing inside my head
reverberating gong of pain
dull yet growing
air suddenly so heavy
as the pillow hits

The Creative Current

well run dry
so that the bucket brings only sand
still I try to drink it
gulping rocks and wishing them diamonds
that my thoughts could make them shine
sparkle with wit and charm
dust bowl of the muse

Strange Partners

unrelated facts

yet they clamor in my skull

full of dips and twirls

dancing with no clear reason

until I can't stand the noise

by anonymous

anonymity
just another face in the crowd
with no repercussions
so you can spout beauty or poison
indiscriminately
because who can stop you?

sweeping honesty from your lips
you can tug the heart strings
let my thoughts provide the guise
seeing someone I know in your confessions
building a backstory you don't have
to match the way I feel

or hatred like blood on your fangs
dripping with judgment
unending faults under your microscope gaze
cowardly attack from behind closed doors
building you a sympathetic past
to match the way I feel

Riches From Heaven

the moon bright like a silver coin
I can pluck from the ebony sky
imagining smooth relief and ribbed edges
speeding along the highway
knowing that over the next hill
I will finally see the other side
where this disc fastens to the firmament

I Give Thanks For

honest gratitude
like a social enigma
in a world of polite thanks
where good manners outweigh vulnerability
because we are a home of independence
and yet no one is truly alone
each is pushed forward by the crowd
though it is forgotten or ignored
so I give thanks to all who lift me up
especially those who right me when I stumble
as I bow my head over the meal
I shall remember that you nourished my life first

Shoulder Curve

minutes plodding heavy steps along my spine
shoulders curved against the running clock
fantasizing about the power to turn hands
moving everything faster at my will
instead I pass time recklessly on the right
riding the shoulder around the curve

Blue Bundle

cover shot perfect

with bright shining eyes and smile

cradling her joy

Burnless Bones

unrelated to the current condition
with its booby-trapped corners
springing at the dust on the breeze
instead jacked directly to your thoughts
adrenalin fueled wild fire
all out, clear the countryside blaze
leaving me only burnless bones
in the wreckage of what could be

Dancin' With My Maxwell

spouting nonsense with a tune attached
catchy jingle of a meaningless song
born of desperation and limitless love
selfishly prolonging our connecting
but never forgetting who to thank

Lamb to Lion

gentle as a lamb on any other day
prone to neither violence nor aggression
the non-confrontational mediator
this is where I live in my heart
and then they glide out on their skates
antagonism flowing in the wind behind
like a cape wrapped around them
and it blows to my seat as well
boiling the blood, deafening the ears
until I'm shouting crudity
not obscenity, but reveling in the hits
bruises being par for the course
the adrenalin flushes my veins
lamb turned temporarily to lion

Define: Scream

I screamed
not blood curdling
but good sized in itself
though properly categorized
more as a shriek
downgraded for intensity and intent
with lack of danger
and heavily dosed with surprise
certainly outstripping a yelp or shout
and now after thorough classification
I forget why I screamed at all

Saucer Blue

saucer blue eyes look up to me
look through me
with a disconcerting quality
the intelligence shadowed there
sure of his place in the world
he rises in my arms
saucer blue eyes looking up

Because I Must Laugh

because I must laugh
crown me with misfortune
but make it ridiculous
make it serendipitous
make it with bright sides
that I can clasp like balloons
drawing me up
with floating giggles
crown me with the errors of life
but let me see the humor
so I can tip my hat at the will of the world
comic as it may be

In-hale Ex-plain

interconnected
twined, not as one
always a little space
allowing the ribs to spread
a full breath with company
rising and falling
in concert without unison

Losing the Eye

losing the eye
the instinctive moment
where breath stops
and finger drops
shutter the shudder
rocking through me
at that angle
light just so
on the story told
1,000 words shy

Before the Bite

wind cutting through me
hands nearly numb
but not quite
still mobile enough
and eyes not even tearing
so that it's clear
autumn chomping down
catching up after late to the feast
still I capture the yellow
just before the bite

Like Clockwork

you watch me with a blank face
asking for back-up, explanation
like these words can't be right
and still I muddle through
giving you unsatisfying answers
that you swallow in distaste
not even nibbling the edges
just whole down the gullet
never to be seen again
and I wonder why I bother
if they even passed your ears
still I will do it again
like clockwork the papers come
and I calculate the you I see

Palpitations

palpitations
not of a romantic variety
just a rush hitting my chest
stealing breath to clear the cage
so that my heart rattles
a children's toy, loud and clattering
with his tiny hands wrapped around me

Scorpio

razor wit that stings the most
in jest or malice meant
living as though born to boast
never but just content

always reaching higher yet
determined to the end
focus on the dark vendette
than reach out for a friend

Stagger and Fold

hit me

not like a ton of bricks

more like a ton of pillows

same weight that steals the breath

but softer edges

gasping with no bruises

so no one sees the evidence

only the stagger

and fold

Beyond Panic

past the tension
rubbing away tear trails
I chuckle
deep in the throat
with equal parts
relief and amusement
not hysterical
but truly amused
at the way He maneuvers
stacking difficulties
neatly towered on my shoulders
and just enough time to balance them
precarious and perfect
like dress rehearsal
practice for the main event
sometime yet to come
though far off, I hope
still warmed to the ideas
past the tension again

A Hand Up

pulling ever so slightly
or wrenching from the socket
in need of both I suppose
to write me after a fall
force with compassion
or only brutish in nature
so as to topple me again

Ground Level

thwarted understanding
at the ground level
where it singes the grass
not like the beating sun
but from the roots up
killing through the heart

Fuzzy

undefined
fuzzy for lack of a more specific term
and specificity is important
but hard to come by
especially when my thoughts are
undefined
fuzzy in the edges
and even across the center sometimes
like dozing in the summer sun
feline in nature
with their fuzzy bodies
and tail swishing by

Bathe a Cold, Starve a Fever

thirty six hours
on this skin
from pinkened nose
to gray soles
sinking into the warmth
blanket of water enfolding
as another cough tickles
and I breathe in the steam
willing to be well

I See No People

blind to forces beyond my comprehension
they speak idly of spirits and haunts
homes with a personality
or the feel of evil in their foundation
and I begin to wonder if I truly am blind
or maybe just absent the idea
so shadows that fall alone
or disturbances of electricity
are explained away by concrete reality
with no thought to apparitions

In Three Acts

tiny pins up my spine, like a memory tugging
waiting to be born again
of history and half remembered moments
with their unfocused edges
dropping the lids for a private show
cinéma vérité in three acts
the trial, the fall, the recovery
and the pins dig deeper
securing each scene in place
that I never drop the recovery again

Pseudo Naptime

nuzzling into my neck
soft baby locks
brushing my cheek
so that I coo more than the child
enraptured at the bundle
all floppy arms and lolling head
with those mystery eyes
opening at irregular intervals
checking the scenery
matching voice to face
and then retreating again

Romance in the Air

serene beneath heavy down
shielding from the chill
recent addition to the evening
like sunset's dear companion
traveling light but with gifts for all
painting the stubborn leaves
before seducing them off the trees