Poems

a selection of poems I have written over the past few years.

Cherry

Sacrifice

Sacrifice – It should start with A piano Quiet somber notes To pull at your heart Then time goes by so fast & it’s been months since I saw you last And while time has passed

A Distant Desert

A Distant Desert A distant desert Holds my heart. A red sun I cannot see. Skin burned In the fires of love. You must let them go When they flee. Like a carved out pumpkin Lost words

A Respect Known in the Eyes of Dawn

“A Respect Known in the Eyes of Dawn” ‘For you there is a Land to Defend A bull snorting at the most silent of vows What Honor What have you Laid Your body Down For

Alone

There’s a peace in this. In giving up, In letting cold darkness Swell within you. It’s quiet there, No more cheers, No more fanfare, No more hope. Hope is heavy and hard to carry

Bloody Diplomacy

Bloody Diplomacy You were whispering lines of fantasy about gifts & fate. I’d heard it before, Your praise like a smack I’ve learned to tolerate. I dream of bloody diplomacy

Bull Horned Bear of Reason

Bull Horned Bear of Reason I want answers, solutions to the old problems of thighs & ideas, this sack of issues I carry in a coat neither too big nor too warm.
Cherry

Cicada Songs

Cicada song Do not test yourself here Don’t break yourself against this shore. I have my feet firmly planted, My hands fingering the key – I have journeyed through the first flame

Desire

Desire When I was born I was so many baby boys. A foreign Prince The one no one loved A single man’s salvation On my own Desire was sunlight & laughter But storm clouds gather

Dreams for Christmas

When you sleep without dreaming In the arms of your beloved – Only then with the sun return. Perhaps you will remember me kindly, In my forest of bloody dreams,
Cherry

Every Junkie Fears the Miracle

The miracle cure has come. But – What if Jesus himself looked you in the eye? Whether in the beginning, Your own genesis, bathed in sweat Wrapped in heated blankets
Cherry

Eyes or Wrists

We were right about where we came from. The spit & fire, nails & razors, The lashing of bicycle chains behind the knees, Father’s handprint bruised to the side of my face.

Final Thoughts

I always knew you’d be the one The one who would leave. I knew it from the beginning. And I decided to dance with you anyway. So, This is Love then. Solitude & memories,

Fingertips in the Dust

I see fingertips in the dust From the last time I was suspended on this ledge. This blood has burned deep streaks in me, My scars throb with the heated drumming.
Cherry

For Friendship

It’s been a long, strange road A hundred conversations That never happened Words I’ve waited for That are never spoken But I’m glad you finally learned to spit
Cherry

God's Eye

this is a poem about a friend of mine who committed suicide.

Goodbye

The understanding of impact hurt more than the landing My foothold lost in battles for self So I drink my last vice from chipped glasses Hoping I won’t cut my voice

Hands Alone

The ring finger has always been the most sensitive, It searches for hairs grown backwards & thin, It carries promise, Sometimes an honor – Other times a curse.

Her Fire

I have drawn my death one thousand times. I have never written it, So I continue to breath, But breathing brings thought And thought is like the fire – A common mistake
Cherry

Here With Her

I could wake Here Every morning Not this room, Not this drive Or even this town - I could wake Here Every morning Under this sun Next to her This beautiful girl.

Home

Time to share the words Of the only story I know. Crushed & swallowed, I am defeated often, Always drawn to barns Filled with old religion. Clover, pine needles, snow covered rivers

I Am Her Fool

Can’t you please stay out? I understand that you had to go, But couldn’t you have taken all of you? Everybody disappears one day. I thought for a moment you might stay A little longer.

My Father's Treasure

This had been my father’s town. We gathered together For an evening of fire. The gathering was habit, not discipline. We never traveled to imposing Africa Our mysterious seductions

My Xmas With You

Out there. Somewhere. I’m sure of it. Grinning at our attempts. But you’ve given me Treasure in a smile & Hope in your hands. Beneath the scent of the xmas tree

Old Grudges

I dance – Winding movements of tooth, of claw, Wandering steps of Dante’s dreams, Tracing tracks of those who received Odin’s eye – This time he will demand more.

Roman Mother

There is a certain peace when it snows Makes the youth melt away. Broken buildings wink out a murder of crows,

Sharing a Drink with the Flying Pig in Hell

It was good to see him again, My old friend. After clasped hands and the baring of teeth, We sat together. Predictably, he conjured a flask with tumblers, His smile brilliant,

Spitting Truth

So used to spitting truth thru broken teeth, I am unfamiliar with a smile. This is new territory. Didn’t realize I was so embittered Until after. Like moonlight on a waterfall,
Cherry

Suck

Autumn colored bumps & brushes were getting stronger We could not hold up under the pressure They glare at the stranger Forcing them away, I smile less

The Day It Rained On Gardiner

He taught me to read He taught me to write He taught me to love them both Along with all other arts & learning The passages we leave for others to contemplate

The Long Walk

He walks Long through life The lines worn into his feet our filled with crusted dirt from the unseen miles Fractured vertebrae and exposed nerves (Why couldn’t I be your girl?)

The Title Was

I slept dreaming of those brushes Triple betrayals in the faces of friends & lovers Stripped away masks & pounding at the door We’ve been in every room of this town

Thing Under The Chair

The coldest place in the house Is below the chair you never sat in I am making it a religion To explore all the breezes that blow Only inches above the floor

Less

I survived on oranges and hope but I have encesed my heart in steel & ice yet dreams still crack the case owls & whiporwills sing you to sleep & never again will my skin touch yours

TATTOOED BONES

Tattooed Bones. I want to be Alone. Each time I say it, I Tattoo it in my Bones. I’m searching for something Half-remembered, Half Created, A Union stronger than a coupling.
Cherry

Holidays

I think I’ll get a Christmas tree this year, Even though there won’t be presents beneath it, Because you don’t come here anymore. I think I’ll string it with lights, Just to pretend