FACING IT

On any ordinary morning He would have gotten up And about his way And braced up for another round Of an unremarkable life —nothing special; granted taken as usual… Starting up the beaten up old Toyota (The one with the blue duct tape fender) And, with a song in his soul, Gray and pendulous; Off...

Punching Bricks

On this black path through a new chapter there stands a wall. It rises from the ashes of the past and spans the width of the dreams it pushes against. My wall is constructed of used liquor bottles, Nights unconscious on the floor; Not heeding the warnings And now paying the price…. Leaving broken hearts...

Loose Feathers

“You mean to tell me you’re back?” She said to him— This Angel of the ward Who saw to it That not only did her patients get the best, But, when the loneliness, and the dark, And bitterness of the curse hit, she was always there one in one —For them—and they got all of...

Damn Dad….

“Damn Dad, where’ve you been??” It was a Friday and he and his oldest son Were doing a watch party on Amazon Of an old TV series As COVID had locked them all inside And it was the only way to see his son And his grandsons And he looked forward to it each week...

The Game’s Afoot

Laying awake in the shadows, Wishing for sleep Like a child wishes for Christmas Yet being denied that treasure As the swelling and pressure Grasped and clawed away At this senses “Well that’s enough of this shit”, He finally said out loud, Wishing someone could hear Except the silence of the dark And the corners...

The Swing

He looked at the clock; it said “12:56” But it also said, “time to get up And get these Atrices a break— They’ve laid too long and need a walk”… And the clock was right. Meanwhile, softly in the background On the old radio he kept at his side, The Moody Blues were telling him...

Bleary

“How did I get here” He says to himself Bleary, numb, and burning behind the eyes, After three nights of insomnia, Night eating for no real reason, Mood swings that would floor a horse, And being best friends With his toilet from guilt driven nausea (And so very thankful that it is there) To serve...

…and so it goes

“You’ve got cirrhosis, sir..” And life crashed into A wall like an egg on a tile floor ….and just as messy. My emotions shook themselves awake and said: “Hey! Let’s find those covers man! Let’s get you cocooned ok?” It’ll be fun!… Life is all nice and grey and shitty now!’” And so it began,...

Haiku: Bleary keystrokes

They call to me; early, impatient,--and creaking. Looking down at the keysand squinting through a cracked mirror of blur,raising hands which are balloons of lead,to push into life words that wait in the queue of the addled Tilt-A-Whirl in my smeary mind. I find that the "T" key and the Space Bar will have nothing...

Haiku: We are all in The Village

Freedom is but an open door to illusion.When we are "entertained" we are numbed,numbered...and herded. For we all live in The Village,all bright and colored and quaint,yet impossible to leave and driven to stay yet we dream of freedom that laughs at us...and raises it's skirt to promise easy love.We are flowers in a terrarium;growing...

My life as a Bagel

It's 4:00 in the morning and I have risen from the all too brief, coffined sleep; driven by both insomnia and thoughts that race as shards of glass from a mirror cracked. There in the dark of one small lamp, I see the keys and they call again to feed from me, from my soul's...

Haiku: Thorn in my Eye

A sudden look from afar this smoky room,A fleeting dream of hearth and home...only a glimmer;A dream caught and trapped forever in gleaming glassWhile the thorn of her gaze both punctures my mind and brings my heart of rusty gears to full stop.

Stuck

He was stuck in a placewhere he saw his broken visagereflected in the screen of sheer honesty;wasting away from decisions from the long road and regrets from the short road he could not resist. He pounded his fist towards the unforgiving skyand screamed at God for creating his own existenceand asked--begged--for it to be done....

Haiku: Storm in the Night

Light and fury,shrieks of a sinner's windawaken the numbed souland sweeps away the dried heart.

Standing by the Shore: A Short Poem

He stood gazing out at the sinking lightThis ragged, tattered man dressed in a fine suit,holding his alligator shoes in one handand his life in the other. He was a teacher,and a good one at that;good enough to survive the endless days of chaos and stagnation;riddled with obscenities directed at him...and by him. He had...

Haiku: The green Rain

The morning spent in blankets of grief; a memory of leaden edges,a glimpse into life's new breach while green rain fell and pooled==in silent witness

From the Balcony with Tarot

I spent the night and shared it's embrace;watching the rain of diamonds and wrapped in a cold blanketthat kissed me all over like a lover. The cards spent that night with me too.They had become a face to my souland a portrait of the longingsof my heart. They were laid out more times than I...

Tight

He woke with "Danny Boy" stuck inside his headand forced himself to get up while his body screamedfrom it's every part, "stop moving!". The chemo had done it's part,he was suitably exhausted and looked the part of Karloff's stand in. He was as tight from head to toeas an old war-drum.The heart inside him beatas...

Awake–and numb: A Haiku

Six months....and sober; Finding my way back from blind rage and drunkenly hurting others still numb inside waiting for a drink that won't come.... The numbness envelops me at times making me want to experience an altered state where my mind can go rogue and make my body it's weapon of choice and leave my...

Uncertain Journey

I heave my life onto my shouldersas an anvil that bears down on my soul, Each step along the cobbled path of my existenceseems to sink deeper into the stones on which I walk.I look around me and see others who are on my roadand struggling under stones and boulders of their ownand force my...