Dimension

Throughout the hierarchy we're seeing
there's more than conjectured to being
as endless enigmas defy
empirical efforts to pry
the shiniest gem stone worth freeing

but still the apostles keep preaching
that data's the dogma worth teaching
despite the inscrutable height
divinity dazzles with light
that places the crown beyond reaching.

Vehicle

I want you to feel breathless
like you just faced something dire
I want your cardboard conscience
to ignite itself on fire
I want your heart to hammer
as it never beat before
I wish my words could do all this
and make you beg for more.

I want your mind to whisper
secret nothings to your soul
I'd love to see the fractured
feeling closer to the whole
you must recoup the innocence
you prematurely shed
I wish my words could do this too
and make you glad you read.

I want the salve of freedom
to relieve your shackle burns
I want your questing spirit
to seek unexpected turns
upon the path that few have trod
just waiting for some wear
I wish my words could pick you up
and somehow take you there.

Declination

I'm expected to attend
a function tough to duck
despite the fact I'm really not enthused
and though I surely wend
my way down, with any luck
I may postpone what cannot be refused.

In the Black

The moon was like a beacon
at the edge of the unknown
the clouds, a seeming mountain
of ethereal vapor blown

by winter winds so bitter
that I longed for my warm bed
but I am not a quitter
so I faced the night instead

and marveled at the vista
that unfolded in the sky
which made me slightly wistful
that soon it would blow by

my kingdom coated silver
by a single pitted coin
the ticking thief will pilfer
perpetually purloin.

Vermin

The galaxies are entities
that's why they're all unique
we can't perceive perplexities
our eyes are just too weak
the faculties of mindless fleas
that find a way to eke
a living on the very brink
of learning how to truly think
by gorging on the blood we drink
from titans that don't even blink.

Prologue

Is it wise to acknowledge things that just are
or a feat to stay coherent
the price you pay for every fresh scar
is lividly apparent

through scribbled lines you're moved to scrawl
upon a dated blotter
the prattle that precedes the fall
like flux before the solder.

Sappy

We gather with love round a blinking tree
to practice our traditional exchange
of packaged presents, ripped open with glee,
and heartfelt hugs of kinship. We arrange
ourselves to see each others faces well,
to fully savor the joy our gifts bring,
when little eyeballs adorably swell
as frenzied screams of satisfaction ring.
Prismatic lights bedazzle those that view
reflections in the ornamental glass
through which the decorations brightly shine
while sentimental assurances brew
like piety throughout a moving mass
or thoughts of home, for which the wayward pine.

Prey

I didn't know back then
how much there was to rue
my youthful eyes bewildered by the light
and now I wonder when
I will (if ever) struggle through
the shadows of regret that hound my sight.

Fruition

Mid the frosty famine December brings,
the gnarly trees denuded by the cold,
a lone survivor tenaciously clings—
determined, it looks flushed, but will not fold;
its flesh a feast of knowledge we once thought
was worth the price projected, so we bought
into the naked lies that we were told

by our burgeoning, adolescent pride.
But who hasn’t bungled when they were young?
Coerced by little whisperings inside
(a snake’s only appendage is its tongue)
we were just too impatient to ignore
the promise of enlightenment in store
which nothing we ingested quite supplied.

As days begin to shorten we are vexed
by unresolved conclusions and regrets,
this rainy winter day leaves me perplexed
but hopeful as the sun serenely sets,
to see this often evanescent fruit
remain so deeply red and resolute
is truly as delicious as it gets.

Apocalyptic Resolution

We’re all still here
though deadlines came and went
I don’t know if I should cheer
or voice my discontent
it was quite a trying year
but I'm not about to vent--
when we think the end is near
we find reasons to repent.

Reign

I hear the drips of water that are splashing in the gutter
unsettled by the misty lies they gutturally mutter
methodical destruction of my confidence is utter

these oracles have prophesied a perilous prediction
that's been a bit corrosive to the core of my conviction
but hopefully we'll all find out it's just a bunch of fiction

for there are many futures we could fabricate depending
on if we stay infatuated with a fiery ending
or whether we precipitate existence worth extending.

Scraps

On certain days there's not a thought
and one can start to feel distraught
unless they saved the overflow
from when they were a dynamo
as any would-be weaver aught
to automatically know

for any crafter learns that rule
and how to utilize the tool
on which the fabric can be fed
when nothing's left to feed the shed
and always keeps an extra spool
to hoard their excess thread.

Standard of Living

We gathered in the church to hear
the little ones sing Christmas songs,
their voices rang out sweet and clear
with innocence so very dear
like angels, here to right our wrongs.

If only we could always be
as those assembled there that night,
removed from the anxiety
that makes it hard for us to see
the purpose that is our birthright,

to raise each generation filled
with knowledge we have learned,
enabling them to truly build
a world where dreams can be fulfilled
and love is all that need be earned.

Due

Each moment is a treasure
to plunder for your pleasure
a trinket to betoken
the wonderment awoken
when precious intuition
accentuates ambition
resulting in a fortune
of which you share a portion.

Saturated

As we lay them down to sleep
I pray the Lord their souls will keep

and still I weep

behind my eyes the teardrops steep
then down my face they slowly creep

and still I weep

there's so much in this life to reap
forsaken for the cruel and cheap

and still I weep

and now we lay them down to sleep
beyond that rift so dark and deep

and still I weep

Outbreak

We knew that in the distance we'd see
some reasons to question what we came to be--
it's deeply disturbing when someone you've slain
with a maggot filled rictus emotes their disdain;
the stench in the village was so blasted thick
that each labored breath made us sure we'd be sick,
the little main street had been recently paved
with the rotting reminders that couldn't be saved
and I shook like an ancient kalashnikov
expecting the strain to just finish us off.
But somehow we lived and joined others as well
rebuilding a world that had turned into hell
removing the corpses so we could commence
to garner some order that maybe made sense,
we held a big council to lay down some rules
intended to silence political fools
while secretly hoping a decade or two
went by before a bureaucracy grew
that spawned the detachment which tends to destroy
benevolent instincts survivors employ
so we, the last remnants of a world in distress
could make a new future that fixes the mess
where love for each other devoid of abuse
was the only contagion we'd choose to produce.

Permit

She floundered for a moment, unaware
that she would be concerned if he should care
then brushed it off and twiddled with her hair
(though she couldn't stop the blush--
attributing her tantalized response
to intoxicating ambiance)
and pleaded with her frantic heart to hush.

He found himself unable to defer
attention to whatever might occur
unless it somehow had to do with her
there was nothing he could do
but hope she gave him a chance to win
her heart (now where should he begin?)
or possibly approval to persue.

No Magic Bullet

I wept for the children today
then numbly knelt down to pray
"Oh Lord", I beseeched
"Can't these monsters be reached
before they horrendously slay?

Why must there be sorrow and pain,
is all of our promise in vain,
can nothing we do
lead people to you
before they accept Satan's reign?"

"My child" said our Savior above
with a voice like the gentlest dove
"The ultimate key
is not begging me
but in your own hearts foster love."

Getting It

I think of all the things I missed
when I was so naive
a virgin that was never kissed
or bothered to believe

with any sense of urgency
that life can be complete
if focusing ferociously
on finishing a feat.

Pop

It's slightly shriveled
that old balloon
the red skin wrinkled
like a giant prune.

She remembers clearly
that summer day
He said so dearly
"Go out and play."

he seemed unsteady
but she had to ask
if he was ready
for a little task

and as a father
he acquiesced
it was really no bother
he weakly confessed,

the orb was inflated
she played on the lawn;
he buckled, deflated
then he was gone.

It's glumly garish
in it's corner nook
but she'll always cherish
that breath he took.

Survive

You can't just keep asking 'Why Me?'
if you wish to continue to be
endeavor to conquer your dreams
you're here for a reason it seems.

Despite the unspeakable crash
that took your two friends in a flash
you've got to stay strong in your heart
of which they will always be part.

Our fate isn't easy to face
with any agreeable grace
but you didn't escape the debris
to keep mournfully asking 'Why Me?'

Naughty

Basking in anothers pain
really isn't too germane
even those that cause a gain
in normal levels of disdain.

Discovery

You are the star
that anchors the constellation
I'm following in search of love
across a vast and daunting sea
that shares no inclination
about the skies above
or when landfall might be
though I can guess how far
those distant temples are

and I can see them now
shimmer in the glare of day
their bronze perfection perched
on luscious hills so firm
one could scarcely stay away
and once the coast is searched
for a qualifying quay
I'll bow while learning how
to consummate our vow.

Out of Place

What makes a lioness mother decide
that she's had enough of her burgeoning pride
then leave them to fend for themselves on the plain
despite their unfitness to ever sustain
advancement that helps them to healthily grow--
how could the giver of life treat them so?
Abandoning cubs to develop their flaws
like over-reliance on menacing claws
too eager to slash at a threat that's perceived
by orphans that never respectfully grieved
for they were too busy accepting the truth:
survival has forced them to forfeit their youth
and promise with which they were rightly imbued
by the vagabond breeder that brokered the brood.

Infrangible

The breadth of one tear-coated lash
is all that separates us
but sometimes we become so far apart
it seems the torch has burned to ash
like love is on hiatus
can you deny my presence in your heart?

A span of twenty-something years
is simply one more moment
for those that find the essence of their soul
we're forced to deal with our own fears
or suffer needless torment
but in the end it's two that make a whole.

Deja Vu

I'm having these dreams of the future
where things are so easy to see
but it's never the type of encounter
that possibly benefits me
like seeing the numbers before they fall
that help me win the Powerball
instead of scenes within the pen
ok, what day is it again?

Impasse

I finally hit the wall
it happens to us all
the question is: will I simply stare at it and bawl

or will I be compelled
(all diffidence dispelled)
to see that sentimental structure stepped around or felled?

Entangled

How can I write different things
that no one else will write
how can I transform mere words to art
perhaps I need to shed the strings
so perilously tight
inhibiting an overflowing heart.

Stigma

I'm sick of all the hate
and those that fail to wait
and all the vicious swipes
of those vindictive types
but to retaliate
would validate their gripes

so should the meek comply
with rules that keep them shy
or should they take a stand
against the vicious brand
and blacken the offending eye
of those that raise their hand?

Signal

We tend to rush around these days
and drive in a distracted daze
assuming everyone observes
the laws while navigating curves
but last night at a traffic light
the sunset was a pure delight
so I beheld the splendid scene
despite the fact I had the green
when suddenly a truck of brown
flew right by never slowing down--
without that pause to watch the sun
my journey could have been all done.

Vanity's Child

How vain need you be
( just ask Jay Z)
to run around screaming "It's all about me!"

The cameras don't lie
but divas will try
to act like they're humble in hopes that you'll buy

their tribute to how
they are so wow
and when they're around the whole world should bow.