Testify

From a tiny seed
A tree may sprout
Or a brooding copse of doubt
And if you bleed
From every bout
It’s time to toss the towel out
But when you’re freed
Don’t ever pout
Say thank you with each joyful shout.

Muted

Keep talking shit
I’ll laugh (and how)
Your life is one big flub

My tongue was bit
So often, now
There’s just a bloody nub.

Snoozer

People seldom choose to wisely take
Advantage of each second they’re awake
And stumble through this life as though asleep
Until they meet the one condemned to reap.

Elusive

Eleven Eleven
An ominous sign
Or simply a tick
When the digits align

Or maybe a tock
In the arcane design
I'd say your guess
Is as good as mine.

Divided

I really love math
But I hate this equation
That triples my wrath
And doubles frustration
Sometimes I wish I was dumb
So I didn’t know one was the sum.

In(toxic)ant

He ran out of liquor
And felt kind of lost
Until a brief flicker
In eyes that were glossed
Said Damn the cost

He drank down some coolant
And now he’s on ice
I don’t think the fool meant
To pay such a price
For petty vice.

Just the Ticket

Does going 50
On a 20 mile-per-hour street
Take big balls
Or just big feet?

Regeneration

The limb is slowly dying
There’s no shying from the truth
Just like there's no relying
On the vigor of our youth

Our time to bloom is fleeting
Belay bleating when the fruit
Is rapidly retreating
And the branch is destitute

Embrace each chance to savor
All the flavor and the pulp
A fruitful feast will favor
People more inclined to gulp

And any seeds worth sowing
Should be going in the ground
So nurtured vessels growing
Have new fruits to be found.

Prepped

I blinked my eye
A decade went by
And now you’re a bright young guy

It’s so bittersweet
My role seems complete
I hope I prepared you, whatever you meet.

Appearance

She asks a doting aide
“You sure I look okay?”
Concerned about how she’s portrayed
Not what she has to say
They’re not her words anyway

She’s sticking to the script
Her masters have supplied
With plastic face so tucked and nipped
It’s not that hard to hide
The fear she feels inside

That someone will see through
The unrepentant sham
Which seems to mollify the crew
That only gives a damn
When triggered by the scam.

Nowhere

The faker you are
The farther you go
Which isn’t that far
Because it’s all show

So puff up those lips
Then glue on some hair
Inject new hips
And baby you’re there.

Constitutional

Little yellow flowers (each one smaller than a pea)
Gild the hill before me with their golden finery
The breeze is crisp, the sun is warm, the sky blue as can be
And for this moment (it seems at least) that I am truly free.

Absorbency

I thought you had a brain
But it seems you sent it out
So they could bleach the stain
Of good old fashioned doubt
And once it has been scrubbed away
You’re free to suck up whatever they say.

Medicine

There is no pill
To obliterate
The urge to kill
Or blindly hate
(Their favorite skill)

And who is They
You may inquire
The curs we pay
That soon conspire
To take away

Every right
With which we’re born
You know I’m right
You’ve felt the scorn
It’s time to fight!

Battle of Samara

With sturdy blades spinning around
They gracefully twirl through the air
And every branch contributes
Battalions of recruits—
The hueys are hitting the ground
Beneath the maple, everywhere.