Shattering Glass

There’s a saying that goes,

“Don’t gather at sunset”

That’s when the wolves come

traipsing through, like housewives

alerted to a missing sock

or a husband who’s strayed

Their sense of smell honed

by time and experience

And the shattering of ideals

seen through a thickened glass

Erupting like prisms

onto the canvas of a life

Frozen in a monumental moment

In one impressive instant

Before the glass explodes

And the shards hit home.

Soulful Jazz

Breathe in, breathe out

In perfect rhythm

Lungs contracting, drawing in

a stale, tepid air that cannot compare

All signs of a life, lived,

of a life, swollen and full,

but never truly loved

A clock perfectly wound

Always meant to run out early

Tears in such sheer fabric

Pulling until skin shows

A precious mahogany

Beautifully particular

Exhalations on the tempered glass

Drying into streaks

Capturing a series of moments

that are gone far too soon

Like this breathing in

This stammering wish to feel again

This breathing out

On my own.

Radio Static

This love is fragmentary
Wholly dysfunctional
Waiting for a reprieve
Or a chance to deny
Its place in this world
These spider-webbed cracks
Expanding out in waves
From a vitriolic center
Vibrations jarring clear
Vacating this empty space
And leaving it hollow
All numbingly vacuous
Shackled to expectations
That will never come true
Taking time and consequence
Like pills to be swallowed
When “love” isn’t “like”
And tears drown out pity
Because it’s all been said before
These catchy turns of phrase
That are nothing but artifice
Dressed up in church clothes
But going straight to hell
This love is a living hell
A symbolic lack of restraint
Disconnected from reality
Like so much radio static
In the middle of a song.

What Lurks Beneath

Behind these chocolate eyes
There’s a tentative monster
Waiting to explode into life
To throw off this shell
And love without limits
But that’s not enough
That’s not the only way
To tell you how I feel
To give you fair warning
Before showing you the flip side
Of this dear reverent love
This apocalyptic salvo
Threatening like storm clouds
A sonic boom reverberating
Thickly through my skull
This waiting for a revelation
That may never be fully real
A realization of my limitations
These scars thick like ropes
Holding me captive in my own skin
And the love that I would know
Imprisoned in this empty husk
Because paused energy is stagnant
It drains before giving up the ghost
Before exhaling into this cold night
Visible for a second
Then fading like these emotions
Like this pervasive impotence
That led me straight into your arms
Where you made me wish for a death
That will probably never come.

Broken

I am broken
Fractionally incomplete
Frayed at the edges
By time and pretense
These conscious lies
Hanging around my neck
Like so much baggage
Heavy and obtuse
I am a tinkling glass
A banging cymbal
Crashing to the ground
But there is no fanfare
No symbolic gestures
No gathering at my grave
In tearful remembrance
Because I’m still alive
Stitched together
By time and consequence
Drenched by the downpour
Of my tears in the rain
Facing the wreckage of a life
Lived in the margins
Cracked and bleeding
Living but not really alive
Like a shadow of the man
I used to believe I was
So place a sign around my neck
Because I am broken
And somebody ought to know.

After

I feel your loss
Like a metronome
Banging out memories
Slamming metal on metal
Harshly reminiscent
Of how little time we had
And the clashing
And the clanging
These noises remain
Even after you’re gone
They fill the silences
Like nothing else can
Like a nightmare
On repeat in my brain
Because there is no after
No consequential more
Nothing left but images
Flickering in my periphery
Disembodied conversations
We used to have
But it’s all fading
Like a ghost at dawn
Because you’re gone
And no amount of absence
Could make me feel fonder
This after swallows me whole
Transforming my soul
Into some primordial ooze
Filling the silences
With this anguished scream
That I will never recognize
As my own.