Reptilian

This fear contains
Constricts as it moves
Sinuously smooth
Coolly calculating
Quite fascinating
For buzzards
Who pick on flesh
Like politicians
Suitable for wear
When sectioned off
These lies slip out
Through chapped lips
Labored consequence
Of fictional hopes
Shattered on the floor
So we leave hope
With love and trust
On the cutting table
Giving in to fear
And its discontents
This coiled cobra
Forever poised to strike
Consequently gone
In a puff of smoke.

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.

Scream

I want to scream
To open my mouth wide
And let it all out
To drown out the traffic
To press down the din
To explode in sound
Until I stop breathing
Then maybe I’ll be okay.

A Sort of Love

They mock me with distraction
These turners of a phrase
With their fragmentary smiles
That betray a kind of derision
A legion of platitudes
Designed to manipulate
To function as a sort of love
Born from death and decay
And a willingness to deny
These warning signs
This lack of coherent sympathy
The need to identify with pain
Searing and indiscriminate
A way to delay the inevitable
But it floats on seas of glass
Impenetrable as a fortress
The language of disruption
Couched in particularities
Bathed in functional lies
Fearing the consequence
That comes with realization
Of a transitory feeling
A fluctuating abnormality
That looks an awful lot like love
But never can be.

Deluge

Rain pouring down
Soaked to the skin
Waiting for you
In this deluge
Water sliding down
Rinsing clean
But I can’t see
In this shower
The boom of thunder
Flash of light
Cutting through
Yet blinding too
I imagine you
Sidestepping raindrops
Dry as desert sand
On your way here
But it’s a dream
No one else is here
In this deluge
That hides my tears.

Muted

She never said no
Of all the things to remember
I thought of just that one
A simple word to say
In perfect tone and pitch
Yet never uttered
If only in my mind
Sublime and fulfilled
Melody rich in silence
But speaking volumes
As she turns to leave
Vibrantly colored
Like an expressionist
Beckoning me to follow
At least in my mind
Rattling around inside
As I step into the street
With a “No” on my lips
That never escapes
Except in my dreams.