The Musings of an Alabaman Barista

Anarchic Melodies

2011-02-17T14:40:00.000-08:00

A cacophony of sounds
A melody that pounds
Into my unfit brain
-Unfit for understanding
The simplest of syllables
Like two strangers whistling in the dark
Grasping for echoes
That dance around the room
Like fireflies on a warm summer night
Deceiving even the most astute
And I wonder what song
Is carried by the wind
To these untrained ears
And I yearn to comprehend
The incessant chatter on sunny days
To know to whom they are speaking
Is it to each other in love?
To one another in jest?
Or is it to me they plea,
To just tell the world to rest?
The rantings of the raven,
The wishes of the wren
All of them mixing in the wind
And I find myself lost upon this
-A cacophony of sounds

Machiavellian Bonanza

2011-02-17T14:29:00.001-08:00

Bought, sold, traded, underwritten
Shipped overseas and hidden away
In brass cavities the size of a house
Secret tombs still holding the wealth
Passed down from long dead men
Stashed away from the public sphere
For fear of an uprising
Poverty breeds violence, right?
Damn, dirty beggars trying to catch a free ride
Off of someone else's inheritance
Flabbergasted fools glued to blue cloth seats
Pretend to understand the evils of socialism
And will scream it through the streets
As they patrol the neighborhoods
Protecting everyone from themselves
And pocketing that redistributed wealth
Hypocritical normalities cloaked in moral ambiguities
That closely resemble the emperor's new clothes
And the sidewalks are still buzzing
With the ignorant whispers
Breathing life into their own doom
As trillions is washed out to sea
And settles not beneath the ocean
But in the slimy pockets of overcoats
Hanging from the shoulders
Of all those we never stopped calling Master

It All Makes Sense To Me

2011-02-07T15:18:00.000-08:00

It's all just a series of loose connections
Like peanut butter and banana sandwiches
Glued together with honey
Or song lyrics and the slow death of feminism
Synapses fire at random
Latching on to anything within reach
Until I've stacked gender roles on top of legos
Beneath a mountain of books
On how to be a good Christian
And in my eyes, that pile sits in the corner,
Sweltering
Dripping useless and outdated ideas into the floor
Until the room is filled with them
And you can't help but to breathe it in
I can taste their pungent odor
Like foghorns at a Friday night football game
The thick vibrations grapple at my throat
Until my tongue swells like a decomposing body
Adrift in the river
And I yank out my teeth
Just to open an air passage before I lose conciousness
And fall to the floor in a drunken stupor
High on my own vanity

Manic Musings

2011-02-07T15:11:00.000-08:00

....
.....scatter-brained
..harried by streams of consciousness
f l o a t i n g through space
empty gourds echoing back towards
..........rubber walls
stretched tight across white plates of bone
strong as steel
light as cirrus clouds against a cold blue sky
.....curved space-time
juxtaposed against
............green seas of algae
...................soaking up solar rays

.................................................................to stop
future power shortages
.....and the walk home never ends
..........roadways bend into the wind
...............and creaking wicker chairs
f
.a
...l
.....l
.....off ancient porches
through cr ac ked layers of dust

tiny blips on the radar
......unregisterable

black as the inside of a palm
....cupped against an eye
.........in a dark room
.................Free

from distraction

Succumbing to Diluted Shadows

2011-02-07T14:55:00.000-08:00

I wonder just how much of my life
Is just in my head
Random thoughts scratch across my brain
Just enough to make me feel uncomfortable
Like I'm wading through the mud
In shoes that grow heavier with every step
And it's raining
Not spinkling or drizzling or misting
It's a torrential rain that slams down on my head
Each drop stinging my skin
As if god is up to her old tricks
Intent on torturing her creations
Because she knows they can't do anything about it anyway
And I stumble through the storm, drenched
Unsurprised
Nothing really ever seems to go my way
And I see faces reflect the opposite of what I'd call
An appropriate response
Ignorant to the wounds they inflict on my tattered soul
I'm choking on all the negativity
Swirling around the room like a swarm of bees
Each sting a little closer
To the one that'll do me in
Excitement waxes and wanes, as does the fear
That all of this is just made up
And I'm the only one intent
On torturing myself

Daydreaming Through an Egyptian Wasteland

2011-02-05T11:59:00.001-08:00

If love conquers all,

why is my past littered with bodies

that burn like the streets of Cairo?

Have my thoughts run amok for so long

that there is no hope of them being tamed?

Can I ever truly be grasped,

or am I caught up, imploring the wrong lingo?

Should my jargon, perhaps,

reflect a more relationship-oriented treatise?

Because this lexicographer finds himself

at a surprising loss for words

to describe these feelings inside,

threatening to engulf my entire being.

Was not the blood, coursing through my veins,

born through another's blossoming love?

Is this my springtime? My revolution of self?

Must I pit two sides of a coin against one another

until some part of me is crushed beneath the other?

Will you sew me back together

after I have ripped myself apart

and help me mend the pieces of this newly remodeled heart

that I strangled in my hands

before tearing it asunder

for fear that it might house some dark secret

I'm not yet ready to confront?

Here is my surrender,

I'll lay it out for you:

Tread lightly o'er my Being

as you find your way inside.

Tiptoe through the dark

until I finally find the courage

to pull a candle from the bookshelf

and take you by the hand

to guide you through all the lonely hallways

I've built around myself.

Don't let my ego fool you;

I'm not as strong as I'd like you to think.

Be my Sphinx upon the Nile,

my pyramid in the boundless desert

and stand unyielding through the weather

I feel ready to send your way.

Conflicted is Just a Word

2011-02-05T11:48:00.000-08:00

Are you ready to really know me?
To understand how deep my paranoia goes
and realize just how far I let my mind get away from me....
Will you be there to coax me through my insecurities
and to take my hand when I feel ignored
by the world at large?
Can I count on you to be the shoulder
where I can always bury my head
whenever the facade slips
And it all comes tumbling down
like a shelf that reached its prescribed weight limit?

I just want to rest on that freckle

where I can relax under your watchful eye

Will you help me through all of the times

when i overanalyze to the point

of wanting to shred my own skin

and just reappear as something no one will recognize?

I tried once but it didn't go so well

and i still feel just as fucked up as I did before

if not a little more crazy

sometimes to the point even, of ridonkulousness
are there a set of magic words i am supposed to utter
to give myself the strength to break free from these chains
I wrapped so tightly around my chest
or am i just to surrender to a feeling,
a growing agglomeration in my heart?

as if most of my problems weren't big enough
this one expands before my eyes
until its as if there is nothing else
and perhaps this is whats supposed to be
but the utter lack of clarity i find frightening
in a strangely serene and optimistic way
and if i weren't experiencing these emotions simultaneously

i'd think i was bipolar

Trapped in my Head

2011-02-05T11:45:00.000-08:00

I'm stuck between a rock
and that dark place
where I always get what I want
At least, perhaps, in the evolutionary sense
Running through overgrown fields
With no desire but
to spread my seed throughout
Trampling over hearts
Until my feet are covered in blood
And smooth muscle rushes between my toes
with so many faint heartbeats I feel right at home
Standing in the center of the room
Spotlight on a bare spot on the stage
And I'm just beside it
waiting for that perfect opportunity
I'd jump in sooner if all those voices
Knocking about my head
Would quiet long enough
to let my own heart speak
Stagefright, a thing of the past
But all of this is just going so fast
And I have no choice but to panic
and try lighting a candle in the dark

Schrödinger's Chronometer

2011-01-25T15:16:00.001-08:00

A watch with too many hands
Can never tell you anything
Except that the time has passed
For more cordial interactions
And a stoic glance greets the world
With tight-lipped hatred
Seething through stone-set bits of flesh
Like condensation racing down the grooves of a glass
Threatening to decapitate each passing body
The universe capitulates
To an overextended circumstance
Where the well guarded facade
Held in place with self-imposed chains
Will lose control of violent extremities
And set about dismantling the appearance
Of something larger than self
Shiny silver badges flash like disco lights
On a crowded dance floor
Where every one is doing the "hurry the fuck up"
Sprawled out on a sea of flesh
Stretched tight in plastic contraptions
All updated for even more convenience
In an ever increasingly chaotic model
Molded in the artificial dens
Of men with pockets so deep
They drain the Amazon
Every time they reach for change
And the ignorant fool-hearted propagators
Stalk the aisles with sick surety, pacing
And panic emerges, in the natural form
Of predator vs prey
But the only choice is flight or oppression
Aggression or rejection
A sick smile sweeps over the sanity-deprived
Whose tan lines betray them
As to their true intentions
And another riot breaks out
But flailing limbs on blank faces
Will leave no marks worth mentioning
Because so much as time heals all wounds
No time means no wounds
And absolutely nothing to worry about
Even in a ticking sea of faces
Steady keeping the beat
Of the so-called countdown of their lives

Screaming in Silence

2011-01-25T15:02:00.000-08:00

My tongue blisters
With all the words I let lie there
Festering
With all the wounds I won't let scab over
Because I like the taste of blood
Pouring over my teeth
It reminds me of all the time
I've shared with myself
Stewing, pondering, contemplating
Rearranging drawn out conversations
And piecing them back together
Like a Picasso painting
My eyes are stuck looking inward
My nose just fell off
And my ears have grown to unimaginable proportions
Taking in each passing glance
And awkward silence
Like satellite dishes in space
Hovering round a careless body
That grows more ripe
With each passing day
Thank goodness my nostrils disappeared
Or else I might have to actually admit
That this situation
Is far from odorless
And my lips would realize
They're just useless pieces of flesh
And would find themselves utterly perturbed
At the complete lack of attention
I've allowed them to draw
To a not insignificant number of situations

Deciphering Maps Manufactured by Mice

2011-01-18T12:25:00.000-08:00

Scampering about like rats in a maze
Colorful bells and whistles light the aisle
In rainbow waves of overindulgence
While parental figures struggle in too small seats
Smiling, oblivious to the part they're playing
Materialism breathes heavy on my neck
Dripping warm beads of irony
Down my nape
And I bite my tongue to keep from screaming
At all those who won't hear me anyway
Ears clogged with gold tokens and tv screens
The head cheese does a dance by the door
Throwing paper tickets like bills from an overturned Brink van
And children scatter and scream, scrambling for scraps
Just like their adult counterparts
And people still wonder why we are who we are
Sandwiched between soiled sheets of plastic
Someone's lost their way
And sits frightened high above the crowd
Who rejoices in boisterous laughter at his misfortune
Tears stream down his face like rain over asphalt
Broken, bumpy and disconnected
Snide remarks from the peanut gallery
Offer no comfort to those faces plastered against clear walls
Peering out like goldfish in a round bowl
Their perception of the world, forever altered
Slowly tweaked into something fashionable
Until they can finally swallow
What we've been grooming them for
When they leave their overpriced houses
To drive in their oversized cars
In fancy clothes and forced smiles
To the race no one is winning
Spinning round and round like a gerbil in a cage
Until it dies from the utter exhaustion
Of having to pretend it ever had a choice anyway

Studying the Inside a Neapolitan Ice Cream Cone

2011-01-18T12:15:00.000-08:00

Drowning in a sea of false diversity
Pictures plastered to overtly differentiated walls
Thick with false smiles and lackluster eyes
That scream out an unbearable irony
I can feel in my bones
Time flies when you're nonconforming
For just your own comfort
Peace of mind
Without all the pieces
Threads of my sanity
Waving in the wind behind me
Wispy remnants of nonexistent secrets
I keep locked in my head
Barred from showing their teeth
In the physical world
Because I enjoy the ephemeral
Aesthetically pleasing potions
Of self-concocted proportions
Juxtaposed on varied fields
Of overindulgence
And I'm stuck staring at statuesque faces
Fixed in satanic stares
In between bites of grapefruit
As sour on my tongue
As the words I keep repeating
Each time the phone rings
And I find myself offended
At this utter lack of clarity
In such a colorful room
Full of white faces

A First Encounter

2011-01-18T12:09:00.000-08:00

Could you please scowl a little harder?
I can smell that pungent odor of depression
And I can feel it in the air
But I can't quite taste it yet
Could you please shove it down my throat a little more
Your caveman grunts grate my nerves
Like giant fingernails on a chalkboard
And your cold eyes slice through my smile
Like a samurai sword across a swollen neck
And I just want to slap that smug look off of your face
Before it bores itself into my brain
I know you're depressed, but dammit
Can't you just be happy to be alive?
Look around you, fool!
See the heartache sleeping under the streetlights
And the hunger gnawing at your neighbor's wits
I know you haven't missed a meal in a while
And wrap yourself in warm blankets each night
Under your solid rooftop, free of debris
Take a deep breath, enjoy it
Relax! It will be all right
Don't bring me down from my euphoria
I like living in the clouds
So don't you dare take it away from me

The Inevitability of Overthinking Every Situation

2011-01-18T11:01:00.000-08:00

My knees shivered in the cool breeze
Under the dirty white tent
In the back alley
Secluded from the rest of the world
Because even in a place of acceptance
We must hide away
And my new found honesty with myself
Was doing back flips
To an existential beat
The written words of two vain souls
Staring into each others eyes
Glued together like those plastic lips
Of the shoes that wouldn't shut up
And screamed with each step
Threatening to throw it all off balance
It's just so typical
That all these tiny plastic pieces
Will fall apart at the most inconvenient times
Like the threads of a memory
That I can't seem to tie all together
To hold it all in place
And I feel it threatening to burst
Like an ancient dam
Overflowing with all the pent up frustrations
Of a cyclical depression
That rounds back each time
I step off in a new direction
But this time I won't let myself get complacent
I'll keep my gut reactions in check
Since they're all just repetitions anyway
As if I'm trying to say,
And perhaps I really am,
Just reach out and grab me,
Throw me to the floor
And stomp this heart in my chest
So I'll know it can feel something
Before I turn back a page
To ruminate on past transgressions
And lose the hope
That I can still get hurt

Placing My Past in the Present

2011-01-18T10:52:00.001-08:00

There's a bear out there?
No, it's just a skunk in the tent
Now shake out those shoes for scorpions
So we can wade into water
And freeze beneath the geese
Thumper 1-100, Bacon and Ms. B
All sitting in the back yard
Awaiting an unpleasant surprise
Over hot coals in a barbeque pit
And I've been fishing through my past
Most of it tossed back
Because its not of the prescribed limit
But I've still got plenty to eat
And its not any of that hamburger helper stuff
No pre-packaged convenience for me
My kitchen cabinets are filled with fireworks
Exploding against the side of the house
Amidst a chorus of laughter
Or lost up chimney flues
Sending embers raining down on rooftops
And snaking through the night
Like boats on the river
Seeking out a respectable enough cove to swim in
Weary of large reptiles
Waiting beneath the surface
Next to the front door I keep maps
Of Texas parks and New Mexico caverns
And snapshots of Mexican markets
That bleed colorful memories into the carpet
With each passing day
I see you in the bleachers and in the stands
And at the edge of a track field
Coaxing me on
Urging me forward
And I will never have the words
To appropriately explain my feelings
At the great impact you've had on my life
And I find myself emulating you daily
In various thoughts and actions
That spring themselves on me so suddenly
I have a hard time not choking
On all the nevers I uttered
Before setting off on my own way
So don't fret when I get a little hard-headed
Or when I feel the need to escape to the woods
I'm just aping the personalities
That shaped mine into being
And honestly, I'm just not that disappointed

I Met My Hero on the Back Porch

2011-01-18T10:40:00.000-08:00

I look to
Secrets etched in cigarette smoke
That sketched out the past
In wistful recollections
And there I find you
I look to
Large wooden forks and spoons
That left such a mark
They might as well be stains
And there I find you
I look to
A collection of silver spoons
Strung up and sparkling in the sunlight
Revealing all their points of origin
In tiny block letters
And there I find you
I look to
Stories of struggle
Against all odds
And the continuous reclassification
Of self
And there I find you
No matter how little
We may find our words
Caught up in telephone wires
Or scrawled out across a page
You always reside in my heart
And I carry you around
Like a token
To remind me to
Stand up and take charge
Of my own life
Because in the individual lies the possibility
Of moving from one frame of mind to the other
In a careful series of contemplations
Over reflective beads
On a well used rosary
In hard worked hands
That wrinkle with the cruel march of time
But never lose their independent nature
That burns like a fire
Through the night
Guiding me along my own journey
And I thank you
For nothing more than being you
And I just want you to know
That no matter what path
Has been carved out before me
I'll look to you for more than answers
And that as the past spills into the present
Filling in all the blank pages
I find an infinite amount of respect
For the great women before me
And I only hope that I will one day become
Half the person
You have turned out to be

All Smiles and Sadness

2011-01-18T10:30:00.000-08:00

Memories are hazy
Like a drunken stupor
And all I can see are deer
Strung up against a tree
Bleeding into a bucket
Or an accidental abortion
That sat in a handmade concoction
Until it shattered against a hardwood floor
And belched forth years of repressed aromas
That crowded the room for weeks
Summer time signified
An overdue trip to the woods
Where free-reigning bike rides
To lake fronts and riversides
Always ended up thrown off course
From rusty chains that popped out of place
Suddenly, like a jack in the box
So we reached into cloth bags
For just a taste
And coaxed the too loving deer
Nearer and nearer
And I wonder if they could smell you salivating
At what lie beneath their short fur
Maybe that's why they ran when it got dark
Or perhaps they caught a scent
Of something stronger
And felt as sick to their stomach as I did
When we were told to quit watching that nigger show
Two out of five ain't bad
But it's certainly not ideal
And I have a funny feeling
That the precedent was set
Long before I was born
And even my attempts at being helpful
In long garden rows on warm sunny days
Were met with contempt
And I got whipped
For not knowing any better
If I hadn't been so interested in education
Who knows what I might have found
Buried beneath my mattress
Alas, the stock market tumbled
And like a bad gambler
You had to reach into your purse
To find just enough to seem respectable
But that was lost long ago
In car rides past the house
Where three of five sat wondering
What commanded you beyond our driveway
Jealousy left a mark
Burned into our young hearts
That still smolders within our chests
But gave us the strength
To build up mile high walls around our emotions
And keep them trapped
For fear that we might in some way
Disappoint such disappointing grandparents

01010010011001010010110101000011011100100110010101100001011101000110100101101111011011100000110100001010

2010-12-17T14:38:00.000-08:00

justlettersonapage
Chosen by self
Transmitted in any medium you want
Cam whores galore
Popping up all over the bottom of the screen
"I just broke up with my boyfriend"
Impersonal personalized ads
Can't quite seem to hit the mark, yet
But who needs propaganda
When I can find the open source code
To accomplish anything I want
Anywhere across the internet
"Are you real?"
Does it really matter
Did I click on the link
And fly from page to page
By my own authority
Or was I guided by a careful shepherd
Who hides between the lines
That blink too quickly for my mind to register
Consciously
The local news fell off the radar
And all the pedophiles with it
Because everyone is a sexual deviant on the net
There's just no such thing
As too much information anymore
Anything can be known
If you know just what you are looking for
But it's all so distracting
Even the radio flashes like a slot machine
But I'm no gambler
And I might spend a dollar a month
To be comfortable
But why bother
When I know that I can always find it somewhere else
The only things missing are the commercials
anditcanallbeanonymous
Nobody and/or everybody all at the same time
Join the resistance
Sell your body
Be your art
Die

All on a pop-out screen
For all the world to see
Channel surfing new age waves
Connecting communities to global catastrophes
And the war has already begun
Sides aren't chosen, they're purchased
In corporate gift bags
Offered at three times regular price
Because no one actually pays for music anymore
And its all got to continue somehow
So lie down, sit there, rise up, pack up, head for the mountains
Stay put, run around, gather up the family
Its all converging in hyperspace
The future is held in the hands of virtual reality
Symbiosis on the nano-scale
Built from the molecule up
Fabricated DNA in petri dishes
Breeding with itself
Humanity can't seem to help being incestuous
We strive for diligence of the reasonable
But left our morals in the dust
Trampled beneath a trail of tears
That pollute the oceans in salty waves of miscommunication
Whales beach themselves in protest
And we interpret it as a show of submission
To the greatest creature
Known as Man
We'll save forests on facebook
Because enough money thrown at a problem
Will solve just about anything
Obviously
Dive into the system
Grab hold the nearest wireless signal
And sum yourself up in a screen name
So that you can take part
In the upcoming technological revolution
That will bring about the evolution
Of the human persuasion
dontforgettoreadtheprivacypolicy
And will define the new limits
Of our self constructed prisons
Until it all blends in so well
That you can no longer tell the difference
Between natural and artificial intelligence

I am Procrastination Personified

2010-12-17T13:41:00.000-08:00

Picking up useless pieces of paper
And throwing them down the hallway
Because I feel like giving myself a reason
To do something, anything else
Instead of taking pen to paper
Or at least sitting in front of the computer screen
Rambling and ranting to pass the time
But when it comes time to pack
And prepare myself for an interstate relocation
My fingers find a familiar place on the keyboard
And just won't let go
I'm held in place by an invisible string
That ties me to all the work
I'd rather be doing anyway
I will always turn
To that which I find more comfortable
In any given moment
Because I lack the ability
To make concrete decisions
And its not even something I would change
If I had any real power over it
My day is sculpted by the whims of a situation
And I find my place in eternity
In the sureness of the steady beat
Of the clock nailed to the wall
And it has nothing to do with numbers
The constellations may have mathematical proportions
But they are of no use to me
Because my desired outcome
Is not measured in steps around the globe
And cannot be quantified
To show how good or bad I had it
Time just keeps moving on regardless
And this brief mortal foray
Is but a short delay
From our reunification with the stars
In some other galaxy
Where we will probably forget
That this ever was
And stumble around blindly
Letting the desert winds shape our destiny
As we cry to the sky
To let the heavens flood down upon us
So that what to do is no longer an issue
Because the only choice you have
Is to swim

Stalking Myself With a Backpack

2010-12-17T12:32:00.000-08:00

The cash-strapped backpack
Sprawled across my shoulders
Holds just enough to keep me going
Forever
The world lies not in the palm
But in the brain
And I'm using mine to craft a reality
Based in the illusory
He, she, we, they, it
Is, isn't, will, wouldn't
Couldn't, shouldn't, shall
Just words strung up on a pole
Waving like a flag
Symbolizing all the things we no longer see
And I keep seeking out
New labels to rebel against
I will not be reduced to a single word or phrase
I am more than my vocabulary
But I can't stop building it
And relying on all those convenient clauses
To capture the souls of all those around me
I roam backstage in search of answers
To what I cannot understand
And come up empty handed
Because all I've really been doing
Is scratching out a niche
In which to place myself
Damn those labels that comfort me
In times of confusion
Agnostic anarcho-socialist hippie
Introverted nerdy Nintendo playing
Book reading vegetarian gay man
With Buddhist leanings
I'll find my people when I find myself
As if that's the easy part
As if I don't lose my tongue in social situations
As if I am somehow comfortable with sexual tension
As if I know enough to know when to lay down my cards
Or when to up the ante
I have parkour dreams on dimly lit stages
Where everyone is just a little bit serious
And snap when I shut my mouth
Because applause tears at my eardrums like a feral cat
Too many compliments and I'm sure
The sidewalk ill be stained in the blood
Of my mind dripping from my head
Because no matter how far you run
You can never outrun yourself
And so I gave up the race
And now I just walk around looking for myself
And I find it everywhere
And I've gotten close enough a time or two
To reach out and grab it
But I'm just so good at avoiding myself
So it all falls back to the wayside
And I tighten the straps on my backpack
Stuff it with something I deem important
And set off again
No longer convinced of the surety of sunrise
I'll travel to see her fall off the edge of the world
And disappear beyond the ocean
I'd swim to the sun and wrap my arms around her
If the moon wasn't so jealous
And would set me free from her gravitational vices
But I'm an earthly bound inhabitant
Of someone else's dream
At least until I relocate those lost plans
Detailing the way back
To the beginning

Cherry Sparked Dreams

2010-12-17T09:38:00.000-08:00

Smoke filled rooms seem to be scattered across my past
Lodging themselves into every couch cushion
And tangible representation of self
I drink it in like some great elixir
A personal fight against information

With one hand the world offers comfort
With the other an empty place to dwell
In nothingness
And I snatch at the invisible
Because I'm convinced
There's something waiting there
Behind the smoke screen

And I'm forced to move to
Self imposed sessions of sanity
Because the ground beneath me
Moves faster than I do
And I've been caught up more than once
Knocking myself down
Foot meets calf, face meets floor

But I find it comforting
That the cool ground beneath me
No matter how fast it may be spinning
Is there to catch me when I fall
Over and over again
And it pauses long enough for me to stand
Before stumbling off
On the next great adventure
With my unsteady mortal legs

The sky is crowded with chemicals
That rain down on my head
Conspicuously enough
And coat my body with another worry
Invisible films of authority
Spread across my character
With surgical surety
Filling in all the cracks
Until I'm trapped in an invisible world
Of obsession
Running from all the same monsters
But lacking all the up to date information
Because its like living in a zip-lock bag
And the outside world is just a smear
On thick plastic walls
Closing in around me with each passing breath
Good thing I brought a lighter
To burn my way out of here

Be prepared, Grandpa always said
And so I shall be
By constantly casting myself against myself
In a never ending crash course in evolution
Adaptation is life
Adversity breeds chaos
And that's where I want to be
In the middle of insanity
That bounces off the walls literally
And where the shadow of an individual
Grows with his heart
I want to dine on ideas
And drink to a revolution of the mind
And spill my guts all over the floor
And make such a mess there's no point in cleaning up

Then I recall an apparent defect
A misfiring synapse
The connection from thought to action
Mind to body
Is broken
The pathway might as well be nonexistent
And two lost halves stumble around in the dark
Like Alzheimer's patients
Trying to remember what it was they were walking towards
The cruel disconnect
Of an almost situation

Until repetition becomes comforting
Blanketing you in the warm glow of solitude
There's no such thing as someone who talks back
To someone who offers no words
And no such thing as a broken heart
If it was never given away
Because no one can steal
What I keep clutched in my chest

And the world moves on
Oblivious to my discontent
My surety, my conviction
That the world is my enemy!
My imaginary audience sits in the corner of every room
Taunting me with their black eyes of judgment
The watchers of this narrative
I call my life
Like its all a story
Because my perception
Is that this is all an illusion
That real is pretend, that pretend is real

Dizzying digital algorithms smash through firewalls
In search of things I wouldn't even think to tell people
And find their treasure in the unguarded files
That litter the computer screen
Like a minefield of backwards booby traps
All blowing up in your face
And I'm supposed to trust these people?

My paranoia resides on the pages that will give me away
Sitting there in open space
Like a deer ignorant of his impending doom
Calmly basking in the warm sunshine
Then it's hunting season
And its all snatched away in the blink of an eye
The path to infinity is just a trigger pull away
And while a bullet to the forehead might not be my chosen way to go
What would it matter,
Wouldn't I be dead anyway?
Or living somewhere out there among the stars
Thrown back into the dust
From whence we all came
Battling our way down to the earth
Like some cosmic game
Conquering frozen tundra and volcanic ash
We rose from the depths of the ocean
To crawl upon the land
And made it all the way back to the moon
But the grass is always greener on the other side

So insignificant we need a significant implication
Of all that we cannot control
In death lies truth
Because knowledge is power
And we all just want to breed with the universe
Create something new where nothing was before
Erect a monument to show our praise
Of all the shiny things we own
Reflecting all the dreams
Out of reach
Hidden in the stars
We followed them across the globe
Rounded back
To find a lot of the same
Still walking the streets

Disgust breeds its own special sickness
That lies in the bowels
Waiting until a completely inappropriate time
To make its presence known
Vomiting forth more tidbits than you knew you could handle
Smearing them across the walls
Until the whole place stinks of bile
And the whole room ran from the moon
Like a werewolf had been created
In the dank depths of unfortunate circumstances
Bit by bit it was pieced back together
Into loose versions of reality
Not strong enough to stand up
For their own existence
That came crashing down around them
Littering the landscape
With mocking shards of glass

Tripped up all over again
Fumbling for my keys
On a cool, dark patio
Overlooking the construction of a parking lot
Bulldozers ate the scenery in violent lurches
Belching forth plumes of cancer filled smoke
As if to intimidate all the other trees into submission
Sounds of ecstasy pounded through the walls
Initiating a less than desirable sequence of events
And I skipped from coffee shop to living room
Sprawled out on top of scratchy tan fabric
With a paintbrush in hand
And eating dinner on a dark patio
With only cigarettes to light our faces
It made for a good star gazing atmosphere

And then digital became influential
The march to freedom is based in free
And we chipped in and bought out
Pled it out and fled
Marched from Pittsburgh to Arab
And found a quiet spot on the mountain top
I sat down, you stood up
And here we are again
In smoke filled rooms
Contemplating the next move
And ripping the atlas in two

Dharma bums for life
We'll reunite
On sandy beaches
Somewhere out West
And stroll through the city
In search of something more in step
With an overreaching philosophy
That permeates every thought
Regardless of its place on the list
I'm gathering my seven propositions
And setting up a payment plan
To renew my faith
In humanity
So that I can traverse over the desert
And find myself again surrounded
By all those that find comfort
In smoke filled rooms

Nurturing Natural Nomenclature

2010-12-10T13:31:00.000-08:00

I spell Me, A-T-C-G
And have ever since high school
When I wrote a paper
On the exciting field of genome research
Before someone could actually spell themselves out
In a pattern of letters
Stretched across a computer screen
For all the world to see
I blame Watson for not having a better name
Because when I hear DNA
I only think of Francis Crick and LSD
And I want to get out my tweezers
And pull apart the pieces
The building blocks of the individual
So that I might understand the whole
In some new way
And come to realize that nothing ever was
Anything more than it was intended to be
By circumstances beyond my control
That drowned me in prenatal hormones
And postnatal shows of authority
That kept me busy ignoring the possibility
That there ever was anything more to me
Than just some arbitrary situation
Where a strand of letters
Lacked the strength to take a stand
Against more subtle forms of encouragement
In disappointed glances
From an all too familiar face
Of exhaustion
From a few too many beers
And a handful of too much time
To sit around and think
About a blue baby boy
Who never seemed to fully recover
From a brief journey to the other side
And has trouble reminding himself
Of the all important U
In his life
Despite repeated attempts
At reminding him of the importance
Of the past on the present
And of all the footsteps he'll follow
On the way to the grave
Simply because
He is called by your name

Why I Dance Alone

2010-12-10T12:47:00.000-08:00

I thrive on the utterly inappropriate
And putting myself in compromising situations
Because in chaos I find comfort
It's as electrifying as Ben Franklin
On a warm, stormy night
And as cool as Washington
On the Delaware
But as haphazard as anarchists
On the streets of Pittsburgh
Not really sure of what direction they're heading
And I follow suit without a thought
Because I'm just happy to be
Whatever I'm needed to be
At any specific point in time
Content with just riding a wave
Seeking out some simple harmonic motion

To keep my head above water
I've learned to float on the soles of my feet
And remain largely submerged
To keep from exposing too much flesh
To the solar flares and cosmic radiation
Spat out at me from across the galaxy
And it allows me to operate
Beneath the surface
Long enough to disturb the natural wildlife
And set them all off course
I look to the stars above me
For some clue as to the exact location
Of a road less traveled
And realize I'm still treading water
Still miles from dry land
So I smile

Because the island I'm looking for
May not even exist
And I am an extremely poor
Celestial navigator
Who can't seem to draw his eyes
From Orion's Belt
As if I'm expecting some bright light to appear
As he hikes up his skirt
To flash a few neighboring constellations
With an image I'll never see in real time
Because being here now
Is just like being stuck in the past
This I am reminded of daily
In all the dead and dying stars
I ignore in the night sky
As I try to sneak another peek
At The Hunter

I consider asking him for the lost plans
To the Tower of Babel
I'm sure he still hides beneath his robes
So that I might communicate more efficiently
With my fellow earthly creatures
And we can consider future endeavors
United in a common struggle
Against a spiteful god that scattered us across the land
For fear that we might realize something minuscule
In a universe too big to fathom
Too old to comprehend
And too young to care
About whether we're fantastic or fatalistic
Triumphant or lackluster
Dead or alive
Because she's just interested in dancing with herself
Until the very end of time

LGBTXYZ- FML

2010-12-05T09:44:00.000-08:00

I don't know whether to refer to myself
As a boy or a man
I seem to be too old to be the former,
Too carefree for the latter
So I'll just settle on guy
But what kind of guy?
This kind, the one standing before you
With all his imperfections
And misgivings
But in my Ecotopia
There's no such thing as gender
Whether he, she, or he-she
Makes no difference
Even Fight Club had a man with tits
At the height of its masculinity
And it never stopped them
From reaching their goal
But I shirk from responsibility
Like shadows from the sun
Determined not to be seen
In the wrong light
Opting instead to be as clear as crystal
Though I'm not sure what that means
Since all that I see is covered in cracks and crevices
That spit out light in a million trajectories
That dance brightly on kitchen walls
Like all the opportunities for Being
Each second a lifetime, each second a new beginning
But I only wade in shallow waters
Deathly afraid of all those sharks
That bask just beyond the sand bar
Even though I remind myself daily
Of the unlikelihood of an unfortunate occurrence
With statistics and figures
That swirl around my head in a vortex
And slip over the event horizon
Forever lost from recollection
But I know that they come out the other end
Substantiated in a different form
But made of all the same matter
I just have trouble discerning
What's beneath the surface
And remembering
Never to trust my own eyes
For my perception is but one
In a world of many
And my thoughts are but some
In a sea of plenty
So I've become a literary thief, a pirate
Who plunders like a lexicographer
Starving for new material
Careful to avoid collision on the open sea
But trading away words on land freely
Despite the legal statutes
That attempt to further divide
He from she, me from we
Maybe I just need to be recalibrated
Reprogrammed, reset
Back to the beginning
So that I can remember
What I don't know I've forgotten
And reclassify my person
In air quotes
So that you can just call me
Human

In Spite of it All, I Can't Stop Reading Into Things

2010-12-05T08:17:00.001-08:00

I just want to be On the Road,
Kerouac style
But its not the modern day
We live in a post- everything
And Hollywood simultaneously offered
The roadmap and deterrent
Does anyone pick up hitchhikers anymore?
"Hell no!" seems to be the resounding response
"Haven't you ever watched a horror movie?"
But I don't like all the blood and gore
And my mind rests in Alaska,
Into the Wild
With broken down dreams
Scattered along a dusty highway
Remnants of all the accidents
No one can avoid
"My friend was murdered by a hitcher"
So now sunset brings a whole new host of problems
And you can snake your way along
Following the bleak, black trail ahead
Or find yourself a spot
Under the pine trees
Set up camp and try to remember
What's so great about humanity
It's not so long ago
That the multitudes crossed over the Mississippi
And headed West in covered wagons
The promise of a new land
Is enticing
But I just want to see the beaches
And meet a few of The Dharma Bums
Without having to surrender myself
To radiation in public places
For the sake of a feeling
That I do not share
Wishful thinking, perhaps
But I know it's possible
Because I've been picked up before
And I certainly have no problems
With someone else
Hitching a ride
I just seem to have temporarily
Misplaced my testicles

Waging War Within

2010-12-05T08:11:00.001-08:00

My plans come in the form of an argument
With myself
No, you can't
Yes, you can
No, you can't
Yes, you can
No.. Okay, fine
And so it begins anew

Goading myself into action

Research, research, ruminate
Ponder possibilities
And then ignore them altogether
Because I've known the answer all along
I just had to fight myself about it
To pretend I had a choice in the matter
When life hands me lemons
I make excuses
Because I don't like lemonade
There's just too much
Sweetness
Like an overly used smile
That never reaches the eyes
I know when you're lying
I can see it in your forehead
But I'll continue debating with myself
Over self indulgent thoughts
That pound around my head
Like a jackhammer
On a hot sidewalk
Sending smoke and debris flying
In all directions
And they'll continue to catch my attention
I can't help it
Humanity is just obsessed with shiny things
And I am no different
But eventually I'll remember
That I wasn't digging for gold
Just a solid piece of rock
Etched with all the memories
Of those who came before me
And I'll quit thinking about leaping
And just do it

Safe in Solitude

2010-12-05T06:52:00.000-08:00

Stationary, sedentary, so called sanity
This home is but an accumulation
Of myself, spread thin and throughout
The overproduction of the arbitrary
There's no such thing as out of sight, out of mind
In a house with no dark spaces
And no secret hiding places
My feelings are plastered to the wall
Like the sheet music tacked to the closet door
That I pretend not to see each time I get dressed
Donning the necessary articles
To hide my naked skin
From the cold wind outside
And the freezing temperatures within
My heart has been chipped at like an ice sculpture
Until it was finally molded into something beautiful
But its melting within my chest
Filling my lungs with water
And I feel like I'm drowning
In emotion
Wave after wave of repressed memories
That I surf through with the skill
Of a psychologist
Who received a Ph. D. online
Taking notes from open source programs
That change each time I refresh the page
Filling me with uncertainty
And so I dream on paper
Throwing my thoughts into a melting pot
Melding them together
And sculpting them into something I don't recognize
Like the man that stares back at me
When I look in the mirror
I don't trace the contours of my face
Because it's all in the eyes
The doorway to my soul
That lies somewhere in my head
Hiding between the folds
Accessible, but indescribable
I just can't seem to make out the edges
In each dimly lit hallway I travel
In a home with so many things
The lack of AA batteries is disheartening
And so I beat the flashlight against my palm
Determined to knock it into submission
To shed some light on my situation
And understand why I can't just walk
Out the door
And stick my thumb out
Signifying my need to get away
From myself
And the thought processes that keep me trapped
In a singular motion, back and forth like a pendulum
I'm both content and restless
Courageous and scared
Loving and hateful
The dual nature of everything
Keeps me open minded
And ready for at least the possibility
Of something new and exciting
In theory at least
But these four walls are my security blanket
And I just can't seem to let go
And surrender myself
To the world outside

Only Secrets Are Communal

2010-12-02T14:04:00.000-08:00

You are nothing but a disgrace
A scourge on your fellow travelers
An abominable representation of the human race
How dare you not succumb to societal pressures
As you push through the automatic doors
To take your place on the train
Threatening to circumvent the wars
Driving us all insane
A metallic voice chides your tardiness
With calm execution and marked distaste
As your cohorts look on in malice
At a disheveled pile of human waste
That dares to disrupt a system
Of ingenious ingenuity
That gave birth to the freedom
To experience their own reality
In the form of well written speeches
Screamed down from a pulpit
To constantly remind of all the forces
That only seek to look and covet
How dare you hold us up
On our way to be scanned
Where we won't so much as gossip
About the TSA agent caught
With his cock in hand

And the Aqueducts Crumble Beneath Our Feet

2010-12-02T13:50:00.000-08:00

It's not about up becoming down
Or black becoming brown
It's about you not understanding
That there is simply too much money
Floating around
To be left to idle chance
Humanity becomes nothing more
Than a child times 6 billion
Who must be looked over at all times
To prevent such heinous occurrences
As a financial meltdown
War is profitable, peace is not
And we have the efficiency report
To prove it
You life may be worth less
Than a mansion on the beach
But at least you can walk down the street
Without the threat of violence
Cameras are for your security
And your well being
We need to see you naked
Before you board that plane
In case you are smuggling metal
Through your urethra
But don't you dare show your ass to a cop
When he pulls you over on a whim
And demands you have no right
To complain
Go ahead, file your paperwork
Wade through the bureaucracy
And just see how far you get
Our rulers move mountains
With the stroke of a pen
And can make whole cities
Just disappear
But go ahead and try
Walking down the street
Without the proper identification
Insider trading is a wealthy man's game
Where millions are shuffled back and forth
Threatening entire economies
But how dare you sell cupcakes
Without filling out a tax form
Every penny must be found
To support 737 bases and counting
And the multitudes around the world
Running around pretending
They're not playing out
Some outdated idea
Of imperialism

Pretending There's No Such Thing as Pretending

2010-12-02T13:02:00.000-08:00

The master illusionist takes the stage
Bringing along all the tools of the trade
And sets to dismantling the atmosphere
Plucking whole heartstrings in thin air
And showering the stage in colorful allusions
That birth optical illusions no one can resist
Shadows in the background go unnoticed
And they crawl beneath the stage like cockroaches
Ready to appear at the flick of a switch
The plot thickens when an audience member is called
To be an unwitting participant in his own demise
As mind is separated from body in a mastery of mirrors
That hide inner thoughts from even those
Tracing the image staring back at them with cautious glances
Like fingers on a phantom limb
The audience breathes together in anticipatory ecstasy
Like one giant mass of perplexity
Teetering on the edges of stained red seats
That can barely contain their weight
And creak under the heavy load
Constantly threatening to snap but never taking action
And two halves of a whole roll to opposite sides of the stage
Cast off and forgotten without interruption
It all looks like quantum mechanics
With parts here and there and everywhere
Seen and unseen, dead and alive
Except for the rabbit just tossed aside
Pulled from the hat already in a state of rigor mortis
Asphyxiated on bolts of silk
And stiff with too much love in too little space
But the show must go on, above all else
A six foot coffin filled with water
Is wheeled into the light
And in climbs another volunteer without proper instruction
The audience gasps as he struggles to breathe
In his see-through prison, unable to cast off his chains
The curtain falls just in time to cover the final scene
And his body is flushed out to sea
Like an unwanted fetus
Before it had the chance to beg for death
At the end of a .38 Smith and Wesson
Ratings go through the roof
As human misery is clouded over
In gentle words of encouragement
That flood over the masses
In euphoric waves of dread
Reminding them to be thankful for the lives they lead
In a time of such chaos and pandemonium
Mortality is dangled on a silver string before them
And the world's greatest magicians
Levitate above the crowd at 45° angles
With arms spread crucifixion-style
To remind them of their true saviors
That lurk through the aisles in search of the next victim
To fall prey to his own deceitful eyes

Monochromatic

2010-11-18T15:29:00.000-08:00

The pale glow of the television set floods the room
Casting my life in blue, coating the walls with static
That clings tightly to every corner
And gathers everywhere and nowhere at the same time
I pull the covers over my head and duck out of existence
For a moment, imagining the world
As an overextended wink that shuts out
All those things I don't want to see
Outside the moon is full
Sneaking in around poorly drawn shutters
And spilling into my lap
Bathing me in mellowed tones
I can't quite hear
In the morning, the sun shines brightly
And thrusts itself into my life
Unforgiving of my attempts to hide in plain sight
I squeeze my eyes shut with such fervor
For a moment it seemed my eyelashes would blend together
Tie knots and eternally refuse me
That which I worked so hard to ignore
In a miraculous display of perfect timing
You appeared on my doorstep
Like an unexpected package wrapped in a silver cloth
I saw my face reflected on your chest
Staring back at me in horror
Fumbling forward I felt my heart fall to my feet
Along with all the blood coursing through my veins
And I stood paralyzed in the light
Of a stranger I couldn't take my eyes off of
And poised ready to acknowledge the truths
I felt within my chest but kept locked away
The door crept open as if possessed
And my hands acted with a mind of their own
Waving you in without my knowledge
One step, then two and then I saw you falter
I was filled with more panic that I thought possible
And the words came crashing from my mouth
Drowning you in repressed waves of animation
That kept this slowly sinking ship afloat
I see a bright, white light at the end of the tunnel
And you standing there in the center, coaxing
Like a newborn I struggle to find myself
Before setting off on wavering steps
Toward you and the horizon
My only fear is that you will grow weary of waiting
And disappear from my field of vision
Forever leaving me in this dark, lonely tunnel
That I've called home for so long

The Ins and Outs of Celestial Travel

2010-11-18T15:04:00.000-08:00

Far beneath the surface of the sea
In the craggy depths between the unseen valleys
Mother Earth offers herself through self mutilation
And bleeds life into existence
Through the cracks in sandy beaches devoid of light
Oversized brine chase each other through the coral
Darting to and fro in carefree bliss
Unaware of the realities overhead
Like a school of fish we travel together
Weary of all those sharks in the water
That refuse us even a moment's peace
For fear we recognize the power in numbers
This new game is fairly old
As evidenced by recent archaeological finds
That won't allow us to forget
All those past transgressions
And just like before we shall rise from the ocean
To test our sea legs on dry land
Running into the wind until we pick up enough resistance
To fly aloft and see the world from a new vantage point
Until we crash back into those steely blue depths
As a feast for all those we left behind
A pendulum swings back and forth
From one extreme to the other, shifting hues
We smash protons with more accuracy
Than we can pinpoint actions on the scale of good and evil
All the while pretending that our various schools of thought
Are simultaneously right and wrong
In an agreeably disagreeable world
We look for Quetzalcoatl to settle ancient scores
But cannot remember just what he looks like
Each flying object is given a name to be discarded
Upon revelation of actualities we masquerade as truth
Blue lights over cold cities spiral in the sky
Shooting off for some unnamed target
Reason finds a foothold among the anti-religious
But paradigm shifts don't happen overnight
As the future barrels down on us we forget
Of our murky beginnings but may soon be reminded
By the tsunamis that have never forgotten
And the primordial soup is stirred in this galactic cauldron
Once again, in a long series of firsts that give birth
To the many sagas of ends
The night sky welcomes her new masters with open arms
As universal time tables bend into position
And reveal just how little we know about anything

Aiming at Each Other

2010-11-17T14:44:00.001-08:00

Like a pack of wolves we set off
To explore our natural habitats
And discover something new
A naïve attempt at finding happiness in nature
Our swift feet weren't fast enough
And soon twilight edged in
With the moon eager to reclaim her territory
The woods fell silent
But for the quickening of heartbeats
That played on like a scene from Der Freischütz
In the pale moonlight we caught a glimpse
Of familiar territory, neatly manicured and green
Alive with the chorus of all those unseen creatures
That rejoice while birds sleep
We emerged from the brush scratched and scarred
Innocence left over the dark hedges behind us
Trapped in silent stares passed under the cloak of night
New environments gave birth to similar results
And recreation became obsession
Our excuses as rare as the stars above
We calibrated our efforts
And set our sights on each other
Until one by one we fell to the ground
Lost forever amongst an entomological symphony
And a sea of silver tears

Hearts Thaw in Springtime

2010-11-17T14:39:00.000-08:00

Arise from your slumber, Brethren
Listen not to the grunts and groans
Of your reawakening body
But to the pounding of possibilities
From within your own mind

That which is seen is only half the picture
Peer beyond the veil
And reevaluate your surroundings
Let nature dictate the next step
And bypass this fool's game

Free yourself from the shackles
You hoisted upon yourself
In a time of darkness
With the key held in your palm
You mistake for a birthmark

Step out of the cave and into the light
Hold steady on the door to your tomb
Breathe while your eyes adjust
And see the world around you
For the very first time

Two-Faced but with the Faceless

2010-11-12T13:41:00.000-08:00

I'm more honest with strangers
Than I am with myself
But you read text messages
Like I read blank stares
Sarcasm doesn't travel well
And I can't stand using smiley faces
I get angry over petty comments
About stories I don't even believe
And use it as a justification
For my world view
I'll face what's on the inside
When you do
All while pretending
I'd do it better than you ever could have
I'll tilt my head and shake it
Until something falls out
Pick up the broken pieces
And slyly put them back together
To cover up all the holes and answers
I don't want you to know
Then present it as myself
And walk calmly
From one lie to the other
And later declare
It was the best I could manage
Under such inauspicious conditions

The Y Axis (Or Y Not)

2010-11-12T12:59:00.000-08:00

They say its all downhill
From here
.............. Or here
........................... Or here
But I can recall no hills
I've been crawling on my belly
Slithering like a snake
Coiling around finger holds
Because this is all strictly vertical
As if the only way up is, well, up
One foot after the other
This hand then that
And I'm back again, creeping
Over this so called mountain
The horizon is not clear
Because I do not dare
To take it all in and enjoy the view
I mean, have you ever tried clinging to a wall?

I'm Only Buddhist for the Health Benefits

2010-11-12T12:25:00.000-08:00

They say, and you know how I feel
About them, that history cannot be decided
Until it is analyzed and repackaged for the masses
Disseminated through the proper channels
Old World remedies for everyday problems
Are only applicable in the New World
Under careful observation
Of corporate led Research and Development
The Real World isn't real enough
Symmetrical, symbolic, symbiotic -perhaps
But this economy won't run itself
So into the lab we go
Twisting man-made matter
Into something useful and meaningful
With an adequate level of cost-efficiency
Humanity is but a percentage point
In a long line of presentations
Broken down and divvied up
By our new cartographers
Wielding high powered microscopes
Who study the Natural world enough
To make us swallow it Artificially
We'll choke on tiny plastic pills
Packed with all our hard work
Until we lose the gag reflex
And forget that there ever was
Anything beyond ourselves

A.K.A. John Johnson

2010-11-05T11:47:00.000-07:00

A reddish-brown mane
Hid a sly face from the world
That moved silently beneath the city
Exploring her belly from within
In cross-country renditions of ancient superstitions
An unlucky army banded together
Seizing the Duck and Drake
As an opportunity for improvement
Cunning lies brought the expedition full circle
Where an alias stacked inconspicuous piles
Of black dirt and dried twigs
To hide an even more impressive bounty
Destined by the word of God
To recreate a cycle in his own fashion
The plague stalled the plans
Long enough to be discovered
And reiterated in a more humane fashion
In the form of gallows
Dismemberment and emasculation
Wild animals will not go willingly
Unless by their own hands
And so the end came in a quick snap
Self propelled through the air
To swing before the masses
Until the body parts could be removed
And set up as sentinels
All along the kingdom's border
A life eternal, remembered in effigies
That burn bright
Throughout each Fifth November night

Idling Through Existence

2010-11-04T09:53:00.000-07:00

Data gluts and technophiles
Are up in arms
All over the blogosphere
Netizens unite
Under a global truce
Holding hands in forums
And coming to terms with
Privacy policies
The world is free
In an open cloud
But a high speed connection
Won't perform open heart surgery
Data is as exponential
As streams of consciousness
Traveling the globe
In technocratic fashion
The curtain is pulled back
To reveal a more inclusive picture
Each bit contains the whole
And our celestial beginnings
Come closer to being unearthed
As 3-D images fly by
And form all around us
Deceiving as they may be
This is, as things are
A complete bold faced lie
That straps us to the walls of a cave
Where we can only watch the shadows
That dance before our eyes
We are allowed access
To all we had before
Not a bit more
Than we can handle
Because if we knew the truth
Beneath the piles of sludge
That line the street corners
We would have long ago
Made real use of our inactivity

Plutocracy Vs Poverty

2010-11-04T09:47:00.001-07:00

The straw that broke the camels back
Came decades ago
And we pretend not to see it
The halls of justice
Ring loud and clear
With the message of true Americanism
We taught the poor to hate themselves
To aspire to something else
You can be whoever you want to be
In this land of opportunity
As long as you have the cash
The masses bump into each other
In line for unemployment benefits
And blame each other
For what is said
To be their own fault
Flagellation becomes a national pastime
As we skirt dying cities
And look past an empty field of dreams
Ancient buildings
With broken windows
And poor excuses for material
Excesses line the dirty halls
Stuffed with too many children
Corralled into the arena
For everyone to see
Just how dangerous they are
Bullet-proof glass
In stretch limos
Are seen leaving gated communities
To parade around the ghetto
Preaching self sustenance
You can be me, if you just work hard enough
Don't bite the hand that feeds
We gave you these opportunities
Out of the goodness of our hearts
The wealth gap widens
And we are poorer than before
But overall GDP is growing
So something must be right
Handfuls of corporate monies
Are passed in the dark
Among the shadows
Lurking like a disease
That never really went away
Patriarchs and disciples
Will lead the way
Yanking on the chains that bind
A people to the State
In the name of progress
Even if it means going backwards
Plutocratic innovations are nothing new
But are back in a whole new way
Degrading what is left
Of an already crumbling idea
Of democracy

Cosmic Colonization

2010-11-04T09:42:00.000-07:00

No longer bound by geographical anomalies
We set off in the name of humanity
Dusty red skies welcome us with open arms
And we dive into the future
Set up camp along a barren basin
And rock climb to new heights
Records are made to be broken
And so we will with each step
As molehills become mountains
And we scurry to the top
How long will we be satisfied
With being bi-planetary beings?
The sun sends out streams of radiation
And we gather information
Via earthly mainframes
Packets of knowledge streak through space
And land at the front door
Of what will prove to be
An exact replica
Of a common book on colonization
From the West to the rest of the galaxy
Manifest destinies are expanded
To include galactic planes
That we shall inherit
In the name of progress
Refurbish an empty lot
And park a Starbucks
For a quick pick me up for passers-by
Before they head to Saturn
For a late night dinner
On floating chunks of ice

From Star Dust to Storm Trooper

2010-10-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

Bright green eyes peer beneath the dotted lines

Surrounded by a heavy cast of metal

Subconciously drawn forth

To battle demons not yet introduced

Like a knight I charge forth into the night

Full of intent

That blinds me to my own reality

That bends and stretches for miles

Careening out of control until

It falls

Right off a cliff is where I want to be

Diving into the great unknown

Where I shall discover the truth behind this facade

And a distorted philosophy

Filled with holes and riddles

That cast me in an eerie light

That I run from

As if I can hide from the shadows

Silhouettes of all the secrets I sent out into the world

My creations are my responsibility

To the extent that I feed them

But to cut all ties seems most unwise

In a land brimming with jesters

Who preach to me the importance

Of transparency

From behind their own brightly colored disguises

That distract

From all that is within

My head grows weary as the mask grows heavy

And I yearn to cast it from my brow

To stand and scream and rave

Like a madman who overstayed his visit to the depths

Of his humanity

My eyes are so deceiving

And my words flow as freely as the sands

That circle the globe

Exponentially

For there is no end

To what has no beginning

And no mask that can trap

My eternal being

Apple of My Eye

2010-10-08T13:53:00.000-07:00

Like a mother
She bowed under the weight of child rearing
Her arms gently scraping the ground
Caught up in the joys of pregnancy
Little attention was paid to the after effects
But now childless she weeps
Not for her children but for herself
As she prepares to evacuate her senses
And lie bare for one more dormant season
The change has already begun
As is evidenced by the autumn colored blanket
Draped around her frail limbs
That will see her through the winter
As she ponders the whereabouts
Of her long lost youth

A Reminder to Breathe

2010-10-08T12:47:00.000-07:00

Surprises in the form of question marks
Leave me more satisfied than a mere exclamation
A periodic reminder
That to know everything, is nothing
To know nothing, means everything
A list of attributes begins with a colon
But ends with a blanket statement
I am brother, I am man, I am he
But in a world of such complexity
Run-ons are inevitable
A smattering of sequences, linked by a dominant pair
A quick glance reveals the need for proofing
So the editing begins
And once recognizable secrets are drowned in black ink
Under several layers of unintelligible text
Poor recreations of a life well spent
History sits in a cool, dark cellar gathering cobwebs
The words allowed to set
But the truth leaks through dampened sheets
And the thoughts you assumed well hidden
Bleed onto blank pages
For nothing can truly be destroyed
In a world whose only job
Is to exist

Life: An Imaginary Solace from a Finite Nature

2010-10-08T11:51:00.000-07:00

A morbid obsession
With no reigns to grasp
A self propelled carriage
That only stops upon introduction to a brick wall
Like Hollywood movies
The ending is clear
But how do we get there, from here?
Silent clues in kindergarten drawings
Trace the future in chunky lines
Of primary colors
Spilling out all over the page
Hearts and hands replace blood and gore
And the lead-up is anticlimactic
A slow lull in time
The calm before the storm
Technology squashed him like a bug
So into his imagination they moved
To recreate a playful fantasy
Of just a single week
As if it stood apart
From the previous three hundred fifty
But the heart heals quickly if you let it
And old pastimes become new
In the sense that someone is missing
But temple wounds from smoking barrels
Bruises from table legs
And cuts from flailing drunken fingertips
Prove not much has changed
And all that's left is to wonder
If nothing changes anyway,
Then what's the point of dying?

Dancing with Drones to Keep from Drowning

2010-10-08T11:41:00.000-07:00

The pounding of the earth passed unconsciously
Like the forgotten stories of humanity past
Clinging to a feeling
Adrenaline, power, the great roar of the machine
Vibrating between four legs
Locked in an impossible state of being
But even Jesus fell when attempting to climb the hill
A single misstep
To forever change the course of history
Wheels sliced through the autumn air
Humming a familiar tune
In time with the clanking of dishes
And the guttural snores from down the hall
One babe to another
Inaudible voices, trapped in their chests
Unable to escape their racing hearts
Neurons lit up
And electrical signals traveled near the speed of light
Alerting family members
Delegations ensued
But not before I noticed his small blue body
Rolled through another door
Life may have left the body
But my mind still whirls with anticipation
And the engine keeps humming
That too familiar song

Why I'll Never Be Famous

2010-10-04T09:59:00.000-07:00

Scouring the horizon for tidbits of information
Words float on by unless I snap them from the air
Fling then down and pin them with a tack
On blanks of sheets of paper
Empty of anything, devoid of feeling
Pretending there's something behind it
Something hidden between the lines
Real world experience has no alternative
Do it, be it, or don't
Transcribing random imitations
Stolen right our of a thesaurus
Temporarily adopted and given a home
Made of sticks and straw
The big bad wolf can't wait to blow it down
Again, all over again
Bouncing around the yard
Finding new inspiration
Pen it, paint it, forget it
The past lingers in stands of light
Fading neon traces in the night
The black hole is spinning
Around and around
There is no view
In a room with no windows
Only doors are within sight
The future is limitless
The past has dissipated in a cloud of ash
Blackened ruins crumble and fall
Leaving trails of eroding pebbles
In the wake of broken footsteps
Leading up to a moment in time
As real as any
As false as most
Paradigms are shifted and flipped on their head
The sands of time hesitate before changing direction
New courses are set
To lands uncharted
And familiar lay lines
Grow further apart
Until nothing is left
But a blank sheet of paper

Everything is Nothing

2010-09-17T15:16:00.000-07:00

Diabolical instrumentation of the worst kind
Sends fleets fleeing off course
Drowning them in an ocean of intolerance
Cold, harsh depths
Blackness obfuscates and becomes
Something other than a word
In the darkness are the most honest reflections
Mirrored in a swirl of bubbles
Air pockets sliding gently along the body
Like clear blue bath beads
Sensations cling to the external stimuli
Don't face too far inside!
No vertex, climax, or apex
No bottom rung from which to dismount
Space is eternally present
In the grain of sand
Scratching across the cornea
Fingertips are useless in protoplasmic paradigms
Parlaying into paralyzing revelations
Of unimaginable proportions
Sweeping across cavernous membranes
Folded over and over
Packed in like sardines
With no room but to think
Sanity swoons over slight indulgences
Plunging being back into the dark
An obscure light floats across a pixelated screen
Chalked up to faulty wiring
Reprogram
Reset
The fullness of an empty room
Stifles with its nothingness
And taunts with its everything

Lost at Sea

2010-09-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

This water bearer
Feels lost without the sea
I can hear it beckoning me
Closer
I'm further from home
But nearer my goal
I just can't seem to reconcile the two
The Gulf of Mexico drove me away
So I ran off to the Atlantic
From Florida to Maine
And yet still found nowhere to stay
The West is calling me back
To someplace I've never been
I just hope the rocky beaches
Don't also drown me in reasons
To head back to Trinity Bay

Generational Gaps

2010-09-17T15:06:00.000-07:00

I'm just young, dumb, and full of cum
And also somewhat of an elitist
I'm entitled to my happiness
I'm entitled to your wealth
I'm too young to know better
And too undereducated to understand
My inferior learning didn't prepare me
For the real world
But I need to suck it up and dive in
I don't get capitalism
And am blind to the evils of the world
I live in the best nation on the planet
Under the best God, with the greatest leaders
I'm the freest person ever to be born
But I should shut my mouth
About things I don't understand
My opinions are only agreeable
Through a majority consensus
But I must rise to the occasion
And protect the homeland
Vote for my favorite puppet
And buy into my spoon fed propaganda

Pastoral Pertinence

2010-09-17T14:52:00.000-07:00

The old bat can smell it
I see it in her eyes
As she stalks across the backyard
Ambushing swallowtails
She senses the outside world
Sees it just beyond the fence
And she ponders jumping through
Though the cool calico may never sing,
She sure mews a lot

Her Snow White Complexion Was Her Downfall

2010-09-17T14:46:00.000-07:00

It all seemed so
Symbolic
Like ancient man offering up a sacrifice
The steel blade slid silently
Across her smooth throat
And crimson bubbles foamed
Around a gaping hole
As she tried to scream
But the pit was hot, the fire stoked
We had no time for lengthy death scenes
So we lodged a bullet between her pleading eyes
And set to dismantling her flesh

Tetraplegia

2010-09-17T14:31:00.000-07:00

I have no means

Of selling myself
In the name of humanity
Clutching to my culture
What culture?
My genetic roots
Sprouted into trees
One by one cut down
Cauterized, removed from reality
Severed like distant ties
That no longer bind
Placing myself in familiar territory
Doing it all over again
Enthusiastic ambitions
Emanated an impressive bounty
Shattered, disintegrated from being
The circle of life continues
The trees sigh briefly
Heavy under the burden of existence
Shrinking back under the hot Alabama summer
Letting go loose memories that rain down
Ostracized by their own brethren

Murky Mortal Mirrors

2010-09-17T14:12:00.000-07:00

It seems the whole world is speaking to me
Through facial twitches and pop-up ads
I see my reflection
The universe dares me to bare my soul
But she's already captured it
Held tightly in a gravitational vice
Centrifugal forces keep me grounded
But I can't stay out of the clouds
A stranger's hand brushes my shoulder
And it all comes crashing back
Too quickly for me to react
So I plod on
Unable to reconnect all the dots
To finally see the big picture

Sweet Succession

2010-09-17T13:51:00.000-07:00

Flat on your back, legs up in the air
(insert inappropriate joke here)
Just a quiet, peaceful lump
Of hardened black and yellow bands
Covered in a halo of pollen

I'd flick your carcass out of the way
If it weren't for the insurmountable effort
That it must have taken for such a small group
Of tireless workers to drag you thus far
As evidenced by the steam of gold

An elephant, a feast, for hundreds of mouths
No chance to fade to dust, you'll be underground
Shredded in no time and turned into sugar
Pure, cane-less sugar, sweet with the taste of death
Pungent with the air of impending doom

Providing all the energy needed for your hyenas
To climb inside the walls and relocate themselves
In my kitchen cabinets, scouting out man-made alternatives
For fuel supplies in the wake of a changing climate
Removing certain links from the food chain

Exacerbation

2010-09-08T12:29:00.000-07:00

Deflation, inflation
Hyperventilation
All of it an aberration
Of your prescribed reality
In the eyes of this nation
I am an abomination
Set on derailing an agenda
My illusion
Is just a pollution
Brought on like a sickness
Devouring healthy cells
Inviting each and every one
Of my personal hells
The level of indignation
Rises with the prolonged
Stagnation
Of ideas, hopes, and dreams
That are slowly unraveling
Revealing unimaginable truths
In direct opposition
To our human intuition

A Brief History

2010-09-08T12:28:00.000-07:00

Religious persecution
Flight
Fight
Destroy
Rebuild a civilization
Destroy foreign indoctrination
From CBO's to welfare state
From Nanny to Big Brother
Religious persecution
Flight
Fight
Destroy
Rebuild a civilization

Current Events

2010-09-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

Stage set
This bomb's my pet
Not to be taken lightly
Lines were drawn
And redrawn
Then ignored all together
Peace agreements are considered worthwhile
Just because both parties showed up
But no one expects anything to happen
Until the problem is presented
To as of yet, unborn children
A bloody trail through the Congo
Leads up to the U.N.'s doors
Who claim they can do nothing to stop it
Hundreds of women raped
It's just all to commonplace to bother
Slowly decaying infrastructures
Become the new focus
For the fifteenth time in two years
And the faces of those in charge soften
Here, here, don't cry, let us dry your tears
Belgium is splitting at the seams
And Tanzania is on its knees
Begging Europe to just
Stop
But biofuel production
For the developed world
Is too big to be contained
Land grabs are the only way
The native populations have the right
To put up a fight
But we're going to do it anyway

This Land is MY Land

2010-09-08T12:20:00.000-07:00

Religious persecution
Led man to "new" lands
Of opportunity
The natives were demolished
To make way for a new history
Based on truth, logic, and reason
For tis the season
For the ultimate pursuit of happiness
Stacked neatly along the shelves
In individual packages
All tied with a bright red bow
Pick one up today
At your neighborhood friendly
We Own You Corp.
Pretend freedom is just a word
Not a god given right
Xenophobic tendencies run high
In the land graced by His hand
Because if god wanted us all equal
He'd have made us all the same

Parched

2010-08-27T13:12:00.000-07:00

My throat is swollen
My lips are cracked
And your idle threats
Leave me wanting more
Shake your mighty fist
And rip open the skies
Bring down your wrath
Atop my head
And fill my parched mouth
To the brim
Choke me
With your overflowing cup
So that I may thirst no more

Taunted by the Clouds

2010-08-27T13:09:00.000-07:00

A sweet, crisp taste
Coats my tongue
I inhale
Sending a rejuvenating breath
Down my throat
My tongue darts out
Seeking nourishment
But like days prior
The looming clouds
Only bark and grumble
Refusing to drench me
With what I seek
It looks like fall
But the warm breeze
Escorting yellowed leaves
Reminds me of the truth
And the ground beneath me
Shatters like broken glass
No longer able
To withstand the heat

A Padded Existence

2010-08-27T13:06:00.001-07:00

A thin strip of rubber
Separates me from the earth
My security blanket
For safety's sake
I miss the cool, green grass
Beneath my feet
But I love the air of superiority
Egocentric mindsets
Societally sculpted and put to work
My playground of mud
May as well be covered in cement
As I rail against unnatural obsessions
And slip my toes
Back into the world in which we live

Tall Tales

2010-08-27T13:02:00.000-07:00

Stoic, solid, immovable truth

With drought stricken fringes

Impervious to my actions

Asexualized

Standing guard

Or passive observers?

Non-violent vigilantes

Sigh deeply in the shallow breezes

Coughing on humanity's pungent odor

Suicidal maniacs

Or cogs in the machine?

Gaia's fingertips stretching

Towards the heavens

Save me, she cries

But littered cosmic highways

Block her voice

She slowly withdraws

Into herself

When no longer guarded

By her graceful hands

Will we then question

Our momentum?

Hibernating

2010-08-27T12:56:00.000-07:00

Beads of sweat
Stream down my face
Pouring, like rain from the heavens
I stumble to a cave
A cool, dark place
Of nothingness
Beyond my reach
Mouths bounce up and down
Spewing forth patriotic blood lust
And I shiver in the dark
Close my tomb
And leave me be
My lips sealed shut
Until the fragrance of rebirth
Seeps through the cracks

Happy Belated

2010-08-27T12:54:00.000-07:00

Rapidly advancing cells
Threaten to breakdown
Without proper procedure
These yearly rituals
Purely for the sake of egocentrics
Arrive with gusto
But leave everyone depressed
Withered and worn
No more tears to cry
Forgotten once more
Left out to dry
In an unapologetic heat
Under a blistering star
365 days
Another revolution around the sun
One more trip
To the dark side of the moon
And petty ideas of what integrity
Or respect are
Spiral down the drain
And you stare in the mirror
Pretending
That two simple words
Would have made a difference anyway

Navigating the Treetops

2010-08-03T11:04:00.000-07:00

Backed into a corner
That slides easily into 360 degrees
A vast horizon
Arcing in familiar ways
The landscape changes
The further we veer from the course
On course for more
Misinterpretation
Belittled by a careful blow
Graceful across your cheek
But stinging
Like the thousands of jellyfish
We unwittingly passed
On our journey up the coast
We plummeted into the darkness
Snaking our way through the forest
And climbing up into trees
Establishing a foothold
For even greater leaps
High into the clouds
Wistfully wandering
Lost to wayward whims
That kept us so low to the ground
Now, mountain top hippies
Establishing monk like norms
In jungle canopies
Forgoing the trite nature
Of our previous environments
And opening the doors
To new experiences
And possibilities
Through raw and undefined parameters
A link to a distant past
Where we met once
Under a waterfall
That sent predispositions fleeing
Like lemmings from a cliff
I yearn to rediscover
That powerful, watery tool
That etched our paths
Through the valleys and bayous
To our club house paradise
With colorful markings
Lining the walls
Unconsciously brightening
Each and every day
A flashlight for the soul
That shall burn bright
As long as rivers flow

I Got No Gimmick

2010-07-27T14:42:00.000-07:00

My parents did not migrate
And I grew up nowhere near the hood
I was surrounded by alligators
Swimming in rivers and bayous
Oblivious to the revolving world outside
Ghetto dreams and fantastic schemes
Simply aren't my foray
Personal histories are dangled before me
Like puppets on a string
They sing to me of rags to riches
And triumphant struggles, both ways uphill
Preaching penny pinching philosophies
To poverty stricken wards
To put a face on the American struggle
Of remaining a minority under Uncle Sam's watchful eye
Tenderly, gracefully sneaking off with bits of flesh
Bankrolls are spread thin
Like a single mothers payday advance loan
Already presenting issues with the re-payment schedule
Monday through Friday, wedged in a corner
Of some forgotten space
Powerless against the corporate wills and growing bills
Stuck like a pig
There is no way out of this rat race
But I have friends who care
And a family that is mostly supportive
I have no piles of luggage
To unload on some random soul
I'm just a receiver
An antenna, bent awkwardly for better reception
Contorted in pre-prescribed positions of power
But lacking all the authority
Words bubble on my lips
Popping, smacking in defiance of some great unknown
My strained voice falters on the wind
Drowned in waves of better stories
More apt backgrounds
That shape people into who they are
But I am your mother, your father,
That homeless man under the bridge
I've gone from rags to riches
And been pulled right back down again
To survive in squalor, a so called leech on society
I reek of complacency and stand in the background
A bland face amongst a sea of more interesting features
But I remain a part of the wave
Crashing down around you, a ceremonial rite
By which I will write what I believe to be right
Regardless of my less than traumatic journey
During the course of this particular life thus far
Experience is but one form of wisdom
These bunny ears catch all the channels
And they become less static drenched
With each step I take towards the horizon

Pen to Sword and Back Again

2010-07-27T12:29:00.000-07:00

I slice through the tension
Peel back the layers
And try not to cry
As I struggle to make out
Just what's underneath
Penning together a few lines
Pearls of wisdom strung along
Slip away due to my poor craftsmanship
Into the ocean, sinking down to the bottom
Of a never-ending barrel
Spilling over with the outgrown remnants
Of monkey men in suits
Blades of steel are produced
And lobbed at my head
Amongst a splattering of gunshots
Raining down on crimson covered streets
Washing away our present
Fixing us on the future
A single bright light
Stands its ground, high above the crowd
So I stared straight into the sun
Just to understand something new
But nothing happened, I still see
And still pretend to agree
That these poorly written words
Were forged strictly
By the flames of a war
That burned someone else's throat

Preaching Appreciation

2010-07-27T12:23:00.000-07:00

She grew up in the Congo, man
She like to get naked
And fuck
On baseball fields
Or the side of the road
Anywhere really
I loved that girl
His glazed over eyes
From recent encounters
With the local kids
Filled with tears
That fled to the corners
And dribbled down
A stubbled mess
Quiet and man-like
Like the men that wrote
The book in my hand
While cowering in foxholes
Go home, man
And hug your mama
Tell her you love her
That's all there is
Love, man
Love

Baton Rouge Babblings

2010-07-27T12:21:00.000-07:00

Lukewarm relationships
Well greased
With the American Dream
Denied maternal instincts
Room to breathe
Much less step
And interrupt the flow
Life's rougher than a corn cob
Shucked back home
To eat her own irony
Spoon feeding the invalid
And two boys disguised as men
Temptation in the next room
Openly displayed
Mocking court orders
Still, its far from chubby fingers
Throwing toys at grandma
Little hellions

Inconvenient Intoxication

2010-07-27T12:19:00.000-07:00

The arduous trek
From Cali to Tejas
Via public transportation
Left plenty of time
For self medication
Healing a bruised ego
With convenient
Travel sized bottles
She drank the rainbow
I helped *67 a stranger
After she cried on my shoulder
But slipped off
When she squatted
Next to the dumpster

Mortal Edging

2010-07-27T12:15:00.000-07:00

Gentlemen, meet your meat
The soldier's standing at attention
Just waiting for your orders
Grab hold
Of that labored thought
And see it through
To the end
Spunky contractions
In enigmatic fashions
Stand at the forefront
Of today's tomorrow
Sent off to the front lines
Without protection
From even more expansive
Labyrinths
That'll suck the soul
Right out of your head
Digitally enhanced
Recreations
In unappealing light
Stealthily disguised
As incoherent impostors
Blind
From the over stimulation
Of self perpetuated
Gratification

Caught Red-Handed

2010-06-30T09:43:00.001-07:00

Rifling through not so secret hiding places to support addictive habits yielded no fruit, only disappointment and guilt. Red roadways gave way to green tracks that propelled overcompensating parties forward, snaking across asphalt rivers and spinning off into a thin line of unbreachable posts, standing guard silently in the moonlight. A quick retreat revealed merely cosmetic damages, unimportant in the grand scheme of things, but still calling into question recently uttered convictions. Daybreak smoothed over internal conflicts and an approaching storm ensured no swift repercussions externally.

Requiescat in Pace

2010-06-30T09:39:00.000-07:00

I cannot pretend
To have fond memories
Of frequent kicks to the crotch
And flailing arms
Steadily pounding away
At what must have seemed
The less important sex
My tears were selfish
And centered on mortal ambiguities
That never crossed your mind
Brief encounters echoed down hallways
Like a herd of cattle
Despite only four feet on the ground
The deafening silence
Left in the wake of rambunctious forays
Left little room to think
Under the thick blanket of death
That reappears at unexpected intervals
Causing me to reconsider
And reorganize
Those initial thoughts
Still floating through empty space

Temporal Fusion

2010-06-30T08:06:00.000-07:00

The air is thick
Clammy like cold soup
A thin layer
Of fat, rises to the surface
Oil-ridden, asphyxiatingly aromatic
Like the sweet metallic crimson
Coarsing through my veins
Double-headed questions
Stand at the forefront
Spewing fire
Like the dragons of old
But chivalry is dead
And knighthood bestowed
As a ceremonial honor
To those with enough class
And cooth to kneel
Before aging monarchs
A dying breed
That refuse to vacate
The premises

Sphere of Influence

2010-06-30T08:03:00.001-07:00

Earth's cyclical nature ensures the uselessness of ego. Bright skies overhead and lush green grasses underfoot, all set in place by the chemical reactions humanity terms death. Rotting corpses take new forms as blades of grass rise like the Phoenix. No thought or sound or grand ceremony for even the most jovial as the reorganization of cellular vibrations goes unnoticed and unappreciated by those engaged with the mocking tempo of time, oblivious to the imminent dissemination following Gaia's suffocating embrace.

Rhapsodic Dehumanization

2010-06-30T07:57:00.000-07:00

Standing against a sea of black, my face was reflected off shiny plastic gear. Batons beat to the sound of economic drums, intense poundings of policies, shaping the world into a more efficient model. Even without the prescribed pieces of paper we paraded through the streets of Pittsburgh in a game of cat and mouse. Ducking down alleys and plugging our ears as new weapons were tested on a previously untestable public. Outnumbered but unafraid, the demonized drew thin bandannas across their faces and stared into reflective shields that mocked them. A flurry of carbon copies marched forward banging out intimidation miles away from the source of anger and those that dared to confront them are depicted as violent pusillanimous wayward souls that hinder peaceful cashless transactions.

Incongruent Realities

2010-06-30T07:50:00.000-07:00

A deliberately recurring hiatus from society leaves me in awe of the magnitude of men each time I dare to venture back into what are apparently civilized transactions. As tiny, bleeding hands work tirelessly to stock the shelves for consciously ignorant shoppers eager to save a buck, truth is measured in statist pride with fiercely animated nationalistic dogma contrived through shady deals in well lit rooms that dwarf the status of individuals. Historical realities are swept aside despite empirical evidence while entire populations are drowned in hypocritical propaganda that is swallowed with increasing ease, lending itself to even higher levels of control. And here I sit upon a concrete beach teeming with the newly brainwashed and my temple aches. With some certainty I feel myself swiftly developing a Moshe complex as I cry out at the emerging globalist technocracy. Bienvenido al futuro, amigo.

Foundational Familiarity

2010-06-30T07:46:00.000-07:00

Soft spoken secrets
On smoke filled patios
Echo of forgotten wisdom
Reverberating with increasing speed
Collegiate aspirations
Stalled true understandings
Of vastly different perspectives
All rolled into one
But were awakened
In a flurry of non-activity
Oft recalled instructions
In the form of looks and not lists,
As memories are the only currency,
Conjure images of familiarity
Where goodbyes are forbidden
And future encounters
Remain unspoken agreements
As intermittent presents
Of presence

Sins of the Saintly

2010-06-30T07:43:00.000-07:00

It sits not upon a hill but amidst a sea of turmoil. A shining beacon redesigned to entice the youth. Old men in tall hats bless the masses from wheelchairs, the bearers of Christ's burden. Gargantuan structures prove their importance, noted, and locked in secret libraries. A wealth of knowledge kept at bay by idle hands that explore too far the nature of mankind. Dark cloaks drape from overly confident soldiers as pride swells with a passing glance and patrons and saints contemplate God's overall goodness.

Coastal Rifts

2010-06-30T07:39:00.000-07:00

Party tricks on red clay bricks
And handstands in the sand
Political repertoires in POS cars
And conversations over Pac Man
On beaches I thought
Were named for sea life
The whiskey flowed freely
As we sat in a circle
Pondering the universe
Then morning came
And we all went
In different directions
Our triple bonds were broken
And electrons scattered about
I assumed our aversion
To overly convenient
Line of communication
Would remain unimportant overall
But I feel you slipping from my mind
And lack the conviction to stop it

Plate Full of Prejudice

2010-06-30T07:35:00.000-07:00

Ever expanding waistlines
Prompt corpulent themed dialogue
Between me, myself, and I
The path to enlightenment
Is unpaved
With boulders and pebbles
Blocking my way
Mental exercises
Concentrate on human reverence
And spiritual relevance
As I contemplate
The morality of mozzarella
And across the aisle
A large man in blue
Forgets mastication
And shoves
A large meat lovers pizza
Down his swollen throat

Obliviousness

2010-06-30T07:33:00.000-07:00

Current stigmas dictate a redefinition of relationships as if the status quo just wandered off down the beach. Put options reveal interesting tidbits that scream corruption and are swept under the rug, left alone by even dust bunnies afraid to mingle with the blackened remnants of once pristine coastlines. Previously teeming waters slowly turn to cemeteries as endangered inhabitants are burned alive.

Apocryphal Optimism

2010-06-30T07:30:00.000-07:00

Shifting seafloors expose new levels of environmental degradation, shattering previously held estimates repeatedly like a botched punch line. Stuttering heads of industry just want to head home. Safety precautions are forbidden in case of bad press that sidesteps government and corporate roadblocks conveniently downplaying previously cozy relationships.

Fantastic Finales

2010-06-30T07:26:00.000-07:00

Smooth green oceans
Span the horizon
Under bright blue skies
Breathing life into
Dixie land economics
On the west coast
Men in black
Bang out attempts
At interpretations
While scientific approaches
To future shortages
Make it rain
Eyes light up
In anticipation of rewards
Held just out of reach
Salivating like Pavlov's dog
Even as societal building blocks
Are patented and stored
For the convenience
Of an upcoming
Technocratic evolution

Media Masquerades

2010-05-28T13:01:00.000-07:00

Brief snippets of purposely misinterpreted information float through unsympathetic ears as so called unrealistic expectations are drowned in waves of propaganda stacked to the ceiling. Pharmaceutically medicated water supplies ensure politically correct perspectives of planetary operations that remain unchanged even as sea turtles wash up on oil-covered shores.

Enigmatically Transparent

2010-05-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

Modern day pharaohs stand behind oak podiums upon silver pedestals that keep them just out of reach, to serve as an inspiration for those interested in so called service. Money changers crowd the room, buying up the airwaves until there's no more space to breath. Bleeding hearts and staunch denialists pretend to have a say even as environmental disasters prove everyone else right and unnecessary institutions shed even less light on what is left of the few bright lit corners.

Bypassing Georgia

2010-05-28T12:56:00.001-07:00

Slightly altered landscapes cloud judgement with the loss of fundamental principles. A set of plans, set in stone, for all the world to see go conveniently unnoticed on ill paved country roads. Unguarded secret are less interesting. Underground Vatican libraries emerge on the scene to divert attention from just one locked door to which so few hold a key. History is important, as long as it has been tailored to prescribe a specific regimen of daily pills of ignorance. Mass extinction will be more popular if we believe we weren't warned.

Tick Snuffing

2010-05-28T12:54:00.000-07:00

Bloodthirsty creatures fall from treetops, latching on for dear life. Minuscule fangs seek out open pores to sink into. Dim witted vampires do not know how to let go and grow to unprecedented size on someone else's life force. Moral relativities are tossed out the window as ill-fated beings meet their end under man-made fire.

Space Encroachment

2010-05-26T08:33:00.000-07:00

Mars approaches in a corporate wave of technological evolution threatening the last frontier. There's no more space in space as we jet out into the center of the galaxy. Global shifts and tectonic drifts slide across the globe at ever increasing speeds as we veer off a path of moral insanity. Hypocritical oaths pledged in the blood of indigenous nations laid bare for all the world to see. Dark shadows in forested homesteads creep forth like a pack of wolves, determined and starving, foaming at the lips for just one more taste before collapsing into the sea. Mountains appear simultaneously to entire shelves of humanity drowning in shallow tides, disproving debunked theories in ironic undertones for millennia to come.

Pharaoh's Law

2010-05-26T08:31:00.000-07:00

Economically steered moral decisions became convenient upon discovery of agricultural excesses. New understandings about cultural differences birthed the concept of productivity over human liberty. Disseminated amongst regional minorities who fine-tuned their instruments into tactical solutions to modern philosophies.

Unmasked Truth

2010-05-26T08:29:00.000-07:00

Moonlight reflects off white shiny strings suspended by the frail hands of Father Time. A game, hidden neatly among the cosmos in some far off place. Spiraling into oblivion as cultural blending draws confused looks from spectators while homeless men laugh in dark alleys. The truth is out whether you want to see it or not.

Death of a Parasite

2010-04-22T15:04:00.000-07:00

Electrical signals buzz around the room like insects waiting patiently to draw blood. Newly explored components offer brighter colors to remind humanity of past nature. Shifting its weight, civilization totters on the brink of destruction as it looks for greener grasses amongst a yard of concrete and steel. Treading lightly towards downtown, each step closer to the end of an era. Traffic jams run amok and an old man is dying in front of a prize winning beverage company. Bloody vomit blends into the logo as a smoking pyre of metal asphyxiates on its own waste.

Flaming Lips

2010-04-22T14:59:00.000-07:00

Brooding soliloquies threaten to unveil themselves with each nonchalant response to pertinent information. The surge builds as tides draw back, preparing to make landfall. Sinister villains lie under loosely stitched fabric snatched from young hands. On the pretext of political correctness dizzying anecdotes dance around deadly battles like moths over a flame. Spontaneous combustion is sure to leave behind unforetold masses uneager to explore actual occurrences. The seeds of civilization will lie dormant awaiting the recovery of misplaced instructions.

Realistic Expectations

2010-04-22T14:56:00.000-07:00

Dogmatic charades endure despite understandings of singularity. Scientific discovery has too long been the scapegoat. False paradigms must be discarded if progress is to be made. Humanitarian goals will forever be out of reach if mankind continues to submit to top-down authoritarian rule. All pretenses are false, all conclusions true and the road to heaven is paved solely by your intentions. Do not tread lightly, make leaps and bounds as you cast off the shackles of yesterday.

Ode to Joy

2010-04-22T08:50:00.000-07:00

Enharmonic expressions form guerrilla groups fostering eternally disseminating chromatic consonance dynamics evading ego. Developmental dissonance expose existential falsehood. Grave gallivants forever eliminate de capo cadences. Desperate endings dramatize celestial cavatina.

Familiar Exploitations

2010-04-13T15:05:00.000-07:00

Duplicate messages lead to the belief in the obvious disfigurement of once established relationships. Conversations set on loop, repeat at fantastic speeds unbeknownst to the aggravator. Victims of recycled trauma are found on both sides of the fence as age and rot deny balancing acts necessary for progression into uncharted domains. Blasphemous utterances receive queer looks from the crowds as shadows slip behind the curtain threatening to change the backdrop. Natural evolutions bring new situations without the banality of recurring nightmares. Like a boulder pushed off a cliff, it sinks slowly into the depths of the ocean.

April

2010-04-13T15:04:00.000-07:00

A slight tilt
On an ill-defined axis
Encourages blanketed youngsters
To rise triumphantly
Renewing the palette
In antithesis to drab upbringings
Sensitive bodies
Raised in abnormal homes
Shrivel and die
At the hint of nature
While transplanted individuals
Give mixed reviews
Of the upcoming season

Instant Infinity

2010-04-13T14:59:00.000-07:00

Convenient mental blocks lead to incomplete maps of directives and realities of a misconstrued past. Like a mirage growing and stretching with the sun, the heat rises and falls, cresting over desert landscapes. Tumbleweeds against the background produce cyclones that appear at random. The dust settles and blankets the inhabitants; diffusion of information bleeds into the system, circulating. Triple bonds weave together floating like asteroids in space. From the Kuiper belt light bounds and hides behind Sirius, creeping along with impressive speed, warming the climate, bringing new templates with more intricacies where less movement is needed. The veil is lifted as true purposes and powers become clear. Secrets are a thing of the past, get them out now. Tomorrow I'll just reach into your brain and pull out all undisclosed information and share in your long, enduring pain.

Carnival Rides

2010-04-13T14:58:00.000-07:00

Bright red cars
Rose and fell
Like seagulls
On the ocean breeze
As integral parts
Shot out
Raining metal
On the ground below
Ill coordinated plans
Showed externally
The process of digestion
Thick yellow pools
Drowned blades of grass
Just out of earshot
Of jesters beckoning
To climb aboard
And repeat the process