National Poetry Month 5/30

4.5.17

we are the wretched 

what world is this
where children are expendable? 
a child who has yet to live 
and life will elude her 
poison will set her lungs ablaze
decades before she speaks revolution

she will never know beauty 
she will never know poetry 

she 
     will
           never  
                    know 

this is not holy
this is not political 
this 
is 
war 

war waged on the wretched 

National Poetry Month 4/30

4.4.17

I wonder if the moon is lonely 

night watch woman 

guarding the sky 

recipient of prayers 

giver of energy 

mistress of tides 

what do we give her in return?

we take and take

then abandon her at dawn 

seldom mind her waning and waxing 

wait impatiently for her full return 

we watch in wonder 

      with nothing to offer 

National Poetry Month 3/30

4.3.17

She doesn't listen to Townes any longer
a feeble attempt to erase him 
     from her memory
gazing on the world with vacant eyes
some ill begot love lived laced 
between whiskey and longing 

the past had become a raging river engulfing her
her lungs burned with lack of oxygen 
all she could think to do 
was turn the music off
save her heart from hearing another note

her soul lingered suspended between
guitar strings; it go so 
she couldn't stand to hear men sing 

the blues 
stuck to her marrow 
she wanted to loose her/self 
silent 
dormant 

she doesn't listen to Townes any longer

National Poetry Month 2/30

4.2.17


He 
took great pains to hurt her
used his words as weaponry 
hoped to carve deep into her psyche

he was misled 
thought there was something there
something worth cutting
she

had no feelings
a vacant vessel 
incapable of sensation 
he tried to damage her 
she swallowed his insults like
     morning coffee 

wondering when would this madness end?

National Poetry Month 1/30

4.1.17

subway
car to car
the poor plead with the poor for pennies
panhandlers pondering which prose
will fare better for their pockets
the are storytellers

will their tales of poverty earn a penny from your pocket? 

eyes averting as
minds attempt to rationalize 
pinched purses 

contemporary paupers 
pleading 
people
paying 
no mind 

Tangerine

beer stained breath

was all that was left of her innocence

She

a body destroyed by midnight rituals

cigarette burns in inside her thighs

like notches on a man's belt

ticks on solitary walls

This was how she counted the days

Drug induced oblivion

she stopped feeling on her skin

first

A hollow womb and vacant eyes

told the lies momma

fed her as a child

pretty princess

once tender, now distressed skin

tattooed in aging bruises

stretched loosely over frail bones

she was invisible

salvation never came knocking

on motel room doors and

some souls ain't worth saving

she

thought

salt water tears stopped falling

years ago

can't remember the last time

her crooked toothed smile

danced across her face

she lived in nothingness

a faded memory for family

a rare mention among friends

her name, a moment of stillness

a distraction

back to life as usual

she lost her voice amongst

the screams of her youth

doesn't remember what it sounds like

so she doesn't know how to find it

she speaks in monetary transactions now

stopped looking ten feet before her

nothing existed in the horizon

mind deteriorated

A lay, a fix, a place

to rat her misshapen shape

she

amid the chaos and fragments

remembered one thing

her favorite color

tangerine

How She Remembered Him

Her skin had baked

Into a deep bronze

When she felt

A statuesque presence

Blocking her sun

She didn't see

His sea green eyes

Just then

They would would burn

In her memory for decades

Uninvited he sat comfortably down

On her faded flowered bed sheet

Their skin lightly touched

Intentionally she thought

Making his introductions

With charm no man his age

Should possess

She whispered her name

And he'd spend the summer

Rhyming it with his own

His nose and shoulders

Showed traces of red

Where the sun had kissed him

Maybe too much

They played daily games

Of hide and seek

She never laid her blanket

In the same place twice

Some days he found her

Some days she found him

Eyes searching

In anticipation

Hearts beat faster in 90 degree heat

He'd never seen skin quite like hers

Thought he could lose himself

In her curls, forever

Seagulls taking flight

A child's squeals

Waves crashing

Sand encrusted radios blaring

Faded into the distance

They lived for the sound

Of each others voices

She knew he was dangerous

Friendly rumors disguised

As advice against his quick

Movements; when the crew

Came calling

Lips grinning and fingers caressing

Her cheek, signs that he'd return

and he always did

Cradled in his arms

He made her feel safe

She could close her eyes

Nestled against his bare chest

He smelled like the ocean

She wanted to swim inside him

His salty lips stole a kiss from her

She knew then

That she would go anywhere he asked her

But he didn't ask

And she didn't go

The battered boardwalk

Remained the parameter of their love

Bound by the Atlantic

They lay on a bed of sand

Soaking each other in

Summer wasn't the only thing to end

She closed a small part of herself

love

heart

spirit

youth

sensation

It would always belong

to him