Not content with common thought
Moved to feeling in the handwritten form
Translating the Siren’s voice
Higher levels of not tolerating the norm
We need to break free of these doldrums
Return to where truth spoken with the quill
Compassion in community not a fragmented society
Where we’re doomed to remain at a standstill
Discovering the nun on the radio Still bleeding, but only in black ink Desert highways from a distant youth Debated truths & now fallen out of sync
Wiping fingerprints from the Dial Our subscription long ago expired Shifting hemlines & the fate of love Reception’s attenuated; must’ve crossed wires
Haven’t seen a service station in hours Sweating profusely with not a cloud in the sky She presses the accelerator & coyly winks I’m dizzy & both our throats are terribly dry
Y’all, we have soccer moms trying to ban books
Wishing to shield things they don’t want you to know
But revolutions & thoughts just won’t burn
Intellect cannot be stopped, you merely make them slow
These fundamentalists get hot under the collar
When they see repression, they begrudgingly swoon
A weird fetish to extinguish ideas & desire
Appalled by anyone thinking of Love before noon
The censorious are coming for your hearts & minds
Seething with hate for anything silently inappropriate
Your Book declares thou with sin cannot cast thy stone
Minor scandals not so obscure when karma retaliates
Being fallacious isn’t as grand as it sounds
Yet, ya’ll out here in the streets committing slander
I refuse to pander to your anger & delusions
You’re just waiting to be shut in, unloved; smelling of dander
Do you ever find yourself lost within your misguided intent
I realize you’re genuinely hoping to shield the youth
But they don’t need your unfounded reservations
Nor do they respect your faulty judgement in hiding the truth
Please, cease & desist with your moral hubris
You’re foolish, stop before you fulfill the prophesies of 1984
You’re Orwellian without the perfect irony
But, you’re not ready to deal with the weight of evermore
Bradbury warned us about erroneous application of law
I can see we won’t keep our rights without a fight
Justice leading us into a deprivation of choice
You need to remember Jesus hung with ladies of the night
Within your imprudent latching, you’ve been misled
Matters not if you have delicate sensibilities, the Piper will get paid
I believe you to be rash, but I’m no one of any consequence
I may be deluded, but I believe you gotta get properly laid
Old Floridian parchment Written histories upon ink stains How to think within today’s tragedies Wondering how any sanity can remain
We try to build ourselves back up When the world tears itself down The ruckus in the middle of silence The tears when you can’t quite frown
Truth isn’t worth what it used to be Righteousness has overtaken the price We struggle to exist without persecution They’re coming for you, even if we play nice
Cavernous depression falling down without truth
Wet streets refracting the bitter twilight of the moon
Trenches & overcoats pulled tight to repel the world
A need for answers that cannot wait past this noon
Try to place everything perfectly into its correct box
Finding out the little control we have while we’re here
Knowing the results we wish to see once the sun rises
No need to stay dry when you’re drowning in this fear
Last of the Cold War babies
Growing up with certain expectations of a guy
Snorting testosterone without wiping thy nose
Be a brute; don’t ever let them see you cry
But I’ve learned more from the women
Multigenerational lies narrating manhood
Walk like a man; talk like a savage
Bold proclamations are seldom very good
These days we find ourselves defending facts
Ultimate truth disparaged amongst the crowd
Yet I remember wisdom in spite of the chaos
To be subtle when the whole world is loud
We used to know the truth The fundamentals of our lives Misplaced inspiration in youth We, the lost children, who survived
Abandoned by artists searching for gold Forgetting the dream of accepting yourself Never admitting we’ve grown this old Rejection of impending imperial wealth
Fuck your republicans & democrats Those who sold the vision with betrayal Insensitive bastards of a Cheshire Cat Unsteady appeasement & divided we fail
I’m seeking a truth within these fragmented words My thoughts won’t cooperate with how my fingers move Typing on this old handmedown machine to transform My mundane existence into a magical, deliberate groove
I am not afraid to expose the flesh of a wilted soul There are no heroes in these parts, just broken misanthropes Internalizing the segmented society & all the villains Returning to coffee so black the void regains precious hope
Taking the time to toe the line
Avoiding the demands of unforgiving eyes
Inventing excuses & repeating “everything’s fine”
Society’s broken where truth are all lies
Hope is now measured in slant angles & slopes
Our manufactured social media is a bust
Force fed algorithms & prickly tropes
From Camelot to dystopia when there’s no one to trust
A naked woman upon the figurehead Standing proud in the breeze Calling to the Sirens & wenches Knowing the truth of these seas Her beauty remaining firm & intact The ship around her orange with rust The sailors with splinters in their palms For she has a wooden bust
Sitting here dissenting all forms of gov’t Looking for answers in these coffee grounds Uncovering more & more hatred, with less hope These political ovations do nothing but compound
Society has gone astray, Jesus take the wheel We’re all being watched by a perched black bird Incoherent shrieks & mumbles of “Nevermore” Universities stacked with all the quotes they misheard
Where are the heroes to protect democracy of the republic In the wake of fraudulent saints & a presidential pretender We must devise a prophecy to overtake our future Lady Liberty’s hem is ablaze; with no elder statesmen to defend her
We’re led by fools, fractures & frauds Finding ourselves at crossroads armed like Checkpoint Charlie History won’t be kind to the weak or evil all the same Needing a guardian like Justice Ginsburg on a Harley
I’m raising a small army of Lost Girls Feminist soldiers marching – in all but the name Seeking love, peace & equality for all the people Hindering harmony will leave you squarely to blame
We all have our differing loyalties But truth will prevail when time comes to an end Our trials will be but mere footnotes to antiquity Faceless angels guiding youth; they shall forever be a friend
Too many loud souls/When silence will do
Fools too busy collecting trophies & stickers
Not focused on truth of what matters
Sneaking glimpses of soul-revealing knickers
But they’re plastic; not of a proper diet
A mere aesthetic for the internet’s sake
The superficial appetites of modern times
I long for days when passions weren’t fake
Somewhere there is something incorruptible
Something pure that we might know
To purge our lives of superfluous antics
To feel a little more real & a little less faux
The magic of the Holidays still gets to me You’ll find me wiping my tears with a sleeve I’m not ashamed to outwardly proclaim it I still believe
These days I walk the streets with childlike innocence Searching for anything with the Christmas spirit But I find most of the world has become Scrooge A sad truth & many of you don’t wanna hear it
But I know we can be better than this All of us can always return back here To the love & magic of the Holidays Let me be the first to pour you a cup of cheer
I’m not a joiner
I’m deliberately choosing not to join your group
Breaking free of these inconsistencies
Past sins & missteps on an endless loop
I inherently distrust any gathering of people
Seeing we’re doomed to live out the follies of youth
We lost our way & never came back
Now spurned forward by the allure of truth
Answers lurking in the shadows Though sometimes never found We may have loved & lost & our hearts forced underground There is always some eternal truth Traipsing back from your forgotten youth
Not to keep returning the subject to myself
But there are certain truths I must understand
I’m no one special, a mere footnote
A history to be written, though not as planned
Dreams & hopes that never came to be
A rakish poet nor grizzled old typesetter
Through the years & false daily realities
It is inexplicable the mundane became better
So I find myself with a specific freedom
To be able to move without any sort of cosmic retort
For I have faith in love, fate & ultimate grace
Allowed to live without any innate need to stop short
You didn’t sell out, you bought in At least that’s what you regurgitate But you, yourself, are a cog in the machine Grinding out this state sponsored hate You speak of crying in the streets Heartbroken your flavor of evil didn’t win But it’s a system of corruption throughout With each career politician speaking the sin Where did all our heroes & leaders go Driven out as the bureaucracy multiplies Buried the truth in all that paperwork We’re doomed unless the people rise Against these manufactured lies
Don’t forget to repeat our truth in unison Stand up straight with proper military bearing Forget your conscience; such things are done Keep on moving toward the triumph of the daring
Unfurl the banners so that we might recite Let the people know what we’re fighting for Light the fires, so the boys may march by night Let them live out their dreams in the glories of war
Remain focused- don’t live within your heads For the battle is real, so is the carnage by the blade You need to stay loyal or your sons will wind up dead Listen to the drums, forget the thoughts we’ve forbade
This existence is painful, but hell will be hotter Don’t return with blood soaked memories to spurn Live up to the fullest; embrace the full-bodied slaughter Raise your swords to the sky & let the traitors burn
We have different moments to emerge Life telling us uniqueness isn’t enough Parsed moments of steadfast tranquility Rendered improbable when mixed in the slough
But sunshine will eventually return We’ll rise up beyond the hindered clouds Proving to the world our love conquers Truth & evidence transcend once we get that loud
The gentle fog of last night’s revelry
Walking the streets before the sun
Overcorrecting the crooked events
Getting myself right before the day’s begun
Dreamscapes fading in these early hours
Scars to tell tales of an alternate narrative
Truth impedes the recital of our union
Clinging to our bodies not always so imperative
Setting the scene amidst several libations
Resulting in sloppy notes from the underground
These aren’t mundane epitaphs from stone
Rather just trinkets for creation to remain unbound
Jesus was a rouge agent Calling out institutions woefully unjust Up-ending currents & the status quo Powers that be & reigning corporate trusts
Holding fast in the face of arbitrary traditions We won’t look to long at your offbeat proclivities Unnerved authenticity & outspoken truth But they’ll chalk it up as additional incivility
Looking again to God, but knowing She won’t talk Red-lettered honesty; realism against expectation Unvarnished tales of the meekest souls Rapt against our most quietly brave ministrations
It is not a sin, no matter what they say For love triumph over all — beyond how we explain For truth is greater than words Thus loyalty & devotion shall forever remain
I’m not worried what the preacher says For he doesn’t understand our match Too ancient to grasp our harmonization He has his own itch he can’t scratch
All that matters is how we feel inside True love is not a notion they can reject Our bodies & souls eternally intertwined Upon a higher calling our passion connects
Disturbed themes & distant thrombosis A hitch in your giddy-up when it’s time for tea Transcendental visitations From dreams may come answers to our makeshift reality
Pouring over the brackish tomes with devotion Gentlemen & ladies of letters; luminaries of thought But truth doesn’t cure our limited capacities Bare harbingers of the illiterations we’ve wrought
We’ve taken ill in our posh-marked libraries Leaving fingerprints on memories we loved the most We maunder through our raging debates Knowing full well they’re all books about ghosts
Darkness creeps in on our musty resolve Syntax prescribed with an utmost surgical query Descending by the light of our candelabra If we survive, we’ll be counted amidst the weary
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Thought it to be an easy read Yet the words were hard to digest Meaning dancing slowly in my mind Subtly creeping past the singular rest
Retracing lines to navigate ritual Where do we reform elegant words Removed from obvious transparency Heaped among the notorious & absurd
But we can still be returned to normal Reassembled without any scars of the war Truth absolved of the fictions we wrote Back to the pages I quietly implore
I don’t have pretty eyes to attract
Nor a beautiful body to distract
A middle aged, middle class white dude
with no street cred
With charm & gentlemanly conduct
instead
I’ll have to choose the proper words
To prevent from being misheard
Where did our youthful exuberance go
Closed off from a litany of feelings of truth
But I don’t want to be like them
Not worried about a bent halo or tarnished tiara
Angst of foregone conclusions
I want something of substance
Never tamed by society’s expectations
A slow, smoldering strangeness
Embracing the stature of being a little weird
Impervious to judgements of being bland
For through and through, I can only be me
Never standing for someone else’s brand
I hope to always be wild enough to be free
Knowing the bottom of the depths Untold theories where passion lies Encased all in a delicate French lace The truth that logic & gravity defies
Earthbound creatures can’t be understood It’s simply not in our fallible DNA Attempted in conversational tones But we’ve lost connection anyway
Trying to find a way back to the meaning Reason doesn’t apply to moments like this Disregard the pressures of our past That we might create our own sustainable bliss
Riding the cooler winds back east
Someday my simple dreams will prevail
Spent too many nights frozen & cold
Once again lost, I know he’s on my trail
Speak to me, for I’ll know if you tell the truth
Look at me, so I’ll know we’ll make it through
This soul damaged in these distant years
Wanting to be pure & return back to you
I need to shine down a path for your life
I want to be an example for you as you grow
May you always have shelter to weather a storm
I contain a perfect love you’ll come to know
You don’t know it yet, but you’re going to save me
A lifetime of joy just waiting for us to find
Adventures & endless discoveries ours to share
A new life, released from that which binds
*written many moons ago before the birth of my first child
Cold coffee & a stash of lost dreams A distant memory of those rail yards But we weren’t ourselves with honesty Not the renegades or anything that hard
Images of what we might yet become Grabbing self-regard before it fades Destroying their notions of modernism Returning to polka dotted shirts & dark shades
We all have our morbid skeletons The vague semblance of a broken soul But somewhere are the clues to the truth Somewhere when lightning meets a weary, old skull
But the simple fact is grace is unearned We live our lives as if we’re undeterred Ignorant to sin & repercussions thereafter Yet hoping for the winds to remain unstirred
Truth & love are bound to our dreams The inconvenient reality of the harsh pain of day Trudging through our irksome tasks Bright light stuns us into a stuttering delay
Fall to your knees in complete repentance Submit your soul to the warmth of His sunshine Release the burden of mortal expectation Forever embrace the perfect love of the Divine
Speak up, stand up; announce to the world
Spread the news of truth’s availability
Don’t be shy; we’re all in this together
Easy now, no need to hate on my virility
I honestly distrust anything popular or sacred
Passing them by & allow them to hide
I have to figure it out 20 years later
Force-filtered through life & time & tide
Opposing magnetic poles claiming Orwell
Both deluding themselves he’s their saint
But he was human & all the related flaws
His divinity seems a little too quaint
We need people with a firm, decisive choice
No interest in your ineffectual, intellectual porn
There’s no time for pussyfooting around
We must find the truth & feed it to the bullhorn
Transparent dresses hanging in the mud room Saran-Wrapped for mild protection Eyes closed to foreign tales Tempered thoughts of stifled affection
Painted prose with regurgitated eyes Our dreams left choking on the floor Scribbling beliefs with thick gouges Manufactured truth with cries of Nevermore
Redundant weight of classical heroes Forcing us into bastardized Groupthink Yet my mind still wanders to her opaque passion Chasing her dragon with endless ink
Listening to Wollstonecraft on the radio “Don’t turn that dial!”, that’s what the DJ said Not tied to any system; I’m still analog I’m dangerous; so the advertisers pled
Hereditary responsibility to the common good Therefore I don’t believe what I’ve been taught I see y’all got opinions, from your suburban thrones & these school systems regurgitating corporate rot
Criminal malpractice leaves us with poor examples But we’ve seen far worse on both sides of the aisle Bribing the lowest common denominator for votes Rewrite history, but perhaps that’s not in your files
I’ve been cast off, labeled a subversive heretic But I’m easy – so I’m doing my best to unlearn To unwind these falsehoods they tried to entrench The slow burn; time to take candor for a turn
Rash choices based upon juvenile aesthetics The understanding that we all might partake Though one must know speaking the truth too loud Turns into testimony & they might burn us all at the stake
I’ve traveled the world
& I keep returning to the same notion
I’ve seen interesting places
But I never again want to sail the ocean
My simple truth is that I’m content
I’ve found a good life; that should be clear
The grass is never greener anywhere else
We’re on an amazing course; we shouldn’t veer
There are so many opportunities
I would never close any of those doors
I don’t ever want to let go of your hand
Now that I have & forevermore come ashore
Treading lightly on the soft highway Searching onward for the Earthbound divinity Through the desert with the primal scream Broken decibels ring out, yet amount to infinity
Silver pistol tucked in drawer of hosiery Known to man only by a chintzy nom de plume I always preferred a thick bottomed almanac Slowed, but we have big energy to exhume
Dawn rises, yet the Truth still silently sleeps Looking for prophets in the glittering sun Too bright for our modern, mortal myopia Be still; be patient as time is not yet overrun
Junky little notes Throwaway lines on the postmodern stage Cultural fragmentation in empty streets Truth whittled away on an evaporating page
The disillusionment of an appropriated life While the world’s on fire; downright ablaze The American Dream sold off to the lowest bidder Feeling dissociative in these recent raucous days
Our dishonest & unaccountable government Are trying to sell you their uninspired vision Trying to sway your vote by gripping your throat But their cockamamy pleas will be met with only derision
Acknowledge these peaceable arts Boring affairs these days, if truth be told The proper staffing present & accounted for I flirt with the notion that fortune still favors the bold
Reeking of this polite society These standard fare sisters & brothers But I’d be out there before the mast Swilling shanties & rum; if I had my druthers
While we were off sleeping
The rains whipped themselves up in a squall
The flowers rose from their dormant stature
We were left to discover what never was at all
Stripped away our delinquent delusions
Forced to find the truth of this precipitation
Life is a fragile balance of our dreams
Love draws us close while fusing our imaginations
There’s so much talk of being wild
Like there’s a constant harness holding us back
But its just an illusion for others to see
You’re choosing to embrace all that you lack
These false pretenses are keeping you low
Images of a manicured life on your social media feed
Spending your days adjusting other’s perceptions
When these aren’t the actions a happy life really needs
It’s difficult to perceive any truth as you focus the camera
The projection of crazy as you manipulate your reputation
Here’s a secret, the honest people don’t really care &
The real wild ones don’t bother with perfect punctuation
One must be a seeker To discover unique truth amongst the thorns Head down, hiding that grime I feel inside I’m intelligent, yet not enough to forewarn
Trying to eek out a stable existence With all these storms heading my way But you have to want to be something more Never content at the beginning of the day
We’re bordering on anarchy With the streets continuing to seethe This communal madness Fighting for our shared right to breathe
But I have a long forgotten confession Which will leave you confused & aghast Tacked to the back of a soul’s liberty Forever within the defense of our contrasts
Disquieted moments in the afternoon These Springtime rays have a golden hour Reflecting youth into my weary eyes The reassuring notion of dreampower
Yet gone are the mornings we woke afresh Our mortal flesh reeling down on Earth Life; the thorn in the side of this existence Internal fire requires our souls a wider berth
The slings & arrows shall never fully hinder For love always eventually finds a way Darkness cannot extinguish the sun This truth discovered by the piercing light of day
Overcast Navy sailing away
Pull up your trousers (black silk)
Your stay here has been cut short
Prominent sundresses & of that ilk
Humid weather slowing me down
Manicured hands releasing winds to blow
Settle into your newly structured mind
We never asked you to row so slow
Not listening to rumors on the deckplates
There’s a truth down there you can’t feel
Displacement registered in the silence
Absolutism shook along the keel
I still know you in spite of your success
For I knew you when you were poor
Beauty does not replace kindness
It merely opens up another door
I’m not going to forfeit this life
Grasping at reality along the way
Running headlong into risk
Finding out what the youth have to say
Nurturing growth & development
Truth remains after their neglected lie
Sweat falls from my brow – a start
We can’t let the dream of freedom die
The world is burning around us So much hate & confusion in the crowd Misdirection & a body of lies Truth has no relation to just how loud Don’t know if you can trust anyone these days But I refuse to remain ignorant anymore Shutting out all their aggressions Returning to peace with the click of my door
A study in inexact notions Differences upon the prospective scene Our unruly burdens confound us Nothing to save us when life turns mean
Yet we can never let apathy rule the day In these times, we must be all the more aware Knowing truth can be unpopular Yet compassion is the way to genuinely care
I am a seeker of truth In the darker moments of existence When our souls are hurt & freedom is at an unfathomable distance
Broken frameworks & deep mistrust Will you take me home after I’ve done my bit Honesty is the only way we’ll survive Open & earnest with the unblemished truth of it
Incomplete rants are broken thoughts Antique shutters dangle in the breeze Vaccinated by expired truth serums Eye twitches; our hostess is ill at ease
Yet remaining upright on the page Our fate wrapped in a trickster’s charm Subtle strokes without remorse Only dried ink leaves us disarmed
Subverting all the easy answers Sacred is our fundamental right to choose However your speculations drift Cut the devil’s throat and wrap him in Winter’s hues
I put my faith in a baby child
& He will lead me
I will follow in His path
Being shown what I need to see
I give Him my whole life
I will seek His truth
In my soul He does dwell
Guiding me through days of youth
His love will lift me up
Through the life He gave
I have faith in my Lord
& I know that i am saved
Lost in a deteriorating moment What more can we do to be free Close our eyes to the darkness Tiptoeing quietly, down to the sea Searching franticly for the answer But the obvious truth is often a ghost False memories are unruly traipses Inclinations leading me, down the coast Is there a way to be clean again To bathe in the ocean’s gentle roar Hope against hope; possibly a way To find sunshine that might restore
Just because you’re the inspiration
Doesn’t mean you’re the intended
Taking what life gives us
Even those not comprehended
Just because you’re the muse
Doesn’t mean you’re the truth
Finding open sores upon the soul
Lingering there since early youth
Just because you’re the source
Doesn’t mean you’re all that real
Gone once my fingers close
You’re merely a ghost my heart can feel
The world is full of villains & misguided souls Trying to drag us down to where they forever dwell They take advantage & find ways to get elected on lies Summoning their teams of bureaucrats to send us to hell They have money, power & zero regard for the truth You’d have to be deaf, dumb & blind to not know what’s amiss But I don’t want to give them anymore of our time I solely want to focus on our next kiss
Such a beautiful specimen As I’m sailing through a mirage Blue waters falling into crystal eyes More interested in her décolletage Aspirations following the deep night Knowing the truth of a certain fashion Toe to toe & inequality reigns My only hope lies in enthusiastic passion
I’m driving down by the beach
Radio tuned to Lana Del Rey
Trying to turn back the clock
Warm, salty air to celebrate the day
Looking for a moment to feel alive
To relive the trappings of youth
Ignoring the aches of aging
To deny the inescapable truth
You’re holding expectations Needing me to be a better guy Wishing I was more successful Hating my truth; you’d prefer a lie So I wander within my own skin To become what you want in a man Each day, I’m ever more the pirate Soon, they’re be no more Peter Pan
“If you’re in the middle of the ocean, with no flippers and no life preserver and you hear a helicopter, this is music. You have to adjust to your needs at the moment.” – Tom Waits