Quickening

What madness brings, what
Engineers waylaid energy
Directs and emphasizes
Magnitude of each damned thought
And borrows ashes of my eyes
As wondering how I
In rash moment of regret decide
To commandeer a shell of faulted flesh to drive
And call it "life".

Bevel

Vast, and brief this lifelong flicker,
Flick of dust abiding, finding thus an edge
To dredge soft meaning, pleasing, feast on
Tremors, salt, and spawn. To cry aloud
About excelling ardor ought, a maggot ground
Beside bedchamber, bought and brought for
Strength, asunder rent a flowerbed to molt
As goosedown space, Aurora splayed a-kilter
Prince ne'er finding, fain in tower cellar doomed
To pray, and play lute, lilting sorrows dream, and
Beam of moon-ray grasp to climb aside, outside
As lilacs bloom in dew again.

Might

Frission, spite, assumption spit and fitted

Ere any trembled plea assembles, begs

Audience to spare a few. Abated, alter

Egos, blasted fury's shield. It

Might not end in tragedy, may all 

Come right, could ransom trends,

Numeric flaws assuaging, soothe as 

Balm a tropic waft to sting in peace

Thy pieces, torn, preemptive

Rage a-fueled before the

Final feat was known.

Steam

Feed mechanic splendor, wipe a
Waxed terrapin sheen, a glossing
Over run amok to stabilize a brother's
Toppling tower, straw-built, sound.
To rectify theatrics not assembled in
Thy hand as birds lie calmly,
Fisted still, another's brazen fury
Soft abate. Grind to gravel Colosseum,
Looms above in marked hate, to
Rid of bower want by us, and vision creeps
Of error pending, wretched, worn, and pity
Marked in battle's honor, force demand we
Thus to Find Thyself, and ohm awaits, so
Haste to solace, haste nirvana,
Onward progress!
Rush to wait.

About It

Minor fort of ecstasy, cuff

And bloody, sport defined

By domination, bind in mind a mound:

Libations past reaction, crawl inside a

Torture chamber, 

Never mind, a missed synapse

Event collapse, evict, addict, another

Have. A hydra ride as wide and wise as

Mama's wooden scythe. As far

To terrorize wild eyes and tame

Cannabalize hot bhang to blast

Abolish, 

Culpable to lack of

Bliss, aye, victimize, despise

Conifer's pride and scent to

Yearn for depth of Crater space

Explorer's journey past, apace.

Relic

Couched applause, politic
Awful, un-restorable,
Politest greeting, given for
Peace own presence fearing
Flaws encased in costume
Flaunt through clenched gut
For fame and beaten beauty
Truth? Abandon solitary space
To clutch each straw-strewn
Stall amid this rubble, rake
Avoid of coals and colas,
Coda strain, melodic twist,
Return again, as could I wish.

Bravado

Thin, tin smile, tight
Reach after slender corseted
Stalker, crumple, face in
Hands out, held for
Helping. Plea in fogged
Machinated end, for
Meaning

sol, o solo

And he said, thank you for
Great story, shared, and I
Remembered crying alone.
And he said you are so
Special to me, and I felt
The loss of overcompromise. And
He said you are amazing,
And I said,
I know

Respite

That lift, those arms don't know or seek, just
Hold sweet and close. Wash soft love over
Brokenness. Over cataracted gaze, and muffled moan.
Bundle in sobs, clutch in wrath form coldening.
Let fly but grieve chance to love more, save
One more, but save, you did, save
Hope, faith; soul winked out with goodness
Waved on and swift, on highroad of your gift.

Show

Shriven, graded, packaged so;
Whalebones laced and lashes
Placed to win a crowd's acceptance;
Race to blocked and chorded rounds,
Abounding sounds roof-shattered raises
Pasted, wasted, groaning zip and lock
Lips to face the lights, and shine.

Solution

Heart's a fool's toy, falls
A silly thing, for eyes, for
Hands, for moments gone
Wrong, so blame, so rotten
Seared in ink and scar for
Time, remembered or forgot,
Lover's lot, this knotted cord
Gnawed by desperation through,
A name regained, a life revived,
A stringless song skipped stepping
Down from judges benches
Whistles as it flies.

Alarm

Grab, go, roust from deep
Frozen depths of slumber's
Sought embrace and pact to
Keep therein dreams' secrets,
Aye, so tight own memory fails
Recounting time again and now.

Another

Rolling wave crash asunder and over
And under and into oblivion
Dissipate singing fate brought
Soughing doubt crawling and
Rout kinder passions to spare
Roughage blessed and passed
For broken alms and swears
And never mores anew recanted
Deviant past eschew and fresh
Mount soggy tor to cry again.

Aside

Dare this itch assist desire?
A grand design? Or
Canterbury tale inspire? To
Waft and whistle aimless by?
Welt on dry ambition build
For space, to stop mad
Writhing in the sky or mind?
To burn a wicket soft and dry,
Bench, useless, flaunted,
Amazon's restless child.

Chance

Morn spent, dreary
Inhibitions gave
Away and warmth
Ensues and fog-breath
Spun to candyfloss and
Drips precipitate, and make
Insulated flare affair
Take flight. In drenching
Gale a spinning fool,
Finite-less, gaze up
Accepting calloused hand
Design thy own reformed delight.

Moment

Ill-advised as lightning fall,
Rash, forethought bereft, but
Sailing, trailing, waltz of dazed
Beam this sideways kick
Started so stranger a brand
A song to belt away in crowded
Room.

Solo

Array demolish, airtime spent.
Abolish evening's sapient core,
Expose to way of milky night
A soul, a sound, a friend,
In starry sky
Sublime

Establish

Fold, place gently, pile and close,
Expose, excise each pattern bold
Adhere to order, fit in space,
Adorn, admire as works artfully
Grace and complement bare
Chrysalis of arms, embrace
Bejeweled self within
Shy face.

Some Say Love

Embraces all, encumbers so,

Entwines in knots of folly, robs

Of wit and will to wander, holds

The key to happiness, excites, inspires,

Drives one to transient madness, sparks

A change, feeds a flame, sends

In pearly hardened gaits a soul who

Bought the rule, the thumb,

The Love that overpowers,

Gulfs in, hot, and presses one

To run.

Err so Tiny

Even so, a
Candle flame can
Bring the building burning
Crash about you, lash
And flare to embers all
Possessed and loved and
Worshiped in a lockbox, kept
In privy, cold, beyond old
Kelpers' reach and fishers'
Lure, and so secure until
That latch undone, that
Carpet corner torn, and tripping
Beat all safeties ends to
Meet, thy fascinating fibers
Face to floor.

Royals

King to wise men round,
What say you? stay?
But fools, oh, foolish rush
To bind another's will, another
Bluster, blind and swell to
Get her, gather specters, crowd
Of cheers, fanatic ravers, want
Adored. This wait, right here,
For you, love, maiden cast
Of ore and found, a mix, a
Sundry solace shard, a
Dance? Pandora's skelter
Haven built, Gerrard and sweet
Lorenna bring a piece of peace
In pace with bright Adonis. Shift
Aside yon palace, bring this
Beastie softly in.

Growth

Daren't wager sixpence,
Fathom hindrance,
Prior rout aside, for gain upon
This millstone, ground soon,
Chaff from pellet fled. My
Kingdom for a route to
Fly, fast-forward on to thyme
in relish fuse, akin to sigh,
to Know thyself, and
Learn to Die.
But saffron beacon beckons
Daren't wager lessons,
Audience,
Azalea's royals trill and
Thrills abound tonight, as
Whisked from 'fore,
Displacing last,
To dance at Stephan's
Crowded path.

En Route

writing desk, flys none,
raven no scholar, nor
a bit alike, but aye, some runes,
capricious chicken scratches ply
a simile a'tween, and grand
adventure, this, bears solvent
peace grasped in understanding
so, what light through yonder window,
fair, and sweet as roses
dawn to dusk and ponder brings,
among all twists and gallows' way
how found this imp, tonight
beleaguered soul, or lay?

Anastasia's

She left, she turned
venom spoken, gone,
and rift existed then.
Crumpled bauble cast
beside, but snatched
before forgotten, taken!
Held, adored, and doted,
alabaster neck adorned.
Can blame appear, can
envy rear a verdant arm
upon her peace? The
warmth of arms, those beads,
they never looked
so good on me.

Shift

Daily walked, same
Way, this path, same
Footsteps follow, falter now
It's different today. So
Hazy, tremble as I
Go. Same way, as
Every day, but this,
This ache makes all
A new thing, sharp against
Background of loss, of
Used to have, of didn't
Stand tall enough, hold strong
Enough, for long enough.
Or wrong enough to never
Make this last, oh, wasted?
Never, brought upon such
Joy, this pain worth any, all
To feel, again, a stranger foe
My friend.

Antici...

A gasp, await
further dropping soul, print
anon each other,
sprint in sand so firm and
sponge stain, smear on
gown grown pale,
await consequent drop in
line to live by, rule of
runes, long etched, long
hid, last drenched a
time long gone, but
new. await my
seething temper chill, my
pace subside, close eyes
and i...

Suffice

Dazzle? Not by half. Amaze?
A laugh! Any, all and magnetize
Makes for poor toy, far
So mediocre. Not
Impressive, not
Anybody's whirlwind,
Fire and Ice combined,
But somehow, finite,
Enough, yes
Good enough
At last

Alnaschar's War

Elusive affiance, union-bound ere
Trust befalls, entwined in mire
Brier thicket snared, Br'er Now,
Don't toss me, sweet, therein,
Envelop deep, baptize in
Bliss, hock-deep meat hooks as
Lance to drag, o'er waving
Dashboard, fess up, vindicate.
Whose skin tear I, to fight, to find
That love I fled, fought, lost,
Cowered long past reaching, told
Heart, this time No! in bold
Harmonics, hold to this
Quagmire, Hope, that
Glimmers on in awe.

Understudy

Dare surpass
Protected mentor? Aim
Displacement, chase
A dream un-owned, a
Claim elsewhere belonged?
Sweet victory, in proper sportsman's
Ungrudging defeat, surpass
All expectations, grab
A chance, for self,
One moment, lit
In someone else's
Place

Inkling

Snag
Jigsawed edge and
Snap into place
So rigid, right
Fit place, fit
Just so, oh, just
As you are told,
Complaisant, waxed
Legs and smile, nae
Melt, the Show!
The show must go
On

Crumple

Strong enough

For this?

Tide's thrash, unreal, 

Cacophony as gulls shear

Bawl, weep, sweep aloft

Wind-torn in peninsula

Sparse, so dear, 

My dear, but

Strong? Enough

For this? Enough

To bind unbound,

Fletch, featherless? Arch

Bow; fly songless? Watch

Winged gentry spall, 

Empathy-less to crushed

Feast? Save face

Bow away, encore-less,

On my former

Stage?

Vaya con Dios

Page turns and
I fade
Go/Stay, be
Strong, but cower
Afraid. Different every day
But farther, and farther
Away.

Sneetch

Some are born broken:
Already faulted, unfixable,
Strange.
Some fly with trailing
Clouds of pestilence
And grate
As chalky cry
En-cringes, infringes:
Violated space
Of they, with stars
Upon thars,
Who prey.

Bierce

a boorish swagger greets,
includes, inspires envelops
eviscerates and dessicates
leaves shell of once proud flyer,
waiting ever, railway bound
fraught with anger, hunger,
lust, sadistic hangings on,
imagine taste of
sweet ambrosia!

Scion

of serpentine, bereft
bilious Donii cleft, aloft
and proud, so long bourne
awaits new styling, fair
defining acts to be
and Isis smiles, upon
a spider-veined knee to
bounce and grin.

Pastel

Broad color sweep, define!
Smudge/swipe, find the sea,
The shore, a gull appears and
Dune grass wavers,
Taste the tang and feel the
Breeze, this peace
In wax and canvas wrought.

Prodigy

aged so young and sad,
so young!
childhood flung aside as
moulded coat, abhorred, i beg
don't race!
you'll face this soon enough,
rage, deceit, and passion, pain,
amazing, raw, alive and so,
that peace ne'er re-attained
you'll weep as all, bittersweet
remind us of the lost. why
won't you listen?
play!

Nude

stripped,
wide and own
proud temerity slinks
so sweetly into steam
flaws in focus, form
addressed in censure's eye,
but glint this eye and grin,
a shift and oh!
rare beauty stands
before me

Wake

too dear, beyond
my mind's eye, understanding!
want so, to hold,
imperfections, foibles all,
so dear, this mirror-image
in another life.

Trade

leave a piece
of soul with me, and
soldier on, take
handful of my life
and stride away
to seek evasive fortune,
pretty face. but never
no, never regret this
lock of heart tress, my
gaping wound of gone,
grow fonder night on day
and never as united stand
as after roaming, home.

Sport

just we two arrive
and so, play on! we
can sweat, create, and be
alone, or these, or three:
if any arrive to join
melee, and foam in wave
of welcome, stay! and
live this slice of time
this game!

Wisp

Feather spin, elude,
Escape tensed fingers' reach
Evade paws flailed at thee and
Race upon a breath of breeze.
Clarity reduce,
Refrain mind's soulful need
To aid, brawn's bear-hug
Deftly made, and leave, o
Misst, mein mist it clouds,
Resounding echoes pound
In fog: is thought of sideways
Error-bound expression: try
To find this feather's reason
Stay!

about_blank

Dizzy in motion so
Still a whirl of a thrill alight
A beam, delight, but
Why? Erupting
Damned endorphins' ploy
Chicanery and flay broad
Terra's atoms wide in
Glee! But I
Elapse, abstain and find
A-tingle, glimpse of vast
Endeavor, out beyond
This pasted revelry, and
All, now Cling! Daren't
Lose mania, clutch
Again at empty
...lost...
at what?

Renovate

Pillage, now in moderation
Ply and pry to fragment form:
All just to build, to brighten
Bring to life, to light, to space
Inside, and place in
Places planned each bit
Of memory displayed on
Shelf and tile, reflected
Burnt in aching arms and
Side, wide smile at chores
Attained!

Prior

waver, just
inhale, sip
faintest hint
at edge of...

Tryst

tantalize and taste in

air each dizzy breath and

sway, did i begin this? blink and

suddenly give in? to which pagan

fiend does writhe owe

fresh obeisance? lift

alms and arms to Asherah

or Bast? if any owed

beyond this smile, this face

and echo of a moan.

Pause

Alight, and
Sway, foliage drop and
Fling, loud, crackle
Flares of frustrate
Peaces torn,
But
All I did was
Land

can't

chassis, wick, and faulted, drag
suffer, strive to feed same failing form
and Jones compete. ache to build
as ample show as they, though
never here to see, so much
to do away, to make, create
and earn, in cavy dash, a
living wage, 'though worth
an hour weighed meant life
each moment whisked aside
to forge same features on.

sans elliott

who defined us? who
first tried us? who
defriended, soft, defied us?
when it ended, who supplied us
with a moment, with a song? who
enlarged our scope and spied us
recognized the love inside us, brought
our tension out and plied us with a
deeper, kinder bond? and when it
felt like we had lost us who stayed here
and who forgot us? who made eons fly
and echoes boom, brought out our
elephant in rooms of doubt from corner
bunnies dusted and who felt and shared
and loved us when we
thought we were alone?
o did any see who held us?
who cried over us and led us
over mountains in our minds and
brought us home to find our rest? did
karma, kismet meet and plot to place an
ally in our way or ways, a soldier's arm, a
hermit's bow, a waif to ply a bitter wave? did they
by once-lost lovers leave behind a stepping stone from
grief that might, if leapt upon, propel us on? did they
indeed align these mirror images of
freckles in our eyes? did i?

Thresh

Step on tread on beat beneath me sod and

Tramp down brickle, thorn, and vine, tamp

Into place trails, wending, wide, drag

Double-bitted bite around, swing 

Fell bent and broken branches, kindle

Pile to burn inside, to grill and laugh

This party planned so long advance to

Leer and sway in liquor's haze a

Long awaited song refrain hum now

As one foot follows, drips perspire

Expire in exhalation, drought on lips chapped

Lick to tame and shoulder on, lift

Arbor's arms asunder, toss on pile to 

Moulder, gain endorphin there inside

As I demolish what grew on

Alive

Graven

Promise, fraud of whitest perjur, 

Flower willingly deceived,

Jack's sudden lack of effort:

Then, orphaned listless, sing

To fly, and cry, to try...

Let go? 

Can one scar discard, or

Chasm,

Molten meld, to mend?

Will, would, wanted

If abandon to 

Abyss of time or

Was?

Unsay all spoken? Oh!

Possible, elapsed echoes scan

To press Undo? 

Un-forsake and 

Re-awake? Rebuild cold wall of safety?

Repair Scrat's etching, fault erase, 

Bring home such truth:

Unexplained and uncontained,

Re-do? Re-live excrutiating

Reinvention? Adaptation into

Chrysalis and wing?

Far be it fancy thus

To crawl, instead forge into

Distance, 

Dance!

Lover's Lot, this Knot

Flood of ocher,
Night enliven,
Flush awash, and
Render bantam skeptic flight
Of ever, solely Mine
Sanctioned moments at a time
In Focus, keen contrast,
But saline rinse to
Follow, kenned, soon, so
Mesmerize, meander thus
Entwined, for
Bait of Hera's blessing I am
Bound to covet,
Lost home, amnion,
Succor, hearth, and balm beseech.

And I

kissed, tasted
bliss
once and fell
and felt so strange
and flew

Serviette

wrinkle smoothed
as ink
swiftly jotted
melds, seeps in
steals and seals
heart to his,

barely brushed fingers
deft and done, sold
twined fates lit
in time, in light
in shining eyes

gentle flame

how decide
just bliss to find
in sips and wisps
of fortune, fame,
or each elusive gasp
of this?
how accept, unquestioned
drips and dribs or drabs of
keened, and keenly out-sought
adoration, care?
and how, or how again
magic find in
simple fact and faint
impression; gently, bright and
bended smile?

Spark

Rote, nor rhyme
Dare here intrude
Fancy's soaring race,
And stranger beasts
Ne'er hosted rave as this,
Atop fresh-bitter, breezy peak;
Or eye of catamount enchanted
Convulsion-plaited henna tresses
Float un-crimped, unhampered:
Jar assaulted, jolted, dropping down
Mine-shaft, mine unending,
Mine, oh mine for all time,
Grappled, tousled, twin-backed
Hydra, burn as slide, arch
Gasping, twining, flee this
Binding, rouse and burnish,
Banish, bearing bright aurora!
Sleep, my beauty, rest and
Conjure time again to rout
Suffuse away tepid, tormented
Torpor; douse, and scour
Perfidy scented eiderdown,
Anticipate less peace
Than ushered in.

The Art of Grace

Have I given, yet,
My all and everything?
Probe glimmers of taint,
Sleuth libations, 'thout
Thought of recompense, but ay,
Thirst for dregs of thy
Given,
Probe the depths
of offered.
Accept? Uneven
Compromise, but
Where the contact
Binding all to give?
Doubt allegiance,
Consort wanders;
Who begged whom
To stay?

Frival

Naught
It means to either, but
Cry! Side and skein
A battle 'sued, a thrall
Ball and chain smell
Twisted taut,
Leave, unthought, unnerve
But stay?
Ah, touch - just edge
of linger, crush'd evoked
To both alone.

Vestri Cupiditas?

Ever dreamed to be
My nightmare's villain?
Wake in cold sweat
Dread Sandman's beckon follow,
Sobbing swallow,
Drink to dim this,
Medicate away this
Past starvation, passed
Chance for resolution? Only
Cope and cope and cope again,
Or break with iron-will:
Fetal crumble, muffle,
Jerk in stifling, wail,
And finally, exhausted,
Sleep?
Ever dreamed to be
My darkest hollow?
Buried, best contained:
Strike wanton, only sometimes
Fresh and burn?
Scald, but cauterize,
Cast scar's neonate?
Just once more
Devastate?
Ever dreamed to
Full elicit Acheron,
Evoke, awake Gehenna's pit?
Banish, ransack hope as did
Neglect owned issue quake?

Rift

Sway, brought in by
Shiny smiles and
Promises:
A chain. You!
Place me here
Shame slathered - beautiful
Band-Aid in place,
Expect no repurcussive flight.
Shudder as I flee, emaciate,
Embrace the smog and rain,
Escape the Thumb of
Grace?

Cusp

At this juncture
Unify locale, or abrupt
Assunder sworn - a
Vocal tearing or
Manual mending
Touch, withdraw
Answer in shove or hold -
Become this day a
History of
Yea or Nae.

Eleven

Paralyze
This gout, o
Aragorn! Aloft unsheath
great Gilly's wrath and
Burn thy candle
Down in lemongrass
So sweet, such ache -
Toil on! Tho scars
Fade never, cut upon
This person rendered
Ever. Label made but,
Tom beseeching,
Undo this, my
Folly, on my way
Exposed by thy
Extended
Finger

Was I Really

Thus:
Fanatic to song, blight and shame?
Ridden, bound, and blamed
No contest?
Beg, kneel, weep to metamorphosize and
Fail, yet never hail to measure -
march, entreat, endeavor All to please,
Submit and be
Content with this?
Adept at this, accepting
This?
So broken, how
Re-rendered, set,
Kiln-fired to shine?
Selected nature theorized,
I crystallize, and wonder:
Trail satellite tails in
Spectacle, frame-bound
To terra, pine for sky, but none
So visible, ephemeral as this.
Symptomatic find, I am,
And was, and will, and on,
Yet somehow, days gone by
I was!

Cornucopia

And I have,
Juncture span - this breath,
A moment after each:
Breath of lily flower, shy
Gift of he I never
Would have deemed,
Have dared, align
My life beside.
And I have
Amity, awake,
Jowls' ivories
Away turn, flee.
And I have
Concord, both world and self
Applied, each taste the
Sweeter off my verdant
Vine, and I have
Mirth in élan;

As I reach and 

Take it, joy is

Mine!

Final Chapter

Try now, to rewrite
All pages gone, undo the done?
Alter feelings as, with effort bound,
These last few moments,
Gesture grand can take back
Stings, deceptions. Fault
Of mine,
It was! But wait until
Last call
To rectify, to purchase
Friendly drink;
Goodwill, going,
And gone.

Gift

To lift
Grasp
At straws, at all!
Frail motive find of
Will, or wit; oust
Clouded threads in thought
Of mind. Impulse so
Vague to bring, to wake. No!
Wait! Vertig now!
Los, las capsule break.
It's time. My greatest
Mystery to find,
Embrace! Float
Jagged-edge of conscious;
Flit.

Revisit

I ran away
Again
But not the same
Can mountain change,
Deepen hue and swell?
Glacial melt enable
Closing, distance,
Calm amid this flight
Un-terrified, despairing none?
Peace brought with,
Anon to be more
Found in canyon
There.