Before
in the gray,
milky silence
of the morning.
before we smell the hiss of bacon
before the smog licks
the creamed crimson sky
before we hear the scurrying simian stream
(of which we are a inexorable part)
before the pungent circles of Michelin and Firestone
have their daily chat
with the asphalt
before we wake to all this grotesque grandeur
to once again
kneel, supplicant
against the wheel
before we turn the key
to ignite the spark
to fetch the fire within,
we were with Morpheus,
perchance
dreaming of greater gods
of light,
before
the cluttered clatter of this unholy day
The Things I don't say
I'm always reaching, grasping, kneeling
At a ghost fading through my fingertips
I'm always hurting, bleeding, healing,
Over the absent softness of your aspirin lips
I'm always wishing, sleeping, dreaming
Of a masquerade with a masked stranger
I'm always stripping, removing, revealing
Embracing the elements of danger
I'm always shooting, smoking, drinking
Not giving a damn about my health
I'm always fading, crying, trying
Losing the battle with myself
I'm always singing, playing, staying
Awake on your caffeine correspondence
I'm always breathing, living, dying
Wrapped up and warm in your immaculate bondage
Foolish Pride
What frail creatures we men are
made from sinew, muscle and pride
Thinking we can conquer the world
for the woman who sits by our side
All is brash, gall and bravado
with such a carefree debonair
Taunting those who test our mettle
intimidating all who dare
A young man thinks himself gifted
to hold sway and folly so near
Injure his pride and you will find
that he becomes someone to fear
A man is nothing without pride
it is the food that feeds his soul
Desired respect of fellows
becomes his sole life’s aim and goal
The handsome woman of his dreams
is she that realizes this flaw
Playing to his strength and weakness
by pretending she never saw
To that woman he grants comfort
strong arms forever hold her tight
Their truth of heart is not broken
whenever she is out of sight
The reason men are unfaithful
they behave only by your side
Has little to do with temperand
And everything to do with pride
If you wish for a happy home
a man who's strait forward and true
Just play host to his foolish pride
and he will be loyal to you
Echoes of my past
It seems that life refuses me
I'm followed by my past
I run but still my eyes can see
The shadows that I've cast
Traces of the man I was
Gets closer everyday
I no longer do the things he does
But still he makes me pay
No one knows who I've become
They see the same reflection
Because the things I've done to some
I'm mired in rejection
The price I pay is way too high
It does not fit the crime
But all my good has passed me by
I still must do the time
What comes around goes around
How true can these words be?
Though the things I've done are in the past
They're catching up with me
We will walk then, you and I
When daylight shuts her weary eye;
Down the streets where beggars sleep
And drug crazed addicts spend their keep.
On streets that wind through thick and thin
Past monuments of broken sin
The painted whores who smile a lot
A rejected child that time forgot.
The evening hymn that sorrows sing
The call to prayer that church bells ring;
The sounds and smells that rape a city
The calls for help that won't find pity.
Do we have time to heal the curse
That captures all the universe
Or would it really be worthwhile
To quell the question with a smile?
But we have walked these streets before
And hoped our ears could dim the roar
Of silence gripping cold nightmares
That come unbidden up the stairs.
We share the night with lesser fools
Who stake their plight without sound rules
For each new challenge finds old pain
That lives to give then comes again.
LIFE
A gentle breeze
Forever remembered
A luscious glade
Cold under your feet
A rich blue sky
Seemingly unreal
Beautifully arousing aromas
Tasting without touch
Pleasingly soft sand
To bathe yourself in
A sensuous bed of leaves
To wrap yourself in
A pleasurably warm ocean
Stimulating your senses
Lustful love
Forever wanting
Incapacitating desire
Depriving your concentration
You lose yourself
In natures tempting ways
Seducing you to stay